2006-8-10 06:55:00
I'm still very busy and do not have time to write about anything deep but this may be of interest.
I received a letter from a reader challenging my past article, refuting the ridiculous idea that Bush is like Hitler. It seems that whenever someone doesn't like someone these days they call them a Nazi or compare them to Hitler. Several have done this with me and other spiritual teachers which is probably more silly than calling Bush a Hitler.
To refresh your memory here is the article followed by additional comments.
Comparing Bush and Hitler
A tactic used much too often these days is the comparing of anyone one doesn't like to Hitler. No one has been the victim of this more than our president, George W. Bush.
This comparison is so far removed from reality that it produces an illusion that should be easy to dispel from the plane of the mind.
One of the main reasons that this comparison is made is an ignorance of history by this generation, for if one has made even a cursory study of Hitler and World Wear II then one must conclude that such a comparison has to arise from deep seated reactionary lower emotions.
It is popular in this age of political activists to call anyone they disagree with a Hitler or any group they do not like Nazis. These terms are bandied about with such whimsicalness that if a real Hitler were to arise he would not be recognized and would probably even be embraced by those who claim to abhor such a man.
Comparisons between Hitler and Bush:
Bush, when young, was more interested in partying and having a good time. He showed little interest in Politics let alone world conquest.
After Bush became active in politics he sought office and power through established legal methods.
Bush has never said or written anything that hints at plans for world conquest.
Bush attempted to makes friends and work with his political enemies.
Example One: He invited Ted Kennedy to the White house to watch the Movie "Thirteen Days" which highlighted the best of the Kennedy Presidency. Later he worked with him on an education package that went against the advice of his own party.
Example Two: After a member of the Noble Peace committee bragged that they gave Jimmy Carter the Prize as a slap in the face to Bush and Carter used his acceptance speech to criticize the President's actions you would think that Bush would have looked for an opportunity to put Carter down. Instead, he called Carter the next day with congratulations and praise. Carter was later invited to the White House and praised again by Bush. Since that time Carter has broken protocol many times and openly criticized Bush, but Bush has said nothing negative about him.
Bush has taken more interest in working with minorities than any Republican president in a hundred years and has placed more minorities in key positions than democratic presidents such as Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. He has had two blacks in his cabinet - Powell and Paige, and of course Condoleeza Rice as National Security Advisor and later Secretary of State. In addition three women are in his cabinet as well as a Cuban and an Asian. He has appointed numerous minorities as judges.
Conclusion: Bush appears to be totally opposite to Hitler in the area of Prejudice.
There is no record of Bush having any thoughts of conquest or even giving a lot of thought to war before becoming president. His goal was to concentrate on domestic concerns and become the "compassionate conservative" president.
911 forced the war on terror upon him. Without this event he probably would have erred on the side of peace rather than war. This event awoke a responsibility in him. He expressed his course as stating that he does not want to leave the terrible threats we face for a future president to solve when the situation will be even more difficult.
Bush's first war was in Afghanistan. When this war was fought many of the Afghan people joined in and when victory was won there was rejoicing in the streets by the common people. Instead of less freedom they have more freedom. This is most conspicuous among the women who were suppressed, raped and often butchered. Now they are going to school and have jobs again and are participating in government. The situation there is not perfect but much better than it was.
The war in Iraq was much different than anything Hitler ever did. When Hitler invaded a country he did it of his own initiative for the purpose of expansion and conquest.
According to UN Resolution 687 authority was granted to resume the war in Iraq at any time.
The fact is that the first war with Iraq began because it attacked Kuwait with the intention of further expansion. The world community justly responded to stop this Nazi-type aggression and made war against Saddam and drove him out of Kuwait. After this the war was not declared over but a cease fire was arranged through U.N. resolution 687. The deal that Saddam signed on to in order to enact a cease fire and save his skin was that he would destroy all his weapons of mass destruction and not build any more. He also agreed to honor the civil rights of his people.
