It may perhaps be a sign of a shift in the perceptions of the GOP’s likely behavior in 2024 – but Big Media is already calling Ron DeSantis not only “Hitler”, but even worse than Trump:
I noted on the show a few weeks ago that Democrats referring to Republicans as “literally Hitler” goes back to Harry Truman; he was literally the first candidate who could refer to a Republlican (John Dewey, in this case). I remember it picking up with Reagan – but it was already old hat by then.
Now, the best response to this sort of thing is mockery and laughter.
How best to do this? That’s my project for this month.
I get it. Besides your job, there’s this snowstorm that will-not-effing-end with snowfall amounts that we usually don’t see in MN – so, there’s plenty to do and coming up with a unique and interesting post everyday is, at present, much harder than normal.
But, c’mon, building a piece around Shapiro, part of the clown-nose-on-close-nose-off conservatives, who is referencing a ridiculously overwrought article on an well-worn theme from a Acela publication with a circulation of 1.2 million.
You (and Shapiro) would have a better effect on this “all Republicans are Hitler” scam by simply ignoring it. But now all sorts of people know about this stupid article. To what end?
What you need to do is quantify this. Say, a person is Hitler ^x. So we need to find the value of exponent x, right? Because if x 1, the person is worse than Hitler.
So we need something like log(x) = a + b + c . . .
Where a, b, c . . . are Hitlerian characteristics, each given a nominal value, like so:
a = is human? = 0.1
b = has funny mustache? = 0.1
c = has invaded Poland? = 0.1
d = has invaded Ukraine? = 0.1
e = has dog named “Blondi”? = 0.1
f = has an undescended testicle? = 0.1
g = has written a political best seller? = 0.1
h = is a Republican? = 0.9
So, you see, if you are a human and you are a Republican, than log(x) = a + h = 0.1 + 0.9 and you are equal to Hitler.
OTH, if you are not a Republican, than even if a -g are true, you are not equal to Hitler because log(x) = 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 0.7 and Hitler ^ 0.7 will always be less than Hitler.
Numbers don’t lie.
jdm – re “to what end?” – my interpretation of the last paragraph of the post is that there will be one or more follow up posts discussing ways of mocking and laughing at such memes. This could come in handy since there’s sure to be a lot of similar messaging coming out leading up to 2024.
Ben “look at my big brain” Shapiro famously challenges any lefties to debate him on any subject.
I’m no lefty, but I reject neo-con grifters like Shapiro and all their works. I’d love to debate Shapiro. Topic: “Kanye West hurt your feelings, but he is not wrong.”
Shapiro gets first turn…
I kid. Matt Walsh beat me to it
NW (and Mitch), yes, I understood and that’s OK.
I just don’t think the “mocking and laughing” will matter, much less help. The responses to Shapiro’s tweet seem to bear that out.
Moreover, I think that publicizing creepy leftie weirdos and their creepy opinions in teensy-weensy creepy leftie magazines serves no purpose as far as I can tell. Eyes are eyes (clicks are clicks). It seems to me that publicizing gives “air” to these creeps and I’m advising suffocation.
“the best response…”
would be NOT:
to continue responding to the Dems,
or continuing to play defense,
or continuing to seek permanent minority party status.
If the situation is going to change Republicans must go on the offensive as Reagan, Gingrich, and Trump did.
Instead the conservative/neocon/Republican/Chamber of Commerce attitude appears to be “oh please lets be sure to always mind our manners and don’t upset our friends across the aisle”
nobody wants another hitler of course
but maybe a little mussolini wouldnt be so bad
at least he guaranteed the trains ran on time
which is more than we can say about lesko brandons administration
I think the more interesting and universal issue is not the demagogue, but the reaction to the demagogue. Here the similarities seem analogous. The political calculations of Republicans seem almost identical to those made in Germany in the early 30s. The thinking that you can co-opt the demagogue. The political expedience calculation. The Fear of losing the demagogues’ supporters in your own ambitions. As is always the case, you finally see just how few of those who have alot to lose actually have any principles whatsoever. You see how many for which the phrase “that’s just a bridge too far” means nothing.
Hitler, the guys you mentioned, McCarthy, McConnell, you name it; there are always the enablers, the guys making almost the identical political calculations and rationalizations, “reluctantly” joining the bandwagon, digging their own moral cesspool one dissembling statement at a time.
