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Why I Don't Like Hitler Analogies

By Aaron Goldstein on 10.7.11 @ 12:15PM

I was bemused by the commentary on my criticism of Hank Williams, Jr's Obama-Hitler remarks.

The commentary largely ran along the lines of a) Williams, Jr. was making an analogy, not a comparison and b) Williams, Jr. wasn't comparing Obama to Hitler.

Well, an analogy is by definition a comparison. And yes, Hank Williams, Jr. sure as hell compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler. Consider this exchange with Gretchen Carlson after he dropped the H bomb:

Carlson: So one thing I am gathering from your emphatic statements this morning is that you are not a big fan of the parties coming together at all to try to find compromise.

Williams, Jr: No. We're more polarized than we've ever been, you know it. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. We're polarized. You know that.

Carlson: Well, you didn't, you didn't cause you used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the President.

Williams, Jr: That is true. But I am telling you like it is that, you know, it just wasn't a good thing. It just didn't fly.

Carlson gave Williams, Jr. an opportunity to deny he was comparing Obama to Hitler. Instead, Williams, Jr. confirmed that was exactly what he meant. Williams, Jr. is responsible for his own actions has only himself to blame for his severance from Monday Night Football.

Now anybody who has taken the time to read my articles and blog posts will know with complete certainty that I believe Barack Obama to be an abysmal President and that he ought to be rebuked at the polls next year. But I also believe that it is possible to critique Obama without bringing Hitler into the conversation. As for the people who compared Bush to Hitler, I have no use for them either and we should not stoop to their level.

Let me conclude by retiterating that comparing anyone to Hitler who hasn't committed genocide (or aspires to do so) only serves to trivialize the evil committed in his name and ideology. This isn't a question of political correctness; it is a question of basic decency. Try to understand where I am coming from on this matter. If I had the temerity to compare the President of the United States, any President, to Hitler in the presence of the Holocaust survivors who attended my shul all those years ago, I would have been severely admonished and rightly so.

View all comments (39) | Leave a comment

Clint| 10.7.11 @ 12:36PM

Maybe Williams could compare Obama to Mao Or Stalin and not get arrested by The Thought Police.

Just Sayin'.

Occam's Tool| 10.7.11 @ 1:48PM

Clint, given your previous, screw off. I'm "Just Sayin'" you are a scumbag, a bully, and a thug, and your opinions on Jewish issues are moronic.

Aaron, yes, Hitler was unconscionably evil. But Williams was not directly comparing Hitler to Obama. His point (a tad gauche) was that Boehner should look upon Obama as an enemy and not play golf with him.

I don't think he should have been kicked off of ESPN for this, as Obama is, like Ron Paul, setting up Israel for a second Holocaust.

Clint| 10.7.11 @ 1:55PM

Zany Insane Israel Firster Maniac, Tool Job Is All Paniced & Manic Again.

Take Two Shock Treatments & Call Bibi In The Morning.

les nesman| 10.8.11 @ 11:30AM

"Take 2 shock treatments & call bibi in the morning". LOL that is a good one!

Al Adab| 10.7.11 @ 2:02PM

OT:
We had to listen to Bush/Hitler stuff for eight long years remember? To say nothing of all the other old slogans. But only now is such a comparison the poison apple of employment.

What we need to watch out for is Bonaparte. He will surely emerge from this (Leftist created) designed chaos to "restore America".

Clint finally makes a legit point and his reply to you is insane. "Just sayin'".

Quartermaster| 10.7.11 @ 9:07PM

Occam's retort was uncalled for and moronic. His 2nd paragraph was fine, but then the last was as idiotic as the first. Occam is every bit as bad and tiresome as Clint.

Clint| 10.7.11 @ 10:39PM

Tool Job Gets The Punch In The Face, He Repeatedly Asks For.

Occam's Tool| 10.8.11 @ 4:45PM

Thanks, Quartemaster.

Let me repeat: Obama's setup of the Iranian nuclear program by not intervening decisively, in the face of their President's repeated calls for martyrdom by destroying Israel regardless of cost, is setting Israel up for a second Shoah, as is his advicocy of "Auschwitz" borders (that term is NOT mine).

I'm sorry I'm tiresome. When lecturing to blithering idiots, there is a tendency to have to repeat. Clint is one such.

Clint's views on Jews and Israel are despicable and moronic, Quartermaster. He deserved the punch he got. Do a search on "Clint and Israel" on this website.

Your comments were amusing to me. Perhaps I will look for ways to piss you off, as well. Remember, dear boy, you started it.

Occam's Tool| 10.8.11 @ 4:52PM

Too many typos: Quartermaster, advocacy, etc.

