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?