The deal was that if Saddam did not live up to his agreement (WMD and civil rights) then the cease-fire could end and the war would resume. No time limit was placed on this.
Bush and Blair enforced resolution 687 as well as the new one (resolution 1441) that was unanimously passed November 2003. Bush is accused of initiating a new war. It is not a new war, but an old one that was legally resumed. Bush and Blair merely enforced UN resolutions that others dragged their feet on because of their own oil contracts with the tyrant, Saddam Hussein.
Unlike Bush, Hitler never received the endorsing resolutions of any group like the United Nations.
The problem for Bush was the UN did not expect him to use the authority of their own resolutions; neither did many nations want him to. The reason is revealed in the Oil-For-Food scandal where over half the nations involved were taking illegal kickbacks from Saddam Hussein.
After illegally invading a country Hitler sought to impose an iron will over the people and convert them to Nazism. He would have never dreamed of them having free elections or them writing their own constitution.
As we know, Bush has guided the people of Iraq toward self-government. They now are able to vote and have their own Constitution.
They are in a similar state to Germany after the war where the situation is moving toward democracy but hard core rebel Nazis were offering resistance.
In the case of Iraq it is hard core Saddam loyalists and intruding terrorists.
The bottom line is that after an invasion by Hitler freedom of the people was reduced to close to zero. Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan has been greatly increased with many independent newspapers.
There is no comparison here.
On Feb 15, 2003 when millions marched against Bush his only comment was "I respectfully disagree." No SS troops or brownshirts were dispatched to subdue the dissenting voice of the people, nor have there ever been.
Most dictators surround themselves with weak willed yes men. In this area Bush is also different. Instead of setting up an atmosphere of only getting the information he wants to hear Bush will encourage different points of view to be expressed at cabinet meetings. Even his choice of staff shows his lack of fear of talented and outspoken people. For instance, both Rumsfeld and Colin Powell are powerful, intelligent personalities who often had conflicting points of view. Bush chose this contrast on purpose so he could have presented to him two sides of important issues by individuals who were not afraid to speak their mind.
Bob Woodward who was partially responsible for bringing Nixon down in Watergate wanted to write a book about Bush. Instead of being afraid of being "discovered," he invited Woodward to spend some time with him and see how he handles things. As a result Woodward gained a newfound respect for this Republican and his book was so favorable that his liberal friends accused him of selling out.
Off camera Bush is often very lighthearted, cracking jokes and, though serious topics are discussed, there is always room for lighthearted moments in his meetings.
Bush is a big believer in Texas beef, never preaches about diet and exercises daily. He is in great health and has a heartbeat of 35-45 beats a minute when resting. He has been proclaimed the most fit president in our history by his doctor.
He was quite confident of his physical condition when he told Jay Leno that he would bet the entire presidency on a footrace with Al Gore.
Here is an interesting quote from the UPI of a human shield who went to Iraq in March of 2003 to prevent the war:
Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head."
http://www.upi.com/
On the other hand some complaints of abuse from our soldiers are almost laughable. One detainee complained he was tortured because a female GI showed him her breast. If only that was the worst that our servicemen had to fear.
Bush is happily married and even gave up drinking to insure the stability of his relationship.
Bush has shown no signs of having this type of animosity.
Since 911 when Bush arises he reads from the scriptures and then gets on his knees and asks God for guidance in making the right decisions. One has to admit that based on his belief system, this is the highest he knows.
On the other hand the enemies of Bush love to make fun of his intelligence and even circulate lies about his IQ far and wide. Ironically, many of these same people claim he is a mastermind of a great conspiracy to control the world, even to the planning and execution of 911. To pull this off he would have to be a greater genus than Hitler.
There was another President who had these same types of accusations, namely Abraham, Lincoln. The New York Times and other papers often ridiculed him for having low intelligence and even compared him to an ape. Then out of the other side of their mouths his enemies would accuse him of being a mastermind of a conspiracy to overthrow the Constitution. John Wilkes Booth bought into this. When he shot Lincoln he shouted to the crowd, "Death to Tyrants."