I agree with Al. This is a case of being overblown. I don't think ANYTHING should have happened to Hank over this. I worry about people who think it is OK for Iran to possess nuclear weapons, not Bocephus, who I have a bit of a fondness for (We both lived in Cullman, AL, just at different times. As a matter of fact, Bocephus tried to date one of my favorite burses in Alabama.).

Occam's Tool| 10.8.11 @ 4:53PM

"Nurses. He tried to date one of my favorite nurses."

Sorry, Bocephus. She woulda have gone out with me.

les nesman| 10.9.11 @ 2:11AM

I'm OK only with the US having these weapons. We created them, they are ours. The others that have them stole the technology. As punishment, at a minimum, these states should no longer receive aid from us. FYI that is the law a nation is not a NPT signatory (Symington amendment)

John| 10.8.11 @ 4:58PM

What exactly do you want Obama to do. Start a war with Iran because Iran might bomb Israel? Please tell us what you want done.

Zack| 10.7.11 @ 12:38PM

"Let me conclude by retiterating that comparing anyone to Hitler who hasn't committed genocide (or aspires to do so) only serves to trivialize the evil committed in his name and ideology."

Agreed. Also, it makes the person making the comparison seem like a crackpot. There's plenty of unflattering Obama comparisons without resorting to "Godwin's Rule" analogies (Jimmy Carter, anyone?).

Joe R| 10.7.11 @ 12:44PM

All this from a guy who picked the Cubs to win the NL pennant.

Aaron Goldstein| 10.7.11 @ 12:50PM

True, but I did pick the Tigers to win the AL pennant. They are four wins away from going to the World Series.

Al Adab| 10.7.11 @ 2:04PM

Tigers v Rangers, we'll see. National not picked yet, but will be by tonight. Great games all around.

David W| 10.7.11 @ 12:48PM

Perhaps it is an unfair comparison. However, when I saw the video of the various stars and others (didn't know how most of them were) who were pleding their loyalty to Obama and not the US I immediately thought the following: "this is the same type of "hero" worship that Hitler received during his rise to power." I saw videos and read descriptions of how Hitler was viewed by many Germans. It was strangely similar to the way Obama was regarded.

Is that an unfair and inappropriate analogy?

Aaron Goldstein| 10.7.11 @ 12:52PM

While I think the idolatry of Obama is creepy it doesn't rise to the level of the adulation of Hitler. There would have been no Tea Party in Nazi Germany.

Al Adab| 10.7.11 @ 2:08PM

True enough. Any German TEA Party- perhaps led by Boenhoffer?- would have been crushed by the brown-shirts. Which leads us to the other thread regarding the occupy Wall Street crowd. Just a practice run for disrupting the conventions next year? To "preserve our Democracy" Bonaparte could just use a "whiff of grapeshot" n'cest pas? No need for those annoying and expensive elections. There is danger here.

Quartermaster| 10.7.11 @ 9:12PM

The TEA Party thing doesn't hold up. The Hitler/Obama analogy, however, does hold up. You may not like, you don't have to like it, but it holds up. The adulation may not be as strong as it was for Hitler, but it is there.

The American people just don't have the Teutonic personality that led to the level of adulation that Hitler got from the population at large. There are segments of our population whose adulation does rise that far.

It is not an unreasonable analogy.

Lisa| 10.8.11 @ 1:16AM

Those schoolchildren singing Obama's praises was the exact same thing schoolchildren did in Hitler's Germany.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009.....classroom/

Williams's anaology is closer than you think, Mr. Goldstein.

Clint| 10.8.11 @ 7:42AM

The Little School Kiddies Sing,

" Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Deutschland is happy and gay!
We're marching to a faster pace
Look out, here comes the master race!
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Rhineland's a fine land once more!
Springtime for Hitler and Germany
Watch out, Europe
We're going on tour!
Springtime for Hitler and Germany... "

Obama, " O.K. Kiddies, Once More From The Top."

LC Jack| 10.8.11 @ 8:57AM

Hah, Imagine That ! YouTube pulled that video as it violates their TOS.

Any question about them falling totally to the dark side?

martin j smith| 10.7.11 @ 2:00PM

Right now a close proximity is a Chavez or Castro wannabee-- But let me tell you something Aaron, If Obama got elected his methods against opposition would not be pretty and the Hitler analogy might not be as far off as YOU believe.

Bob K.| 10.7.11 @ 3:12PM

Words lose their meanings or their meanings change over the years and now words like "Nazi" and "Fascist" have lost their real meanings and became pejoratives and insults. And others like "Communist" are in the process of becoming the same.

In truth, even with the original meaning of "Nazi," shortened from National Socialist to "Nazi" by Hitler, Obama could not be compared to Hitler who was a German Nationalist and a Socialist.

I think everyone here will agree that Obama is an Internationalist rather than a Nationalist but nevertheless a Socialist.

