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SLOW TRAIN TO HELL
Aug 9th, 2009 | 48 responses
I am never surprised by the ignorance of many people, but some expressions of stupidity sometimes amaze me. I find it difficult to swallow when some Americans compare any U.S. elected official they oppose to Chancellor Adolph Hitler of Germany’s Third Reich. Many years ago, a few on the left suggested that of President Bush but most mainstream Democrats publicly repudiated the connection. Now some prominent mouthpieces on the right are making the same comparison to Hitler with President Obama. But Republican leadership is strangely silent and instead the wing-nuts have completely taken up that same charge.
I suspect this misdirected comparison is a result of a woefully inadequate education with respect to the political and economic history of Western Europe. On the basis of expressing raw hatred for a person who is deemed to be incredibly evil, there may be a reason for this charge, but little else. Despite my widely varying opinions on most American Presidents, I cannot find one that comes close to the personality or repeating the infamous actions of Hitler.
Hitler built the Autobahns, the inspiration for the U.S. Interstate Highway System that was advocated and signed into law President Dwight Eisenhower, General of Allied Forces in Europe during WWII. Hitler was a very good friend of big business in Germany before and during the war. He definitely modernized and expanded Germany’s military and pretty well ended the Depression for his country well ahead of the U.S. He certainly supported scientific research. His scientists developed rockets and jet engines and were working on an Atomic bomb by the end of the war. Less I forget the trains also ran on time, not only between major cities but to various internment camps. Even a monster can do a few things right.
The fascination of Hitler comes from the fact that a technologically and commercially advanced nation with a long history of valuing education and possessing strong religious convictions was still able to fall for such a consummate charlatan, liar, evil and despotic man. Then its citizens collectively went to war with all its neighbors and carried out a systemic policy of killing tens of millions of Jews, Christians, Gypsies, Invalids, Catholic Priests and Protestant Ministers, plus others it deemed to be enemies of the state. So where is the connection to be drawn between any past or current American President? Merely being a good public speaker and being very popular is not enough since many U.S. Presidents were both popular and good communicators in our history.
Perhaps people dwell too much on the name of Hitler’s party: the National Socialist German Workers Party. This certainly damaged the word “socialist” and anything to do with the labor movement in the eyes of many American conservatives. However, socialists were strongly opposed to communism and the word is still a proud moniker for many Europeans, along with being Liberals, Laborites, and Christian Democrats.
Hitler and his followers were fascists, a maniacally nationalistic, expansionistic, capitalistic, group of right-wing nuts who held power from 1933 to 1945. Not only did they hate blacks and Asians, they considered most other Europeans as inferior if they were not tall, blue-eyed blond Aryans. Amazingly enough, Hitler himself failed to meet any of those physical characteristics. German fascists did team up with “Latinos” in Europe – the Spanish and Italians who both speak Latin-based languages. In parts of both countries there are Aryan-looking people but the majority carry different physical characteristics. Many in the British Empire also shared the same disdain for most other humans not of Nordic-Germanic-Anglo (Aryan) backgrounds.
Fascists stress perpetual conflict between nations and races, stating that only the strong can survive by being healthy and assertive, and by waging war against the weak. Fascists advocate the creation of a single-party state where criticism and opposition of the government is prohibited. Fascism is often defined by the many things it opposes, such as individualism, rationalism, liberalism, conservatism, communism and unrestrained capitalism.
Mussolini, the Fascist Dictator of Italy who was allied with Hitler, championed the bureaucratic corporate state. This might be an analogy of all those bailouts of the American financial sector under the Bush and Obama Administrations, but we have since learned that our corporations may hold more sway over our government than the other way around. Besides, Mussolini was more of a comic figure who was pretty wishy-washy about any formal definition of fascism – but at least he also got the trains to run on time.
Republicans have frequently stated that the Stimulus Package, the Healthcare Reform Proposals, Environmental and Energy Proposals, and other actions of the Obama Administration constitute fascism. Conservatives – please elucidate me as I completely lost on the connection. It might be true only in some parallel universe concocted completely by fabrications concerning what most of those proposals are. I didn’t think Bush’s approach was anything similar to fascism, and neither is the current administration.