A dumb ape of a tyrant? Lincoln's generation did not know what to make of him. It took the next generation to see him correctly.
Even so, it may take a hundred years before the people of the world can step back, remove their bias and accurately judge George W. Bush.
A reader writes:
Now Bush is not like Hitler you say.
Bush is an innocent 2nd degree initiate is he?
A skull and bones initiate?
They must be real christian like ey. I wonder what the secret skull and bones society is about. Skull and bones. Sounds kinda christian dont you think?
All college fraternities have their secrets and initiations that could be wildly interpreted as Satanic. I had a number of friends do some pretty crazy things in college and I wouldn't judge their whole life by such things. Bush's college friends say he didn't take his membership in Skull and Bones that seriously, but John Kerry did.
Bush didn't become a born again Christian until later in life. It appears his goal in his college days was just to have a good time. I liked those types of guys when I was in college.
Reader:
Hitler creating a false flag. Bush creates a false flag.
Fortunately he explained what a false flag was. He said "It's a war tactic that a group uses where they pretend to be a different group than they are. Eg: they carry out an attack in the enemies name."
I don't think this makes sense as it applies to either Bush or Hitler. Hitler was what he said he was - a Nazi. There's no reason to assume that Bush is anything other than what he says he is - a patriotic American.
Reader:
Hitler promotes war. Bush promotes war
This is a nebulous accusation that can be applied to both heroes and villains. People said that Lincoln and Churchill promoted war.
Reader:
Bush walks around in military uniform like an idiot Hitler likes soldiers around him.
People who walk in a uniform look like idiots? It takes an idiot to make such an offensive remark toward our military who also walk around in uniform. Does not correspond. I've only seen Bush in a uniform once while president but Hitler was in one most of the time.
Sounds like this confused reader is assuming that whenever a former military person puts on his uniform he is being like Hitler. Silly, is it not?
Reader:
Bush Lies. Hitler lies
It is true that Hitler did lie but I have not been able to find even one lie that Bush has told. As I said, he's probably told a few in his life, but I cannot find one. I have previously issued a challenge to anyone who reads my words to find even one lie that Bush has told and no one was able to come up with one.
Now what accusers do is call a mistake a lie. A mistake is a mistake, much different than a lie.
If someone else wants to take up this challenge please give the exact quote from Bush that you believe to be a lie - not something in your own words.
Reader:
Hitler kills innocent people. Bush kills innocent people.
Very nebulous. Again it could has been said that Lincoln, FDR, Churchill, Truman and other great warriors have killed innocent people yet they were much different than Hitler and their work benefited mankind.
Reader:
Hitler elite background Bush elite background
Both Hitler's parents had come from poor peasant families. His father Alois Hitler, the illegitimate son of a housemaid, was an intelligent and ambitious man and later became a senior customs official.
You are right though about Bush coming from an elite background, but it was much different than Hitler's.
Reader:
Bush gets into power through a fraud and rigged election. Hitler doesn't do that cause it wasn't needed at the time.
Hitler was not elected by fraud or other means, but was appointed by the man who was elected.
There have been books written about fraud on both sides of the Bush- Gore election but if you study both sides one can only conclude that the Bush haters are just sore losers.
This hapless reader forgot an important comparison. Both Bush and Hitler ate carrots. That's gotta mean something.
Actually, I disagree with Bush on about half the things he does, but that certainly does not make him like Hitler.
I disagreed with Clinton even more but also defended him against those who accused him of being like Hitler. It is silly to take people you don't like and make such a stretch of a comparison. Those who do this ought to read a good book on Nazi Germany such as "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." Even a little knowledge will cause one to see that none of the American presidents were much like Hitler.
Note: I do not want to get off on a tangent here about conspiracy theories, 911, cut and paste hate Bush articles but reasonable comment on this post in your own words with short quotes will be considered.
By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell -- and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed. Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf
Copyright © 2006 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved