Stop the Insanity

Can we knock off the Nazi / Hitler comparisons, gang?

Over and over again, I hear certain paranoid folks claiming that Obama has startling comparisons to Hitler, that he’s transforming America into Nazi Germany, blah, blah, blah, blah.  I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that Obama is probably not the next Hitler.

I remember when W. Bush was Prez, and people would say the same thing about whatever he was doing.  Hell, I didn’t agree with many of the man’s policies.  Still don’t.  (And many of those policies are still being carried on by the Obama administration, so it’s not like I’m entirely happy with Obama either.)  But I’m going to go ahead and say on the record that while history has yet to judge W. Bush’s presidency, he’ll still probably come out looking better than Hitler.

So enough with the Hitler comparisons.  You can’t just pull the Nazi card out against your political enemies and expect to be taken seriously.  Or at least you shouldn’t be.

But there are stupid people out there who will take this stuff seriously, and they just might act on it.  If you convince a dumbass that healthcare reform is the same level of evil as The Holocaust, for example, you shouldn’t be surprised if he starts killing people over it.  If you burn your enemies in effigy in front of town hall meetings, you really shouldn’t be shocked if someone decides effigy isn’t good enough.

As for the rest of us, we just get embarrassed by the whole thing.  I know every time I hear someone pull out the Hitler card, I cringe a little.  If they’re on the opposite side of the debate, I know that civilized discussion is no longer possible.  And if they’re actually on my side, I have to rethink where I stand.

So knock it off.  You’re making us look like idiots in front of the Martians.

Fighting the good fight, Writing the good write,

Lee