Andrew Sullivan has established a new "award" for people who
engage in
what he views as extreme hyperbole and partisan bashing. Need I saw
it's named in honor of Michael Moore, who is not exactly his fave
filmmaker? (This naming is not quite fair in my opinion, but whatever.)
Two recent honorees:
Can anyone deny that the Bush administration markets its policies based on appealing to fear?
Go back and look at the news stories leading up to the Iraq war.
Or how Cheney basically said that terrorists were going to hit us again if Kerry got elected.
Or the way Bush and his "folks" are talking about the Social Security "crisis" using phrases like "Titanic heading toward an iceberg". Are they implying that thousands of people are going to drown and freeze to death in the North Atlantic again because of our fiscal policies?
During the run-up to the Iraq war, everyone I knew was sending that infamous quote by Hermann Goering. I saw it so many times I was sick to death of it. You know the one: "...The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
I was reading a blog earlier where some troll came on and told us all "With Americans like you liberals, America doesn't need enemies. America is being destroyed from within." That's not the first time I've heard that!
I think some of us are a bit too eager to cry "Fascist!" or "Hitler." It's not just the left, though. Both sides like to use World War II in general, and Nazi Germany in particular, as a stick with which to bludgeon opponents. It tends to torpedo any conversation, as pointed out by Godwin's Law.
On the other hand we've just observed the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This is an opportunity to look at what happened and draw some conclusions. But it's a fine line between being too specific (and I think Sharon is too specific) and comparing every offensive statement and worrisome policy to Nazi Germany.
Tikkun Olam has an excellent post about how one organization, the ADL, cherry-picks its targets for complaint. They lit into Ted Turner for a rather stupid remark, but ignored Ann Coulter and Grover Norquist's even more stupid and offensive comments.
So how do we avoid using painful events as weapons against each other? When are we allowed to talk about history? When do we get to learn from history? If we're going to suffer through our mistakes, should we not take some lessons from them? How do we keep our most shocking episodes from losing their power to shock? Prince Harry isn't the only one who needs educating. Someday, will people be laughing at their friends when they dress up as victims in Darfur?
In conclusion: I have no frickin' idea. But I think Andrew Sullivan should reconsider his Moore awards. Because the Bush adminstration is trying to rewrite history and use our fears against us, and that's just not cool. Pointing out precedent and reminding us that such tactics end badly seems only fair.
And maybe the rest of us could do some more reading and learning, and remember ing that other overquoted quote about "the only thing we have to fear..."
"As for those in the World Trade Center, well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break." - University of Colorado professor, Ward Churchill. He also described the victims of 9/11 as "little Eichmanns."OK, OK, that's pretty spectacularly awful. (Perhaps Andrew should print his contact details as well so 9/11 victims' relatives can share their opinions?) Then we have:
"The most important lesson of the Holocaust is that fear provides a power structure for political leaders. Hitler portrayed the Jews as the enemy and used it to instil fear and gain power. George Bush evokes the fear of terrorism and becomes a more powerful leader. The important thing moving forward is to look at history and understand. Only by seeing how such things develop can we be sure such atrocities will not happen again." British leftist aristocrat, Tony Benn.Hmm. Wait a minute. Back up a second. Sure implying that Bush would institute a Final Solution in America would be going too far. There's no evidence he's even the least bit racist himself, whatever one thinks of his policies. But is that what Benn was actually saying?
Can anyone deny that the Bush administration markets its policies based on appealing to fear?
Go back and look at the news stories leading up to the Iraq war.
Or how Cheney basically said that terrorists were going to hit us again if Kerry got elected.
Or the way Bush and his "folks" are talking about the Social Security "crisis" using phrases like "Titanic heading toward an iceberg". Are they implying that thousands of people are going to drown and freeze to death in the North Atlantic again because of our fiscal policies?
During the run-up to the Iraq war, everyone I knew was sending that infamous quote by Hermann Goering. I saw it so many times I was sick to death of it. You know the one: "...The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
I was reading a blog earlier where some troll came on and told us all "With Americans like you liberals, America doesn't need enemies. America is being destroyed from within." That's not the first time I've heard that!
I think some of us are a bit too eager to cry "Fascist!" or "Hitler." It's not just the left, though. Both sides like to use World War II in general, and Nazi Germany in particular, as a stick with which to bludgeon opponents. It tends to torpedo any conversation, as pointed out by Godwin's Law.
On the other hand we've just observed the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This is an opportunity to look at what happened and draw some conclusions. But it's a fine line between being too specific (and I think Sharon is too specific) and comparing every offensive statement and worrisome policy to Nazi Germany.
Tikkun Olam has an excellent post about how one organization, the ADL, cherry-picks its targets for complaint. They lit into Ted Turner for a rather stupid remark, but ignored Ann Coulter and Grover Norquist's even more stupid and offensive comments.
So how do we avoid using painful events as weapons against each other? When are we allowed to talk about history? When do we get to learn from history? If we're going to suffer through our mistakes, should we not take some lessons from them? How do we keep our most shocking episodes from losing their power to shock? Prince Harry isn't the only one who needs educating. Someday, will people be laughing at their friends when they dress up as victims in Darfur?
In conclusion: I have no frickin' idea. But I think Andrew Sullivan should reconsider his Moore awards. Because the Bush adminstration is trying to rewrite history and use our fears against us, and that's just not cool. Pointing out precedent and reminding us that such tactics end badly seems only fair.
And maybe the rest of us could do some more reading and learning, and remember ing that other overquoted quote about "the only thing we have to fear..."
