Sieg Bile: Media, Left Embrace Calling Right 'Nazis'

It’s “Springtime for Hitler.”

Forget the song that made Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” famous. The media now have more Nazis than an Indiana Jones movie. We’ve gone from the “Soup Nazi” of “Seinfeld” to everyone in Washington saying everyone else is a Nazi.

With one big difference – how it’s portrayed.

Everywhere you turn, from entertainment news to politics, it’s a comeback for the 1,000-year Reich. The Nazis, who ended about 990 years short of their goal, are back for another 15 minutes of fame. That’s because liberals think it’s OK to compare everything to Nazis as a way of bashing conservatives and pushing every agenda item, from nationalized health care to immigration amnesty.

When conservatives made those connections, it was war. Now that libs do it, Nazis are in. It was just a little more than a month ago when CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith whined about evil talk radio hosts and their “enmity” for the president. Smith told Obama, “The kindest of terms you're sometimes referred to, out in America, is a 'socialist.' The worst of which I've heard is called a ‘Nazi.’” A month later, it was Smith again talking Nazis in reference to the new immigration law. “Some have equated it even with Jews having to carry identification during Nazi Germany.”

This was a repeat of the theme vilifying conservatives because some compared Obama to Hitler. As Bush presidency vets can tell you, the Hitler comparison was nothing new. Google shows that searching for “Bush” and “Hitler” and “Bush” and “Nazi” generates nearly 11 million total hits including illustrations of the former president in Nazi regalia.

The lefties continue throwing around the “Nazi” term like a History Channel marathon. During the May Day immigration protests, “about a dozen people were carrying signs depicting Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer as a Nazi,” according to the Associated Press. Editorial cartoonist Jimmy Margulies [1]“drew Gov. Jan Brewer's state as the mustache of Hitler,” according to columnist Michael Cavna.

Reuters reported that already-offensive "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane said the new law was reminiscent of Nazi Germany. “It's too much. It's kind of a slap in the face, it's not the way to handle it ... Nobody but the Nazis ever asked anybody for their papers,” MacFarlane told Reuters Television. Let’s not forget that just before the 2008 election, MacFarlane cartoon dressed up character Stewie Griffin in a Nazi uniform … with a McCain-Palin button on it.

People as diverse as Bishop Richard Garcia of the Diocese of Monterey to loony CNN HLN host Joy Behar have called the law Nazi. Garcia said the law “sounds much like the Nazi-era in Germany.” Behar complained “Critics say the law will make Arizona feel more like World War II Germany than a part of the United States.” And the Democratic mayor of Phoenix came on another of her shows claiming he was “looking at, you know, Neo-Nazi banners and swastikas.”

It’s not just politics. A night of entertainment is now like a march through Berlin. Everything from “Glee” to “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” is mentioning Nazis. “Glee” actually compared Duke basketball to Nazis in a recent episode where character Burt Hummel said, “I hate Duke like I hate the Nazis.”

Even the popular online videos called the Hitler Rant Parodies continue to go strong despite a push to shut them down on YouTube. The company that holds the copyright to the otherwise obscure film “Der Untergang” has tried to eliminate the viral videos where Hitler screams and new, more pop culture, text is used for subtitles. Topics range from the Denver Broncos drafting quarterback Tim Tebow to Hitler ranting about, well, Hitler ranting. (Most of the videos make a liberal use of rough language, so search at your own discretion.)

Entertainment news is filled with Nazi story lines, too. Nice girl Sandra Bullock married sleazoid Jesse James who has a Nazi fascination. He was photographed in an SS officers hat and cheated on Bullock with the ridiculously misnamed Michelle “Bombshell” [2] McGee, who also has been photographed in not enough of a Nazi getup. (It may be the first time in history you would want someone to wear more Nazi attire.)

Odd, we all know parodies aren’t offensive and can even diminish the evil they mock. And we can manage to be offended by the likes of James, but we opt for selective outrage in politics.

Let’s be honest. Conservatives aren’t Nazis. Neither are liberals. The Nazis earned their status as some of history’s most-despised villains by butchering and murdering their way across the globe. Far worse was the cold-blooded, industrial way they used technology to both mold a nation hell-bent on domination and eradicate millions of lives in the camps.

Despite that, journalists and liberals love this Nazi double-standard. They think they can goosestep over the line and get away with it while criticizing conservatives for doing the same thing. Well, they can have their Nazi party but thanks to the Internet and talk radio, we know exactly what they’re doing.

Dan Gainor is The Boone Pickens Fellow and the Media Research Center’s Vice President for Business [3]and Culture [4]. His column appears each week on The Fox Forum. He can also be contacted on FaceBook and Twitter as dangainor.