Personal comparisons are valid when verified
When a comparison is fair and accurate, I agree, “There is nothing wrong with comparing one person to another.” If Obama were creating an armed civilian national security program as Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia and some YouTube videos suggest, then a comparison to Hitler would be justified. Instead, Obama is suggesting a “civilian capacity to operate alongside our troops in post-conflict zones and on humanitarian and stabilization missions. Instead of shuttering consulates in tough corners of the world, it’s time to grow our Foreign Service and to expand USAID. Instead of giving up on the determination of young people to serve, it’s time to double the size of our Peace Corps. Instead of letting people learn about America from enemy propaganda, it’s time to recruit, train, and send out into the world an America’s Voice Corps.” This is similar to the Bush Administration’s plans for civilian agencies.
We should be skeptical when we hear a 20-second sound bite and try to find the full context of a speech before accepting its message as valid. Sound bites are easily manipulated when much of the context is removed. A serious discussion (including comparisons to Hitler) should never center on a video clip of less than 1 minute, probably even five minutes.
When a political party rigs elections to gain a permanent party majority, imprisons people without habeas-corpus (sometimes secretly), believes they are above the constitution, suppresses the media and whistle blowers, wiretap citizens, tortures prisoners, corporations take over rolls historically done by public officials and military, go to war while peaceful options are still available or create a national crisis that allows the government to pass laws that remove citizens rights then we have some comparisons to historically awful leaders.
The problem with comparing people to Hitler is that he is the most despicable person that people easily relate to (except the Holocaust deniers) and taking one-20 second sound bite to create unjustified fear is a tactic Hitler used and it is shameful that it comes from our politicians. I for one am glad that Paul Broun apologized. Hitler comparisons can be valid when the information being compared is reasonable and has been verified.
Mike Nicer
November 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I’m glad Obama has done nothing but take the high road in response to accusations like this.
I think it’s disheartening when anyone brings about innuendo or any other baseless unsubstantiated fearmongering in the name of freedom.
Where was the outrage when Bush said “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator” was he saying he wanted to be a dictator? He was the only President in the recent modern era after Nixon to govern seemingly like a dictator….
November 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Citing a proposed Bill from Dennis Kucinich does not solicit proof that Bush is equal to Hitler. You may disagree with Iraq, but even Clinton himself stated that Saddam was a problem to the US. Maybe WMD’s weren’t there, maybe they were. Saddam certainly wanted people to believe that the possibility existed, at least.
Somehow, I only ever hear Iraq and the Patriot Act as undeniable proof that Bush is the next Hitler.
Mind you, Hitler was also an outstanding orator who was elected in a hugely disenfranchised country. He used that dissatisfaction to allow his party huge gains in government. Similar to our most recent election. (“The Audacity of Hope” must’ve been the Black-man’s “Mein Kampf.”) But again, that DOES NOT point to Obama as Hitler.
Obama really as of yet is simply an unproven leader who does not deserve such treatment until he proves himself one way or the other.
It’s ALL stupid and ridiculous really.
Similarities exist between all major leaders throughout history in that every leader does both good and bad for their country and humanity in general. Napoleon enabled the creation of the metric system. But the man was a war-monger. Hitler supported huge technological advances including improved radio signals and the first jet. He also commissioned the creation of Volkswagen. But the man was a complete lunatic and dangerously prejudice, and again, another war-monger.
If one wants to take the road that Iraq was a mistake, then we also need to look at the reasons the Middle East is the way it is: US involvement. Saddam was in power, due to the US. Iran is a threat now, due to the US. Heck, the thorn in those country’s sides, Israel, exists, in large part, with help from the US.
The US is the police force of the world, for both good and bad. This country has helped in good ways (look at WWI, WWII (wait – we made a mistake there because we overthrew Bush-I mean Hitler), Korea, Rwanda, Iraq, Israel, Vietnam, Albania and the Balkans, USSR) and it has made things worse at times(look at Iran, Iraq, N. Korea, Vietnam, ignoring Cambodia, etc.). Heck, we supported Napoleon at one point!
