Bush = Hitler tactics

[Sir_Shrek]

I've been thinking about this more since the news came out about MoveOn pulling the Bush = Hitler ads.

Do you think that such comparisons do more to expose the treachery of Bush, or do more to diminish what actually took place in Nazi Germany? The more I think about it, the more I finding myself thinking that it actually glosses over the real horrors of Nazism, and I don't think there's much of a case being made that Bush has done anything comparable to that yet. Opinions?

[rumguy]

1. It is Bush's fear-mongering tactics that lead to the comparisons

And really, let's get over this issue. It was one ad submitted to a contest, that's it. It is not a finalist.

[drdigi420]

2. and it was right on

bush is very similar to hitler in policy and ideology

[Zuni]

7. not even close

Bush is not anything like hitler in politics or ideology. Read Rise and fall of the Third reich by William L. Shirer.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[WilliamPitt]

3. We should take a HUGE lesson from this

Right now, the Democratic party momentum is in the hands of the ideological wing of the base. This has leant an incredible amount of momentum and energy and passion to the cause, but it also puts us all in the hands of people who allow themselves to do what feels good instead of doing what is smart. It feels good to make comparisons between Bush and Hitler, but the 80% of Americans who get their news from TV see the Anti-Defamation League ripping MoveOn. That 80% will have heard of MoveOn for the first time within this narrow context, and will only have the mainstream media providing this context, and that does damage.

Can we avoid this? Yes. By being smarter, and being cautious about having our ideological base in the driver's seat.

[SoFlaJets]

10. Screw 'em Will

they've been playing dirty pool for years now.Lie after ugly lie is being touted as the gospel by RW idealouges like Russert Hannity,Limpballs,Glen Beck and Tweety.These pundits spend hours and hours and hours on speculation about how the Clintons are ruining humanity or who they've killed and some of us are sick of it.Listen to 1340 WPBR right now and there's a guy on there named Sea Bass who is kinda like the Jim Rome of Left-leaning talk radio.Our Palm Beach boy is not afraid to call a spade a spade and is beating the pants off Rush Dimebag(as he calls him)here in Palm Beach county in the ratings.They go head to head from 12-3 then I switch over to Randi on 1290-That theory that the reason why talk radio is ruled by thew right by the so-called liberal media is again debunked---by FACTS

[stopthegop]

13. I agree this feels good ( for many) emotionally..

but it's bad politics and even worse history...people making this type of comparison should not be surprised if other of their (and our) views are not taken seriously...

[sciencedudeoc]

20. Hitler Comparison

In 2000 I was working with some German scientists and they compared Bush to Hitler way back then. In particular they referenced Kristallnacht and the putsch. Since then I have travelled in Europe and I assure you that a large number of Germans are still convinced that Bush = Hitler. I myself do not necessarily buy this comparison "in todo", but I consider the source of this comparison very convincing. One more thing...when Hitler began to come to power I wonder who they compared him too? Were the comparisons far-fetched?

[Conor]

22. FreeRepublic

Are you the same WilliamPitt who used to post of FreeRepublic?

[WilliamPitt]

26. I am

[Demonaut]

4. Bush could never become a "Hitler"

as bush has no published papers, nor did he serve in a war...his extremism will only follow his intellect and experience...bad enough to piss many people off..but never enough to become a real villain

[bobthedrummer]

5. Prescott Bush and the family fortune partly based in Nazi plunder

as well as the political home of Nazis being the Republican Party's RW
are both cogent topics today IMHO

http://www.spiritone.com/~gdy52150/bushies.htm

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/ROG309A.html

[Zuni]

8. Prescott bush probably made less than

a million dollars off trading with Thyssen, a nazi industrialist. Even today, that is only a tiny fraction of the Bush fortune.

[bobthedrummer]

11. Trading with the enemy is treason.

Prescott had plenty of company. I'll never forget them.
http://www.spiritone.com/~gdy52150/waryearsp5.html

[forgethell]

23. We should bash *

for his own faults, not those of His father or grandfather. There is plenty of ammunition out there, and we don't need to stoop so low to win.

[Zuni]

6. I think it is totally inappropriate

Bush has done nothing to warrant comparison to a man responsible for 35-40 million deaths and destruction on a scale never seen before or since.
On top of that, many groups like Jews, gypsies, slavs would find trying to compare bush to hitler, the man who attempted to exterminiate and enslave their peoples, more than a little offensive. it downplays the extent of the damage hitler did, period.
No question that bush is a schemeing, dishonest crook but those are found throughout history.

[seemslikeadream]

19. No, what's totally inappropriate

is George Bush Sr. giving away $10 billion in gold mining rights on public land to Barrick Corp of Canada during the last days of his administration. (A company that was started by Adman Khashoggi)What's totally inappropriate is the fact that then he was made an "international" consultant for that company and that company gave georgie jr. plenty of money to get elected. Meanwhile daddy's new company's in Congo complicit in the continuation of the slaughter of over 3.5 million souls in order to steal their precious natural resources.

Look at Africa, you'll see the scale. Ask someone from Congo maybe he'll have a view on extermination.

[Oreegone]

9. Yeah give him another 4 years

And we will discuss this again.

[spindoctor]

12. Comparisons always fall short

The main thing that made Hitler Hitler and sent the popular name Adolph into oblivion is the fact that he was responsible for the systematic murder of an entire people.
I don't see our President do that anytime soon, nor do I see the name George disappear from babynames.com in the near future.

Had Hitler been just another dictator, his name would have been forgotten by now, just like...uhh...whatshisname.

