Paul Broun compares Obama to Hitler
November 11, 2008 at 2:13 am by Andisheh Nouraee in News
What can Broun do for us? He can start by saying fewer shockingly stupid things.
In the race between Paul Broun and Lynn Westmoreland to be Georgia’s Dumbassiest Congressman, Paul Broun just pulled way ahead.
In an interview Monday with the Associated Press, Broun compared President-elect Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler.
Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
“That’s exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it’s exactly what the Soviet Union did,” Broun said. “When he’s proposing to have a national security force that’s answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he’s showing me signs of being Marxist.”
[. . .]
“We can’t be lulled into complacency,” Broun said. “You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I’m not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I’m saying is there is the potential.
I love that bit at the end. I’m not comparing him to Hitler, except for the two times I just compared him to Hitler.
The powerful civilian “force” to which Broun refers is Obama’s proposed expansion of federally-funded Americorps-type public service programs. As Obama proposes, they would perform such Nazi-like functions as giving tuition vouchers to college students who tutor school children, feed the homeless and assist the elderly.
Helping kids learn algebra. Starting WWII and the Holocaust. Pretty much the same thing, right? I can see why Broun is so confused.
Incidentally, one of the Obama plan’s inspirations is FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps, which during the Great Depression built several popular parks in Georgia, including a very nice one in Broun’s district.
In case you don’t remember FDR, Paul, he was President when we beat Hitler.
November 11th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Aaah, Paul Broun! He fits right in with the rest of the shipwrecked G.O.P. A great cartoon about him and the recriminations flying back and forth on the Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 blog!
November 11th, 2008 at 8:45 am
After the ridiculous, onerous and over-the-top things you and others at this “paper” have said about George W. Bush, your outrage at this, while appropriate, is somewhat ironic to the impartial observer.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:00 am
[...] a dictator. Marxist? Gestapo? …Drifting Through The Grift - http://griftdrift.blogspot.com/|||Paul Broun compares Obama to HitlerPaul Broun manages the miraculous feat of getting stupider.Fresh Loaf - [...]
November 11th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Although the Congressman’s words were poorly chosen, nothing about this civilian force is the state’s job - either from a policy standpoint or constitutionally.
So many young people I know claim to be libertarians when it comes to drug laws, but when it comes to creating a federal “civilian corps” they seem to forget that no where in the constitution does it authorize the federal government to be in the business of having a labor force to build parks (that’s what contracting’s for) or teaching algebra (that’s what state government’s for).
November 11th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Adam-
Rep. Broun isn’t arguing the legality, constitutionality or efficacy of Americorps/Peace Corps/CCC-type projects.
He’s willfully misrepresenting a speech about public works programs to insinuate that Obama wants to assemble a Hitler-youth-like corps of thugs.
He’s comparing Obama to a genocidal dictator.
It’s not poor-wording. It’s slander and demagoguery.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:29 am
“He’s willfully misrepresenting a speech about public works programs to insinuate that Obama wants to assemble a Hitler-youth-like corps of thugs.”
I remember John Sugg, a former editor of this “paper,” once referring to the Emory Young Republicans as Hitler Youth.
Trying to remember if you expressed any outrage then though, and coming up zeroes.
Congressman Broun is an idiot. Your outrage is hilarious.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Republican Congressman from Georgia, Paul Broun recently commented that President-elect Obama would establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist Dictatorship.
Lets get a few facts established1 When will Republicans learn that fear tactics do not work with freethinking Americans, and can only be effective with hardcore Republicans that find it impossible to think beyond what is taught to them by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and racial Republicans such as Paul Broun!
Are Republicans aware that President Bush helped establish and promote Blackwater USA when Bush granted Blackwater USA no-bid contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan? Bush also sent 150 Blackwater armed troops to secure New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
The founder of Blackwater is Erik Prince, a conservative Christian who has given an incredible amount of money to Republican candidates and Christian Right groups. Blackwater is located on over 6000 acres in Moyock, N.C., and has its own Air Force.
