The late, great Molly Ivins famously said Pat Buchanan’s speech at the 1992 GOP convention “probably sounded better in the original German.” If only she were alive today to read Buchanan’s defense of Hitler.

Buchanan’s explanation for the invasion of Poland: They were askin’ for it!  --

Hitler had not wanted war with Poland. He had wanted an alliance with Poland in his anti-Comintern pact against Joseph Stalin.

But the Poles refused to negotiate.

The dirty bums! (And as for those Jews. . . .)

You could argue either side of whether it was a coup or not. The history I have seen suggests Hitler won his power via thuggery and bullying.

He was quoted as saying, “Instead of working to achieve power by armed coup, we shall hold our noses and enter the Reichstag against the opposition deputies. If outvoting them takes longer than outshooting them, at least the results will be guaranteed by their own constitution. Sooner or later we shall have a majority, and after that- Germany.”

However, he led a putsch (armed revolt) which was unsuccessful and so did jail time for it.

He later was appointed by a very weak Hindenburg as chancellor, not out of regard but as a political ploy, and used a fire in the Reichstag to declare a state of emergency, which he then used, using his brownshirt SA to seize absolute control via arrests, intimidation, ballotbox control, propaganda, etc.

It was somewhat legal at that point, (legal is neither moral nor ethical, just legally sanctioned) but all the history I read suggests it was extreme thuggery all the same, combined with a cult of personality, (Hitler’s strong leadership), and made possible by all the economic chaos of Germany, which made the people unsettled, rife with complaints, and ripe for any message of strength that could lift their spirits and inspire confidence.

Was it a coup at the end ? It fits some definitions more than others. Call it what you will. Historians can and do argue endlessly over trivia like that.

My point is a great deal of thuggery and bullying was involved in the Nazi rise to power. There was an educational and propaganda component as well, but before you arrest all the school librarians, let me suggest their problem is not that they are rabid stormtroopers but that they might not have enough of that strength.

In other words, they aren’t Hitlers. They do make excellent Hindenburgs though. I could be wrong.

RSmith, you referred to “the jewish betrayal of the German Army that led to Versailles”.

Pardon my ignorance, but I don’t know what this means.  Could you enlighten me?

Hitler wasn’t installed in a coup. He was named Chancellor by President Hindenburg after the Nazi party won enough seats in the 1932 elections to pretty much control the Reichstag. When Hindenburg died, Hitler simply abolished the position of President and installed himself as top dog.

At any rate, Buchanan is an idiot. Hitlers plans of extending Germany eastward into the Ukraine are well documented. He believed Germany’s destiny lay to the east where resouces were great and the local slavs would be used as a sub human slave class to serve the “Greater German Reich”.

What’s key in this conversation is how he demagoged his way into power by playing on old resentments (the jewish betrayal of the German Army that led to Versailles) promises of a perfect utopian society and fear mongering against a communist takeover. This didn’t take much considering that communists were causing serious domestic strife throughout the ‘20’s and people were ready for someone to take them on.

As for the education system being a breeding ground for future storm troopers, that’s the first thing the Nazi’s did when they came to power. Purge dissident professors and intellectuals and clergy to create a pure, pro nazi educational system.

In other words, a one party educational system where certain ideas and points of view are forbidden. Just like the one we have here in the US.

These are decent points. However I’m not certain that political correctness and speech codes are how totalitarianism will show up the next time it rears its ugly head. Education is not the typical breeding ground for storm troopers, although I will admit some timid librarians can turn into Nazis over overdue library materials.

I’ll pay the $1.17 fine. Just don’t break my arm, please, please.

At least you have a good excuse for loving libertarian philosophy, a love of liberty ingrained in all Americans.

I like Bill’s quote because I think it underscores how totalitarianism may be sneaky. We may never see it coming or
what form it will take.

In Hitler’s case, it was a very abnormal situation that resulted in a coup, removing one government and overthrowing the Weimar. (meagre knowledge of German history)

I think checks and balances have a better chance of saving us than love of liberty. If someone grabs the reins of power someone else is (presumably) able to notice.