So no, "hitlerizing" is poor tactics and frankly, bad taste. Judge Bush by his own merrits, there is plenty to pick from. Maybe then in fifty years, we can scold people for W-izing.

[Bucky]

14. Absolutely. Hitler comparisons make our side look flaky, irresponsible.

This wins over more votes for Bush than against him. It tells fence sitters that we don't have a clear view on political matters.

[Capn Sunshine]

15. In all the brou-ha ha

no one noticed that these ads WEREN'T from MoveOn, but were entrants in a contest they sponsored.

MoveOn takes no responsibility for them other than they were on the website featuring "make your own anti-Bush ad"

"Homeland Security". "Axis of Evil" "Don't you realize , we're at War" "Drug Czar" "Special Master" "Evildoers" "Alert Code Orange" "Operation "insert cheesy war-movie sounding title here""

To not recognize this as deliberate, most calculated propagandizing is naif like wishful thinking. THIS is what we should be discussing.

In light of the NEW buzz coming from the pits of the republican Nazi-schooled propaganda machine ( using "neocon" disparagingly is really just "anti-semitic" ) see http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com

I think this world view , and yes, it has become that, of Bush as another Hitler might be indeed appropriate.

besides, who started this with their attacks on liberals as "treasonous" "cowards"? No, They are getting what they deserve, exposure to the pure light of day, which they abhor, and they have parsed their objections in such a way that you feel obligated to nod your head in agreement without stopping to wonder for even a second.

[tom_paine]

27. Ding ding ding...we have a winner!

Exactly.

[camero]

17. But we can call him fascist

If the shoe fits I always say. He may not have called the trains but the tactics are still there.

And it was not just the jews that were enslaved. It was also the poor, disabled, and homosexuals. And anyone who could not work any longer were left to die or sent to the chambers.

Hitler may not be a fair comparison yet but being a fascist is a fair comparison.

[lovedems]

18. I don't like the comparisons but I also don't like that it was acceptable

to run ads against Max Cleland using Bin Laden. I don't like that the RNC runs ads questioning a persons patriotism when they voted against the war. While the sick and twisted ads are better left to the hateful rethuglicans, I don't like the fact that when a democratic party affiliate runs an ad like this it is negative national news. The double standard really sucks as a person who despises this administration and would like to see the truth out. Sometimes the truth is ugly.

[HereSince1628]

21. It all depends on which list of features you choose to work from

I think there is evidence that he or his minions:

1) are working to establish one-party rule that is focused on defeating the left.

2) are interested in controlling the media, suppressing dissent and minority rights.

3) bought into the need for secure strategic resources (equivalent of room for growth) via military force.

4) glorify militarism. I give you the aircraft carrier landing, and the first time in living memory that a serving president appeared in a uniform as part of a major public appearance. His presidential term is characterized by equating patriotism with the military (think airforce overflights of NASCAR races, etc.).

5) puffed up foreign policy/belligerence toward other nations, and disdain for international conventions.

All these are traits either owned or tolerated by Hitler and Bush. But one needn't be a fascist or a Nazi to share these traits. You just have to have a tolerance for tyranny.

To my knowledge George W. Bush hasn't begun putting people in the ovens...do hold back criticism because of that?

His administration HAS begun disappearing people (the SOB-Son of BARBARIA--needs to be removed from office)

Is Hyperbole part of sounding an alarm? Yes. And to some extent equating Bush with Hitler is hyperbolic.

But at what point should an alarm be sounded? It must be done before the trumpets, bells, and lamps in the belfry's of the nation's "Old North Churches" are confiscated.

[davhill]

24. The Operative Word there is YET

It took many years before the German people realized the horror they had spawned. Though other nations realized it earlier the rest of the world was also slow to realize the extent of the evil. Let's not let it get to that degree with Bush. He has already revealed his totalitarian bent.

[peacetalksforall]

25. Think pre-holocaust and holocaust

Right now, pre-holocaust, the comparisons are justified. Just think Ashcroft and the people who came up with and agreed to the strategies of this administration.

Then, think imprisonment without representation versus imprisonment with gassing as the outcome. Right now, all those citizens and residents who are imprisoned without rights are no different from the Jews, gypsies, and all other targeted groups who were yanked out of their homes and hauled off to who knows where. The Jews, gypsies, and other targeted groups at a certain point in time were possibly able to cherish a little hope that allied forces fighting the Germans might free them, if they were getting news.

Imprisonment without representation is not the only example of what is going on right now in this country, but it is an excellent one - because the same people who are administering it are the same ones who virtually yell about prisoners in Cuba and have yelled about imprisonment without representation by many dictators we replaced and kept quiet about may dictators we installed.

There are other comparisons.

And remember, Hitler was an imperialist also. We have leaders in this country who dictate to Bush who have announced and written about and implied their intentions for other countries in the ME and who have lived out their intentions in this hemisphere.

So far, we haven't built gas chambers. That's the only difference. We've only made decisions on secret holding cells probably mostly outside this country so that they call it a military action.

So if anyone wants to compare and become aware of what is going on in this country should think about Nazis before they built the gas chambers. There are definite similarities.

Control of the people. Hate of some people. An attitutde of being able to decide what is good for a nation and secretly and stealthily implementing it - with eroding rights. Do it slow and no one will notice and all kinds of people will step forward to be incensed about the comparison of one leader with another. The Democrats didn't do it - some Democrats did it and another political sponsoring contest holder rejected it. If the outcome raises consciousness - so much the better. You know that the winning ads in the contest will be safe - so any potential voter who abandons Democrats because of a contest entry should think one level deeper.

You don't want to know what happened to you and your rights only after it's happened. Comparisons can be truthful.