Just Say Nazi!

I'm always a bit flabbergasted when any politician or public figure compares anyone or anything to the Nazis or Hitler. It never ever works out.

Even in these waning days of the "Greatest Generation" those defining World War II memories are too potent to invoke casually. To compare any modern figure to Hitler (as Hillary did recently with the unctious Vladimir Putin) is stupid. The comparison, even if technically apt, is so toxic and inflammatory by its very nature that any relative value is immediately blunted.

Both sides of the political stream in the United States seem to want to trawl these questionable waters from time to time, but you'd think after all the many times it has gone haywire for whomever evoked the long-dead name of the Fuhrer or his defunct evil regime, that pols would steer clear and dump this dopey comparison. Here are some prime examples.

The Nazis serve the world of fiction well as iconic villains, leaders and servants of a starkly vile philosophy and they should stay tucked away inside those fictional walls. We should never forget the horror of the camps, nor should we forget the courage and sacrifice of those who battled against this morally bankrupt power. But the Nazis are gone, part of history save for a few knuckleheads here and there who might ludicrously imagine themselves still a part of the movement. It's time to dump this misguided rhetorical flourish into the waste bin of history along with the vile regime it stupidly evokes.

For more on this dumb habit see this article about "Godwin's Law".  And below are some vintage comic book covers which give the infamous leader the respect he deserves.

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