This is how the Nazis did it...

[SHRED]

...correct?

A slow and deliberate take over of a frightened and uninformed populace through propaganda and manufactured news.

[Avalux]

1. Correct.

They are following the playbook, IMHO. Why can't the American people see it?

"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it"

[azurnoir]

14. * is at 29%

the American people are seeing it, the question is did they (we) see it in time and can we still stop it?

[AuntiBush]

21. Good Questions Raised...

What a despicable mess. All one can do is hope, or, leave before it gets any worse and we all know most of us do not have the resources, but the will is building.

[leesa]

49. But he ignores the people, Congress and judiciary. He is a dictator.

So many of us have been saying this for so long and all we heard was, "He hasn't killed a million Jews yet, has he?"

This has been the early phase of the nightmare.

[treestar]

76. That is a good sign. The Nazis had the full support of the populace

[bennywhale]

47. You need education to remember the past. Its hard

to blame ordinary citizens (i know your not)who have been brought up to expect the gov to do right by them, not to trust them. Coupled with the propaganda machine, the gov's side of the story gets across much better than any other.

The idea of a free press is to do the job of the citizens and scrutinise government then report back to citizens. They are the ones failing.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. ding, ding, ding!

SHRED gets an A for todays class!

Now children, can you find Iraq on this map?

Anybody? Bueler? Bueler?

[iconoclastNYC]

23. Maps are tough!

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. Pretty scary huh?

And to have known for all these years.

Cassandra redux.

[ediedidcare]

4. Not only rights but..

Nazis had gathered data on everybody before they sprang the trap.

Databases with the help of IBM punchcards.

This is all too familiar

[Canuckistanian]

27. That's right! I forgot about that

You're right, very eerie parallels here.

And Mussolini saying that fascism should be called corporatism.

[Raksha]

69. They had IBM punchcards then?

I don't remember even seeing a punchcard until about the early 1960s.

[IChing]

5. Yep, no doubt about it Nazi, nazi, nazi damn that is how the enabling act

is similar to the presidential signing order...Not italy but nazi germany.

[Kablooie]

6. Someone here should write up a summary of the Nazi's early history.

I'd like to know more about how they did it and be able to compare.

[SHRED]

7. good idea

[AuntiBush]

22. I'll Second that One.

Read the http://crisispapers.org/ for starters.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Try Wikipedia ......

.... they have good summaries.

I'm too lazy and tired to indulge your request.

[Pachamama]

32. I read a fantastic book that tells the history! Its actually a series of

books including one just published in the last year. Unlike other books about the Nazis that tend to be more "academic" this one is very well written and really gave some amazing historical perspectives I really never got from other books on this topic.

The name of the books are:
"The coming of the third Reich" and "The Third Reich in Power, 1933-39" by Richard Evans.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

36. Here's a summary...

...in the form of a book review:

http://www.crisispapers.org/Editorials/germany-1933.htm

[Zorra]

9. Yes. This is how the Nazis did it. n/t

[libnnc]

10. Here's a really good book....

We used it in my German history class in college. The Nazi German Sourcebook
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415222141/103-1985622-8823844?v=glance&n=283155

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0415222141.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[BrklynLiberal]

11. They Thought They Were Free....

But Then It Was Too Late

"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after1933,between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know it doesn't make people close to their government to be told that this is a people's government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing to do with knowing one is governing.

What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if he people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

"This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter

<snip>

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, "everyone is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there will be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to you colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, "It's not so bad" or "You're seeing things" or "You're an alarmist."

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

<snip>

More...

http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free.html

[Mnemosyne]

25. And we wait...

This describes exactly what has been happening on DU for a very long time.


snip>
"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn't see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even to talk, alone; you don't want to "go out of your way to make trouble." Why not? - Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, "everyone is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there will be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to you colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, "It's not so bad" or "You're seeing things" or "You're an alarmist."

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

"But your friends are fewer now. Some have drifted off somewhere or submerged themselves in their work. You no longer see as many as you did at meetings or gatherings. Informal groups become smaller; attendance drops off in little organizations, and the organizations themselves wither. Now, in small gatherings of your oldest friends, you feel that you are talking to yourselves, that you are isolated from the reality of things. This weakens your confidence still further and serves as a further deterrent to – to what? It is clearer all the time that, if you are going to do anything, you must make an occasion to do it, and then you are obviously a troublemaker. So you wait, and you wait.

