by George Rasley
Let’s stipulate up front that the Holocaust was a singular evil that was perpetrated against the Jewish people and that the habit, especially among liberals, of using the epithet “Nazi” against every political opponent denigrates and diminishes the singularity of that evil.
That said, Nazism or National Socialism, is a political philosophy that hasn’t been exterminated, and its evil continues to find its way into today’s politics in often unseen and insidious ways.
Principled limited government constitutional conservative Rep. Mo Brooks (AL-5), on Monday — the day after attorney general Bob Barr submitted his summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation report — drew from the writings of Adolph Hitler, the foundational leader of National Socialism, to attack congressional Democrats and the “fake news media” as having lied throughout special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
“A ‘big lie’ is a political propaganda technique made famous by Germany’s national socialist German Workers Party,” Brooks said on the House floor according to reporting by Rebecca Shabad and Marianna Sotomayor of NBC News. “For more than two years, socialist Democrats and their fake news media allies, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, Washington Post and countless others have perpetrated the biggest political lie, con, scam and fraud in American history.”
Brooks continued by reading on the House floor a passage from Hitler’s book Mein Kampf about the utility of “colossal untruths,” saying that he was going to quote “from another socialist who mastered ‘big lie’ propaganda to a maximum and deadly effect.”
Democrats howled with faux outrage at the comparison and some Left-leaning Jewish groups complained, “It’s unconscionable for a member of Congress to demonize an opposing party by claiming it’s comparable to Nazism,” and demanded Brooks apologize.
The problem for Democrats, in this case, is that Brooks was right about Nazism, Socialism and today’s Democratic Party.
Socialism, in all its forms, Venezuelan, Cuban, Soviet Communism and the National Socialism of Adolph Hitler has always relied on the “big lie” to succeed politically. And it has always relied on the “big lie” and terror to maintain its power.
The “big lie” became a hallmark the Democratic Party’s modus operandi a long time ago, think of the many false campaigns against Republicans based on pushing Grandma over the cliff by taking away her Social Security.
And the precedent for sending SWAT teams and helicopters to arrest unarmed citizens accused of non-violent political crimes doesn’t come from any tradition of constitutional law enforcement – it is straight out of socialist terror campaigns.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-1) defended Brooks, arguing that the ideology of the Nazi Party was indeed socialism and if Democrats were offended by that comparison, some who have branded themselves as socialists should stop embracing the term and the ideology.
Democrats on the Committee howled again but they had no real reply to Brooks’ comparison and Gohmert’s defense beyond saying they were offended.
The controversy gained more traction than it might have because Republicans continue to hammer Democrats over the Democrats’ anti-Semitism and Israel policy, engendered in large measure by the anti-Semitic comments made by Muslim Democrat Representatives Ilhan Omar (MN-5) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13).
And let’s be clear, Omar and Tlaib and a significant segment of today’s Democratic Party coalition are unabashed anti-Semites.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke recently before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and said, “we must also be vigilant against bigoted or dangerous ideologies masquerading as policy, and that includes BDS,” referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel movement.
“Israel and America are connected now and forever,” Pelosi said at the pro-Israel lobby’s annual event. “We will never allow anyone to make Israel a wedge issue.”
Rep. Omar was quick to reply to Pelosi saying “A condemnation for people that want to exercise their First Amendment rights is beneath any leader, and I hope that we find a better use of language when we are trying to speak as members of Congress that are sworn to protect the Constitution,” Omar told reporters in a Capitol hallway Tuesday according to The Hill.
Representatives Omar and Tlaib both publicly support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel movement which has instigated many anti-Semitic incidents, particularly on college campuses.
But the more telling marker of the Democratic Party’s rapid slide toward the ideas behind National Socialism is that no Democratic candidate for President chose to attend the AIPAC annual meeting, a boycott that has no precedent in modern American politics.
If Democrats don’t like being compared to National Socialists perhaps it is time for them to look in the mirror and check to see if they see one staring back at them.
– – –
Background Photo “House of Representatives Floor” by the House of Representatives.
