Some of our favorite talking (bone)heads have been dropping the H-bomb all over the airwaves lately. Political discourse is de-evolving rapidly into a Fark comment thread.
Let's give Media Matters a hand as we choke down a little Godwinism from the wingnuts.
Clicky.
Glenn Beck, 6/7/06:
"[W]hen you take a little bit of truth and then you mix it with untruth, or your theory, that's where you get people to believe. ... It's like Hitler. Hitler said a little bit of truth, and then he mixed in `and it's the Jews' fault.' That's where things get a little troublesome, and that's exactly what's happening...
Sean Hannity, 6/9/06:
Now, how do our friends at ABC News handle this? Well, I'm looking at ABC News: "Al-Zarqawi Killing, More Harm Than Good?" question mark. Now, I don't know who writes the headlines over at ABC News, but, folks, what the heck are you thinking? You know, what would you say if Adolf Hitler was dead, "Adolf Hitler Dead, More Harm Than Good?" I mean, that's how absurd that headline is. That's how idiotic, imbecilic, and, by the way, agenda-driven the news media is today. They just don't get it. They don't have a clue.
(I'd like to point out, Hitler is dead, Sean.)
And now, we have Northport High School in New York, where the principal is apologizing for not censoring two students' yearbook quotations. They came from...wait for it...Hitler!
"Strength lies not in defense, but in attack."
"The great masses of people...will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."
These should, of course, sound familiar. Perhaps a lot like the motivation we all see behind the actions of the current administration. What really creeps me out about this last incident of Hitler Fever is the school's response.
An apology is fine. I'm sure people who don't appreciate historical comparison or the objectivity of quotation would have been greatly offended. It's a good PR move to apologize. But they are also "considering whether to reprint part of the yearbook or offer special tape to people who want to cover the quotes."
Do they not realize that they are very literally perpetrating a cover-up?
These students obviously did think about what they were doing (despite a surely-panicked father's assertion to the contrary in the article). The school cannot appreciate that. They could stand mute on the meaning of the quotations and merely tsk-tsk the source. They would do well to remember another very topical saying:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."