[grytpype]

42. I was just about to post this, too. It is 100% spot on what we are facing

[kestrel91316]

12. You get today's GOLD STAR from kestrel.

[AndyTiedye]

13. And MIHOP!

[BrklynLiberal]

55. Wow! And that was done in 2002!!!!!

[AndyTiedye]

57. After 9/11, I Did Periodic Google Searches for "Reichstag Fire" …

…looking for recently-posted stuff. I still do, from time to time.
The number of hits is a good index of the growing awareness that the
government must have been involved in 9/11.

One of those searches turned up Democratic Underground.

Found some other cool stuff, too.

[Mz Pip]

15. I don't think Hitler

was ever at 29%.

Therein lies the difference. Hitler was popular. Bush is not.

Besides this is not pre WWII Germany. This country is too large and too diverse for anything close to what happened in Germany to happen here. Germany was a homogenious society, except for the Jews which made them easy scapegoats.

Hitler could not have done what he did with a 30% approval rating.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[SHRED]

16. Maybe we are witnessing a hybrid version?

[Mz Pip]

19. I still think that

something resembling what happened in Nazi Germany would be difficult to repeat here.

Remember, they haven't made a move to take away our guns.


Mz Pip
:dem:

[Warren Stupidity]

59. I really don't think they are worried about armed progressives

Most of us don't own any guns.

But they are not going to suddenly start tossing jews into camps, then again neither did Nazi Germany. Crystal Night was in 1938, 5 years after the nazis took power. It certainly won't be a re-creation of nazi germany. There are however many elements in place that are transforming our republic into something very different from what it was 9-10-2001.

Here are some of the key elements of the framework of the new system they are building within the facade of the old republic.

1) installation of dominionist christian fundamentalists into government institutions. Is it theocracy yet? No, but clearly we are headed in that direction. Particularly troubling is the installation of theocrat-friendly lifetime judicial appointments, and the dominionist takeover of the air force academy.

2) HAVA-induced election fraud infrastructure. We will continue to have elections but our elections are becoming as farcical as those of the former soviet union. We will see what happens in 06, but I hugely suspect it will be worse than 00, 02, and 04.

3) permanent war. They have even relabeled it as 'the long war'. Everything they do is justified by the permanent state of emergency ushered in by the PNAC game plan enabling WTC attack.

4) militarization of many aspects of civil society. Nobody even blinked when suddenly we sprouted a department of homeland security to go along with our militarized police forces. The bill of rights has been discarded in fundamental ways by the absurdly named Patriot Act. Torture and disappearance are deemed appropriate.

5) control over mass media. The populace is left in a permanent state of confusion by a mass media clearly working at the direction of our new rulers.

6) totalitarian level data collection on citizens. They aren't looking for terrorists by amassing all this information on you and me, they are looking for us. They are building their lists of undesirables. Be afraid, be very afraid.

7) dictatorial powers claimed by the executive branch. Congress has bent over and submitted to the new regime. By not opposing their assumption of extra constitutional extra legal powers, the old republic's tripartite system came to an abrupt end.

Yes it isn't nazi Germany. It is the Christian Republic of America, living inside the facade of the former United States of America, not quite ready yet to reveal itself.

[Mz Pip]

60. I certainly don't disagree

with anything you wrote. Kevin Phillips' book, American Theocracy discusses radicalized religion in depth.

The combination of ingredients does not bode well for the US. We may be witnessing the beginnings of the complete collapse of the US.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[w4rma]

61. They have been tossing Muslims into camps, instead. (nt)

[femrap]

63. To go along with your #1 about theocracy....

look at what is happening to women....they want to put us back into the Middle Ages with no birth control. Ken Blackwell, who is running for Gov. of Ohio (and the infamous SoS who gave * the Presidency in '04) wants abortion outlawed....PERIOD. Not even if the women's life is in danger.

Karl Rove (soon to be indicted, I pray) hated the 1960's...he never got to play in the 'sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll' fun cuz he was such an asshole. So now he wants his revenge. Karl is a great student of history and trends. He knew he could manipulate the bible-thumpers. And without a free press (which is corporately owned), democracy is having a difficult time. I don't know what we would do without the Internet. We must protect it at all costs.

When these neo-cons are cornered, I fear another 9/11 episode. I think they need one before attacking Iran.....

I dread 6/6/06....hopefully I'm just being stupidly suspicious.

[fooj]

62. Didn't they take the guns in NOLA?

I wondered where the NRA was on that one.

