Hyperbole thy name is Rangel

Is there anything that can't be compared to something from World War II?

Published on June 12, 2005 By Draginol In Politics

Dennis Miller put it best when (paraphrasing) he said: "Why it is liberals will compare everyone to Hitler except the little mustached guy gassing people over in Iraq?" Once again, Democrats manage to trivialize historical catastrophes. In this case, the holocaust as Democrat Charles Rangel said:

The Iraq war "is the biggest fraud ever committed on the people of this country. . . . This is just as bad as the 6 million Jews being killed," the 74-year-old Harlem Democrat insisted during a Monday radio appearance on the WWRL-AM morning show with Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter. "The whole world knew and they were quiet about it because it wasn't their ox being gored."

I can think of quite a few differences between the War in Iraq and the death of 6 million Jews (not to mention the other 6 million Gypsies, Russians, and other "undesirables") starting with say that 6 million people haven't been killed by us in Iraq. In fact, not 600,000 or even 60,000 (certainly not intentionally). To compare the industrialized murder of millions and the liberation and rebuilding of a country represents the kind of thinking that keeps Republicans so successful despite their grotesque incompetence (according to recent polls, only around 1 in 3 people are happy with congress).

My European friends are aghast that Americans re-elected George W. Bush. But in American politics, it's about a choice. Our choices were Bush or Kerry. Not Bush and "magical perfect guy". And the American left gave us the choice between Bush, who, like it or not has done a pretty decent job in a lot of areas even if we're not sure he's completely sentient, and Kerry who was much better cut out to compete on a show like Fear Factor (come on, does anyone doubt he'd eat human flesh or something to win?) than to lead the country's executive branch.

But don't expect any Democratic revitalization as long as elected Democratic politicians make ridiculous statements like Rangel made.

Comments

bakerstreet

on Jun 12, 2005

Idiotic statement with a brief bit of clarity:

""The whole world knew and they were quiet about it because it wasn't their ox being gored.""

He rightly points out that all these holier-than-thou nations whined and never lifted a finger to stop us. We wouldn't have risked a military conflict with France. They or China or any first-world nation could have easily made some sort of meaningless military overture and we would have balked.

They didn't, though, proving that they're nothing but talk.

Rangel is an idiot, pure and simple, and one of the very most opportunistic, shamelessly grandstanding legislators we have. He would wave the bloody shirt no matter who it belonged to.

His constituents tell the world a lot about themselves by re-electing him.

Champas Socialist

on Jun 12, 2005

What a stupid statement to make (Rangel's I mean). However, there are plenty of "liberals" who would never engage in such silly hyperbole as that. Meanwhile there are plenty of conservatives happy to engage in equally ridiculous hyperbole. Rangel is quite clearly an idiot, but why do you always insist on pretending that only 'the other side' (the L*ft) do these sorts of things? One need only look as far as the featured page of JU to find evidence.

Champas Socialist

on Jun 12, 2005

bakerstreet

on Jun 12, 2005

Not saying you can't, but I'd be interested in seeing you post something from the front page of JU that would be equitable in stupidity to the above statement.

Daiwa

on Jun 12, 2005

Champas Socialist -

I have a strong suspicion that none of our elected officials are blogging here, featured or not. It's one thing for Joe Blogger to engage in hyperbole of this kind, quite another for an elected official of Rangel's stature to do so. So, nice try, but no cigar.

Ignoring a few whackos like Pat Robertson, who are not representative of mainstream conservatism (no matter what the left says), let alone elected, who among elected Republicans and Republican Party officials have made any public comments even just beginning to approach the absurdity of this? We're talking about a senior Senator trying, apparently, to out-Dean Dean... and succeeding! It's just nuts.

Cheers,
Daiwa

drmiler

on Jun 13, 2005

#3 by Champas Socialist
Sunday, June 12, 2005

What a stupid statement to make (Rangel's I mean). However, there are plenty of "liberals" who would never engage in such silly hyperbole as that. Meanwhile there are plenty of conservatives happy to engage in equally ridiculous hyperbole. Rangel is quite clearly an idiot, but why do you always insist on pretending that only 'the other side' (the L*ft) do these sorts of things? One need only look as far as the featured page of JU to find evidence.

Can you show this evidence? Of course you can't! Now think of something else.

