Friday, November 11, 2005
Dangerous Nazi Comparison
Rush's brother, David Limbaugh, has a good column today over at Townhall (currently asking for money). Here's a sample of his well reasoned analysis:
Democrat honchos, while forever complaining that President Bush has hurt America's image in the world, have themselves been engaged in a systematic campaign to slander President Bush, particularly over foreign policy, consequently undermining America's image in the world...
[Long list of Democrat talking points]
How can we possibly expect other nations -- even our allies (who one would reasonably assume not to be as loyal as our own opposition party) -- to hold us in high esteem while that opposition party daily proclaims that our president is an uncompassionate, dishonest, Machiavellian, imperialist, racist, oil-thieving, unilateralist, sadistic, torturing cowboy hell-bent on alienating peaceful Muslims the world over?
One of the talking points I omitted above was: Unconscionably accuse the Bush administration of lying about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction to deceive the public into support for the war?
On this particular subject, I'm going to go a little further than Limbaugh. First a disclaimer: Only the Nazis were Nazis. So if I talk about Nazis in proximity to current leftists it is not to compare them but to illustrate my point with historical references. I will note that it is the popular belief (one I once held until Dave Dansky set me right--a milestone in my journey from fuzzy lefty thinking to moral and logical clarity) that the Nazis were the German right wing party, the extreme right wing just like the Republicans today, with the only real addition a rabid Jew-hatred. That's wrong and all you have to do is look at the name to know it. The word 'Nazi' is a shortened version of the real title of the party--National SOCIALIST and German Worker's Party. There simply is no such thing as a right wing organization with the word 'socialist' in its title.
One of the true dyed-in-the-wool, true believers in the Nazi party was Joseph Goebbels (who after Hitler committed suicide, killed his children and himself because he didn't want them or him to live in a world with out Nazism). One of his famous inventions of propaganda was the Big Lie--no matter how absurd, repeat a lie often enough and some people will believe it.
Whether they know it or not (and I doubt they do) the Democrats who are repeating the lie that Bush purposefully lied about weapons of mass destruction are using Nazi propaganda techniques.
That's not a good thing.
Democrat honchos, while forever complaining that President Bush has hurt America's image in the world, have themselves been engaged in a systematic campaign to slander President Bush, particularly over foreign policy, consequently undermining America's image in the world...
[Long list of Democrat talking points]
How can we possibly expect other nations -- even our allies (who one would reasonably assume not to be as loyal as our own opposition party) -- to hold us in high esteem while that opposition party daily proclaims that our president is an uncompassionate, dishonest, Machiavellian, imperialist, racist, oil-thieving, unilateralist, sadistic, torturing cowboy hell-bent on alienating peaceful Muslims the world over?
One of the talking points I omitted above was: Unconscionably accuse the Bush administration of lying about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction to deceive the public into support for the war?
On this particular subject, I'm going to go a little further than Limbaugh. First a disclaimer: Only the Nazis were Nazis. So if I talk about Nazis in proximity to current leftists it is not to compare them but to illustrate my point with historical references. I will note that it is the popular belief (one I once held until Dave Dansky set me right--a milestone in my journey from fuzzy lefty thinking to moral and logical clarity) that the Nazis were the German right wing party, the extreme right wing just like the Republicans today, with the only real addition a rabid Jew-hatred. That's wrong and all you have to do is look at the name to know it. The word 'Nazi' is a shortened version of the real title of the party--National SOCIALIST and German Worker's Party. There simply is no such thing as a right wing organization with the word 'socialist' in its title.
One of the true dyed-in-the-wool, true believers in the Nazi party was Joseph Goebbels (who after Hitler committed suicide, killed his children and himself because he didn't want them or him to live in a world with out Nazism). One of his famous inventions of propaganda was the Big Lie--no matter how absurd, repeat a lie often enough and some people will believe it.
Whether they know it or not (and I doubt they do) the Democrats who are repeating the lie that Bush purposefully lied about weapons of mass destruction are using Nazi propaganda techniques.
That's not a good thing.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 6:44 AM 
Comments:
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I don't know why he had to off himself. Like Alois Brunner - http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Brunner.html - he could have just emigrated to Syria where he would have found the atmosphere congenial enough.
Whenever someone says, "I am a socialist" near me, my first impulse is to ask, "National or Soviet?" (The principal difference is whether the state owns or just controls businesses.)
Whatever its faults as a history, you can see this very clearly described in Albert Speer's "Inside the Third Reich".
Whatever its faults as a history, you can see this very clearly described in Albert Speer's "Inside the Third Reich".