Numerous independent and democratic sources have completely discredited many of the false charged levied by Republicans. They do not make valid charges against the actual proposals that might merit thoughtful criticism. Instead they ignore reality and argue against some fantasy, which is much easier. Considering the stupidity and gullibility – and underlying animosity – of the core base Republicans from 2008, the slash and burn policy is working. Perhaps the evil of Obama is just barreling down the tracks at us and only Republicans can see it.
President Obama’s strongly supports better rail mass transit and a national high speed rail network. Perhaps this is the mother-load of “fascism.” Despite the fact that such infrastructure programs were pursued in Europe (lead by France – the arch nemesis of the right) only after WWII was over and fascism was completely defeated. Certainly these railroad improvement proposals have met with much idiotic right-wing criticism, ridicule and opposition. Remember Hitler and the Interstate Highway System? So, what form of transportation is really fascist?
At least in America since 1971 there has been a bi-partisan effort to starve and mismanage Amtrak, our nation’s meager rail passenger system so it never runs fast or on time, or even runs enough trains to serve the pent-up demands of travelers. That could have been our country’s ongoing effort to combat an imaginary fascism. But now that Obama wants to improve Amtrak and our country’s railroad infrastructure, he has become the demon of the American right, and not just for healthcare or climate and environmental legislation. Didn’t Abraham Lincoln sign legislation publicly subsidizing the construction of the First Continental Railway?
So please also explain the strong conservative opposition to the wildly-popular Cash-4-Clunkers program? I mean a $4,500 credit to exchange an old gas-guzzler for the purchase of a new car is such an effective socialistic economic stimulus for so many middle-income families across America. Should we have taken the measly $1 to $3 billion allocated to this program and preferably dumped it into the nearly $5 trillion dollars provided to our financial sector so it can pay millions in bonuses to a couple thousand incompetent top managers who helped cause the recession? I mean, who’s providing all those campaign contributions to our elected officials of both parties?
Because Hitler was such a historical monster, tying anyone you dislike to him is a convenient and complete insult. The natural insinuation that the person shares his beliefs and will act in the same as “Der Fuhrer” is completely implausible, particularly in the case of any American President. However if the goal is to manipulate some easily confused, frightened, and uneducated Americans, then continuing to stroke the flames of hatred and bigotry in this country for a few more years until most of the old white men (and some women) are dead and buried, is the price we pay for Republican relevance. If it gets the base out in force for the 2010 Midterm Elections to partially repudiate huge Democratic gains in 2008, then the Hitler scare tactics would have served their purpose.
Earlier this year on the Ides of March (3/15/09) I wrote a post for TMV while still a guest voice that was picked up by Real Clear Politics. Therein I noticed a rising level of anger, vitriol, ignorance, and bigotry growing in the U.S. I was concerned that it would only take a few nuts influenced by the endlessly spiteful and moronic blather on some Conservative media outlets, to cause untold harm to innocent people. Some things have gotten worse since March and the mind-numbing heat of August is beating down upon us. Back in March I wrote the following:
“Often people who are out of power and who have lost control over their thoughts and emotions are prone to do crazy and dangerous things…
* * *
I hope the entertainers and commentators in our 24/7 media circus pursue civility and moderation, and do not foolishly add fuel to some of the insane fires smoldering in this country. Too often the voices who espouse the most outlandish and extreme positions get the most media and public attention. I understand there is a First Amendment to be respected, but falsely yelling “fire” in a crowed theater is not protected speech.”
I hope that the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement are fully up to the task of protecting all public officials and their family members assigned to their care. I prefer political changes through ballot boxes rather than through gunfire. As a child I was alive during several assassinations that negatively impacted our country’s history.
We may be quickly moving beyond just entertainment that is protected by the First Amendment. We may be unleashing forces that will be highly destructive to our country’s future. I pray we all find some civility, sanity and humanity within ourselves through the God of Abraham, Jesus Christ, Mohammad, and of all human beings on this tiny and fragile planet.