Regarding DeSantis being worse than Trump, if I were a democrat, I would enthusiastically agree. DeSantis has a lot of the policies, but very little of the personal baggage and recklessness, of Trump. He could torpedo progressive governance for a generation, really.
And as someone familiar with Godwin’s Law, it strikes me that the Democrats and press (but I repeat myself) are again saying something about themselves that I, as a conservative, can heartily endorse. That is, they have no clue and will conflate non-murderous people of another political persuasion with the #3 perpetrator of genocide in history (after Mao and Stalin).
On cue, Emery picks up the goal posts and carries them the necessary distance.
But since you insists on shifting the focus to the “enablers” of Hitler, take a long look at the Democratic Party as well. The Clintons have an impressive body count behind them. College students are on video acting as if they were ready to fellate Obama during his presidency. Teachers had schoolchildren singing songs of praise to him. Media commentators declaring Obama a “scandal-free” president, provided you don’t investigate or report on Solyndra, Operation Fast and Furious, or the assassination of American citizens.
But yeah, Congressional Republicans are enablers of you-know-who, and it’s just like the last days of Weimar Republic, except for his star being on the decline. The thing is, for “enablers”, they sure do stand up to him a lot.
DeSantis is one of the very few Republicans that is incredibly similar to Trump but is seemingly resistant to what makes Trump and his hand-picked candidates completely unpalatable for moderates. He has shown an ability to lend a sense of sanity to the asylum, though he himself is a patient. He has used his position to blatantly wield a partisan cudgel against his political enemies and yet has successfully conveyed the appearance of doing righteous battle with the forces of wokeness. I’m not sure the illusion here so much rests in the fact that DeSantis is necessarily better than Trump as it is DeSantis can’t be worse than Trump. If DeSantis gets elected in ‘24 with a Republican controlled Congress and a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, we may see the federal government used in ways we never thought possible.
. . . and emery chimes in to tell us that Republicans are just like Hitler.
He is beyond satire at this point.
we may see the federal government used in ways we never thought possible
by Republicans. Those ways are already well-trod ground by Democrats.
Hey, how about we start by publishing all tax returns for the past 10 years of any Democrat politician over the last 10 years?
In Finland everyone’s taxation is public. That includes taxable income and taxes paid, but not e.g. deductions. Taxation has been public since the 19th century. Finland also ranks consistently amongst the least corrupt countries in the world. There is a clear connection between these two issues.
DeSantis is every bit the demagogue and aspiring authoritarian that Trump is, but the Republican Party is all in to paint DeSantis as a moderate centrist. It’s not just the liberal media. It also scares people who hate book burning, cancel culture and censoring of ideas and speech by right wingers like DeSantis.
A note on Finland, from one who has a family member living there:
The taxes are high, for sure, but the benefits are clear and transparent. The big reason is that the taxes there actually go to what they are meant for. One example, the roads are in excellent condition even in the more remote areas, and despite a mandate for studded tires in the winter.
Why does this work? Because Finland doesn’t get sucked into distributing billions of dollars around the world; it’s taxes “stay home”, which aids in transparency and removes the opportunity/incentive for slush funds and money funneled into get-rich programs for the favored elite. It’s not perfect, but as my daughter says, “It’s nice living in a country that isn’t in the front page headlines every day.”
dont you get tired of lying out of your ass
who do you think you are fooling
certainly nobody here
i challenge you to link to desantis called for book burning
i challenge you to link to desantis demanding someone be canceled
i challenge you to link to desantis calling for censoring ideas and speech TO ADULTS (preventing pedophiles from corrupting grade school doesn’t count as censoring, in my book)
“It’s nice living in a country that isn’t in the front page headlines every day.”
Finland also knows a thing or two about defending themselves against Russian aggression.
Taxation [in Finland] has been public since the 19th century
Finland was a colony/province of Russia until 1918. That’s the 20th century. Or are you saying that taxation had been public since the 19th century in Imperial Russia?
Finland also knows a thing or two about defending themselves against Russian aggression
That was against commies. Prior to that there was a brutal civil war in 1918 which was won by the Whites, an alliance of conservatives and anti-socialists. Almost like Hitler.
[Retry – Forgot one of the forbidden words, did I forget more than one?]
Taxation [in Finland] has been public since the 19th century
Finland was a colony/province of Russia until 1918. That’s the 20th century. Or are you saying that taxation had been public since the 19th century in Imperial Russia?
Finland also knows a thing or two about defending themselves against Russian aggression
That was against commies. Prior to that there was a brutal civil war in 1918 which was won by the Whites, an alliance of conservatives and anti-s0ci@lists. Almost like Hitler.
