SB heard something to the effect that the first party to bring out the Nazi accusations is going to lose the argument (Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies). I hope that this is the case. A few years ago you couldn't watch news programming without hearing the word "hero" being bandied about. Everyone from the driver who braked for a deer to the dog who barked when it smelled smoke were being hailed for their courageous actions. Now I can't seem to watch the news without images of Nazis dancing marching across the screen. For example:
- Angela Merkel was greeted on her trip to Greece by protesters dressed in Nazi uniforms, waving swastika flags and chanting "Out with the Fourth Reich!"
- Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, compared gay marriage opponents to Jews in Nazi Germany who were persecuted by a totalitarian regime (source: The Telegraph).
- Dick Harpootlian, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, likened Republican Governor Nikki Haley to Hitler mistress Eva Braun (source: USA Today).
- John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party, accused Paul Ryan of using the Joseph Goebbels' “big lie” technique of propaganda (source: Slate.com).
- Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage, an opponent of the Affordable Care Act, called the Internal Revenue Service "the new Gestapo" (source: Politico).
- Liberal blowhard Keith Olbermann has made Nazi references in comments relating to Obama’s surrender to Republicans on taxes as well as in comparison with individuals like Bill O’Reilly, Kenneth Starr, former President George W. Bush (and his cabinet) and even Democrats who were willing to compromise with Republican (source: Mediaite).
- Conservative blowhard Glenn Beck has an even lesser grasp of Nazism, having compared President Obama to Hitler. He has also compared Nazi Germany to global warming, Al Gore, the United Nations, ACORN, the Peace Corps, and even the National Endowment for the Arts, as highlighted in a hilarious video clip by Lewis Black on the Jon Stewart Show (source: the Daily Show).
Who needs history books when you can learn so much about the Third Reich in current media? Move over, Sir Richard J. Evans.
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