Nazi era still popular, but distorted. Secretary Rumsfeld has German roots and used to visit his relatives in the 80s, but does not seem to know much about German history. He compared Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez with Adolf Hitler in a speech at the
National Press Club:
He's a person who was elected legally, just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally and then consolidated power, and now is of course working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others.
While Chavez was elected president by more than 50% of the popular vote in 1998, Adolf Hitler was
appointed chancellor by President Hindenburg in 1933. Hitler's party had been the strongest party in the Reichstag, but did not receive more than 20% of the votes. [
Correction: not more than 35%.] Still it was a failure of the Weimar democracy.
Hugo Chavez was able to consolidate his power due to the high oil price and the US addiction to oil. Venezuela received $ 16 billion in oil revenues from the United States in 2004.
Stupid Hitler comparisions are still very popular. History News Network tracks the use of Hitler by politicians, journalists and polemicists and includes the flagrant exploitation of the Holocaust, but is not updated very often.
A few days ago, Hollywood nominated yet another German movie about Nazis for the Oscar: "Sophie Scholl." Last year it was "Downfall." The only German movies who won an Oscar for best foreign movie were set in the Nazi era: "Tin Drum" and "Nowhere in Africa." Despite all the movies about the Nazi era, many folks still underestimate his crimes against humanity, i.e. compare him with Chavez.
Two questions:
a) Why are the crimes of the Nazis so often ridiculed by silly comparisions with Chavez, "Femi-Nazis," Soup-Nazis etc.
b) Why are Nazi movies still so popular in "progressive" Hollywood, while other good German movies don't get a chance of an Oscar nomination, let alone being shown in a US cinema?