Obama and Hitler
This post is addressing everyone out there who is drawing Hitler mustaches and swastikas on pictures of President Obama.
Now, I believe you're free to do this, and won't tell you to stop.
It would be very easy for me to point out that when people were equating President Bush with Hitler, you were the first to scream how unfair the comparison was, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to assume that you have grown as an individual, and you now understand that the way we prevent the sort of evil that was Adolf Hitler from ever happening again is by watching our leaders and our government closely -- remembering that the people of Weimar Germany were neither stupid nor evil and therefore the grotesqueness that was Hitler must not have appeared blatantly wrong at the time of his rise to power -- and note when similarities arise so we can intervene before history repeats itself.
And I will also grant that Hitler was a member of the National Socialist Party, and that in the early days this party had a manifesto that called for nationalization of major parts of the German economy. The fact that the party did not enact this manifesto when it had absolute control of the German government notwithstanding, I'll allow the comparison. After all, under Nazi rule, a great deal of the German marketplace -- while still privately owned -- ended up under the de facto direct control of the government. Personally, I think Hitler's legacy for the deliberate slaughter of millions of innocent civilians within his own borders far outweighs his legacy as the founder of a partially nationalized company called Volkswagen, but I'm prepared to allow that the specter of nationalizing segments of our economy is as terrifying to you as the neocon agenda is to those of us who love peace, equality, and freedom.
So, I'm not going to ask you not to create silly "Yes We Can" posters with images of Hitler instead of Obama. I'm not going to ask you to do more research before showing up at a tea party (and, for the record, I'm in the "Taxed Enough Already" school of thought myself) holding a swastika-emblazoned sign that says, "Keep government out of my Medicare."
Rather, I'm going to ask you why President Obama has the authority to do the things that you fear he is doing.
Our Constitution would, on its surface, make it impossible for a President to wield the kind of authority it would take for us to end up with nationalized healthcare, or nationalized banks, or a wholesale redistribution of wealth.
However, it's the natural order of government to seek to expand its own power beyond what is explicitly granted to it. The last time the United States had a major contraction of Federal power was during the backlash following the Civil War. Since that time, the authority of government has expanded, Constitution or no.
When President Bush had a Republican majority in Congress in 2003, where you lobbying for him to give back some of the power he received under the USA Patriot Act? When Bush chose to use signing statements to re-interpret the laws passed by Congress, did you object? When the Justice Department under President Bush decided to expand the enforcement of its drug laws to stop medical marijuana grown and used exclusively in one state, did you stand up for States' Rights?
Well, now we've got a Democratic majority on Congress, and President Obama. And the precedents are set.
If you truly fear Obama enough to deface pictures of him to resemble Mel Brooks in To Be or Not To Be, then perhaps you need to understand that power is cyclical in this country. Conservatives will be back in power, sooner or later. Perhaps not the neocons, or the Republicans, but some breed of conservatism will return, will win over a majority, and will be a force to be reckoned with.
At that time, remember that any power you can wield can also be wielded when the pendulum swings back the other way.
You had an excellent opportunity, in 2003, when Republicans controlled all three branches of the Federal government, to run through the Balanced Budget Amendment, institute strong laws protecting the authority and autonomy of state governments, limit the ability of elected officials to appoint high-salary cronies to unnecessary positions, and all the other things you promised to do if you ever got control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.
Next time, don't waste the opportunity. Because whatever power the government has, your opponent can use, too.
Now, I believe you're free to do this, and won't tell you to stop.
It would be very easy for me to point out that when people were equating President Bush with Hitler, you were the first to scream how unfair the comparison was, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to assume that you have grown as an individual, and you now understand that the way we prevent the sort of evil that was Adolf Hitler from ever happening again is by watching our leaders and our government closely -- remembering that the people of Weimar Germany were neither stupid nor evil and therefore the grotesqueness that was Hitler must not have appeared blatantly wrong at the time of his rise to power -- and note when similarities arise so we can intervene before history repeats itself.
And I will also grant that Hitler was a member of the National Socialist Party, and that in the early days this party had a manifesto that called for nationalization of major parts of the German economy. The fact that the party did not enact this manifesto when it had absolute control of the German government notwithstanding, I'll allow the comparison. After all, under Nazi rule, a great deal of the German marketplace -- while still privately owned -- ended up under the de facto direct control of the government. Personally, I think Hitler's legacy for the deliberate slaughter of millions of innocent civilians within his own borders far outweighs his legacy as the founder of a partially nationalized company called Volkswagen, but I'm prepared to allow that the specter of nationalizing segments of our economy is as terrifying to you as the neocon agenda is to those of us who love peace, equality, and freedom.
So, I'm not going to ask you not to create silly "Yes We Can" posters with images of Hitler instead of Obama. I'm not going to ask you to do more research before showing up at a tea party (and, for the record, I'm in the "Taxed Enough Already" school of thought myself) holding a swastika-emblazoned sign that says, "Keep government out of my Medicare."
Rather, I'm going to ask you why President Obama has the authority to do the things that you fear he is doing.
Our Constitution would, on its surface, make it impossible for a President to wield the kind of authority it would take for us to end up with nationalized healthcare, or nationalized banks, or a wholesale redistribution of wealth.
However, it's the natural order of government to seek to expand its own power beyond what is explicitly granted to it. The last time the United States had a major contraction of Federal power was during the backlash following the Civil War. Since that time, the authority of government has expanded, Constitution or no.
When President Bush had a Republican majority in Congress in 2003, where you lobbying for him to give back some of the power he received under the USA Patriot Act? When Bush chose to use signing statements to re-interpret the laws passed by Congress, did you object? When the Justice Department under President Bush decided to expand the enforcement of its drug laws to stop medical marijuana grown and used exclusively in one state, did you stand up for States' Rights?
Well, now we've got a Democratic majority on Congress, and President Obama. And the precedents are set.
If you truly fear Obama enough to deface pictures of him to resemble Mel Brooks in To Be or Not To Be, then perhaps you need to understand that power is cyclical in this country. Conservatives will be back in power, sooner or later. Perhaps not the neocons, or the Republicans, but some breed of conservatism will return, will win over a majority, and will be a force to be reckoned with.
At that time, remember that any power you can wield can also be wielded when the pendulum swings back the other way.
You had an excellent opportunity, in 2003, when Republicans controlled all three branches of the Federal government, to run through the Balanced Budget Amendment, institute strong laws protecting the authority and autonomy of state governments, limit the ability of elected officials to appoint high-salary cronies to unnecessary positions, and all the other things you promised to do if you ever got control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.
Next time, don't waste the opportunity. Because whatever power the government has, your opponent can use, too.