January 05, 2004
Republicans and Nazis.
Dave Winer makes a very
succinct comment on
MoveOn's comparison of Bush to Hitler that I have to agree with completely.
People who support Bush apparently don't like the
MoveOn.Org comparison of Bush to Hitler. I haven't seen the ad, but I don't find the idea offensive. It's about time people outside the blogging world started ringing the bells. Wake up. They're taking the Bill of Rights apart. Get your priorities straight. An ad with some imagery you find offensive is nothing compared to what the
Republicans are doing. We live in amazing times. The professional press isn't covering the laws that are passing in Congress and being signed by the President.
I quote him rather than saying the same thing myself since he's better known, and more importantly, he has money and is basically fairly conservative. For some reason, Americans only take you seriously if you have money. I have no idea why, but there you are. :) But what's happening in this country is quite serious, and it's not just "crazed lefties" who are getting frightened.
Where I differ from Dave is that I don't think the Republicans are entirely to blame, or that getting them out of office will substantially change things. I think that's a bit self-serving, as I've said before. I think it's fairly certain that the election this year will be a massive Democratic sweep. But what I'm frightened about is that once the Democrats get in, they will not dismantle the apparatus of the police state, but instead will come up with a kinder, gentler version of the same thing, and just end up institutionalizing it. There's an old saying: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." And it doesn't matter much whether the contractor hired to pave that road is Haliburton/Bechtel, or some corporation owned by Democratic fat cats. In the long run the results will be virtually the same.
Virtually all of the measures the Republicans have taken against civil rights in the name of the "war on terror" are basically extensions of measures that have been taken for years in the name of the "war on drugs." And I honestly can't recall any prominent Democrats ever objecting when the civil liberties of drug users are violated, or complaining that the media wasn't covering them. And if you don't stand up for others, you can't really expect others to stand up for you.
Still, like he says, people do need to wake up. And soon. Better late than never, I suppose.