Joseph Robinette Biden’s vaccine mandate was the most authoritarian action taken by any president since Roosevelt filled concentration camps with American citizens during WW2 (yes, they were concentration camps).
In Hitler’s eyes the [Reichstag Fire] decree was insufficient and he proposed the Enabling Act of 1933. This law gave the German government the power to override individual rights prescribed by the constitution. The law also gave the Chancellor (Hitler) emergency powers to pass and enforce laws without parliamentary oversight.
Boy, that sounds a lot more like Walz than it sounds like DeSantis. Isn’t Walz a German name?
More authoritarianism, right here in the USA:
New California Law to Punish Doctors for ‘Covid Misinformation Conduct’
https://californiaglobe.com/articles/new-california-law-to-punish-doctors-for-covid-misinformation-conduct/
And this as well:
Biden administration seeks to rescind Trump-era ‘conscience’ protections for health workers
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3792368-biden-administration-seeks-to-rescind-trump-era-conscience-protections-for-health-workers/
Just so we are clear, here is the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of authoritarian: “au·thor·i·tar·i·an
/əˌTHôrəˈterēən/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
adjective: authoritarian
favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.”
“I would tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering, I know more about him than anybody, other than, perhaps, his wife.” ~ Donald Trump
Or “DeSanctimonious”, as he has started to nickname him in recent days.
A wiser man than Trump would know that enough people will find him unelectable that he cannot repeat his trick from 2016. And that he likely won’t make it through the primary as a result, if anyone halfway decent stands (so, again, no repeat of 2016).
He would cast himself as the man who found DeSantis, push a DeSantis/Haley ticket, and then go on a loooooong holiday. Throw his phone away so he doesn’t hear Ron DeSantis soften the edges and mea culpa some of the weirder parts of the Republican agenda.
His entire focus should be on making it easy for DeSantis to let the DOJ go easy on him and his family. The targets on their backs are already powered by everlasting batteries.
But Trump is not that wiser man. He wouldn’t understand that wiser man if the wiser man explained it with dollies and toy gallows.
Still have no idea why Emery thinks that DeSantis or Trump is a fit topic in a post about Hitler. When I pointed to Walz & Biden as using authoritarian means to achieve policy goals, I mentioned specific cases & gave links.
Emery is just name calling.
That doesn’t seem like a winning strategy.
That doesn’t seem like a winning strategy
Au contraire, UMMP, Stupid misdirected rhetoric based on misunderstandings and ignorance has been shown to be a winning strategy (in MN) for years now.
“ignorance has been shown to be a winning strategy (in MN) for years now.”
MN education was successfully co-opted and subverted 40 years ago thats why intellectual naifs and midgets like the Emerys thrive without being challenged.
Evidently rAT has stumbled on a discussion of Finland on some lefty cesspool….lefties love Finland, and I love it when they cite Finland as a role model.
The current population of Finland is 5,562,189. The enumerated population of New York City’s was 8,804,190 as of April 1, 2020.
7.9% of the Finnish population is born abroad and 5.2% are foreign citizens. Black Africans (mostly from Somalia) constitute .8%..the rest of the foreign born population are from places like Estonia and Latvia.
In NYC, 23.4% are black or African American.
Shall I go on, rAT? It gets more embarrassing for you from here, trust me.
That is an error very common on the Left, Blade. They think that all solutions are scalable and culturally independent. I once had a long discussion with a coworker about high speed mass transit. He claimed that since it worked in Japan, it could work in the US, but the auto makers & oil companies worked to sabotage progressive politicians who tried to implement high speed rail in the US.
Believe it or not, the guy had a degree in physics (a BA degree, but still that involves a lot of math).
Just to remind you Emery’s incompetence when it comes to political analysis, here is his comment from a few days ago re Santos: “The Dems constantly eat their own while the Republicans will do anything to stay in power.”
Think of that clueless comment when you read about the revolt in the GOP over selecting a new house speaker.
http://www.shotinthedark.info/wp/?p=84154&cpage=1#comment-242896
“In Finland everyone’s taxation is public”.
Also in Finland, you must have an ID to vote. Obviously racist……
jmf:
Ha! The U.S. is the only country that doesn’t require an ID or proof of citizenship to vote.
The Black Messiah Obumbler invited a U.N. delegation to observe the election in 2012. They were shocked that ID wasn’t required and that delegation excoriated him for it.