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It's become something we almost expect: Political disagreements degenerate into name-calling. Eventually, someone gets called a Nazi.
Almost without exception, the comparison is hyperbole to the point of absurdity. While neo-Nazis, Holocaust-deniers, and white supremacists do exist, they are not in the mainstream of political discourse today. All viable political parties in the United States reject the overt hatred and racism these modern wannabe-Hitlers represent.
Whether it's liberals calling conservatives "fascist, jack-booted thugs" or conservatives snidely reminding liberals that "Nazi" was shorthand for "National Socialism," the extremity of the comparison generally renders moot any point it was intended to make.
It bears reminding ourselves from time to time who the Nazis were and what they believed in, lest we weaken our understanding of their atrocities and evils. Just as calling everyone a terrorist lessens the term, calling our political opponents Nazis lessens the respect we ought to have for the dark period of our planet's history the Nazis brought.
Before the Nazis were finally defeated, they had killed:
* 6,000,000 Jews
* 2,500,000 Non-Jewish Polish civilians
* Between 1,500,000 and 2,200,000 Romanis
* 70,273 sick and disabled people
* Between 5,000 and 15,000 homosexuals
I am specifically excluding victims of warfare, prisoners of war, and those murders that weren't specifically related to the beliefs of the Nazis regarding superiority of race and purity of lineage. In total, the Holocaust cost as much as 17,000,000 people their lives, but I'm focusing here on only those deaths that were the goal, not the deaths of those who stood in the way of that goal.
The Nazis believed themselves to be a superior race. Their goal was to exterminate the Jews and any others they deemed undesirable in their Third Reich.
Lately, I've seen some ridiculous comparisons of a certain President's policies with those of Hitler. Accusations of fascistic behavior, Gestapo-like tactics, and so forth. I am, of course, talking about hyperbolic criticism of President Bush and the scandals of his administration. Warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention without charges, torture... Disturbing, certainly - especially the evidence of torture. I would even call them high crimes and misdemeanors. But however reprehensible I find it all, does it rise to the level of Nazis? Does it equate with a desire to exterminate an entire people? Does it equate with the murder of 6 million Jews? No. Of course not. However abusive of his office I believe Bush was, and however incompetent to hold the office, to compare him to the world-changing evil that was Hitler is an insult to the people who died in Germany and throughout Europe under him.
To my conservative friends, the next time you decide to compare Obama, or any of his supporters, to the Nazis, remember those millions upon millions. Ask yourself, is this policy I disagree with him about really comparable to gas chambers, to euthanasia, to the Jewish ghettos and concentration camps, to starvation and intentional mass murder? Is he really comparable to the men in the photo?
Today, the answer should never be "yes." If it is, the problem does not lie with Obama.