Jessica

Vozel

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April 7, 2008

No Place In the U.S. Campaign for Adolf Hitler (Someone Tell Ann Coulter)

Conservatives, for whatever reason, never tire of invoking Adolf Hitler’s namesake to make a hyperbolic statement about the politicians (usually liberals) of whom they don’t approve.   

Back in February, I wrote a column about Ann Coulter’s erroneous and offensive assertion that Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain is essentially worse than Hitler. (According to Coulter, “Hitler had a coherent tax policy”). She also, in the same speech, invoked Joseph Stalin, apologizing to his descendants for the thought that he might be compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton. For someone seemingly adamant about the virtues of America, Coulter sure is quick to liken our politicians to those in totalitarian dictatorships who care nothing for the liberty and freedom she so passionately defends. 

Of course, Coulter’s above comments were said in jest, or at least under the guise of jest. But the joke of linking comparatively benign leaders and potential leaders to one of the most heinous human beings to ever exist is tired and not at all funny. And when such assertions are made in all seriousness, it is even more disturbing. 

Recently, Coulter made the same comparison again, this time rather vehemently comparing prospective Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama to the ruthless German dictator in her April 2 column. In her column, she writes of Obama’s 1995 book Dreams of My Father: “Has anybody read this book? Inasmuch as the book reveals Obama to be a flabbergasting lunatic, I gather the answer is no. Obama is about to be our next president: You might want to take a peek. If only people had read Mein Kampf. Mein Kampf, of course, being My Struggle, Hitler’s autobiographical manifesto.

Coulter then failed to realize just how ludicrous this statement was, and went on to say of Obama on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes Thursday: “He's a dimestore Mein Kampf”, and agreed with Alan Colmes when he prompted, “Oh, [Obama]’s a two-bit Hitler?” So, in Coulter’s opinion, Obama only wishes he could be the next Hitler. Why the proverbial warnings then, Ann, if Obama could only hope to be as powerful a dictator as Hitler was? Also, her language both in February and now seems to glorify the man by saying that American politicians look up to him. 

Of course, she is operating under the assumption that her audience will recognize Hitler as the lowest of the low, with only the politicians of whom she disapproves below him. However, when the majority of sane Americans would surely elect Obama over Hitler, her already hyperbolic metaphor falls apart. It’s as if she hopes to make her Hitler/Obama metaphor as ridiculous and overblown as possible, just so she can get away with it. Therein is precisely how Ann Coulter and others like her operate. 

There have been other, similar comparisons in the last couple months. Also in February, Fox News Radio’s Tom Sullivan showed a side-by-side comparison of a speech by Hitler and one by Obama. And it’s not just obnoxious political pundits who bring up Hitler to prove a point. Groups ranging from animal rights activists to junior high students disgruntled with their math teachers have used the Holocaust and Hitler to illustrate the monstrosity of one thing or another. Even liberals are not above using Hitler’s name when talking about our current president. 

The Hitler metaphor, along with being so overused as to become virtually ineffective, is also offensive. It’s offensive to the legacy of Holocaust victims and survivors. It’s offensive to those living in the world right now who suffer injustices at the hands of leaders who are more aptly compared to Hitler. It’s offensive to Americans who find America to be a place of liberty and freedom, regardless of which party is in office and not a place where dictators could thrive.

I agree with my fellow columnist Jamie Weinstein, who in his latest column says that there is evil in this world comparable to the evil Hitler possessed, and we should not become complacent in thinking otherwise. But Sen. Obama, Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain, while flawed human beings, are not representative of that evil, and to suggest otherwise is simply ridiculous. 

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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