Not to mention Putin again (no one noticed or cared him grabbing absolute control of Russia, but that’s Russia).

Was Linda Tripp weird, a patriot, both, neither ?

Would Benedict Arnold have been a success if the British won, or would they have hung him too ?  He was not a whistleblower in any case just a turncoat.

Bill makes a good point that both political ideologies play the game. I’m surprised a leftie hasn’t chimed in with the “Bush is using 9-11 as an excuse to impose a fascist police state” argument yet. Stripped of the hyperbole and frantic theatrics, a good argument could be made that Bush has over stepped.

One reason America has been able to resist totalitarianism thus far is because we’ve always put individual liberty and free will above all else...at least in theory if not always in practice. In order for a totalitarian system to exist, the people must be willing to submit.

This is why one party control of the educational system is so dangerous. Leftist control the entire affair, from what is taught to what goes into the books to who is hired. It’s no wonder that todays graduates are willing to accept speech codes, sensitivity re education, loss of freedom to fight whatever climate doom is trendy this week and fawn like pre pubescent teens over the latest candidate for Great Leader.

Like I said. You need a populace willing to submit. The best way to do that is start when they’re young.

From a speech given by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson after returning from overseeing the Nuremburg trials:

“In the first place, we have
documented the history of this war.  As Judge Parker has described it, we
did a postmortem on a totalitarian
state.  You can trace in Goering’s
admission after admission the steps
they took to overthrow a free
government and set up a totalitarian
state.  It would be well worth the
American’s time to learn how it was
done because the Weimar
constitution had almost as good
protection on paper for civil liberty
as our Constitution has.  Yet they
managed to set up the concentration
camps and the Gestapo and a
dictatorship because the German
people did not recognize the
symptoms of a coming
totalitarianism.  All of that is
documented.”

The libs will say the American neocons are the modern equivalent; the cons will say the libs are.  Last I checked, I didn’t see any *true* conservatives pushing for speech codes or thought crimes.  Anyhow, let’s just keep on our toes.

TJ,

I’m surprised they teach that much. I thought world history started in 1963.

There had always been resentment of jews in europe prior to Hitlers rise. What he did was recognize the potential of that resentment and use it to manipulate people desperate for someone to blame for all their troubles and then offer himself up as the one who would help them get even.

It’s pretty basic stuff. If you want to see it in action just watch the news.

The mid east would be great if it weren’t for Israel…

We’d have plenty of gas if it weren’t for those greedy oil co’s…

I’m in jail because the white man just wants to keep me down…

Scapegoating is common because it’s easy

My godparents lived in Germany when Hitler rose to power. They told another side to the story that doesn’t get said in American classrooms. It wasn’t simply of matter of: ‘Hey—you know what? I hate Jews! I don’t know why, but all of a sudden I do. Therefore we must get rid of them.’

But that’s the way its taught to us in America.

I’m going to kill you.

Now...let’s discuss my pledge to kill you while I sharpen my knife.

Please fell free to dazzle me with your impressive intellect while I carefully drag the blade across the stone...first towards me, then away...then towards me...then away…

Why...yes...I would like you to respect me...to accomadate my desires...to defer to my wishes...to compromise to my demands.

However, I won’t have to worry about that if you’re dead.

I especially liked the look of utter surprise and bewilderment on your face when I thrust my knife into your throat. Moments like that are priceless. Don’t say I didn’t warn you you silly rascal!

I’ll see to it that the world remembers you as a man of understanding, tolerance and diplomacy.

Just kidding. No I won’t...because no one will care. No one that would care will be left to care...or be stupid enough to say so.

Stupid.

Simmertime, what is a DEM liberal? I’m not aware of the acronym “DEM.” Perhaps you could fax me your response—or perhaps you would rather FAX it instead.

There’s a difference between acronyms and abbreviations, people! If you can’t write properly, how do you expect people to be persuaded by your arguments?

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