These comparisons of Bush to Hitler made in a letter to the editor of the San Jose Mercury News are an odious example of the sort of exaggeration we've objected to in recent posts.
Quote:Hitler registered Jews and synagogues, Bush registered Muslims and has the FBI counting and identifying mosques.
What evidence is there that American citizens are being required to register on the basis of their religion? Is the FBI trying to identify those places within our country that may provide cover and support to terrorists? I sure hope so. Terrorists hide among the innocent, which increases the difficulty in identifying them. All of the terrorists actively at war with the West and the United States are young men of middle-eastern extraction who claim to be acting as part of an extremist Islamic Jihad against the West. Where else would we look for the terrorists who plan to murder our citizens?
Quote:HItler held secret tribunals. Bush held secret and military tribunals.
Lincoln also tried citizens in secret military tribunals and even executed some. That doesn't make Lincoln comparable to Hitler either. Those who are currently in American custody are mostly enemy aliens, and their confinement is hardly secret. Can you cite anyone who has been actually tried and convicted secretly?
Quote:Hitler passed the Engabling Bill for the safety of the Germans by "temporarily" suspending civil liberties. Bush passed the Patriot Act to secure the safety of the American people, which limits civil liberties. Hitler deprived the Jews of their citizenship. The leaked Patriot Act II would allow the Bush administration to revoke citizenship.
The Patriot Act passed by Congress in the wake of 9/11 does not suspend any civil liberties for American citizens. It does make it somewhat easier for law enforcement to protect the country from those in our country illegally. Nothing in the Patriot Act has been challenged as unconstitutional. So far as we can tell there has been no abuses of the Act. The Bill of Rights remains intact, and no suppression or repression of American liberties has been noted. Can you supply any evidence to the contrary? Which American ethnic group has been deprived of their citizenship?
There is no Patriot Act II. There is only a draft of a possible amendment to the Patriot Act that was circulated to Congressional leaders for comment and input that was leaked to the press. Nothing has been proposed, and any additional legislation is in the distant future. Whatever comes before the Congress may be very different from the draft material, and the Congress itself will alter the legislation until it may have no resemblance to what the Executive branch might actually propose. This is a boogieman that is meaningless in its present form.
Quote:Hitler deprived the Jews of their basic human rights without due process. Bush deprived accused American citizens of their basic human rights, detaining them without due process.
Hitler's Nuremberg Law and policies adopted at the Wanasee Conference resulted in the murder of millions of people in murder camps. I'd like to have you demonstrate how anything in this administration's handling of the terrorist threat is comparable to Hitler. Has anyone in the United States been deprived of "basic human rights" with, or without due process? What human rights have been taken away?
Quote:HItler set up isolated concentration camps for political opponents. Bush sent illigal combatants and terrorists to isolated military prison camps.
Hitler's camps had one purpose, murder. In those camps torture and starvation of civilians imprisoned for no other reason than their ethnic, religious, political, or sexual orientation was not only acceptable, it was a matter of policy. Those imprisoned in Cuba are not tortured, starved, or murdered. They are dangerous terrorists captured trying to kill Americans. They are leaders in a stateless terrorism responsible for training; arming and planning terrorist attacks on the American people. They are not soldiers, but they aren't common criminals either. They claim to be stateless religious heroes whose crimes should be excused because they are fighting the godless on behalf of Allah. They cannot be regarded as prisoners of war; they cannot be imprisoned in regular American penal institutions. They cannot be released without endangering Americans and others around the world. Their status and what can/should be done with them is unclear.
Quote:Hitler killed over 50 million people. Bush authorized the use of nuclear weapons on countries that refuse to give up weapons of mass destruction. This was a comparison of a powerful leader, HItler, and the most powerful leader, Bush.
Hitler murdered 50 million people, no argument with that though the number might be debated. There is no evidence that the Bush administration has yet murdered even one person, much less millions. There is no evidence this administration intends the murder of anyone at any future time. I doubt that anyone can cite evidence that "Bush has authorized the use of nuclear weapons on countries that refuse to give up weapons of mass destruction." The United States has never ruled out its use of nuclear weapons if the NCA regards their use as appropriate. That policy goes clear back to 1945, and is unchanged. Some planners have reportedly been examining the possible use of sub-kiloton munitions for the destruction of highly hazardous materials buried deep underground. Though the use of very low yield subsurface nuclear weapons may be optimal, I doubt that anyone will ever seriously advocate their use for political reasons. Use of nuclear weapons of that sort, and for those purposes, would not kill or harm anyone, but would be a public relations nightmare.
These remarks are inflamatory and unsupported by fact. Why post such nonsense?