Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Rumsfeld Raises Specter of Christian Hitler

Just when I thought Senator Santorum would deliver a Hitler analogy, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld beats him to the punch. Donald delivered the comparison in his speech to members of the American Legion. The news reported on his message.

Rumsfeld portrayed the administration's critics as suffering from "moral or intellectual confusion" about what threatens the nation's security. His remarks amounted to one of his most pointed defenses of President Bush' war policies and was among his toughest attacks on Bush's critics.

Speaking to several thousand veterans at the American Legion's national convention, Rumsfeld recited what he called the lessons of history, including the failure to confront Hitler. He quoted Winston Churchill as observing that trying to accommodate Hitler was "a bit like feeding a crocodile, hoping it would eat you last."


"I recount this history because once again we face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism," he said.


"Can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?" he asked.


"Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America - not the enemy - is the real source of the world's troubles?"


Just to be clear about this blogger’s opinions, I don’t believe pathological narcissists can be accommodated. The question in my mind is which world leaders fit that profile. As I look around I see a number of candidates, the Iranian President and the U.S. President both seem to meet the criteria. Why not conduct a “mental evaluation test off” to resolve which leaders are incapable of mutually cooperative and beneficial relationships?

As for the extremists the main question is what methods work best to identify and neutralize them? War as the primary strategy already seems an abject failure.

The view that American is the source of the world’s troubles is shared by the world, which in this case would be the customer. In a two party relationship, normally things aren’t always one way, unless you happen to be George Bush.

There are moderate leaders in place in most Muslim countries. The question is how to support these people in effective ways to reduce the impact and threat of fundamentalists. Come to think of it, a few Christian nations face the same challenge.

Didn’t Hitler use his Christianity to oppress others? It’s amazing how things come around in a circle. In one short piece, Donald Rumsfeld could come back to where he started, but he won’t as he uses propaganda as well as the one he reviles.

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