It is possible that Americans should be concerned about Evangelical churches that are teaching hatred and Nazi beliefs, and promoting individuals such as Palin who purposely promoted aggressive reactions from crowds that attended her hatred filled rallies - similar tactics used by Hitler. Remember…the cries of KILL HIM… The racial Republican Party has devised its own religion, and it’s far removed from what Christ taught and believed in.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Annoyed — I’m not sure which of John’s columns you’re referring to. Can you send a link? I Googled, but didn’t find it.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:03 am
But of course. I have it bookmarked under “Suggs Greatest Hits.”
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2007/10/26/horowitz-is-the-fascist-not-those-who-protested-his-emory-speech/
The operative paragraph is this one -
“However, goons from the campus Republicans didn’t want Jackson to speak. One of the thugs muscled him from the microphone and threatened Jackson with a beating. Horowitz beamed benevolently at this exercise in neo-facism by a reincarnation of Hitler Youth.”
November 11th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Annoyed -
1. Sugg explains in the first sentence of that column that he’s using fascist/Nazi imagery in that particular column to mock David Horowitz’s frequent use of the same.
2. The “operative paragraph” you quote above describes a group of people using physical intimidation to silence a political discussion. Hitler Youth is a harsh analogy, but it’s unfortunately apt.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Andisheh - Sorry, but I really think you’re way off-base here.
The group sugg was calling Hitler Youths was a group trying to get a disruptive crowd to shut up so the political speaker booked by the University could actually speak. The effort to silence political discussion was engaged in by those who did not want Horowitz to speak.
Then, when those speech squelchers were told to shut up, sugg labels those yelling “shut up and let Horowitz speak” as Hitler youth?
Your defense of sugg is therefore indefensible!
November 11th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I was not at the event, but am inclined to believe John’s description of the events until presented with evidence indicating otherwise.
If John indeed described perfectly peaceful, non-thuggy behavior as Hitler Youth-like, then I will gladly denounce it.
In the meantime, a Georgia Congressmen is unambiguously distorting Obama’s position on national service and comparing him to a genocidal dictator.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
So here it is….irrefutable proof that sugg is just as stupid as Broun. You could’ve verified this quite easily if you’d been the least bit interested in facts instead of giving sugg the benefit of a doubt he clearly didn’t deserve.
OUTSIDE GROUP STIFLE HOROWITZ SPEECH. “The event played out like a tug-of-war between two groups: protestors who shouted questions or anti-conservative taglines after every few sentences Horowitz spoke and another faction in the audience who became increasingly vocal about their desire to hear him speak uninterrupted.”
“Many students and administrators — on all sides of the political spectrum — expressed their dismay that Horowitz could not finish his speech.”
http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=24510
and
FOR A LIBERAL, HOROWITZ PROTEST IS SHAMEFUL
“So many individuals who belong to the same party I adhere to embarrassed themselves tonight. Yes, Horowitz has completely backward views, but does that deny him the right to freedom of speech? We, who pride ourselves on democracy and the Bill of Rights, ran a man out of a room simply because we did not agree with what he had to say.”
http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=24529
November 11th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Why in the hell are we having a debate here? Paul Broun says something completely detestable and makes an absurd correlation between civil service groups like AmeriCorps and Hitler’s private Nazi security forces, and the discussion is about CL’s bias? Get a grip.
As an elected representative with a taxpayer-supported platform, Paul Broun has a responsibility to think twice before using his office to inflame the fringe against the President-elect. CL is right to point it out his lack of judgment. Do you really believe that CL’s bias makes Broun’s comparison any less irresponsible or unreasonable?
November 11th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” he said Wednesday. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.”
Included in a speech about public works, that sure is an odd comment.
A “national security force” as “powerful”, “Strong” and “well funded” as the US military to teach “algebra” and “feed the homeless”? For someone as intelligent, educated and eloquent as Obama, he sure chooses unusual words when he mis-speaks.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Of course, it is always okay to call Republicans “Nazi’s”, unless it offends an actual Nazi
November 11th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Dale, if you read a mere two paragraphs of Obama’s July 2 speech, you’d see it makes perfect sense.
