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…
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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