# Bush is Hitler **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 24, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417 "2006-01-24T18:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/1 "2006-01-24T18:19:29Z")
I’ve posted this to the pit because, while it’s probably more IMHO or GD material, it’ll probably end up here sooner or later anyway. The purpose of this thread is to make public a personal gripe of mine which has been bugging me since the whole [MoveOn.org](http://MoveOn.org) Superbowl advertisement controversy, manufactured and hyped beyond belief as it was. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that little _contretemps_, it goes like this: [MoveOn.org](http://MoveOn.org) sponsored a competition for the best anti-Bush commercial, the winner to be screened during the Superbowl. Somehow it came to public attention that, of the 1500 submissions, two compared George W. Bush to Hitler. The reaction from the hysterical Right Wing pundits and the lobotomized, lockstepping, Bushboggled “culture warriors” of the valient 101st Fighting Keyboarders brigade was was nigh on apocalyptic in its ferocity. Every E.R. Department below the Mason-Dixon line was overwhelmed with the victims of thunderous apoplexies as outraged wingnuts quite literally blew their tops, infuriated beyond measure at the sheer enormity of the comparison. We still hear about it now. _“Sacre bleu!”_ liberals cry _“The Bush Administration mendaciously cherrypicked pre-war intelligence to mislead the world to the preordained conclusion that Iraq possessed WMD’s, all the while [swearing blind](http://zfacts.com/p/581.html) that the evidence for their existence was overwhelming! [28,800](http://www.iraqbodycount.net/index.php?PHPSESSID=82141998016a517c826052c1b3786c81&submit3=Enter+Site) civilians are dead, [2437](http://icasualties.org/oif/) Coalition soldiers are dead. The long term costs could top [2 trillion dollars](http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0110/dailyUpdate.html) and, oh yeah, [everybody hates our guts!](http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=206). How on earth could these incompetents be re-elected?”_ _“Blah blah blah?”_ Red Staters respond, _“More of the same Bush Bashing. :rolleyes: ‘OMFG!!! Яepuhblicans Я EEEEEEEVIL!!! BUSHITLERBUSHITLERBUSHITLER!!!111 [MOVEON.ORG](http://MOVEON.ORG) SED SO!!! OMFG!’. Yawn. Change the record, Chicken Little!”_ Now, I agree comparing George W. Bush to Hitler is deeply stupid, for three reasons. Firstly, the very idea of comparing Hitler, the embodiment of pure evil and malevolence, to George W. Bush who, if you’ll permit me a judgement call, is merely dense, incompetent, and terminally dishonest, is ludicrous on its face. Secondly, the comparison cheapens the crimes of Hitler. Thirdly, Hitler was a far better public speaker. Now, the two infamous video’s which compared Bush to Hitler were undeniably stupid. The comparison was invalid and cheapened the atrocities of the Nazi’s. However, (and this is the gripe) the gleeful way so many Republican’s have seized on the nauseating lie that all liberals think Bush is Hitler and regurgitate contemptable “BUSHITLERBUSHITLERBUSHITLER” diatribes at every opportunity is really no better. So often in the blogosphere (and on these very boards), Conservatives\*\*\*\*\*\* have shot down accusations leveled at the Bush Administration, not through persuasive argumentation, but merely by gumming up their caps lock key, channelling the stupefied liberal gremlins of their febrile imaginations and crying _“OMFG BUSHITLERBUSHITLERBUSHITLER”_ like little Steve Martins enacting citizen’s divorces from reality. The problem I have with this (skirting over the fact that endlessly referring to minor examples of liberal idiocy _isn’t_ going to make all their many, many, problems just disappear) is that their repeated and needless evocations of Hitler as a response to criticism of Bush _also_ cheapen his atrocities. In the same way that needless comparisons to Hitler make it easier for more needless comparisons to Hitler, unnecessarly evocations of his name to rebut criticism just opens the door for more of the same. The cumulative effect of the two is identical. Hitler’s name becomes divorced from the sickening reality of the atrocities he committed, and this is the first stage of the degredation of his atrocities in social memory. It’s all the worse coming from Republicans because (a) they made such a bloody stink about the whole MoveOn debacle (and continue to do so. Mention [MoveOn.org](http://MoveOn.org) on any Righty blog or messageboard, and a sanctimonious condemnation of their oh-so-disgraceful support for Bush-Hitler comparisons won’t be more than 5 posts away) and (b) if we accept that earnest comparisons of Bush & Hitler (which, by the way, hardly _ever_ happen in the real world) have the same degrading effects on public discourse as mocking “BUSHITLER” responses to serious criticism, then Republicans are causing far, far, far more damage than liberals. So yeah, stop if with the “BUSHITLERBUSHITLER” shit, Okay? \*\*\*\*\*\*I’ll name no names for now, but can provide cites on request. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/2 "2006-01-24T18:23:24Z")
valiant. with an “a”. [/nitpick] Kind of rambling and disjointed. Nice passion though, I’ll give it an 82. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/3 "2006-01-24T18:25:58Z")
Gee, where’d all that straw go to?..I just saw it the other day… P.S. Apostrophes do not pluralize. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/4 "2006-01-24T18:35:50Z")
BUSHITLER is fun to type, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/5 "2006-01-24T18:38:03Z")
Jeezus, that is some high level apostrophe abuse, isn’t it! Sorry. Put it down to hunger and a lack of sleep. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/6 "2006-01-24T18:40:27Z")
Almost as much fun as **IMPEACH** IMPE **A** CHIMPEA **CHIMP** EACH ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/7 "2006-01-24T18:43:43Z")
B.U. SHITLER…I met that guy once…in 1960. B.U. is short for “Butt Ugly”. An extra thumbs up for the backward Rs…(how’d you do dat?) ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/8 "2006-01-24T18:56:46Z")
Rant gets a 10 from the judge from Brooklyn! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/9 "2006-01-24T19:00:32Z")
