Enough with the Hitler

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shouldn’t take all the blame for this; he’s just the most recent person to use this annoying analogy. He told an American Legion audience that today’s anti- Iraq war people are like the crowd that appeased Hitler in World War II.

Liberals have compared the Bush civil liberties agenda to Hitler’s.

The administration keeps comparing enemies to him. Saddam Hussein? Hitler. Kim Jong Il? Hitler. That psychotic in Iran? Also Hitler. Opponents of the Iraq war? Like the people who appeased Hitler. Democrats? Like those guys who made shoes for Hitler. Nicole Ritchie? Like a skinny Hitler.

I suspect we do it for two reasons: first, it’s a quick way to draw attention to a problem; second, we want to believe our times to be as pivotally historic as the era of the Greatest Generation, who defeated the modern-day fascists of World War II.

Enough already. Every event isn’t WWII and every bastard in history isn’t Hitler.
Here’s how I feel: saying “Hitler” to make your case is like adding a dirty word to make a joke funny. It’s artificial, and only adds shock value.