Posted by Jim Lindgren:
A Blast From the Past on Fascism--Part 2: Nazification of Bush
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_04_12-2009_04_18.shtml#1240107288
Here is a [1]John Leo column from late 2003 on the Nazification of
Bush:
The hard left decided long ago that George W. Bush is Hitler. In
maddened corners of the Internet and at swastika-choked antiwar
marches, Bush is shown with a Nazi uniform or a Hitler mustache.
But does everyone on the far left believe this? Not at all. Some
think that Dick Cheney is the real Hitler (he commands America�s
�storm-trooper legions,� said former right-wing crackpot and
current left-wing crackpot Lyndon LaRouche). Others think Don
Rumsfeld is Hitler (both men favored mountain�top retreats, the
Action Coalition of Taos points out). These comparisons are still
being argued. Air Force veteran Douglas Herman, writing an op-ed
piece in Florida, says Rumsfeld is more like Goering, since both
men were fighter pilots, while LaRouche decided that Cheney isn�t
just Hitler -- he�s Lady Macbeth as well.
Many on the left believe that either Ari Fleischer or Karl Rove is
Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Or maybe Richard Perle is
related to Goebbels. The September issue of Vanity Fair suggested
that Perle could be Goebbels�s twin (side by side photos, headlined
�Separated at birth?�).
Another vexing question about Rove: Is he Goebbels or Josef
Mengele? Goebbels is the top choice among antiwar commentators, but
a writer to the MetaFilter site said: �Karl Rove made up stories
about John McCain, just as Josef Mengele conducted medical
experiments on children in Auschwitz.�
One Internet site referred to Tom Ridge as Heinrich Himmler;
another calls him head of �Homeland Security, the new Gestapo.�
Colin Powell is Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop,
according to a posting on the Democratic Underground site. And
Frank Rich of the New York Times managed to work a famous Nazi
filmmaker into the mix. He wrote that the recent Showtime
docudrama, DC 9/11: Time of Crisis, was so pro-Bush that it is
�best viewed as a fitting memorial to Leni Riefenstahl.�
The common charge that Bush is Mussolini is controversial -- many
leftists insist that the Mussolini role is reserved for Tony Blair,
the junior partner of Bush�s Hitler. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder said
on TV that Condoleezza Rice is a murderer but failed to give her
any Nazi designation -- a big mistake by prevailing standards. On
the same show, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said, �I generally agree
with [McGruder] 100 percent,� but he too failed to offer a good
Nazi comparison.
Paul Wolfowitz is a challenge to lefty analysts, some of whom think
his intellectual background is fascist (Jeffrey Steinberg in
Executive Intelligence Review), while others believe he has
Bolshevik roots (he is Trotsky�s ghost, according to Canadian
journalist Jeet Heer).
Anyone who calls the Bush people fascists will get no argument from
Princeton Prof. Sheldon Wolin, who says, �We are facing forms of
domination that exceed the old vocabulary.� So if you feel like
calling somebody a fascist, go right ahead. Historian Eric Foner of
Columbia compared Bush to the Japanese warlords of World War II who
launched a pre-emptive war at Pearl Harbor. Since other
name-callers on the left are so Nazi-minded, this qualifies as a
fresh idea.
By last fall, most of the outstanding villains of history had been
pressed into service as forerunners of George Bush. Napoleon is a
heavy favorite. . . .
Bush is Dr. Frankenstein, according to the cartoon �Bushenstein�
featured on the Democratic National Committee Web site. Anti-Bush
columnist Paul Krugman apparently disagrees. The cover on the
British edition of his current book of columns shows Bush as
Frankenstein�s monster, not as Frankenstein himself. The frontier
for Bush insults keeps shifting. One day the president is Attila
the Hun, the next day he is Ted Bundy. A posting on The Unknown (an
apparently unhinged news site) said that Bush is a charming
lunatic, just like Hitler, Ted Bundy, Mussolini, and Hannibal
Lecter. One lefty said Bush is Caligula, while another insists he
is the new Nero (�Nero burned Rome, Hitler burned the Reichstag,
Bush burned the World Trade Center�). Don�t you love the way these
people argue?
References
1.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=1C85A21F-40D5-4F5A-ADA7-2698DD51B51B
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