Adolf, Dubya, and Me

Posted on January 6, 2004 in Morals & Ethics Thinking

All of us have heard this term ‘preventive war’ since the earliest days of Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day and time…I don’t believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn’t even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing.”

– President Dwight David Eisenhower

“There’s no comparison!” he shouted at me. “There’s absolutely no comparison!” It hadn’t been me who brought Hitler up in the discussion about good and evil. And my point wasn’t to say that George W. Bush was exactly like Hitler, just that the nature of evil cannot always be identified as a consequent of immediate personal behavior. By many reports, Hitler was a kind man who disliked the sight of blood, avoided visiting wounded soldiers, and never went to a military funeral in his role as Chancellor. Could people be blamed for not connecting him with his other intentions?

In rebuttal, I said that my opponent reached too far. You can compare anyone to anyone else. To illustrate this, I took the time to make this table in which I evaluate Adolf Hitler, George W. Bush, and myself. No one comes off as a saint:

	Adolf Hitler	George W. Bush	Joel Sax
Sex	Male	Male	Male
Religion	Catholic	Methodist	Buddhist/Agnostic
Military Service	Iron Cross	AWOL	Pacifist
Attend Military Funerals	No	No	No
Talk to Disabled Vets*	No	No	Yes
Authoritarian or Libertarian	Authoritarian	Authoritarian	Libertarian
Capitalist or Socialist	Capitalist (Marginally)	Capitalist	Socialist
Genocidal	Yes	Not directly	No
Support from Wealthy	Yes	Yes	No
Jingoistic	Yes	Yes	No
Union Stance	Anti-Union	Anti-Union	Pro-Union
Gay Rights	Anti-Gay	Anti-Gay	Accepting
Support Preemptive Strikes	Yes	Yes	No
Anti-Semitic	Yes	Probably Not	No
Willing to Lie for War	Yes	Yes	No
Willing to Lie about Opponents	Yes	Yes	No
Personally Kind	Yes	Yes	?
Accountable for Actions	No	No	Yes
Favorite Pet	Dog	Dog	Cat
Vegetarian	Yes	No	No

We can always stand comparing ourselves to sinners. Too often, we look at Hitler unidimensionally, counting only the ways in which we are unlike him. Through this exercise, I have found ways in which I am like him. I reproach myself for them: I could stand to attend a funeral for one of our boys who died in Iraq, to note an outstanding example. And I make this pledge: if notified of such a funeral in Orange County, California and if physically capable of doing so, I will attend, wearing only my dark suit and making no political comment at the scene**.

I challenge my readers and George W. Bush to do the same.

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*Other than John McCain.

**The funeral is not to honor me, but the young man who gave his life.