Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."
...
"We can't be lulled into complacency," Broun said. "You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I'm saying is there is the potential of going down that road."
The educated Democrats among you are saying this is crazy and alarmist. But ask yourselves how many Obama voters, or voters generally, are aware of this history.
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Wait, what?
Considering Obama's large base of support from Jews and college-educated people, I'd bet a good number of his supporters know that Hitler was elected.
But where the fuck does that association come from? The guy who's going to close Guantanamo may (oh so coyly) equal Hitler? That proposal for national service, which returns some counterterrorism efforts to civilian control warrants pointing out the fact that Hitler was elected? I can think of a lot more policies over the past eight years that can make that historical comparison more easily.
Which is to say: defending Rep. Broun's history lesson, really?
I would agree that Bush has been an abomination on the civil liberties front. You can basically argue that all of our 20th century presidents have overreached and it is very true that it's a continuum between democracy and authoritarianism. We are somewhere in between now. I have no reason to think Obama is really more like Hitler than Bush has been, but I do support anyone who points out the danger that exists in democracy.
Yeah, except his rhetoric and choice of analogies ensures that no one who doesn't already know this history will be persuaded of anything. If anything, Broun harms those trying to make this point. Rhetoric matters.
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