In fact it would not have mattered what Williams called him. He would have been fired for anything he said if it could have been construed as an insult or even "lese-majeste," an affront to the Emperor which our press has enthroned.

Since the press did not enthrone "King" George Bush the Second this insult to "King" Barack the First's dignity, fatal to Williams, would have been overlooked against Bush.

Quartermaster| 10.7.11 @ 9:13PM

You have pretty much nailed it Bob.

Rich Fisher| 10.7.11 @ 3:27PM

So, you don't think Obama should be compared to Hitler? Really? Obama gets his base all fired up against Wall Street as well as Corporate CEO's and then his minions show up at these peoples place of business and homes. How far is it to the next step? He has demonized these people, made them appear less than human and at some point people are going to be killed. Isn't that what Hitler did? He didn't start out saying let's kill all the Jews, he just made them the target of his hate speech and then when his followers were sufficiently foaming at the mouth he turned them loose. You only have to visit Liberal Blogs, and even some not so Liberal Blogs, to find the kind of idiots that would welcome the chance to "get even" with those greedy bastards that provide all the jobs we have. Obama's irresponsible actions are fomenting violence. He is not a community organizer anymore, unfortunately, he is the President of The United States and should start acting like it. Hitleresque. You bet, just in a different time and with a different target but the results can be the same. This kind of talk killed millions in Russia so thinking it won't happen here and he isn't responsible is ridiculous.

Herb Tarlek| 10.7.11 @ 10:43PM

I think the next step is >50 % income tax, some kind of an asset tax, extrajudicial assassination of US citizens, and mandatory gay marriage & mandatory abortions. We're almost there, next thing you know we're Canada but without the free healthcare & more assassinations.

9th ID| 10.8.11 @ 11:13AM

I see absolutely no problem in comparing Obama to Hitler, as on the level of genocides, Obama has the most radical Pro-Abortion record in the history of American politics. How many tens of millions of unborn children must be slaughtered in the name of "choice" by eugenicists like Obama and Planned Parenthood to be guilty of genocide? It doesn't matter to me how a stacked liberal SCOTUS ruled on Roe v. Wade as it was morally wrong. The legal system in Nazi Germany didn’t seem to have a problem with the Holocaust either. It is not demeaning to Holocaust survivors to compare Obama to Hitler. Genocide is genocide.

ejp| 10.7.11 @ 5:05PM

So long as ESPN gave Spike Lee a soapbox inside the MNF booth, and didn't fire Dana Jacobson, I will not applaud what they did to Williams. I am more offended by them revealing their one-sided standard for what gets them to take action, and I see nothing out of line with taking that position.

Les Nesman| 10.7.11 @ 10:37PM

Hank was just kidding around obviously. After reviewing the video I thought it was some kind of a gag segment. The shades, the silly clothes, the pretend intoxication. Fox & Friends could use some levity & I thought this was some new material. No doubt about it, ESPN overreacted & they look silly for not getting the joke.

pnmnm| 10.8.11 @ 1:07AM

There will never be another Hitler, but there will likely be another person who gains control of people's lives and eliminates opponents and "undesirables." You could make a comparison of Hitler with any president, but that doesn't mean he is or was the same kind of person as Hitler. For example, we could break this down a bit for Obama.

Hitler worked within the system to promote a secret agenda (actual destruction of the Jews and other opposition, and conquering of neighboring lands) while despising the will of the people and fomenting troubles to enable his dictatorship

Obama declared himself a moderate while planning to implement a radical , socialist transformation of the government by first destroying the economy and fomenting troubles that could justify unreasonable executive response. Obama has more than once lamented that he cannot be a dictator and ignore the will of the people. Yet, he does everything he can to ignore the will of the people.

Hitler used political and physical persuasion to homogenize a large portion of the press to minimize criticism of him personally and his political policies. The weight of this mass media together with the thuggery of his supporters eventually eliminated the inhomogeneous sector of the press.

Obama has not had to homogenize the press. Much of it was already there for him. Responses to recent press defections, though, reveal that Obama is willing to coerce press members and their bosses to toe the line. They still ignore scandals and misbehaviors that would have been investigated relentlessly by the mainstream press 8 years ago. Although he backed off from the "Fairness Doctrine", do not expect the administration to drop the attack on free speech.

Hitler established strong bonds with favored corporations to help consolidate his power, obtain financial backing, and gain respect among the business community.

Obama has established strong bonds with several large corporations and financial institutions (e.g., GE and Goldman Sachs) to obtain financial power and gain some cred with businesses. So have other presidents.

Hitler had a cadre of thugs to terrorize and silence opponents. They happened to be the SA and, later, the SS. He enabled the citizens to rat on each other for opposing the regime, using them to pluck out the opposition. A practice not unique to Hitler.