[TankLV]

64. New and improved. Vastly improved.

[treestar]

78. it is interesting that they have so little interest in the militia movemen

and those right wing types. After Timothy McVeigh, who basically made a terrorist attack, we didn't have the same sense of being so scared we were willing to give up our rights. A different administration that did not have any propensity to use it that way.

[azurnoir]

20. He did it 33% of the vote n/t

[rman]

38. I don't think we can know how popular Hitler really was -

given the fact that the "news" of the time was virtually all propaganda.
It is to be expected that he was popular according to official sources of that time.
Also it is questionable how well the "big lie" worked - fact is that the Nazis used the "big stick" more then the Bush admin does now. One would think there'd be ot much need for using the "big stick" if Hitler really was popular.

At any rate, the fact that the fascism we see today is not identical to the fascism of that time, does not mean it is not fascism. Circumstances then were different then they are now, so it stands to reason that the methods are not identical. There are many ways to use deception and intimidation in order to establish totalitarian rule.

[Uncle Joe]

56. I have never heard of a poll done on Hitler by the German People.

I believe it's possible his ratings were low, but the people became too scared, complacent or corrupted to resist his rule. Maybe that will be the next step here, outlawing polls because it might give aid and comfort to the terrorists knowing that the now vast majority of Americans think Bush sucks.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

74. Bzzzzz wrong

This country is too large and too diverse for anything close to what happened in Germany to happen here. Germany was a homogenious society, except for the Jews which made them easy scapegoats.

I disagree. Not with your assertion of the sort of society that thrived in Germany at the time BUT with the thought that this country is too large to follow the same path... It is already happening. It is liberals who are being made into the scapegoats this time. And because of the loss of an unbiased media we have such crap as "the war on Christmas" ---

It was not only Germany who followed Hitler. There were MILLIONS of people outside Germany who sympathized with the Nazi movement throughout the world. As for this 30% approval rating - it is suspicious. I am not saying that Bush's approval rating has not declined, it's just that I suspect that most Republican's who voted twice for Bush are standing fast to defend his ass.

The right has succeeded in stacking the Supreme Court with religious nuts. Kiss your reproductive freedoms good-bye. Calling for the ousting of "activist judges" on local and federal benches -- (most of these are Republican's by the way.)

Massive intrusion into our personal lives & files via The Patriot Act, one by one our freedoms are being dismantled and removed from the landscape. The Constitution is just another god damned piece of paper.

There is no such thing as global warming, we are addicted to oil, downsizing dollars going into alternative energy sources and the rape of our natural resources.

Medical research has been set back 15 years since the right wants to protect the blastocyst at any cost but let the already born, poor people, mostly blacks, die in the south during natural disasters, heck of a job.

Anti labor union, pro slavery via the illegal immigrants who cling to some hope to have a better life here. They are being taken advantage of and you and I both know it. Pay THEM less so we can have more...

We are not too large, too big, too smart.

We are not too anything except too stupid and too apathetic as a country.

[AuntiBush]

17. Bingo!

Sadly... yes, historically. Only difference is the computer-generated technology advancement of it all.

Frightening is right.

[SHRED]

24. Check this out

"But IBM's Hollerith punch card technology did exist. Aided by the company's custom-designed and constantly updated Hollerith systems, Hitler was able to automate his persecution of the Jews. Historians have always been amazed at the speed and accuracy with which the Nazis were able to identify and locate European Jewry. Until now, the pieces of this puzzle have never been fully assembled. The fact is, IBM technology was used to organize nearly everything in Germany and then Nazi Europe, from the identification of the Jews in censuses, registrations, and ancestral tracing programs to the running of railroads and organizing of concentration camp slave labor."

http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com/

[AuntiBush]

31. Now, I Remember this part of Computer History!

Good grief!

Thanks, shred!

[MannyGoldstein]

18. They Suspended The Constitution Because of a Crisis

The parallels are striking: I wrote a little piece about it here.

[alittlelark]

26. I say the same thing over and over to a few lib friends who WON'T

THINK that way. I think the acceptance of the obvious scares them too much.

WHEN did we become such cowards..... Our Forefathers would be ashamed of us.

[rasputin1952]

28. There is something to that, but the Germans WANTED to believe

that Hitler was the answer. A minority felt that dictatorship was the answer to Germany's problems; democratically, the Nazi's took power, then proceeded to dismantle the democratic process.

In the beginning, there weren't all that many Nazis, they won by plurality votes at first, then the strong-arming came...but many were willing participants as the Nazi's showed they could get things done.