The Soviets expoused international socialism; the Nazis wanted national socialism. I find that keeps it straight in my mind. Thanks for the comments. I think your distinction between them is even sharper and more helpful.
Imagine the political spectrum as a circle. The extremes of right-wing politics, National Socialism, and the extremes of left-wing politics, International Socialism, meet on the circle, and become one and the same.
Don`t make the mistake of the literal use of the word socialism as used by the Nazis. They started as a right-wing organisation under guise, were mortal enemies of the Soviets who started on the left.
At the end of the day, they became one and the same,... fascists.
Extremes of both right and left are fascists.
Don`t make the mistake of the literal use of the word socialism as used by the Nazis. They started as a right-wing organisation under guise, were mortal enemies of the Soviets who started on the left.
At the end of the day, they became one and the same,... fascists.
Extremes of both right and left are fascists.
Good try. It's not a circle, it's a spectrum--more like the body with a left side and a right side, all human. Your country's excellent Imperial War Museum has a great exhibition about the Holocaust and it too says the origin of the party was right wing. I've tried to find some support for that idea and I have found none. I think it's a mistaken reliance on the animosity that clearly existed between Nazis and the Communists but that's from the national/international difference not from any difference in politics (which were slight). If I write more on this, I'll link to things I've found but for now I'll just say I've seen a quote from Hitler in 1922 (before the failed coup, before the long knives, before political success in the 30s) saying, of his party. "we're socialists. We are the enemies of capitalism." I know Nazis were liars but I think we have to trust them on their own name. Your point, Zep, if I can call you that, about extremism at either pole of the political spectrum being dangerous and fascist is well taken.
Like most people in the UK, we see the NAZIS as being right-wing.
Forgive me, we have a longer history of both sides, and their starting reasoning is very different.
The differences to us are blatently apparent.
The fact that most Americans cannot see the difference does not surprise us.
I really don`t think that Americans have any real idea of what the word
`socialism` really means, and the concepts behind it.
It is alien to your culture, and therefore you have little real understanding of it.
You think that the democrats are `left`, you favourite expression is `liberals`, which, again, has a completely different context in Europe.
You also think that `socialism` means `communist`, which, of course, it doesn`t.
Europeans have had a long time with all of this.
I mean no harm when I say this.
Just as your political climate is alien to us, ours is to you too, and you refer constantly to textbooks rather than to historical experience.
Forgive me, but the US is still a very young country, a gathering of exiles and ideas, and something very different is transpiring from it.
At the moment, the US is an empire. It started with republican ideas, but has become quite the empire builder, and is going through what European countries did, and fell foul of.
But, there will be a long process of awakening before changes take place.
The US has a lot to offer the world, it is a great country, but one day it will realise that it can change things by simply being a great country, and not by constantly throwing it`s weight around.
When America becomes America, it will gain more friends around the world than enemies.
Life is about talking through problems, not posturing and threatening when things don`t go your way, or when a country has a different opinion.
Unwind, relax.
The world has always been a bad and dangerous place. It is naive to think that you can somehow change it, and mould it into your likeness overnight.
And yes, Roger, you can call me Zep.
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Forgive me, we have a longer history of both sides, and their starting reasoning is very different.
The differences to us are blatently apparent.
The fact that most Americans cannot see the difference does not surprise us.
I really don`t think that Americans have any real idea of what the word
`socialism` really means, and the concepts behind it.
It is alien to your culture, and therefore you have little real understanding of it.
You think that the democrats are `left`, you favourite expression is `liberals`, which, again, has a completely different context in Europe.
You also think that `socialism` means `communist`, which, of course, it doesn`t.
Europeans have had a long time with all of this.
I mean no harm when I say this.
Just as your political climate is alien to us, ours is to you too, and you refer constantly to textbooks rather than to historical experience.
Forgive me, but the US is still a very young country, a gathering of exiles and ideas, and something very different is transpiring from it.
At the moment, the US is an empire. It started with republican ideas, but has become quite the empire builder, and is going through what European countries did, and fell foul of.
But, there will be a long process of awakening before changes take place.
The US has a lot to offer the world, it is a great country, but one day it will realise that it can change things by simply being a great country, and not by constantly throwing it`s weight around.
When America becomes America, it will gain more friends around the world than enemies.
Life is about talking through problems, not posturing and threatening when things don`t go your way, or when a country has a different opinion.
Unwind, relax.
The world has always been a bad and dangerous place. It is naive to think that you can somehow change it, and mould it into your likeness overnight.
And yes, Roger, you can call me Zep.
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