8/9/09 by Marc Pascal in Phoenix, AZ
48 Responses to “SLOW TRAIN TO HELL”
a few on the left suggested that (Hitler comparisons) of President Bush but most mainstream Democrats publicly repudiated the connection
You have a very selective memory. I think a much more accurate description would be:
a significant portopn of the left blogosphere, and many other commentators on the left, suggested that (Hitler comparisons) of President Bush but a few mainstream Democrats, after letting the meme twist in the wind for an expended period of time, finally and quietly repudiated the connection.
AR Citations for your claim. An Imperial President isn't the Fuhrer.
While the US hasn't had a Fascist leader, I do think that we have become de facto corporatist.
The key of a corporatist state is that each interest group has representation in the government, but primarily through a small body of its (often unelected) leaders. For instance, the financial system interests are now dictated by a small number of megabanks and trading firms, where the government is going to them to determine what is “good for the system” and they go to the government to curry favor in name of “stability.” However there are thousands of entities that are left out of the loop and are forced to accede/convince the major players that are now “representatives” of their own interests.
The same for energy and food policy, wherein a small group of companies has quid pro quo and offer membership in trade-lobbying groups that smaller companies need to be a part of to have any voice.
And for the health insurance reform, they aren't even hiding that many changes to provisions have been because the insurance lobby went directly to the lawmakers and asked them to change things.
The Democrats especially equate labor with “unions” and the Obama Administration went way out of its way to insure that they had one of the main voices during the auto bankruptcies.
The Republican party seems to be increasingly represented by only a few voices that aren't even elected, and anyone that questions them is off the reservation (look at the Rick Moran reactions).
This state of affairs has always existed to some extent, but I think is on an upswing and makes things more dangerous because it cuts down on cooperation.
Civility is certainly needed. Such comments attacking the person do not address the issues in question and resolve nothing. Though all Americans have the right to make such comments, we also have the right to not listen.
Marc, great article- thanks!
here is a Google news search comparison:
Malkin – 448
Coulter – 799
Madsen – 129
Cockburn – 25
Rudi -
Cites? Why should I need cites?
I see none from you or Marc backing up your recollection of the events of the past 8 years of the Bush administration and his critics, of the fact of there being only a very few leftists comparing Bush to Hitler, and the evidence the HUGE upwelling from the mainstream media and politicians protecting and defending Bush's honor against those exceedingly rare and spurious attacks.
Yes indeed, I think I would like to see those first
Of course neither Bush nor Obama is the next Hitler. But I don't understand tying the high-speed rail to that – to me it's probably a good idea but probably a bad time to do it. If stimulus is what you want then there should be many more shovel-ready projects than high-speed rail.
FWIW Bush + Hitler gets 6,920,000 Google hits and Obama + Hitler gets 6,180,000 so it looks like the hyperbole is extensive on both sides.
This is why I went Modern Whig Party.
AR I responded to your blanket assertion of all left. I cited Counterpunch and two of their authors and compared their exposure, both in news and general Internet. Once again please tell me how many times Cockburn or Madsen appeared on Countdown and compare the exposure of Malkin and Coulter. I will concede the far left Hitler/Bush hyperbole, but this group isn't heard like Coulter or Malkin. DaGoat – same…
Rudi -
Oh, you pick and choose so well.
Let's try these:
<a href=”
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&client=firefo…>
Olbermann – 455
Rachel Maddow – 468
Paul Krugman – 808
Chris Matthews – 2,163
Maureen Dowd – 237
(That last one was just for humor. I cannot image the Left really wanting to claim her her as one of their own, but she is yours!)
If everything else were equal you would be raising a valid point BUT with Bush it was 8 YEARS and with Obama we're talking 8 MONTHS.
