In the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani reviews Volker Ullrich’s new book examining Adolf Hitler’s remarkable rise from “pathetic dunderhead” to infamous figure. The short, striking piece is worth reading in full.
Mr. Ullrich, like other biographers, provides vivid insight into some factors that helped turn a “Munich rabble-rouser” — regarded by many as a self-obsessed “clown” with a strangely “scattershot, impulsive style” — into “the lord and master of the German Reich.”
• Hitler was often described as an egomaniac who “only loved himself” — a narcissist with a taste for self-dramatization and what Mr. Ullrich calls a “characteristic fondness for superlatives.” His manic speeches and penchant for taking all-or-nothing risks raised questions about his capacity for self-control, even his sanity. [...]
• Hitler was known, among colleagues, for a “bottomless mendacity” that would later be magnified by a slick propaganda machine that used the latest technology (radio, gramophone records, film) to spread his message. A former finance minister wrote that Hitler “was so thoroughly untruthful that he could no longer recognize the difference between lies and truth” and editors of one edition of “Mein Kampf” described it as a “swamp of lies, distortions, innuendoes, half-truths and real facts.” [...]
• Hitler increasingly presented himself in messianic terms, promising “to lead Germany to a new era of national greatness,” though he was typically vague about his actual plans. He often harked back to a golden age for the country, Mr. Ullrich says, the better “to paint the present day in hues that were all the darker. Everywhere you looked now, there was only decline and decay.”
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—Resolution Condemning Limbaugh to be Introduced on Monday:
It appears that Representative (and Senate candidate) Mark Udall will be introducing a resolution on Monday which would seek to condemn Rush Limbaugh's obscene attack on the integrity and patriotism of American service members.
I wouldn't expect this resolution to pass, as I don't expect many -- if any -- Republicans to vote for it. But from my perspective, the point of this resolution isn't to receive a majority vote, or even really to condemn Limbaugh. After all, a great number of us in the Democratic Party don't believe that the United States Congress should be in the business of "condemning" the speech of American citizens. As I see it, the point of this exercise is: 1) to highlight the hypocrisy of those Republicans who would vote to condemn the speech of MoveOn, but not that of America's Favorite Chickenhawk -- even as he smeared rank-and-file service members -- and 2) to make sure that those Democrats who saw fit to publicly condemn their ally on the floor of Congress are willing to do the same to a man who despises them and the Democratic Party.
In light of those goals, I hope that all of us in the netroots will honor and respect the decision of those Democrats who choose to vote against both the MoveOn and Limbaugh resolutions. They're taking a responsible, ethical, and consistent position. As for Democrats who voted for the MoveOn resolution, but vote against the Limbaugh resolution? Well, let's just hope that there aren't any.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show, the post-debate fallout continues. Greg Dworkin has polling & “bounce” news. Pepe the Frog is officially toxic. Joan McCarter hits debate highlights, updates the shutdown game, and talks about what might become the first successful Obama veto override.
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