Since the year 2000, those on the left of the political spectrum, repeatedly referred to President Bush as "Hitler" and his political administration as being full of "nazis", anyone that supported his political perspective were brown shirts.
Not to be outdone....
Since losing power in the recent presidential election, those on the extreme right like Glenn Beck and others, have repeatedly made the same mistake referring to President Obama as "Hitler" and his political agenda as "socialist".
Both sides were right.... and wrong.
Let's review, we all know who Hitler was. We all know the atrocities that he committed and was responsible for. 6 million murders and possibly more were a direct result of his "leadership". Hitler was evil incarnate. Many, many Americans died to save the world and people everywhere from his depravity. Their bravery and sacrifice commands our gratitude and respect.
That said, what have we done in their memory to honor them? We have made Hitler relevant once again and brought him into the very fabric of our political discourse. This needs to stop immediately. Words have meaning and referring to any human being - no matter how vehemently one disagrees politically- as Hitler denigrates those atrocities that Hitler committed.
Those on the left charged that Bush was a Nazi. The term would more properly be Fascist. A Fascist is someone who supports a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
Now did Bush promote a strong Nationalism. Yes, he did. So did Ronald Reagan, but I wouldn't have compared him to Hitler either. Bush did not regiment industry or commerce, although certain of his practices could have been heading in that direction. There was a concentrated effort during his presidency to suggest that if you didn't support the President then you were not a patriot and I find that to be fascist in the extreme. I can think of no greater political contribution that an American citizen can make than to raise their voice when they disagree with their government.
Now, as to the charge of socialism, socialists are people who support a system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. Let's look at this realistically, while Obama certainly wants to make the centralized government stronger and all encompassing, he doesn't want ALL the people to have control over it, only a select few who are in power. The word socialist doesn't seem to fit. But if we could combine socialism and fascism into say a socio-fascist then they may be on to something. However much I may disagree with President Obama though, I wouldn't suggest that he is the representative of the ultimate evil.
I wouldn't dishonor my father, my husband's grandfather and so many good men who fought to free us from Hitler - FOREVER - by bringing his ghost into my vernacular and making those comparisons.
Let's leave Hitler where he belongs - in hell - and return American politics back to the People in whose hands the power of this Government our Founders so rightly entrusted....
