The mainstream media is having a little fun affirming its own role as thought-police with a ridiculous statement made on the floor of the House by Tennessee Democrat Representative comparing the tactics Republicans have used to (properly!) criticize the Obamacare bill to those used by Nazi propaganda mastermind Paul Joseph Goebbels.
Here are his words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG2hWFPLmZ4
Of course, even bringing up the Nazis has become so politically taboo that immediately Talk Radio condemned Rep. Cohen for comparing Republicans to Nazis. This he did NOT do. And in defending himself on CNN with Anderson Cooper, Cohen was quite right to insist that he wasn't comparing the morally repugnant Nazis with his political opponents the Republicans. Instead he attempted to be careful--and his logic is flawless in this--about re-affirming that it was the (in his mind) dishonest propaganda tactic he was condemning, not the politicians.
Here's his interview on CNN: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/anderson-cooper-has-frustrating-exchange-with-nazi-comparing-rep/
Anderson Cooper, of course, kept hammering on the point that any comparison with the Nazis immediately brings up associations. It's automatically the worst possible example of evil anything to talk about Nazis, in Anderson's view, so that making such comparisons, correctly or not, is automatically incendiary, and thus participates in an undesirable polarization and unnecessary heating of political rhetoric that can inspire crazies to shoot innocent people in the name of hatred.
The problem is, that Anderson Cooper isn't and should never be the arbiter of what is proper. The problem is that Rep. Cohen should have free reign to express his opinion in any way he sees fit. The problem is that being truthful must always trump being inoffensive if real problems are to be honestly addressed and rectified.
Now I'm in complete disagreement with Cohen on the direction of Obamacare. He is dead wrong that Republicans are falsely characterizing the bill as a government takeover of the health care sector of the economy. Of course the bill doesn't ENACT such a takeover, but the unavoidable consequences of such a bill would eventually have that effect, and Cohen can't be ignorant of this.
However, Cohen is right about one thing and one thing only: finding a concise resounding "big lie" and repeating it until it’s believed is the tactic Goebbels is famous for. I find NOTHING WRONG in using the most famous example you can think of to illustrate whatever point you're trying to make. And there's a SPECIAL interest we should ALL take in familiarizing ourself with the Nazi examples. Those are the ones we should understand the BEST so that we don’t REPEAT their genocidal errors in our society.
The problem isn’t that Cohen misunderstands the tactic of Goebbels. The problem is that he’s wrong about the CONTENT of the “big lie” he’s calling out. Republicans have told the TRUTH about Obamacare, and it's the Democrats who have been using Goebbels’ tactics to hide it.
Fellow conservatives, please don’t fall into the PC trap of: 1. Trying to claim any and all Nazi references should be banned; 2. Trying to claim that any reference to any Nazi anywhere automatically burdens the specific charge of the reference with the full and entire weight of evil associated with the Nazis.
Here are his words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG2hWFPLmZ4
Of course, even bringing up the Nazis has become so politically taboo that immediately Talk Radio condemned Rep. Cohen for comparing Republicans to Nazis. This he did NOT do. And in defending himself on CNN with Anderson Cooper, Cohen was quite right to insist that he wasn't comparing the morally repugnant Nazis with his political opponents the Republicans. Instead he attempted to be careful--and his logic is flawless in this--about re-affirming that it was the (in his mind) dishonest propaganda tactic he was condemning, not the politicians.
Here's his interview on CNN: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/anderson-cooper-has-frustrating-exchange-with-nazi-comparing-rep/
Anderson Cooper, of course, kept hammering on the point that any comparison with the Nazis immediately brings up associations. It's automatically the worst possible example of evil anything to talk about Nazis, in Anderson's view, so that making such comparisons, correctly or not, is automatically incendiary, and thus participates in an undesirable polarization and unnecessary heating of political rhetoric that can inspire crazies to shoot innocent people in the name of hatred.
The problem is, that Anderson Cooper isn't and should never be the arbiter of what is proper. The problem is that Rep. Cohen should have free reign to express his opinion in any way he sees fit. The problem is that being truthful must always trump being inoffensive if real problems are to be honestly addressed and rectified.
Now I'm in complete disagreement with Cohen on the direction of Obamacare. He is dead wrong that Republicans are falsely characterizing the bill as a government takeover of the health care sector of the economy. Of course the bill doesn't ENACT such a takeover, but the unavoidable consequences of such a bill would eventually have that effect, and Cohen can't be ignorant of this.
However, Cohen is right about one thing and one thing only: finding a concise resounding "big lie" and repeating it until it’s believed is the tactic Goebbels is famous for. I find NOTHING WRONG in using the most famous example you can think of to illustrate whatever point you're trying to make. And there's a SPECIAL interest we should ALL take in familiarizing ourself with the Nazi examples. Those are the ones we should understand the BEST so that we don’t REPEAT their genocidal errors in our society.
The problem isn’t that Cohen misunderstands the tactic of Goebbels. The problem is that he’s wrong about the CONTENT of the “big lie” he’s calling out. Republicans have told the TRUTH about Obamacare, and it's the Democrats who have been using Goebbels’ tactics to hide it.
Fellow conservatives, please don’t fall into the PC trap of: 1. Trying to claim any and all Nazi references should be banned; 2. Trying to claim that any reference to any Nazi anywhere automatically burdens the specific charge of the reference with the full and entire weight of evil associated with the Nazis.
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