Nazis and Liberals

Posted on August 29, 2009 in Falsehoods History Liberals & Progressives

You’ve heard Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh both say it: Liberals are Nazis. The next time a dittohead throws this little gem at you, ask them these questions which are all based in fact. Dittoheads hate the Truth, so don’t be surprised if they blubber and say “But Nazis are socialists.” It’s to be expected from people who think Fox News presents “the facts” in a “fair and balanced” manner ((You can call yourself anything. Socialist was a cool thing to be at the time. Look at how the folks who cheered when people were arrested for wearing shirts critical of Bush declare themselves to be champions of freedom.)) . Stick to your guns. Expose the lie whenever it is presented so reasonable people will learn the difference.

• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they hate labor unions?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they believe in white superiority?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did [[Prescott Bush]] and [[Henry Ford]] like them?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did big corporations back them?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they fight diversity and plurality?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they torture political opponents?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they oppress homosexuals?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they disrupt the expression of political speech which opposed them?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they put so much money into the military?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they think citizens were nothing more than a way for the state to extend its goals and not the object of service?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they want to provide health care and other services just for “Aryans”
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they oppress religious minorities like the Jehovah’s Witnesses?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they try to eradicate the handicapped and the mentally ill?
• If Nazis were like liberals, why did they specifically oppose liberalism and democracy?

A classic trick of the Nazis was to accuse your opponent of the things you yourself were guilty of. The Extreme Right speaks of death panels: it’s a lie that these are a part of Obamacare. The term came out of insurance industry jargon for those lists these companies kept of conditions whose sufferers would be just left to die.

If you want to know what the Extreme Right plans, just look at what they accuse the Democrats of.

If you are disturbed because some of these positions reflect those of the extreme elements of the GOP, then think twice the next time you accuse Liberals, moderates, and reasonable conservatives of being Nazis.