Let's not compare Obama to a Nazi
Jillian Melchior
Issue date: 3/5/09 Section: Opinion
Let's get one thing straight: Barack Obama is no Hitler.
True, conservatives have found little to like in the new president. Some consider him a demagogue, others, a despot. Perhaps this is fair.
But comparisons to Hitler? In addition to being cliche, this simile is patently stupid.
Hitler - the notorious racist. Hitler - who may or may not have snubbed black victors in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a little warm-up before he moved on to racially motivated mass murder. Hitler - whose most benevolent act was suicide. Hitler?
This comparison escapes utter gibberish only among those who argue Obama's inspired rhetoric would have wooed Hitler. (Hell, quoth they, were Hitler alive today, he probably would have knocked off Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just to be first to offer his newly unclinched fist to the first black president. Or maybe all three would have formed an axis of evil and vacationed together in Alsace-Lorraine.)
Doubtless, the correlation of Obama and Hitler is the worst since someone compared escargot to chicken.
One would think conservatives could do better. The last century has gifted us with an impressive cadre of dictators. Conservatives balking at Obama's social policy have their pick among notables such as Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez, and that's only if we're choosing among the living. Mocking his fiscal policy? There's always Mugabe. His foray of other branches of government? May I suggest Musharraf? (The novelty alone of that metaphor makes it preferable to Hitler, the overstretched poster boy of contemptible bastardy.)
Move further back than 100 years, and tyrants abound. If history is a bit too dusty for conservatives' taste, which would be a first, the Antichrist is always ripe for allusion.
But Hitler?
Comparisons like this are really drenched in conservative naivety. (Shameful for an ideology commonly held to be cynical about human nature.) All successful politicians - or public figures - share one trait: They can mesmerize the masses with their words. Even McCain managed to get his supporters hot and bothered.
In the extent that all great orators play on emotion, they are all possible demagogues.
Oh well. At least conservatives have Ann Coulter to disseminate enlightened thoughts to the masses.
True, conservatives have found little to like in the new president. Some consider him a demagogue, others, a despot. Perhaps this is fair.
But comparisons to Hitler? In addition to being cliche, this simile is patently stupid.
Hitler - the notorious racist. Hitler - who may or may not have snubbed black victors in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a little warm-up before he moved on to racially motivated mass murder. Hitler - whose most benevolent act was suicide. Hitler?
This comparison escapes utter gibberish only among those who argue Obama's inspired rhetoric would have wooed Hitler. (Hell, quoth they, were Hitler alive today, he probably would have knocked off Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just to be first to offer his newly unclinched fist to the first black president. Or maybe all three would have formed an axis of evil and vacationed together in Alsace-Lorraine.)
Doubtless, the correlation of Obama and Hitler is the worst since someone compared escargot to chicken.
One would think conservatives could do better. The last century has gifted us with an impressive cadre of dictators. Conservatives balking at Obama's social policy have their pick among notables such as Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez, and that's only if we're choosing among the living. Mocking his fiscal policy? There's always Mugabe. His foray of other branches of government? May I suggest Musharraf? (The novelty alone of that metaphor makes it preferable to Hitler, the overstretched poster boy of contemptible bastardy.)
Move further back than 100 years, and tyrants abound. If history is a bit too dusty for conservatives' taste, which would be a first, the Antichrist is always ripe for allusion.
But Hitler?
Comparisons like this are really drenched in conservative naivety. (Shameful for an ideology commonly held to be cynical about human nature.) All successful politicians - or public figures - share one trait: They can mesmerize the masses with their words. Even McCain managed to get his supporters hot and bothered.
In the extent that all great orators play on emotion, they are all possible demagogues.
Oh well. At least conservatives have Ann Coulter to disseminate enlightened thoughts to the masses.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 7
Calvin Freiburger
posted 3/05/09 @ 11:20 PM EST
What conservatives have been comparing Obama to Hitler?
Matt
posted 3/06/09 @ 2:59 PM EST
I don't know if they're conservatives, but two ministers had a good exchange with the Daily Show on the subject: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index. (Continued…)
Jeremy
posted 3/10/09 @ 11:46 AM EST
What? You mean comparing the President Of The United States Of America to Hitler is bad? How often did the left compare Bush to Hitler? How many protests of that were seen?
Obama is a gifted orator, so was Hitler. (Continued…)
Quon
posted 4/02/09 @ 12:20 AM EST
No. Hitler wanted to CONSERVE German traditions, he saw the jews as germany's problems. Most of hitler's views were extremist conservative views at the time. (Continued…)
Red Lindberg
posted 4/08/09 @ 10:10 PM EST
I'm trying to decide which sentence I enjoy more:
"Or maybe all three would have formed an axis of evil and vacationed together in Alsace-Lorraine." OR "If history is a bit too dusty for conservatives' taste, which would be a first, the Antichrist is always ripe for allusion. (Continued…)
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