Bill Maher Guest Draws Comparison Between Tea Party and Nazis

[Alex P Notkeaton]

[Shrike47]

1. I'm beginning to think we need a national Nazi comparison law. Limit of 3x a decade.

[hobbit709]

8. The Tea Party is a lot like the Brown Shirts, most of whom were eliminated after Hitler seized power

they were useful idiots but were seen as a threat to his power once he took over.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. The Nazis certainly agree with that.

Their victims on the other hand do not. So there's that.

[backscatter712]

20. If the jackboots fit... n/t

[1monster]

30. I don't see him calling the tea party Nazis. He's making a point which got interrupted by

the other guy who was soooo insulted. The point was that one group thought to use another group to get power thinking they could control them after power was achieved ... then the OUTRAGED interruption. (And, of course, we know how THAT--the 1920s-30s situation-- worked out.)

It was good similie, however, some people are so afraid of the comparison to any point of Nazism that they refuse to look beyond the N**ism word.

His point on ideologue is well made also.

edit for clarification

[fireflysky46]

2. Tea Party are not Nazism,

they are just stupid.

Even too stupid to be Nazis.

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. I would venture to guess alot that joined the Nazi's were stupid too...

[IrishAyes]

4. Hitler called his party national socialism, but it wasn't.

They were actually fascist instead; but even back then 'fascism' sounded worse. A case of mislabeling which still today contributes to needless fear of true socialism.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

16. More-or-less as an aside

When someone says "The Nazis were socialists, just look at the name of the party", respond "So you believe, based on the name, that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a democracy. Just look at the name."

[IrishAyes]

22. I'll save that ammunition for the next appropriate occasion, thanks.

The problem here is, although most of these people have heard of Nazis, their knowledge doesn't extend to the party's original formal name. They never heard of the ILWU, the AFL-CIO, etc either. But if you say the word 'union', they'll swear at you and call you a gd commie.

In little over 8 years, I've been asked THREE TIMES who the aitch is Bob Dylan. Just about the saddest thing I've heard here, though, was when a guy bragged to me that his girlfriend was a real intellectual, having 'almost made it through 11th grade'. Jethro Beaudine in real life, especially with a McCoy-Hatfield mean streak, is no joke.

[PatrynXX]

18. too bad most of them are on stormfront

a Neo Nazi group

so are they Nazi's. eh who dabbled in the occult.. maybe hello stupid.

but certainly Neo Nazi's

[valerief]

33. Teabaggers have guns. Nazis had guns. Hmm, not so different. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Comment made at 2:16

The whole conversation was engaging, but that particular comment was the least of the salient points, and easily passed over.

[Bucky]

6. He had a good point about idealogues, but the lazy Nazi comparison is always a red flag

It announces to the world "I don't know shit about history and I don't even know that I'm ignorant"

[JaneyVee]

9. Except Nazi ideology is extremely similar to TeaParty ideology.

[Shemp Howard]

7. The guest went too far.

This sort of thing bothers me for a couple of reasons.

1. As fireflysky46 noted, most Tea Party members are not evil, just stupid or misguided. It is unethical to call them nazis.

A relative of mine believes the US needs a huge and expensive military. The nazis believed in a huge and expensive military. Does that make my relative a nazi? Of course not.

2. When "nazi" gets thrown around so casually, the word gets diluted. There are REAL neo-nazis about, both here and abroad. Save the word for when it actually fits the situation.

And as a side note, here's an interesting article. It's about Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

[JaneyVee]

10. Neo-Nazi's and KKK both vote Republican.

[HoosierRadical]

12. the guest didn't go far enough

most Nazis were stupid and misguided. Tea Party is against national healthcare reform, the raising of the minimum wage and anything that would seek to dismantled institutionalize racism...that's EVIL.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. This idiotic 'Godwin's Law' tripe is in direct opposition to the requests made by survivors of Nazi

horrors. This idea that they must not be invoked is absurd. Daft. And worse, it serves the worst people on earth. Most Nazis were just stupid and misguided. Still are.
The Nazis did not 'believe in a strong military' they built an invasion force with great intent and used it to take other people's territory. When the US military captured Germany along with the allies, we gave it back to the Germans. Can you see a difference there? Does your 'relative'? Or does that relative also want to annex Baja and invade Canada? If the relative does, relative is much like a Nazi.

[radiclib]

19. The problem with Godwin's Law is that it assumes that people are stupid

..and can't hold two thoughts at the same time. Which is sadly true of most Americans.

[IrishAyes]

23. Hear ye, hear ye!

[randys1]

26. I believe people are drawn to teaparty because they are racists

I believe it so strongly I know it, i think it is evident to all

[griloco]

29. Fox/Tea Party do have Nazi links

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024342344

[Ed Suspicious]

11. The woman was on point. Great analysis from her.

The Nazi comparison isn't a stretch to me, but sadly it sort of plays like one.

[SCVDem]

13. The first guy did not go Nazi.

He was laying the foundation for a salient point which was, How can so many good people go so terribly wrong?

The second yappy guy went all Godwin.

Credit where credit is due.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

17. What the man said was

In the 1920s, the German right wing establishment thought "We can control the Nazis". It turned out they were wrong. Similarly, the Republican establishment thought, "We can control the Tea Party." Similarly, they were wrong.

He was making an historical analogy, not saying "The Tea Party are Nazis".

[IrishAyes]

24. True,

although it's still also true that if something walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, I think dinner's on the way.

[1monster]

31. Only if you eat ducks. I only think of how lucky I am to see wild mallard ducks waddling by.

Besides, they guy did not call anyone a Nazi.

The problem with not being allowed to make analogies is that we cannot learn from the past... That analogy does not in any way say that the tea party are Nazis. It simply shows the possiblilty of one group trying to use another group only to find out that it was the second group that used the first.

[freshwest]

25. Correct. But he was shut down by the yappy guy before he could say it.

[lobodons]

21. 14 signs of facism

google 14 signs of facism

[ZombieHorde]

27. Kind of. He didn't say they act like Nazis,

he said they were used like Nazis.

[lostincalifornia]

28. That was Mel Brooks son

[1monster]

32. Which one is Mel Brooks son?

[lostincalifornia]

34. The special guest who wrote world war Z, and made the comment in the OP