—-
“So we are going to send — we’re going to send more college graduates to teach and mentor our young people. We’ll call on Americans to join an Energy Corps to conduct renewable energy and environmental cleanup projects in their neighborhoods all across the country. We will enlist our veterans to find jobs and support for other vets, to be there for our military families. And we’re going to grow our Foreign Service, open consulates that have been shuttered, and double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011 to renew our diplomacy.
We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”
—-
The “civilian national security force” to which he refers is obviously the Peace Corps and the Foreign Service/State Department.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Yeah, what Andy said. Your heart’s not in this one anyway, Dale. I can tell.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
For what it’s worth from my end, I think comparing anyone except the most evil of evil to Hitler is absurd and counterproductive and wrong. Congressman Broun is a buffoon and represents an element of the Republican Party that should be dismissed.
I am simply enjoying the irony of watching people who for years have been comparing George W. Bush and his supporters to every known evil under the sun - from Hitler to Satan (How about those “Cheney-Satan ‘08″ Bumper Stickers) all of a sudden getting bent about some stupid Hitler comparisons.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Andisheh - I clearly pointed out that it was an odd paragraph in a speech about service corps.
A better question is, exactly “how” would Obama make them as powerful, strong and well funded as the military? Does that mean the Peace Corps and State Department will have a budget of $ 1 Trillion per year? Looks like that is exactly what he said.
Can anyone see how that would pop up on the radar for a LOT of people.
Some of the most significant actions can come from innocuous statements contained in the middle of others. Witness the recent controversy about small statements in the bailout bill allowing the Treasury Secretary to alter and rescind 22 year old laws with the release of a public statement.
Forgive me for actually listeneing to Obama.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Broun. That’s a Kraut name, ain’t it?
Looks like he’s competing with ol’ Lynn (another Georgia Republican with a candy-ass name - see Saxby)for the Moron Award, previously held by Cynthia McKinney.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Eugene either wasn’t at the event I reported, has a bad memory or is fabricating. Here’s what I reported in 2004:
Jeff Jackson posed a serious question for the evening’s star. Horowitz had invoked Martin Luther King Jr.’s name, claiming that he and the great civil rights leader sang in harmony on race. MLK’s spirit is probably still retching at that one.
Horowitz did his gig at Emory’s Glenn Memorial Auditorium, and those asking questions lined up at microphones along the aisles. A squad of scrubbed and very Aryan-looking campus Republicans sat in a front row pew.
Jackson, who had patiently waited in line to speak, started to voice his question, politely and cogently. He challenged Horowitz both on his King comment and the Iraq war. …
Midway through Jackson’s question, a little drama unfolded. One of the youthful conservatives — a kid who should trade in his natty white shirt for a brown one — erupted from his seat and attempted to physically intimidate Jackson into silence. The strutting thug did the chest-to-chest, glaring-eyes, chin-jutted-out routine. “Sit down and be quiet,” he hissed at Jackson, who stood his ground but otherwise ignored the young Republican.
—-
That reporting certainly wasn’t challenged. The entire column is at: http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/some_free_speech_is_cheap_lies/Content?oid=15436
I’ve also reported on Horowitz’s mendacity-laden other speeches at Emory. His intent is to silence points of view with which he disagrees, and in classic demagogue style, he whines that when people protest his very un-American activities, he’s the victim.
Here’s another column from the same period that deals with a real threat to intellectual freedom at Emory:
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/middle_east_conflict_it_s_academic/Content?oid=15553
November 12th, 2008 at 11:59 am
>Eugene either wasn’t at the event I reported, has a bad memory or is fabricating.
Quoting from (and providing links to) what was published in the Emory Wheel is fabricating? How so?
As far as I can tell, no one has challenged the accuracy of what was reported there.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
“A better question is, exactly ‘how’ would Obama make them as powerful, strong and well funded as the military? Does that mean the Peace Corps and State Department will have a budget of $ 1 Trillion per year? Looks like that is exactly what he said.”