I mixed and matched AR and Rudi's examples then added 'nazi' 'hitler' filters and came up with
8 YEARS of Bush: (“name” + bush + nazi or hitler)
versus
8 MONTHS of Obama (“name” + obama + nazi or hitler)
Sticking out as poster children for most classless were:
AR – You're “Cites? Why should I need cites?” made me laugh…
I pictured Alfonso Bedoya scene in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” – “'Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!'”
I think some of the readers/commentators missed the point of my post. I conceded that both parties made the Hitler comparisons, but it is fairly obvious that the Republicans (media spokesmen) have jumped onto this false comparison with much more gusto – and it is part of an overall policy of fear-mongering and misinformation with respect to many policies and proposals. There is much to criticism Democrats for, but let's leave the extreme hyperbole and lies out of the public discussion. When so many people cannot distinguish between fact and opinion, it is the Media's duty to start sorting out the crap from the rest of the stuff. Unfortunately our 24/7 Media has proven not up to the task as it has degenerated into an info-entertainment sector that clings to the 1st Amendment.
I think mikkel got it right and I wrote about this several times earlier that it is not a fight between left & right, Democrats vs. Republicans, or Conservatives & Liberals. It is the general public versus large corporate interests that have bought the best government they could buy to protect their interests and the public be damned. We cannot have a good debate on healthcare reform until we have an informed and thoughtful public – not an angry group of fools being lead by their noses to assume the worse of the other side.
I tried to link everything together in my posts but sometimes I admit it is a stretch. Thanks for the comments but I want to know from readers about how to organize a civil discourse in our society – on TMV there are already many because the participants (of all political persuasions) are all very smart. Best regards from the author in Phoenix, MP
Marc, I think one of the key characteristics (and something that I'm coming to believe more fully the more I see what's going on and read about reactions) is that it's not even general public vs. large corporate interests per se — a lot of major corporations are out of the loop too! Look at Google and its fight to get a tiny bit of the wireless spectrum. Steve Balmer has openly complained about government policies as well and saying that we are going to have 20 years of subpar growth because of their favoritism.
I think it is more that the the sectors that are key to geopolitical strategy and basic governance tend to have behemoths that rise and become quasi-governmental because they are so integral to governmental function. The Fed propped up hundreds of billions of dollars of bonds in GE because they were deemed to be worthy, which is odd because they aren't really that much of a financial player. However, I can't imagine what would happen to military contracts if GE were to go under. The same with Lockheed or Halliburton or ATT and so on and so forth. Similarly, if health insurance companies got pissed and started pulling out, then our entire system would grind to a halt. This is also why the government basically gives away public rights to energy producers.
It's not just that these corporations use lobbyists and such to rake in obscene profits — although they do — it's that the government has become beholden to them for basic operations. Of course this also means that they have become dependent on the government as well, which is why they throw such fits when there is talk of governmental policy that will limit their influence.
At that level there is no free market, but they do a good job of using that rhetoric (which both sides buy into) in order to play to the *real* economy, i.e. all the small businesses and medium/large companies that aren't part of this complex. And often times, reforms aimed at the complex do little to affect their targets, while having negative effects for the companies outside of it.
Excellent article Marc. The people who are fond of using the Hitler comparisons are like Kipling's Bandar-Log, chattering away with no concern about whether what they are saying is true or makes any sense. What matters to them is the sound of thier voices in their own ears, and how it echoes in the ears of other Bandar-Log. As you say, these are “expressions of stupidity”, regardless of who employs them.
As to the more frequent willingness of factions on the right to deploy those comparisons, I have to believe the reactionary media figureheads are in large part responsible for this. They've been around longer than any counterparts (such as they are) on the left, and even now are much more widely listened to and believed by their followers. They and their political partners have made a concerted effort for a long time now to brand anything vaguely associated with “liberal” thought as somehow less genuinely and uniquely American… as compared to so-called “conservative thought. When the drums for that sort of propaganda are beat long enough and loud enough (and they have been), then eventually you're going to end up with a significantly large bunch of folks who believe it to be true.
