Spreading The Meme

Authored by Michael Pate on January 6th, 2004 at 12:16 AM

There’s a certain fringe to the left that will always embarass the rest of us, and that’s the folks who reflexively compare George Bush to Hitler. I can’t stand this president, and I feel that America is worse off for having him in office - but there is no comparison between the two and even making that connection belittles the horror of Hitler’s reign. - Oliver Willis

There is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe, and it is of concern to me. The policies followed by the Bush administration and the Sharon administration contribute to that. - George Soros

It is shocking that a mainstream political group like MoveOn.org not only allowed this vile and outrageous comparison of the American President to Adolf Hitler to be entered into its “Bush in 30 Seconds” contest in the first place, but that they even went so far as to make it available to the public on the Internet. Those responsible for this contest at MoveOn.org should have immediately identified this advertisement as one going far beyond beyond legitimate criticism and rejected it out of hand. Instead, they made an irresponsible decision that has given legitimacy to the explotative manipulation of images in a campaign season. - Abraham H. Foxman

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It is safe to say that Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie never met a truth he did not seek to distort. So it should come as no surprise that the lobbyist-turned-party leader has been busy this week peddling his own twisted take on the work of the activist group MoveOn.org. What is surprising is that Gillespie, who is supposedly trying to reelect President Bush, has been working overtime to publicize comparisons of of the Republican chief executive to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. - John Nichols

What the Republicans are doing is pretending that every single entry in the contest was endorsed by MoveOn. It’s as if I went over to the New York Times’ message boards, found some idiot’s rant about how the Trilateral Commission controls the universe, and held a press conference denouncing Arthur Sulzberger for condoning wacked-out conspiracy theories. - Scott Rosenberg

Scott Rosenberg has it right on the Republican’s attack on MoveOn.org’s Bush in 30 Seconds program. It was inevitable. However, I really don’t think the Republicans won this battle. In the past it may have worked since it would have been difficult for the victim of the attack to make a countercase. In this case, all the Republican attack did was to provide MoveOn free publicity, more traffic on their Website, and more members. - John Robb

How Things Change! Last summer, anyone who suggested there was a link between the Bush Administration and Nazi Germany was considered to be on the extreme far left of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party (and maybe even further than that). Now it seems that it is a theme growing in popularity within the party. Who knows? By the time of the Republican Convention, most Democrats may be glued to the television so they can spot the swaztikas in the crowd. And of course, any objection by the RNC will be ridiculed as an overreaction.

For what it is worth, though, I that John Nichols that “working overtime to publicize comparisons” is “trying to reelect President Bush.” And I think it will work more in the favor of George Bush than certain people seem to think.

Links in this entry:

ADL criticizes moveon.org Bush-Hitler ad
Comparing Bush and a certain dictator
George Soros and the Third Reich
MoveOn up
Scott Rosenberg has it right
Stop the Meme

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