Dr Guy

on Jun 13, 2005

Altho they laoth the term, the left does practice trickle down politics. If the leaders say it (Reid, Pelosi, Dean), then the rank and file are free to say it. Or so they beleive. But it sounds just as stupid coming from Rangel as it does from Kerry or Dean.

Leauki

on Jun 13, 2005

I was wondering...

In an analogy where George Bush is Hitler and the Republicans are the Nazis, who or what is Saddam Hussein?

And what about white supremacists like David Duke who are vehemently opposed to the war?

The left may explain.

I prefer what I think is a more logical analogy:

The Americans are the Americans.
The British are the British.
The French are the collaborators.
The dictator with the moustache who gases people is the dictator with the moustache who gases people.
And the anti-semitic Arab national-socialist Ba'ath party is the required anti-semitic national-socialist party.

I cannot even determine a difference in degree between the one fascist and the other. It only seems to me that the original moustache had more time to build a huge military and wasn't disturbed by the Americans and British early and often enough.

Dr Guy

on Jun 13, 2005

And what about white supremacists like David Duke who are vehemently opposed to the war?

He is? Seriously, no one pays him any attention. Whatever his views is news to me.

Leauki

on Jun 13, 2005

Dr. Guy,

I believe it is more visible in Europe, specifically on the continent, that white supremacists are against the war. (At least they act rationally and explain why they side with the gas guy.)

I only brought it up to point to the futility of the neo-conservatives equals Nazis analogy. The left have chosen their side and it is the side the white supremacists have been on for a while. And I know the left will say that they are obviously against these racists (but will side with them against an enemy even worse), just as they say that there are against dictators like Saddam Hussein (who they did not want removed from power).

The problem is that the fascists do not need people's support, they only need people's quiet disagreement. And they get that from the left, a left who rather demonstrate against neo-conservatives than against fascists who gas people or openly racist white supremacists like the afore-mentioned David Duke (who, I find, is rather scarily proud of being closely related to Gipsies aka Aryans).

Dr Guy

on Jun 13, 2005

The problem is that the fascists do not need people's support, they only need people's quiet disagreement. And they get that from the left, a left who rather demonstrate against neo-conservatives than against fascists who gas people or openly racist white supremacists like the afore-mentioned David Duke (who, I find, is rather scarily proud of being closely related to Gipsies aka Aryans).

Ouch! Zing! You just used a nail gun to impail the lefts over here. WHile I will not say they will, I will wait to see if they wont.

Sad part is, they adopt any allies, no matter how repugnant. And that is their downfall when they have to defend the indefensible. If this does not get a response, can you create your own article on it? I would really like to see what they do say.

Leauki

on Jun 13, 2005

Dr. Guy. Wait for it!

Champas Socialist

on Jun 13, 2005

Daiwa, I must agree with you that it is one thing for a JU blogger to exaggerate and another for elected officials to do so. This Rangel guy is a complete disappointment.

In response to BakerStreet and my old pal the doc, I had a quick look through the articles that have been featured and found less evidence than I had expected of right wing exaggeration. I think perhaps I was thinking of articles posted by people in the Top Ten who get featured regularly, but who do not get featured when they publish that sort of tripe. Nonetheless I did find one article that asked when Nazis became left-wingers and attempted to equate opposition to the War in Iraq with Nazi-sympathy. However, it did not go as far as Rangel's comments.

On the bright side, flipping through, I found that a couple of my own articles had actually been featured without my realising it! Thanks Draginol!

Daiwa

on Jun 14, 2005

Daiwa, I must agree with you that it is one thing for a JU blogger to exaggerate and another for elected officials to do so. This Rangel guy is a complete disappointment.

Glad we agree there, Champ. I was thinking about analogous situations where the shoe was on the Republican foot, and of course the Trent Lott fiasco immediately came to mind. Where's the howling chorus that ran him out of Dodge for remarks that were no less outrageous? I give you credit for stepping up and condemning those remarks, as many of us less liberal-minded folks condemned Lott for his stupidity at the time.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Leauki

on Jun 14, 2005

Champas, that article was mine. I wrote it because it was true. I did see Neo-Nazis demonstrating against the Iraq war hand in hand with left wingers.

If the left have a problem with that, the left will have to change sides. As I said, quiet disagreement with fascism is not enough. You have to fight them. And fighting the fascists is a lot more difficult and expensive than demonstrating against those who do!

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