The latest and greatest Tea Party lunatic to compare the situation in the U.S. to Nazi Germanyis failed U.S. Senate candidate Richard Muordock of pregnancy from rape is a "Gift from God" fame. Seems that America is on the verge of bankruptcy, and it was the bankruptcy in Germany that allowed Hitler to come to power. So bankruptcy in America = bankruptcy in the Weimar Republic Germany = Nazism here in America, or something along those lines. Trying to untangle the "thought" process of a Tea Party fanatic makes my head hurt. Besides, the foundation for Mourdock's argument is based on a number of economic and historical fallacies. Whether Mourdock realizes this or not is immaterial though. Mourdock is typical of your Tea Party proponent in that he doesn't want to pay one penny for living in our modern society. In other words, he's a selfish bastard.
For starters, the Great Depression created the economic conditions for the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany. As a refresher for Mourdock, the unregulated stock and banking situation in the U.S. and overproduction in farming and industry caused the Great Depression. American bankers stopped making new loans to Germany and even called in the old loans. This helped to sink the Germany economy, but the Weimar government made things worse by insisting that inflation was the real menace not unemployment. So the Weimar government cut government spending to avoid "bankruptcy," as I'm sure Mourdock means when he throws that term around. The budget cutting made the economic situation worse, and Hitler and his Nazis made hay out of the unpopularity of the Weimar's economic policies.
Next up, Hitler used government fiscal stimulus to help with unemployment. Granted, Hitler's fiscal stimulus was geared for his upcoming war, but his government created economic demand when it was needed. And the Nazi government did not go bankrupt either.
Mourdock also states the following:
"Over the next several years, every time a program began to fall apart, Mr. Hitler's party was very, very good at dividing Germany by pointing to this group or that group," he added. "First they went after their political opponents. Then they went after the aristocrats. Then they went after the trade unionists. And ultimately of course they went after the Jews. They deprived them of their property, their rights, their citizenship, and for millions their humanity. Because they were bankrupt!"
As I mentioned before, Hitler's economic policies did not "fall apart." Living as a worker in Nazi Germany was absolutely no picnic though. People were locked into what ever work they found. While this job lock ensured that a worker would not be unemployed, it also prevented a worker from changing his economic situation by moving to another company. In order to get another job, a worker had to get permission from his present employer. This situation made it easy for employers to keep wages stagnant for their employees because they would not give permission for the good employees to leave their respective positions.
While it is true that Hitler went after his political opponents, he also included trade unionists who opposed his policy of union busting. Hitler was a union buster who created Nazi run labor organizations. This was accomplished at the same time as the round up of political opponents. So Mourdock's argument that Hitler's economic policies forced him to divide the Germans and to continually find enemies is dead wrong.
As for the aristocrats, Mourdock's assertion that Hitler got rid of them is absurd. Hitler wanted to be an aristocrat! If getting rid of aristocrats was Hitler's aim, how do you explain the number of aristocrats who were in the German Army's officers corp? And if Hitler had eliminated the aristocrats, there never would have been that little assassination attempt by von Stauffenberg.
Furthermore, dumb ass Mourdock implies that economic reasons were the motivating factor in the Holocaust. Hitler based his anti-Semiticism on racism. To Hitler, the Jews were considered an inferior and parasitic race that needed to be removed from German society. Period.
Why even blog about Mourdock and his stupidity and willful ignorance? Because the Tea Party's continued use of "present conditions in America equals Nazi Germany" theme needs to be forcefully challenged. Basically, Mourdock and his fellow Tea Party loons want everyone to think that government spending equals Nazism. Therefore, government spending is evil.
What is really evil to Mourdock is that he has to pay some taxes for a government he and his ilk hate. Poor selfish babies. It is why they keep trying to equate government spending with a spendthrift person. Now, they are pumping up the volume by comparing government spending to Hitler and the Nazis.
Well, I have a comparison for Mourdock and the rest of the Tea Party. They remind me of an experience I had at the San Antonio Zoo back in 1980. It was a broiling hot summer day, and I came upon an overcrowded cage of monkeys. The poor monkeys were hyped up, and one individual was facing me. He grabbed the cage bars, and he screamed at me with rage. He proceeded to back up his scream with a a strong spray of urine in my direction. Thankfully, the force of his urine stream wasn't strong enough to reach me, but it was impressive nevertheless.
When I read Mourdock's comments, I'm reminded of that zoo visit. The difference though is that the pissing monkey had a really good reason to be enraged. Moudock and the Tea Party do not.