Every now and again I get in an animated conversation with someone over something I just read in a book. The following follows a conversation I had with my father brought on by my recent reading of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. This topic will immediately make the internet-aware of you think of
Godwin’s Law. Put that out of your mind for a minute and bear with me. I think that there are enough parallels between Germany in the 1930’s and the United States in the beginning of the 21st century.
The following are just a few items in which I think that a reasonable comparison can be made between the Nazis and our current administration. Before any of you knee-jerk reactionary bastards flare up with comments about the holocaust or European conquest I want to point out that I’m not claiming that things are as bad here as they were in Germany in the middle of the last century. I’m just pointing out a couple of similarities that might surprise people.
Public Support
Hitler was democratically elected in Germany in the 1930’s. It wasn’t until his invasion of Poland that the fanatical level of support he once possessed started to wane. This was after he had annexed the Ruhr, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.
Justification for War
Hitler publicly justified his invasions of Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Norway and France as prevantative wars. That is, he stated that Poland and France would strike first if allowed. He claimed that Denmark, Belgium, and Norway would do the same or be invaded by the British who would use them as forward airbases. Thus, his attacks against them were “preemptive” efforts to secure the safety of Germany. Sound familiar?
Habeas Corpus
In 1933 after the destruction of the Reichstag the Nazis rescinded the law of habeas corpus. Lincoln did the same thing during the Civil War and, while he didn’t officially change the constitution during the Iraq war, Bush denied this right to US citizens at camp X-ray. In my book, ignoring the constitution is the same thing as changing it.
Treatment of Dissent
Remember Bill Maher? How about Peter Arnette? Or any number of e-mails or late-night gags deriding the French for not supporting us? Every time someone criticized the US on the war on Iraq that person would be publicly labeled as unpatriotic and shortly become a pariah. As Bush himself said, “Either you’re with us or against us.” Well, check out this quote that Hermann Goering uttered during the course of the Nuremberg trials:
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. 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.