It is Now Officially OK to Make World War II References

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Earlier today, David Axelrod described Mitt Romney’s wall-to-wall advertising campaign in Illinois as a Mittzkrieg. The Romney campaign immediately cranked up the high dudgeon meter to 11:

At a time when there is so much talk about the need for civility in political discourse, it is disturbing to see President Obama’s top campaign advisor casually throw Nazi imagery around in reference to a Republican candidate for President. Holocaust and Nazi imagery are always inappropriate in the political arena. Axelrod should apologize for his offensive language.

We call on Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to publicly rebuke Axelrod for his language. We hope that the National Jewish Democratic Council will join us in denouncing Axelrod’s comment, as they have frequently denounced Holocaust imagery in politics in the past.

That’s it. I’ve had enough. I officially declare that it’s now OK to use World War II imagery anytime you want. It’s OK to make Nazi references. It’s OK to compare people to Hitler. Go ahead! You have my blessing.

This whole thing is ridiculous, and I’m sick of it from all sides. WWII references are handy shorthand because everyone immediately understands them. There’s nothing wrong with this. If you go overboard, people will mock you. If your analogies are wrong, people will correct you. If you literally say that someone is as bad as Hitler, you will be called an idiot. (Unless, of course, you’re really talking about someone as bad as Hitler. But that’s a pretty short list.) But the mere fact that you used a WWII/Hitler reference? Not an issue any longer.

It’s probably still wise to take it easy on Holocaust imagery. But merely making a comparison of some modern-day event to something that happened in WWII, or something that Hitler did, or some well-known practice of Nazi Germany? If it’s the obvious analogy to use, then use it. And let’s all quit the pearl clutching, OK?

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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