We are dealing now with the continuing effects of anti-liberal propaganda that have been around for at least one generation, perhaps longer. The only useful counter to that sort of viral “thinking” is education. Education not just in history, but in how to think critically. Unfortunately critical thinking ability in our society doesn't seem to be valued as much as it was at one time, and now we are suffering the effects of that loss of value. This is the age of distraction, reflexive response, programmed rejoinder, us and them, etc. That is NOT a recipe that will ever bode well for a country that has traditionally put a high value on unity in order to flourish.
So who benefits from the exploitation of division? I'm pretty sure that neither you nor I do. I believe that we as citizens need to ALL be very suspicious about the motives behind the voices who want to divide us, since by that process of division we ALL give up a significant amount of whatever power we could have to influence the fate of our country. If various forces are able to convince us to give up our power by abandoning unity, and reduce us to expending our energy bickering among ourselves, then of what use is a citizen government? Honest and genuine debate of differences in beliefs, facts, and conclusions is one thing, but deliberate demonization and the sowing of distrust is quite another. How smart are we when we allow others to control that narrative?
President Eisenhower warned us of the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex – the merger of certain industries with government that swallows who sections of our society and power. You are correct in noting that these entities are hopelessly intertwined.
Government research money has been the impetus for a number of new industries (i.e. computers, internet) but how do we encourage the vibrant “free” market of small businesses and companies not part of this complex? Silverstein in a separate post today discusses the fast results from direct subsidies versus the inefficiencies of complex tax laws that attempt the same thing.
The Federal Government has always played favorites in the past with any new policies and programs. That will become self-evident with future spending on new energy and infrastructure projects. What has hampered the stimulus plan from being effective has been the bureaucratic nightmare facing states and companies trying to get money. We have a central government that has ossified so much and created such a Byzantine organization that it works in opposition to its own stated goals.
Perhaps transparency and simplicity should be goals. Congress has yet to figure that out. I know the complex laws, rules and regulations give perpetual life and money to certain lawyers, lobbyists, CPAs and other “experts” but is that really a productive use of time, money, the nation's wealth, and brainpower? Large corporate organizations function in the same manner as does big government.
I fear the US is no longer making the right goods/products or providing the essential or worthwhile services that employ enough Americans nor meet the demands of an interdependent global economy. We are also mired in too much structural debt – not only at the Governmental level but 4 to 5 times as large at the business and household level. Perhaps this deep recession will be over but the new economy will not be anything we have seen before.
I fear that if this country cannot address the large systemic problems of our healthcare system in a mature and responsible manner, we won't be able to address much of anything. Great world powers rose, ruled and declined – often their political systems were unable to meet the challenges they all knew were there. The Empires of Rome, Spain and Britain all are history. The American one may join them by 2025. I probably should not read too much by Kevin Phillips but he's a great historical writer and analyst.
Best wishes from the author in sunny Phoenix – MP
Marc, great post. Well thought out as well as thoughtful and poignant. The easiest way to attack an opponent (real or imagined) is creating a straw man as Hitler created with the Jews, gypsies, mentally handicapped, et.al. We saw it with crazy attacks on W and now on Obama. As for the search engine “hits” on left/right personalities, it's not a measure of popularity but an indicator of how many people want to read what they already agree with.
I apologize if my earlier post wasn't very clear, but the point I was trying to make was that there is plenty of foolishness in both parties, and trying to claim “my party is less foolish than yours” is in itself foolish.
True enough…
It will probably take more than 15 years for the US Empire to go down, it took the Roman Empire a couple of centuries to go down, it will probably take us half as much time as the Romans. If we split the Empire (Let the south east secede) the way the Romans did, we could probably endure for a couple more centuries.
Whatever happened to Godwin's Law?
was assassinated by Republicans in the mid 90's when Bill Clinton was President.
any party that has Rush Limbaugh as a spokesman is far more foolish than the other party
And the party that elected Al Franken as a Senator moves to the front by 3 1/2 lengths!
This whole post violates it, starting with the second sentence of the top level!
DQ –
Wow, you must have really been whacked out on drugs or something during the Clinton years. I remember a lot of political trash-talking from back then, but constant Clinton-Hitler comparisons are not one of them.
The party that selected GW Bush for president (Really is that the best Presidential Timber that could be found in the entire party?) and Sarah Palin for VP is not in a position to criticize anyone.
BTW, how did that Bush Presidency work out for you guys?
Research, Google-style
Hmmm . . . this got me curious, so I followed Hansen's tip and did some Google searches:
bush hitler: 1.5 million
clinton hitler: 0.7 million
Clinton and Hitler Compared
It seems that your memory is faulty…
Nor Chris Matthews, he is a whore who will sell himself to the highest bidder.
In order to make that a fair comparison you need to factor in the fact that so far Obama has been president for about 7% as long as Bush was (7 months/96 months). Since the number of hits is similar in spite of Bush's much, much longer tenure I'd say the hyperbole has been definitely tilted significantly against Obama on this one.
Al Franken graduated with honors from Harvard with a degree in political science and has served as a Fellow with Harvard's Kennedy School of Government .
Yeah, he's sooooooo unqualified compared to some of the jackasses in the senate from both parties … NOT!
I could care less about the ideology of politics…. Most Americans are profoundly aware of the fact the the Government couldn't give itself a hand job… and they now want to leverage influence over 1/6 or our economy…. This is what makes peopel nervous! This is why they are fearful You word-weavers in the media miss the point all together.. For you its a war of ideas; for us its a decisions that will change our lives. The culture of politics these days isn't one of constituent representation, rather one of idealogical impressionism… on both sides! Politicians could care less about what the people they represent want or need…
AFAIK, during the Clinton years the Hitler debate wasn't really brought up. Bill O'REilly's been hitting the bottle too much, methinks.
Really?
Can we now defund the Military? Cause really if the Government cannot be trusted to give itself a hand job how can we trust them with thousands of Nukes, hundreds of aircrafts, dozens of Aircraft Carriers and more than enough conventional weaponry to destroy any major country?
Now if the Government cannot be trusted to give itself a hand job, now might just be the time to defund the CIA, an organization that has caused more misery throughout the world than you care to imagine, how about the DEA a totally pointless organization who has done more to destroy the Bill of Rights than almost anyone else? How about the CIA,the NSA and most of the US Intelligence Services(An oxymoron if there has ever been one)?
Can we also defund the FDIC, SLBIC and the various other agencies that guarantee your money?
DQ -
I am going to stand by what I said. I still do not remember rampant Clinton-Hitler comparisons during his term. As I said, there was a lot of stuff thrown around, that was not a dominant theme
The problem with Google searches is that they make no analysis of the matches, i.e,, one page may contain multiple articles, one of which has either Bush or Clinton's name, another mentions Hitler. No connection was ever made, but it gets added.
The second problem is that the internet has matured and grown tremendously in usage from the Clinton years to the Bush years. That also means the majority of posts being searched and cataloged are from the Bush years.
Even if you COULD limit the searches to just the Clinton years then the Bush years, those results would be off as well, because of the vastly larger number of searchable articles in the Bush years vs. the Clinton years.
Just to show what I mean, here are some other 'Hitler' matchings:
Hillary Clinton – 1,290,000
Chelsea Clinton – 249,000 (wtf?)
Barbara Bush – 564,000 (wtf?)
Ronald Reagan Hitler – 619,000 (the internet didn't even exist during his presidency)
Jimmy Carter Hitler – 607,000 (the internet didn't even exist during his presidency, and that is just a silly comparison)
Sarah Palin – 1,520,000
And just to show the true randomness, Jude Law Hitler – 458,000
Google searches are not a replacement for our memories.
And before you attack me on why they were used, I did not start this whole Goggle search thing on this thread – I just joined in the fun I amtrying to show they mean nothing. No one seems to get that, though.
We don't 'thread' here. using reply means that an email is sent to the original commentator, so they know someone directly replied to a comment of theirs. Otherwise, you cannot tell when someone has used reply or not reading the thread. It was tried here, but too many people complained about the change, and it was taken back out.
