# "Homeland" is so Nazi like...it creeps me out. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367 "2003-12-21T21:08:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/1 "2003-12-21T21:08:04Z")
What the hell was TeamBush thinking when they decided on “Homeland”? Doesn’t that just make your skin crawl? Don’t they have anyone in the administration who recognizes what a creepy and Hitlerian sounding word that is? Ew. Double Ew. Latest usage that gave me the yuckies: [http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031221\_813.html](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031221_813.html) > [@](#): > > \*\* > “These credible sources suggest the possibility of attacks against the homeland around the holiday season and beyond,” he said. “These strategic indicators, including al-Qaida’s continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland, are perhaps greater now than at any point since Sept 11.” > \*\* TeamBush and 'pubs in general are usually alarmingly effective at using language, but I think they really blew it with this. I really wish they’d toss it. Oh, wait. I don’t wish that. I’d just like that. What I wish is that they’d all go away and leave my country the fuck alone before they destroy everything about it that makes it great. ( \*\* Pump Action Gerbil \*\* always admonishes me when I wish for small things. You never know…maybe you only get one, and you’d hate to waste it.) ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/2 "2003-12-21T21:10:35Z")
Funny you should mention that, I’ve always thought it was creepy too. I thought of it as sounding 1984ish, as in “Big Brother”. VERY creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/3 "2003-12-21T21:11:55Z")
Makes me think of a supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/4 "2003-12-21T21:14:33Z")
As a conservative libertarian Republican I agree with you on this. However, I am still more t’ed off over the “PATRIOT act”. What a stupid name. If you wanted some dumb flag waving name why not call it “The defense of freedom act”. Yes it would still be dumb, but at least it would make some sense. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/5 "2003-12-21T21:23:05Z")
Homeland sounds more folksy cutesy to me. Not creepy, just kind of backwater, hicksy. Now if he starts talking about the “Fatherland”, I’m going to run. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/6 "2003-12-21T21:29:55Z")
Well, now that we have progressed to invoking Godwin in the title, where do we go from here? ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/7 "2003-12-21T21:30:08Z")
Well, how about some alternatives, folks! I vote for “Department of Fuzzy Kittens.” ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/8 "2003-12-21T21:40:05Z")
Didn’t the UK have the “Homeguard” in WWII? Would you be happier with “Motherland”, or “Fatherland”, as mentioned? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/9 "2003-12-21T21:41:17Z")
It was two words actually, **hermann**. Home Guard. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/10 "2003-12-21T21:47:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*It was two words actually, **hermann**. Home Guard. \*\* Man, I wish we had those here in the American homeland. You _know_ they’d be affectionately known as our Homie G’s. Fo shizzle! ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/11 "2003-12-21T21:50:45Z")
I think it was a master stroke. They’ve turned every policy they support into a patriotic gesture. You complain about the acts you’re not upset about the erosion of civil rights you’re unpatriotic at best a traitor at worst. Sure smart people will roll their eyes and see through the BS (talking about seeing the pure manipulation of the names not saying you’re stupid if you don’t have a problem with the acts themselves) but since when is the majority of people in this country willing to think that much? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/12 "2003-12-21T21:51:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*As a conservative libertarian Republican I agree with you on this. However, I am still more t’ed off over the “PATRIOT act”. What a stupid name. If you wanted some dumb flag waving name why not call it “The defense of freedom act”. Yes it would still be dumb, but at least it would make some sense. \*\* The more patriotic and feel-goodie the title of a bill is, the more likely it is for the contents to be completely at odds with it. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/13 "2003-12-21T21:52:44Z")
For **Homeland** to be an obviously “Hitlerian” and “nazi-like” term, wouldn’t it make sense that Hitler would actually have used the term rather often? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/14 "2003-12-21T22:27:51Z")
**Homeland üeber Alles!** ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/15 "2003-12-21T23:01:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\*Well, how about some alternatives, folks! I vote for “Department of Fuzzy Kittens.” \*\* How about “Department of Domestic Security”? _WAY_ less creepy then “homeland.” “Homeland” strikes me as having both fascist (e.g., fatherland, motherland, etc.) and Orwellian overtones–and by “Orwellian” I mean “dumbed down language”: Imagine the “Department of Peoplework,” the “Department of Peopleteach” or the “Department of Protectamericans” for the labor, education, and defense departments… ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/16 "2003-12-21T23:02:26Z")
As [article](http://www.spectacle.org/1201/bartlett.html) points out…there really is not a real precedent for the usage of “homeland” to describe the U.S. In a bitter fit of irony for **Stoid** , the term actually dates to the **Clinton** administration… > [@](#): > > In fact, Jeff Greenspan, writing on the libertarian news and commentary site [lewrockwell.com](http://lewrockwell.com), has traced the phrase “homeland security” to a pair of Clinton Administration documents, “Presidential Decision Directive 62: Protection Against Unconventional Threats to the Homeland and Americans Overseas” and “Presidential Decision Directive 63: Critical Infrastructure Protection,” both dated May 22, 1998. There are some valid criticisms of the term “homeland” in the article… (mainly, that the dictionary definition seems to refer to only native born folks, as opposed to “nation” which is more all encompassing) “hitlerian” or “nazi like” ain’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/17 "2003-12-21T23:09:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*As a conservative libertarian Republican I agree with you on this. However, I am still more t’ed off over the “PATRIOT act”. What a stupid name. If you wanted some dumb flag waving name why not call it “The defense of freedom act”. Yes it would still be dumb, but at least it would make some sense. \*\* It’s not a chosen name…it’s an acronym. Uniting and Strengthening America by **P** roviding **A** ppropriate **T** ools **R** equired to **I** ntercept and **O** bstruct **T** errorism. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/18 "2003-12-21T23:31:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*It’s not a chosen name…it’s an acronym. \*\* **Reeder** - are you suggesting it’s a random accident that those words spell PATRIOT? That they didn’t choose those words on purpose? ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/19 "2003-12-21T23:35:49Z")
I prefer something hip, like “Homeboys’ Security”. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367/20 "2003-12-22T00:36:11Z")
I can never hear someone say “homeboy” without an echo of Josephine Hull’s semi-hysterical “He was always such a homeboy – he _loved_ his home,” from _Harvey_. Yeah, hip-hoppers trying to come across all badass never fail remind me of the archetypical fruity old auntie. I wish they knew. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeland-is-so-nazi-like-it-creeps-me-out/220367.md?page=2)