Not necessarily.
There are many compelling reasons to think that not even half that amount of money would make the civilian corps as strong as the armed forces.
For one, humans provide much more direct change than something that is designed to replace them, or eliminate their use. So if you were able to match the enrollment of civilian corps to the armed forces, my money would be on the civilians to be stronger.
Also, it costs much less to rent an apartment complex in Bankhead (or even build houses) for 40 people, furnish it, and pay them to teach elementary school students, than it would to operate an LA-Class Submarine, for example.
Perhaps most crucially, there comes a time when the amount of money spent faces a diminishing amount of return for the power gained. So spending 800 billion on an army produces probably a marginally stronger army than the one you have at 700 billion. But with people, that amount is much lower and much more visible. Allotting $4 billion for recruitment probably won’t yield any more enlistees than $1 billion or even $750 million. As
The combination of all three of those makes it highly unlikely you will see too much more spent on those two programs than currently is spent.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Eugene and Annoyed, you are silly people. There are two separate events. At the 2004 event featuring Horowitz, the Young Republicans most certainly did emulate the Hitler Youth in trying to physically intimidate a polite person from asking Horowitz a question. We had photos of the Young Republican acting like a Nazi thug; I didn’t run one because I didn’t want to give the little twerp something to preen about. That was the article I linked to above. In the 2007 appearance by Horowitz, I clearly stated that the protesters were wrong in interrupting Horowitz. In my 2007 blog post, referenced by Annoyed, I was recounting my reporting of three years earlier. There is no discrepancy between my 2004 and the Emory Wheel report of 2007 — because they weren’t about the same event.
Nothing provoked the Young Republicans in 2004, other than the truth embedded in the question asked of Horowitz. Horowitz’s racism and anti-free-speech jihads have provoked people, which is what he wants so that he can cry that he’s a victim. I don’t think people should respond as the protesters did last year. Then again, if David Duke walked onto campus and started preaching the purity of the white race, I assume black students would be upset and likely would protest. There is little material difference in the hatred and demagoguery espoused by people like Duke and Horowitz.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Ed - I am sure that is exactly what he meant, despite what he actually said. After all politicians have such a deep grasp on the value of money.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Maybe that’s not what he meant and maybe they don’t (I simply don’t buy that, otherwise there wouldn’t be a constitutional amendment controlling congressional raises but I digress).
However, that neither strengthens your argument nor weakens mine. There is a much lower investment required to make and operate Obama’s plan than there is to do the same for an army. It is that simple and if you can’t recognize that and debate that on those merits, a debate with you becomes (more) pointless.
November 12th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
You don’t buy that politicians are bad with money?
Wow. You’re right this is a pointless debate.
The Amendment only says that the raises the Representatives approve for themselves cannot become effective until the next election cycle. That Amendment really has some teeth toit, doesn’t it? Given the rates of incumbency, that is not much of a control, in fact, it is laughable.
I listen to what politicians actually say and you read into it wisdom that they have never shown in the past.
Thanks for the comic relief.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Not saying they are good with money or bad with money. They are the fiscal managers that they would be in real life.
Which is to say that there is nothing inherent with being a politician that would lead to being a poor handler of money.
Now, would you care to debate the merits of the above, or continue to post ideological platitudes?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:35 am
[...] Paul Broun compares Obama to Hitler By Andisheh [...]
November 17th, 2008 at 10:08 am
This conversation has been high-jacked by a favorite tactic of propagandists…distraction.
How did we begin comparing the appropriateness of a writer’s commentary to that of an elected official? The inherent difference is obvious… It is possible to simply not read Creative Loafing if you disagree with the opinions expressed within, while residents of the 10th district (and the entire US) should not have to tolerate this type of sophomoric behavior from the representatives.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
[...] The Obama for America campaign just won a landslide election, but it isn’t done yet. Now it’s looking to collect information from its many supporters and donors that, I can only assume, will allow our president-elect to achieve world domination and enslave the human race. Or perhaps I’ve been listening too much to Congressman Paul Broun. [...]
November 24th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
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