A problem I see with that article is that CBS is quite correct when it says Gernon is "insensitive and outright wrong." Alliance Atlantis is thus quite free to act in such a case, and is quite responsible for doing so.
When Gernon says, concerning "Americans accepting President Bush's decision to launch a preemptive strike against Iraq aimed at toppling Hussein and stripping him of weapons of mass destruction," that "a similar climate "absolutely" nourished Germany's endorsement of Hitler's extremism," he does indeed equate Bush and/or this war with Hitler's extremism. He is wrong in describing these two climates as similar because Bush clearly does not behave at all as Hitler did; hence, these two are in fact absolutely dissimilar climates.
Gernan says, as if to ensure I made no mistake in interpretation above, that "We don't have to have a crazed lunatic who is a monster for history to repeat itself." Of course, in fact, that's just plain wrong(as CBS might rightly agree). That is, you WOULD need a crazed lunatic for history to repeat itself, and Bush is not one. In fact, America's actions in this war do not resemble the actions of Hitler at all.
The author is quite presumptuous to assert in the beginning that "The U.S. is never scarier than when the fearful climate Gernon mentions inhibits Americans from publicly going against the grain and saying publicly what they think." I see no evidence presented that would indicate this has happened at all.
Dan B |