Whether we want to view Iraq as Bush’s decision to invade as a poor decision, we must also view it as a decision that could have been just as easily blocked by Congress. Personally, I laugh whenever any of the politicians cite “bullying” or “misinformation” as the influences into their choice for voting for the Iraq invasion. Those few that voted against it from the beginning are the only ones I respect for choosing to oppose the war. I question those who changed their minds and champion the cause to withdrawal before we can honestly say that Iraq has gained sovereignty and is fully capable of defending itself. Another example of something we get involved in and seemingly lack the stomach to follow through.
And they blame Bush for their own decision… ever heard of taking responsibility for your actions Senators and Congressmen? You want Bush to! You are all adults, right?
Do we need to eventually leave? Undoubtedly so. Iraq wasn’t supposed to be a US territory. They want a democracy now, they should be fully responsible for defending it. But leaving before then would be like going to chop a tree down for fire wood, and midway through chopping, you decide that you would rather have the shade because chopping all of that wood is just too much work. The tree eventually falls anyway as you chopped it to near falling. Then it just lays there to rot defeating both of its possibilities.
But hey, maybe I am just an idiot and cannot see those striking, obvious, undeniable facts that just scream that Bush is Hitler. I got a little too comfortable in the ghettos dodging those secret police, pretending that I support Bush simply because I am too afraid of being taken in and punished for my anti-government support.
Oh wait, that’s right, I’ve gotten more crap from everyone for liking Bush and trying to have some support for him more than for for my critique of any of his policies. Yeah, we MUST be living in a Bush dictatorship! Bush must be a retarded version of Hitler and the Republicans a retarded version of the Nazis. How else could we explain it all?!
November 18th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Jerm, I agree, the Clinton’s were surprised to find out the Hussein didn’t have WMD’s but the sad fact is that we didn’t go to Iraq to protect Iraqis or Americans. Bush wasn’t waiting for a declaration of war from congress in 2003 to go to war and since Republicans controlled congress until 2007, he probably would have gotten it anyway. But he didn’t want to wait because it was so urgent. Remember Operation Iraqi Liberation, O.I.L. and mushroom clouds. I remember Hussein’s 1,000 page report of what he did with the WMD’s and inspectors that were kicked out.
The Bush presidency was a big a big success for Halliburton, Blackwater, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, BAE, KBR, Bechtel, Big Oil and billionaires everywhere. It was a mistake for the hundreds of thousands of lives that were lost, the world economy, the environment and the good American name.
Obviously, Bush isn’t on par with Hitler but he did a few things that are very common in a dictatorial regime and never seem before from an American president. Just because Kucinich is a democrat doesn’t mean the 35 articles of Impeachment aren’t valid, just easier for the GOP to ignore. Maybe we should check them again.
It is rumored that Bush is considering a blanket pardon for everyone around him before he leaves office. Why does he have to do that?
It has also been reported that whistle blowers that feared reprisal if they spoke while Bush is in office would be singing like canaries on January 20th. I can’t wait!
http://www.usaspending.gov/fpds/tables.php?tabtype=t2&subtype=t&year=2008
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030324-4.html Operation Iraqi Liberation
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/us/19pardon.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all
November 18th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Ok, I don’t think that you could compare someone in todays politics to Hitler. Hitler was an excellent public speaker and because of the First World War when the Germans were blamed for everything, the country was in pain, so he stepped in an brought morale back to the country by providing them a scapegoat; which happened to be the Jews. Because of his own craziness and prejudice, the 2nd World War happened.
Bush was not a good public speaker and the world was not feeling pain at that time. As for the WMDs around the world, do you think if they were found that the government would actually say anything about it? I think not.
I guess we will see what barack does lol.
July 13th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
[...] comparison of any conservative to Adolf Hitler. There even was a previous argument regarding it on this site between myself and another contributor of this [...]