Some Democrats are calling on Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) to apologize for saying “If Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the Democrat Party, because they have an incredible propaganda machine.” I agree with the Democrats that the comparison is offensive, except rather then an apology I would like to see both sides call a truce to comparisons that diminish the horrors of the Nazi regime under Adolph Hitler.
If the Democrats are going to call Allen West out for using inappropriate comparison they need to look at their (and their supporters) own record on the issue:
- CNS News reported on Representative Louise Slaughter’s comments during a Planned Parenthood rally: Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said today that the new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives last November came to Congress to kill women. She also likened Republican efforts to prohibit federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered to actions taken by Nazis.
- On the Washington Post web site Menachem Z. Rosensaft, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell Law School and Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the Syracuse University College of Law, argues for same-sex marriage by first comparing those who support marriage between one man and one woman as racist, a charge ignorant of the history of marriage and of those who support the institution. He then goes further to compare those supporters to Nazis:
And what about the invidious 1935 Nuremberg Laws that criminalized both marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Aryans in Nazi Germany? Does the fact that most Germans had no problem with this legislation make it any less reprehensible?
- Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has a history of attacking people instead of addressing issues. In 2005 instead of debating the merits of GuantanamoBaythe Illinois Senator instead compared American troops to Nazis.
- And remember the Tea Party accusations and comparisons to Nazis? John Hawkins compiled a list of the top 7 most embarrassing moments in townhalls these past couple of months. His list (more details and links to the stories can be found here in his full op-ed.): includes how then Speaker Nancy Pelosi says town hall protesters are “Astroturf”(and Nazis)
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was one of the first to compare constituents complaining about the health care bill to Nazis. Then the White House is claiming people are showing up as Hitler at Townhall debates
If it was true that would have been despicable (as is the painting of a swastika on Rep. David Scott’s (D-Ga.) district office, regardless if the left or the right did it.) however when reporter David Freddosso asked the White House for proof – the White House failed to substantiate the claim.
If the White House is going to throw around such claims – they need to prove they are true, which should be easy enough to do in this age of YouTube. It took me less than five minutes to find Keith Olbermann comparing former President Bush to Hitler, of anti-war protesters using swastikas and Hitler comparisons, Democratic fundraiser and entertainer Whoopi Goldberg comparing former President Bush to Hitler, and even George Soros, the liberal financier of MoveOn.org, Center for American Progress and Healthcare for America Now has compared Bush to Hitler.
I am not the only one calling out such comparisons by any means, and even, at one time, the Obama Administration did as well:
At the White House press briefing a little over a year ago the then-Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had this to say to Keith Olbermann and others who like to throw around Nazi analogies – congrats to him for speaking out about it, those who do the comparisons are ignorant of history and disrespect those who were the actual victims of the Nazis:
Tommy Christopher: Thank you, Robert. Thank you, Les. I have three quick questions. First one, last week during his Special Comment, Keith Olbermann compared the President’s tax compromise to Nazi appeasement. I wanted to see if you guys had a reaction to that. Did the President hear that? Or, what do you think about that?
Robert Gibbs: I doubt the President heard that. I, obviously, have given a number of answers that would denote that we think it’s a good agreement. And…I would say this to Democrats or Republicans, whenever you compare anything to what the Nazis did, if you ever get to that point in your speech, stop. Because nothing does, and hopefully, God willing, nothing ever will.
We must never lose sight of the fact that divisive rhetoric and demagoguery have consequences. With every wrongful comparison the genocide that happened under the holocaust becomes diminished.