> [@George Kaplin](#): > > if we accept that earnest comparisons of Bush & Hitler (which, by the way, hardly _ever_ happen in the real world) Is the SDMB “the real world”? It’s as real as anything the OP is griping about. A thread started in GD just 4 days ago: [“Legal Rationale”. Comparing Hitler to Bush administration](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=355022) Do you want more examples? They are not at all difficult to find on this MB. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/10 "2006-01-24T19:03:33Z")
> [@Yecticus Яex](#): > > An extra thumbs up for the backward Rs…(how’d you do dat?) Tяade secяet. 😉 All I can say is that it absolutely, positively does not rely on copying and pasting from the cyrillic alphabet. No-siree Bob. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/11 "2006-01-24T19:10:38Z")
I never understood the automatic dismissal of Hitler-comparisons; it’s like saying that just because Hitler was a vile asshole means we’ll never have _another_ vile asshole who engages in similar behavior. But I don’t think comparing Bush to Hitler are accurate in any case. After all, Hitler was _smart._😉 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/12 "2006-01-24T19:15:16Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > I never understood the automatic dismissal of Hitler-comparisons; it’s like saying that just because Hitler was a vile asshole means we’ll never have _another_ vile asshole who engages in similar behavior. The defining aspect of Hitler’s evil was his systematic genocide campaign. Is the other guy rounding up an entire ethnic group to be put to death? No? Then the Hitler comparison is not valid. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/13 "2006-01-24T19:15:24Z")
Man, I totally didn’t recognize him without the mustache. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/14 "2006-01-24T19:15:30Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Is the SDMB “the real world”? It’s as real as anything the OP is griping about. A thread started in GD just 4 days ago: > > [“Legal Rationale”. Comparing Hitler to Bush administration](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=355022) > > Do you want more examples? They are not at all difficult to find on this MB. I suggest you read the following portion of the OP and relook at your post in that context: > [@George Kaplin](#): > > Somehow it came to public attention that, of the 1500 submissions, two compared George W. Bush to Hitler. > > The reaction from the hysterical Right Wing pundits and the lobotomized, lockstepping, Bushboggled “culture warriors” of the valient 101st Fighting Keyboarders brigade was was nigh on apocalyptic in its ferocity. Every E.R. Department below the Mason-Dixon line was overwhelmed with the victims of thunderous apoplexies as outraged wingnuts quite literally blew their tops, infuriated beyond measure at the sheer enormity of the comparison. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/15 "2006-01-24T19:53:26Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > The defining aspect of Hitler’s evil was his systematic genocide campaign. Is the other guy rounding up an entire ethnic group to be put to death? No? Then the Hitler comparison is not valid. Well we could say the way in which rights are apparently being eroded, Bush is making it easy for the _next_ Hitler. Hitler 2 Electric Boogaloo? Hitler 2 - Hitler comes to America? ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/16 "2006-01-24T20:00:12Z")
> [@George Kaplin](#): > > infuriated beyond measure at the sheer enormity of the comparison. Don’t you mean _sheer enormity of comparisons_. [http://semiskimmed.net/bushhitler.html](http://semiskimmed.net/bushhitler.html) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/17 "2006-01-24T20:04:23Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > The defining aspect of Hitler’s evil was his systematic genocide campaign. Is the other guy rounding up an entire ethnic group to be put to death? No? Then the Hitler comparison is not valid. But need they have 100% correlation? Invade soverign nation under false pretenses- check Practice torture on captured enemy- check Violate civil liberties of populace- check genocide- nope ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/18 "2006-01-24T20:18:58Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But need they have 100% correlation? > > Invade soverign nation under false pretenses- check > Practice torture on captured enemy- check > Violate civil liberties of populace- check > genocide- nope It’s still needlessly hyperbolic to compare him to Hitler. Also, many of the same thins can be said about Stalin, and Righties have a tendency to blow a vessel when they hear it, since the only president they permit to be compared to Stalin is Franklin D. Roosevelt. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/19 "2006-01-24T20:24:37Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But need they have 100% correlation? > > Invade soverign nation under false pretenses- check > Practice torture on captured enemy- check > Violate civil liberties of populace- check > genocide- nope Unfortunately, these are not yes/no questions. Tapping a few thousand phone calls is a bit different than rounding up 500,000 people and imprisioning them in camps, yet they both fall under “violating civil liberties”. As much as I feel the invasion of Iraq was wrong, I have trouble equating it with the invasion of Poland even though they are both “invasions”. ---
**Author:** ![homeskillet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@homeskillet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homeskillet)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417/20 "2006-01-24T20:54:18Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Is the SDMB “the real world”? It’s as real as anything the OP is griping about. A thread started in GD just 4 days ago: > > [“Legal Rationale”. Comparing Hitler to Bush administration](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=355022) > > Do you want more examples? They are not at all difficult to find on this MB. This is more a comparison of Republican/Nazi party political tactics than a comparison of Bush and Hitler. I can see the parallels between the two party’s modus operandi, but directly comparing Bush to Hitler is a bit extreme. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-is-hitler/341417.md?page=2)