The Holocaust remains one of History's greatest lessons about propaganda and the manipulation of people for political goals. It CAN be used without calling someone a Nazi and without people always thinking they are being called Nazi's.
This past week, Representative Steve Cohen (D-Tenn) has been blasted all over the bloggosphere and the cable news networks. From both the right and the left, there is a strange consensus that his comparison of Republican distortions about Health Care Reform to the technique used by Nazi's called "The Big Lie." This technique of course, is that if one repeats a lie or distortion over and over again, with full conviction, it may eventually be believed and become "truth." It is a similar theme to what you may remember in George Orwell's book 1984 where history books were changed routinely according to the political leanings of the state. Truth was what they wanted you to believe - not actual truth.
Even Jon Stewart in this episode of the Daily Show (click HERE) takes Cohen to task. Stewart has been extremely articulate in calling people out for playing the "Nazi Card" in inappropriate situations. Rachel Maddow went even further in stating that the Holocaust should never be used as a comparison. She took Stewart's "Only Nazi's are Nazi's" comment a step further and expressed that it is actually morally wrong to compare anyone to what the Nazi's did.
In this situation, and in this over-reaching by Maddow, I must reject this version of the argument. Stewart and Maddow are basically right. Far too many analogies to Nazi's are thrown around these days - and mostly by the right in describing liberal figures they think will lead us down a path toward totalitarianism or communism. In this case however, Steve Cohen was doing the opposite. He was using the APPROPRIATE lessons of the Holocaust to try to prevent a very similar repeating of its style, approach, and goals. He may not have done it as articulately as he could have. (He could have for example said explicitly that he was not calling anyone a Nazi, but that he was using the Holocaust as a lens to view an important lesson - something History classes do every year.)
Yes - the "Big Lie" as he presented it, is the way Nazi's and numerous political movements have tried to shape the political debate their way. There have been few political issues in our lifetimes that have been as warped as the Health Reform movement has been. And this particular effort has a few too many similarities to more nefarious efforts (rather than just politicians making arguments in the press). This effort was driven be calculated businessmen, lobbyists, politicians, and pundits and has changed what should be an important debate to a South Park like temper tantrum where people get all the facts wrong, get their opinion from the repetitious pounding of talking heads, and do the bidding of others who have interests clearly opposite from theirs. If this does not deserve at least a quick mention of how the most stark example in History also used, demonization, disinformation, and eventually violence to get its way - then I don't know what does.
The Holocaust remains one of History's greatest lessons about propaganda and the manipulation of people for political goals. It CAN be used without calling someone a Nazi and without people always thinking they are being called Nazi's.
Let's not run too far away from the the use of the Holocaust as a lesson for fear that we forget its lessons entirely. Lets not dismiss its use for fear that those using similar propaganda tools prevail in turning our eyes from their damning connection to the same demonization and fear mongering central to the success that most vial of political movements.
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