During the campaign, Obama called for a national police force of citizens whose job would be to inform on their neighbor. Thankfully, it has not yet materialized. But, his supporters regularly use radical leftwing organizations (e.g., Black Panthers) and some labor unions (e.g., SEIU) to harass and sometimes (e.g., at Tea Party rallies) rough up their opponents. The OWC is pointlessly protesting while causing civil disruption, e.g., Brooklyn Bridge, with the president's blessing and encouragement.

Hitler instilled devotion to himself and not the nation. He became the embodiment of the nation.

From the beginning of his campaign, Obama's theme has been Obama. The pronoun "we" has been replaced with "I". The president takes personal credit for things that others have done. Obama takes credit for the recent victories over Al Qaida in a personal sense. He does not say, "Our military did..." It is "I did.." His spokesman, Carney, recently reinforced this idea. It does not take a genius to see this personalizing of the office, yet no one in the MSM dares to comment on it. Instead, they give him an unconscionable amount of air time for his tiresome baloney.

Hitler established particular groups as public enemies, the source of the nation's problems, you know who they are. He sent his thugs to harass them and when his power was unchallenged, he executed them.

Obama has come up with a few legitimate citizen groups (Tea Party and "rich" people) who are to be despised as the source of people's problems. The physical harassment has been minimal. The rhetoric extreme. His power is not complete.

Hitler fought in a war as a young man. Obama did not.

Hitler had no family life. Obama has a wife and two children.

Hitler was a national socialist. Obama is an international socialist.

Hitler was a pagan materialist, Darwinist. Obama is a ??

Hitler locked up and executed homosexuals. Obama gave them a marriage license and a promotion.

Hitler diminished the family and traditional religion by making the state the father and the nation the family. He first persecuted Jews and a few other groups and eventually extended his suppression to Christians.

Obama diminishes the family and religion by his efforts to eliminate charitable deductions, deny religious exemptions to objectionable laws, count a married pair as 1.25 persons in his tax laws compared to an unmarried pair as 2 persons ($250K vs $200K tax thresholds), etc.

These are just a few examples. Some aspects are more alike than others. One could do the same thing for any other president. Some match, some don't.

Obviously, blindly painting a person as Hitler is counter-productive and inaccurate. Hank should have been given the chance to explain himself before being fired. But is there something wrong with asking the question: How close does a given president come to Hitler? Do we wait until a person follows and completes the path of a Hitler to say, "he is like Hitler and should be stopped." Do we quietly ignore the violations of our constitution, liberties, and rights, afraid to ask legitimate questions and pursue investigations? We are not post-Weimar Deutschland, but we are a nation that seems to be easily bullied by political correctness into ignoring evil in our midst. It might take a little longer for a Hitler-like leader to take over the USA, but it is not impossible. For that reason alone, we should be extra wary of any leader whose signature word is "I", even if he is incompetent. We should not be complacent that the system will always work. Someone will eventually will try to override it to our detriment.

Solo| 10.8.11 @ 8:21AM

I think it rather obvious that Mr. Williams' analogy was intended to suggest that Obama and Boehner playing golf together was a match of polar opposites and should not have been undertaken by Boehner so as to lend the appearance of acceptance and amity towards an enemy.

No where in his statement can it be construed that he intended to accuse Obama of genocide or of even being a "Nationalist".

I think some of you are bit "nit-picky" over the comparison. Hell...you might as well complain that it was a bad analogy because Obama doesn't have a mustache.

Occam's Tool| 10.8.11 @ 4:48PM

Yes. I thought it was a reference to polar opposites, as well. And I'm as Jewish as Aaron. And I grew up just down the road from Skokie (home to the largest group of Jewish Holocaust survivors per capita in the US), getting my bagels from Kaufman's as a kid.

Dieter Hausman| 10.8.11 @ 10:33AM

Being as someone who lived through the time of Hitler, Mr. Williams (Jr.) was very apt in his statement.

Obama is like Hitler, and his Occupy Wall Street folk are the new SS.

Tom Osterman| 10.8.11 @ 1:16PM

The debate over Obama as Hitler obscures the real issue here: we have a President and a party that is seeking to establish a dictatorship once and for all. Hitler has come to symbolize the modern dictator in spite of an abundance of others, which is why invoking his name is so commonplace. The point-by-point comparisons just lose sight of the real danger: a nation ruled by thugs.

Barrie| 10.8.11 @ 2:25PM

Aaron is right that the Hitler comparison is a step too far in any argument. But that does not mean there are not serious valid similarities. Especially the ability to make vague, impressive speeches that made people lose their brains and swoon, and capturing the uncritical support of the intelligentsia who failed to reveal his background truthfully, believing in his Myth of Superiority to whatever crisis that came before him. I hope the US people have learned their lesson by now.
Failure here caused the Germans enormous losses and humiliation that they still wince in shame to remember. Don't repeat it, America! Williams may have done the ordinary people a great service after all.