It is an extremely complicated process that took place, and has taken place in many societies. What fascinates me, is that here, we think it can't happen because this is America. The Greeks, who first brought a democratic republic into society, never thought they could lose it either.

I can equate neo-cons to Nazi tactics of the 20's/30's, and bush might want to have the power Hitler had, but he ain't no Hitler. There are parallels...but we are pretty far from becoming a "Nazi" state. Vigilance must be a watchword...but if we pull together in '06, we can stop this trainwreck.

[Canuckistanian]

29. Funny, this was Randi Rhodes' "homework" assignment today

She asked people to look up exactly how the Nazis did it.

She mentioned the Enabling Act or, The Reichstag Fire Decree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire_Decree

I see a direct parallel to the PATRIOT act here.

And, as mentioned, a complete control of the radio stations and newspapers which guaranteed that the government propaganda went out unquestioned.

AND fear. Pure, irrational, panic-inducing fear.

[Radio_Guy]

44. It is the 1930s all over again

Next up, Bush declares himself fuhrer over the US. 2008 elections will not happen.

[DesertRat]

30. Add in blind patriotism

...The "your either with us or against us" rhetoric.

[Golden Raisin]

33. I've said this many times - - -

What does Bush have to do --- how bad does it have to get --- before the people & the Congress wake up/rise up? Apparently nothing is going to happen until he dresses up in a Nazi uniform, with a Hitler mustache and goosesteps on the balcony of the White House while announcing the opening of the first domestic internment camps (Michelle Malkin will be thrilled). This phone stuff should have Congress and people rioting out in the streets but I guess too many are hypnotized by American Idol.

[OneBlueSky]

34. a huge part of the problem is that many, many Americans believe . . .

that nothing they do will make any difference whatsoever . . . I can't tell you how many people I've heard that from . . .

and this is where the Democratic Party is failing miserably . . . we MUST present reasonable and viable alternatives to BushCo policies -- and explain why they not only make sense, but are essential to the survival of the nation . . .

that's how serious it all is . . .

in the grand scheme of things, Democrats are still a large part of the problem . . . when they begin taking on voter fraud and corporate control of both our elections and the Congress itself, THEN they'll start being part of the solution . . .

[BrotherBuzz]

35. The Neocons and Straussians are using Hermann Goering's blueprint

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, 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 greater danger."

-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials



This quote does not appear in transcripts of the Nuremberg trials because although Goering spoke these words during the course of the proceedings, he did not offer them at his trial. His comments were made privately to Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail. Gilbert kept a journal of his observations of the proceedings and his conversations with the prisoners, which he later published in the book Nuremberg Diary. The quote offered above was part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Hermann Goering in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess:


Sweating in his cell in the evening, Goering was defensive and deflated and not very happy over the turn the trial was taking. He said that he had no control over the actions or the defense of the others, and that he had never been anti-Semitic himself, had not believed these atrocities, and that several Jews had offered to testify in his behalf. If Frank had known about atrocities in 1943, he should have come to him and he would have tried to do something about it. He might not have had enough power to change things in 1943, but if somebody had come to him in 1941 or 1942 he could have forced a showdown. (I still did not have the desire at this point to tell him what Ohlendorf had said to this: that Goering had been written off as an effective "moderating" influence, because of his drug addiction and corruption.) I pointed out that with his "temperamental utterances," such as preferring the killing of 200 Jews to the destruction of property, he had hardly set himself up as champion of minority rights. Goering protested that too much weight was being put on these temperamental utterances. Furthermore, he made it clear that he was not defending or glorifying Hitler.


Later in the conversation, Gilbert recorded Goering's observations that the common people can always be manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders:


We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, 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."

[AtomicKitten]

37. Randi Rhodes was on this topic today.

It was really bone-chilling.

[Minnesota Libra]

39. Exactly, but some people still reject the comparison of this.........

...Idiot administration and the Nazi's. We are definitely headed down hell's trail and not so slowly either.:grr:

[enough already]

40. Yep

We're dealing with the modern day nazis in the GOP.

[ggdwill]

41. Bush certainly is a nationalist...

...and a socialist.

[elehhhhna]

45. yeah, right.

[Mr_Spock]

52. G'bye Freeper troll.

Go worship the God of the Underworld.

