The rapid response from the Anti-Defamation League (pushed by the urgent emails from several of us Kossacks) to both the Novak and Santorum Nazi references has been impressive. They have
posted their response to Santorum:
Dear Senator Santorum:
We write to object in the strongest terms to your reference to Adolf Hitler in the context of a political debate on judicial nominations on the floor of the Senate today.
[cont on the flip]
[cont]
Whatever your views on the Senate rules relating to the use of the filibuster and judicial nominations, it is utterly inappropriate and insensitive to suggest that Democratic Party tactics in any way resemble actions taken by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Suggesting some kind of "equivalence" between these tactics and statements and actions of Adolf Hitler demonstrates a profound lack of understanding as to who Hitler was and what he and his regime represented.
We urge you to repudiate your remarks and apologize to the American people for distorting an important issue with such an inappropriate comparison to Hitler and the Holocaust. However heated the debate over issues of the day, we would urge you to refrain from using Holocaust imagery in the future.
Sincerely,
Abraham H. Foxman
National Director
On the down side, they seem to have taken Santorum's non-apology apology as, well, an apology.
After learning of his remarks on the Senate floor yesterday, ADL wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Senator, urging him to repudiate his words and apologize for "distorting an important issue with such an inappropriate comparison to Hitler." Sen. Santorum later issued a statement saying the reference "was meant to dramatize the principle of an argument, not to characterize my Democratic colleagues.... Nevertheless, it was a mistake and I meant no offense."
Lord knows what the hell he means by the phrase "dramatize the principle of an argument," but the old "it was a mistake and I meant no offense" is hardly a full throated mea culpa.
Still, the good news is that it is all over the SCLM today, with headlines such as Santorum Bombs with Hitler Remark.