Nazism may have been an ideology to which the United States was — and to which the president is — implacably opposed, but it is hardly “senseless.” By the early 1930s, the Nazi party had hundreds of thousands of devoted members and repeatedly attracted a third of the votes in German elections; its political leaders campaigned on a platform comprising 25 non-senseless points, including the “unification of all Germans,” a demand for “land and territory for the sustenance of our people,” and an assertion that “no Jew can be a member of the race.” Suffice it to say, many sensible Germans were persuaded. (here)
No words… I just don’t get the kind of contrarianism going on…
You do get the point right…. suddenly, Nazism was sensical… Conservatives use the reductio ad Hitlerum non-stop to compare everything the President does to Nazism and now this?
Related articles
- On ‘Senseless’ Violence (nationalreview.com)
- National Review: Say What You Like About the Tenets of National Socialism. Dude, at Least It’s an Ethos! (delong.typepad.com)
- National Review outraged that Obama called Holocaust ‘senseless violence’ (dailykos.com)
- The National Review Complains That Obama Was Too Hard On Nazis (addictinginfo.org)
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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I think that President Obama should come out each day making some proclamation to which the Republicans must now be opposed. My suggestions to start are:
- Babies are cute.
- I like puppies.
- Bacon is yummy.
- Chocolate is good.
- It’s nice to climb into bed with fresh, warm sheets.
- Being on fire is uncomfortable.
- You should say “thank you” to people who help you.
- Hold the door for people (especially elderly ladies) behind you.
Actually … I think I’m being funny, but since they managed to come out against good nutrition and exercise, I can’t even parody this.
Why are we always throwing the baby out with the bath water? This is blaming a whole population for the extreme statements of a few bad eggs and both sides are doing this about equally if one listens carefully to both sides. This is a good example of where arrogrance can make us ignorant. I know a lot of conservatives and I don’t believe any of them are against good nutrition or exercise. Most simply object to the possibility of a tyrant telling them when to jump and how high. BTW, certainly a high number of Germans of the 1930s were happy with the Nazi Party actions. Ain’t hind sight wonderful?
I have finally had a chance to read the subject article and I think most liberal bloggers have completely misread the intent of the writer. Nevertheless, it might have been better to simply point out the President’s rather poor use of our language to make his point. Also, some of the critics might well think about exactly what the opposite of “senseless” is rather grabbing the idea that the opposite is good or right. It’s hard to define it as senseless when it very well achieved the tyrant’s objective. Diabolitical might have been a better description.