[no_hypocrisy]

43. In the November 1932 German general election, the Nazi party got the

majority vote with 37% of the vote as it was a plurality with 9-10 different politcal parties. 37% was enough to get Hitle the job as Chancellor. All he had to die thereafter was wait for Hindenberg to die. Which he did and Hitler made himself Fuhrer.

37%.

And that's with more than 80% of the electorate casting votes.

* got 49.8% or something in 2004, but not 51% and that's with less than 1/2 the American citizens voting (I can't break it down to how many were not registered to vote or had their votes deleted, esp. in Ohio). So, technically, * stole the election with less than 25% (one-quarter) of American support for him.

This is worse than Hitler getting in, especially as everyone had four years to see * and turn him out instead of saying rhetorically, "Thank you, sir! May I have another?"

[lwcon]

46. On comparing Bush and Hitler...

http://vastleft.blogspot.com/2006/05/springtime-for-dubya.html

[slackmaster]

48. Recommended

:kick:

[jokerman93]

50. K&R n/t

[Mr_Spock]

51. We all agree that this is the beginnings of Fascism

- business interests are more important than personal interests & freedoms
- religion is being used as a weapon to control the type that need reassurance
- governmental safeguards (Constitution) have been overridden to better secure our "safety"


These are truly scary times - we have to impeach Bush to preserve our Constitional democracy. Once we make exceptions to the rules (Constitution), there is no limit and there is no country.

The time is now.


We cannot back down.

[Jed Dilligan]

53. Hitler was a moderate

The sensible "Third Way" between Western capitalism and Soviet communism.

Bush's coming "compromise" on immigration may be familiar-looking as well. Wait'll he tries to tackle homelessness.

[Fuzz]

54. Thing is, I don't think it has to be a dictatorship here.

Bush is just a figurehead anyway for this cabal of corporate thugs that are robbing our treasury anyway. They will just find another. It's the same group of folks. They will find another person at the top with the same malleability and marketability and continue with the same policies..

[TheVirginian]

58. This is EXACTLY what we need...

MORE and MORE Hitler and Nazi references. We need to blanket the airwaves and TV ads with ads that accuse Bush and the Republicans of being Nazis. We can put up photos that put Bush and Hitler side-by-side. Maybe we can even photoshop Bush in front of a picture of Jews in a gas chamber!

If I know anything about politics, its that indepedents, moderate Democrats, and disenfranchised Republicans will absolutely eat this up! They'll love it! This is our Golden Ticket, fellas!

Someone get on the phone to Chuck Schumer. Have him tell all of our '06 candidates to spread the GOP = NAZI comparison as far as the eye can see.

[TankLV]

65. Oh fuck off - your routine is getting old.

The TRUTH hurts, doesn't it?!

[TheVirginian]

67. What truth are you promoting?

That Bush is Hitler, version 2.0?

And you wonder why we lose elections. You wonder why Nancy Pelosi is backing off impeachment talks. People may disagree with Bush, they may think he's stupid, but they sure as hell don't hate him. And while its important to stand on principle, its also important to understand the mindset of the people we're asking for votes. And those people are absolutely turned off by comparisons of Bush and Hitler, and to be honest, I am too.

If what happens in November is that more people stay at homes, then the Republicans still win. The only way we win is if we convince people to vote for us, and this bullshit doesn't help.

[Sparkly]

68. Well, I agree they aren't gassing Liberals, BUT...

the playbook is identical.

Absolutely, to the letter, identical.

This IS how the Nazis did it. Listen to Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, and the millions of people they've grabbed by the WORST of human nature -- they're right out there, on boards like AOL, Free Republic, and even Yahoo. If they could brand all our arms tomorrow with "L" for "Liberal," and banish us to torture and death -- something they have ALREADY ADVOCATED -- they'd do it. Tomorrow.

They don't have far to go. They've trampled the Constitution and Bill of Rights; they've got EVERY branch of government, and they've got the MEDIA in their pockets, reciting scripts verbatim. They've got secrecy, they've got "nationalism," they've got everything the Nazis had -- including an "enemy within" -- but of all things, given the horrors and corruption we've seen, $3-a-gallon gas prices seem to have finally taken the polish off their current Fuhrer.

This fight isn't over, though. And it IS a fight for our country, and the weight of PRINCIPLE here and abroad -- it IS a fight for democracy over fascist theocratic oligarchy.

And they ARE using Hitler's playbook -- point by point, word for word, step by step. There is no doubt in my mind about it.