Awesome avatar, btw, from another physics-head.
quark -
Al Franken graduated with honors from Harvard with a degree in political science and has served as a Fellow with Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
Simply being well educated, and intelligent, does not in and of itself make any individual more qualified than another to hold elective office.
As an extreme example, Ted Kaczynski (the Unibomber) entered Harvard at age 16, graduated in 4 years, got a PhD in mathematics from Michigan at 24, then became a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkley, the youngest professor ever hired by Berkley.
Think HE would make a good Senator?
Actually, it should be a prerequisite…
We have seen what happens when Legacies with Gentleman's Cs get elected to office.
PS. Not only is Franken smart and well educated, he is also a successfully published author and artist, practically a self-made man.
Then let's draft Kaczynski fro Congress!
He is demonstrably smarter than Franken, and is published, too!
We have seen what happens when Legacies with Gentleman's Cs get elected to office
Oh, you mean like Al Gore?
Don,
Please stick to the subject of government funded and bankrupt social programs that are now train-wrecks… The military “tie-to” is a stretch… I get the correlations you are trying to make but your post is argumentative and really doesn't add any meaningful perspective to the point I was trying to make. Name a single government program of any significance that's not bankrupt? Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid… all operating at significant deficit with costs spinning out of control… No end in site, no stated intent by our representation to correct the problems. These programs are the models upon which our government seeks to re-engineer a significant portion of our economy..? So again I say, the government is incapable of giving itself a handjob… I do find it ironic, however, that you cite the military as an example when there is article on Fox News about the Air Force asking appropriations for 4 jets and congress approving 8… Again, a
clear sign, in my opinion that these people are lost in the woods… We plebes must endeavor to persevere and strive to do whats best for our families and communities in practicality not ideological conjecture…
Best Regards,
Erik
________________________________
Hear Hear! As we all know, people able to think for themselves is the most dangerous obstacle to a Fascist state. These terms are thrown and bandied about it makes one go into Iñigo Montoya mode “I do not think that word means what you think it means”.
But it is a quick spray-painted brass ring to grab, on the not-so-merry go round. Not much though required, tune in at 5 and let Glenn tell you what to think. That's the real offense- these multimillionaires telling you what Socialism is. They just want all the Oxy they can pack in a suitcase on the way back from the D.R.
Can you spell irony?
Amusing how only programs whose goal is to improve the well-being of Americans are train wrecks, but the government programs whose purpose is to kill defenseless brown people through out the world are not…
“FWIW Bush + Hitler gets 6,920,000 Google hits and Obama + Hitler gets 6,180,000 so it looks like the hyperbole is extensive on both sides.”
Da Goat– Yes but Bush was in office 8 years, and Obama has been in office 6 months! I believe that tips the scales.
AR- Anything Al Gore has done has been an enormous success. Chimpy has never been successful at anything.
Its not comparable to W's shameful legacy at all.
Remember that Bush won the electoral college vote(if he won) because more people could see themselves having a beer with him!
Say what you want, but Gore never was elected President (despite the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth by the Left!)
And if by 'success' you mean keeping his face in the spotlight with Micheal Moore like antics and an unbelievable level of environmental hypocrisy surrounding his own lifestyle, why yes, Gore has been a smashing success.
Al Gore: “Manbearpig is in there and we all have to kill him while we all have the chance, I'm cereal!”
Stan Marsh: [to Al Gore] Stay away from us, asshole! I was nice to you because I felt sorry for you, because you don't have any friends! But now I see WHY you don't have any friends! You just used ManBearPig as a way to get attention for yourself because you're a LOSER!
Al Gore: [undaunted] Yeah right. The man who singlehandedly killed ManBearPig is a loser.
No, by success I mean making an Oscar-winning movie,establishing and running
a multimillion dollar corporation, promoting the internet in its initial
stages, and winning a Nobel prize.
And he was the winner of the popular vote but Bushwas enthroned by the
conservative corporatists on the Supreme Ct.
Say what you want but Chimpy ran everything he ever touched into the ground-
including our beloved country. And that was true despite poppy's help.
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