[TheVirginian]

70. I seem to have a different opinion

I work on Capitol Hill, and I know, and am friends with, numerous Republicans. I have lunch with some a couple times a week. Being on the front lines, so to speak, I simply cannot accept what you're saying.

[IChing]

77. "am friends with, numerous Republicans."

Well, you seem to be proud of that fact and think they must be the mainstream also.

I think you just revealed your priorities and bias .

[TankLV]

72. Your routine is getting OLD - and tiresome.

TRUTH hurst, doesn't it?!

YOU seem to have a problem with it, that's for sure!

And stop with this "we" crap - I doubt you are a "we".

But WE know what and who you are!

[TheVirginian]

73. You sure do...

I'm a moderate Democrat who fears idiots like you will lead to further losses in '06 and '08 as you drag the party horribly out of the mainstream.

We have the best chance in eight years to win a meaningful election. The easiest way to screw it up is with shit like this.

[mmonk]

66. Yes, and don't forget taking over German law,

the real crux of seizing power.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

71. please check out this thread it relates to this topic....

and please, i am not pimping my own thread here ( i could care less about that)...i just think it is an alarming thing and find this highly disturbing and want/need to know if it is happening on other college campus' elsewhere: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2623133

[earth mom]

75. Exactly!

:scared:

[The Magistrate]

79. Not Really, Sir

The Nazis more or less shot and beat their way into power, after about a decade's work in which there was very little apparent difference between election camapigns and gangland turf wars.

[IChing]

81. You mean like this? or like this?

The Battle of Miami

On Nov. 22, 2000, after learning that the Miami canvassing board was starting an examination of 10,750 disputed ballots that had previously not been counted, Rep. John Sweeney, a New York Republican, called on Republican troops to “shut it down,” according to Down and Dirty. Brendan Quinn, executive director of the New York GOP, told about two dozen Republican operatives to storm the room on the 19th floor where the canvassing board was meeting, Tapper reported.

“Emotional and angry, they immediately make their way outside the larger room in which the tabulating room is contained,” Tapper wrote. “The mass of ‘angry voters’ on the 19th floor swells to maybe 80 people,” including many of the Republican activists from outside Florida.

News cameras captured the chaotic scene outside the canvassing board's offices. The protesters shouted slogans and banged on the doors and walls. The unruly protest prevented official observers and members of the press from reaching the room. Miami-Dade county spokesman Mayco Villafana was pushed and shoved. Security officials feared the confrontation was spinning out of control.

The canvassing board suddenly reversed its decision and canceled the recount. “Until the demonstration stops, nobody can do anything,” said David Leahy, Miami’s supervisor of elections, although the canvassing board members would later insist that they were not intimated.

They all work for the govt. now.

From an old paper:

The Cleveland Press, March 24, 1933

Act Gives Hitler Absolute Power

The enabling act giving Adolf Hitler, chancellor of Germany, four years of absolute power of dictator, provides:

CHANCELLOR will proclaim laws without signature of president. (check)

NO REFERENDUM on laws and they will not need the approval of the Reichstag. (check)

TREATIES in absolute control of dictator.(check)

BORROWING power and budget making rests with cabinet without parliamentary approval.(check)

LAWS proclaimed by the chancellor may deviate from the Constitution so long as they do not infringe upon the institutions of the Reichstag.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/fight/sfeature/sf_nazis_02.html&h=109&w=160&sz=6&tbnid=8oMTVF-JIWWcOM:&tbnh=62&tbnw=92&hl=en&start=5&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnazi%2Bintimidation%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

[The Magistrate]

82. If You Could Refresh My Memory, Sir

How many corpses were removed from the scene outside the canvasser's offices? How many shots were fired, how many people hospitalized? My recollecxtion is that the answer to these questions is zero....

Violence, Sir, is not a metaphor. Violence is a fact, and either it is present or it is not. You may ask anyone who has ever been punched in the face to clarify the difference between a blow and a shout, if any uncertainty remains.

[otherlander]

80. No, this is how BOB did it...

Bob's country had been attacked, and Bob's people were very sad. Bob was very angry and decided to do something about it. Bob decided to run for public office. But how to get people to vote for him? Ah! He knew! He'd blame the Ab'cdefghi's for the country's problems! So he blamed the Ab'cdefghi's for immigrating to the country, and taking all the money, and going around in their nasty Ab'cdefghi gangs. And whaddaya know? Bob won. And he went after the country that had attacked his, and the people were happy, but then he went after another country that hadn't done anything, and another, and another...and Bob started lots of preemptive wars.

The end.