For The New York Times economic scene section for March 31, David Leonhardt came across with one of the most amazing admissions about Obama that I've ever seen in the Times. Namely that Barack Obama is just like Hitler. Now, many of you may be solemnly shaking your head in agreement, but in so doing you would be missing why the Times was comparing Obama to Hitler. You see, Leonhardt didn't mean it as an insult. He was saying that it was a good thing that Barack was being like Hitler at least in an economic sense.
Here Leonhardt is taking the trains-on-time track with his Hitler angle by saying that, despite that whole Holocaust and World War II business, Hitler's policies were good for Germany. So good, in fact, that he celebrates the ways he sees that Obama is emulating the mustachioed mad-man's economic prescriptions with the massive takeover of the economy and bloated government spending on "stimulus."
You know the left has lost it when they are invoking the "success" of Hitler to prop up The One!
If I might rephrase Leonhardt's opening sentence a bit: "Every so often, the left serves up an analogy that’s uncomfortable, a little distracting and yet still very telling."
The telling thing here is that Leonhardt is willing to ignore the ultimate outcome of Hitler's policies so that he might justify the destruction of the capitalist system, elimination of personal property rights, and to excuse away giving dictatorial power to an all encompassing government juggernaut here in the US. He so dearly wants the Keynesian theory to be the right one that he is willing to turn his face from genocide and world war to prove his wishes beneficial to man.
Here is how he sets up his absurd take on history:
More than any other country, Germany -- Nazi Germany -- then set out on a serious stimulus program. The government built up the military, expanded the autobahn, put up stadiums for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and built monuments to the Nazi Party across Munich and Berlin.
Oh, sure Germany became a powerhouse previous to the outbreak of WWII. But, what Leonhardt criminally ignores is that Hitler made Germany a powerhouse by stealing the personal property and wealth of minorities and business owners alike and remanding them to the state. And then, to sustain this wild growth, he launched a war of greed and acquisition on his neighbors that added to that power but cost the lives of millions. Germany built this empire on the destruction of God-given rights, oppression of religious and ethnic minorities, and widespread death and war.
In light of the final outcome, I'd wager that this Hitlarian bargain doesn't seem very appealing to anyone but Leonhardt.
From here, Leonhardt segues into an appreciation of the policies of the most communist of presidents we've ever had, Franklin Roosevelt. Leonhardt rehashes New Deal apology by claiming that FDR's economic plans helped the USA out of The Great Depression. He says it all proves that, "Yes, stimulus works."
Of course, like many who admire FDR, Leonhardt glosses over the fact that none of FDR's policies worked at all until the gearing up for war began. He also ignores the unsustainability of Germany's economic "benefits" that dictated that it must go to war to expand the pool of wealth from which the state could steal to support its wild growth. In fact, that same war aim that helped FDR's economic outlook was also unsustainable to the point that the singular goal was, indeed, war. At some point, it must be realized, the war will end and one faces either destruction -- whether mutual or exclusive -- or at the very least will discover a cessation of the activity involved in the run up to war and hence the economic "stimulus" that it entails. Leaving? Leaving an empty hole where that artificial war stimulus was and no stable economic activity to fill it.
In fact, the main reason that the US came out of WWII so strong wasn't because we had spent ourselves to prosperity by gearing for war, but because afterward we became the supply house and construction company of the civilized world by helping re-build the many nations devastated by that war.
A little further in the piece, we realize just how benighted Leonhardt's understanding of things economic is when he favorably quotes George Soros, a man that has admitted that his singular goal isn't to improve the economy, but to destroy it in order to remake the world in his own image.
George Soros, the billionaire investor who was born in Budapest and works in New York, came to Washington last week and captured both the problem and the potential for a solution. “I think they can be brought around,” he said of the Europeans. “I am actually hopeful something constructive can happen.”
Leonhardt's got to be kidding, right? This from a man that said that the world's economic collapse was "the culminating point of my life’s work"?
Leonhardt's Soros quote could certainly have been uttered by Hitler himself because there is no elucidation of the moral theme behind what being "hopeful" that "something constructive can happen" means. Like Hitler, what Soros means by "constructive" would NOT be an outcome that any humane person would agree is so wonderful! Yet, from Leonhardt's treatment we have to assume that he imagines that Soros' "constructive" must obviously be a mutually beneficial good for us all. Leonhardt truly does not understand Soros' apocalyptic point.
Anyway, Leonhardt's ridiculous exposition on the benefits of the socialist model is replete with so many misunderstanding of history, so many bald faced denials of truth that it boggles the mind.
But, it was interesting to see a slavish Obamaite trying to assure us of how wonderful The One is by favorably comparing him to Hitler. I laughed right before I threw up a little in my mouth over the reality of it all.



















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Small addition Warner to an excellent analysis....
April 3, 2009 - 06:45 ET by PopularTech"In fact, the main reason that the US came out of WWII so strong wasn't because we had spent ourselves to prosperity by gearing for war, but because afterward we became the supply house and construction company of the civilized world by helping re-build the many nations devastated by that war."
Yes this is true but I would like to add that the biggest boost to the economy after WWII was that FDR was dead.
Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War (PDF) (Robert Higgs, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
"From 1935 through 1940, with Roosevelt and the ardent New Dealers who surrounded him in full cry, private investors dared not risk their funds in the amounts typical of the late 1920s. In 1945 and 1946, with Roosevelt dead, the New Deal in retreat, and most of the wartime controls being removed, investors came out in force."
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
Prepare for a 'visit' from
April 3, 2009 - 07:56 ET by SickofLibsPrepare for a 'visit' from the Secret Service.
Adolph & Obama
April 3, 2009 - 13:44 ET by grumpyoldbHeil!, Heil!, The gang's all here.....
Does Leonhard live on an
April 3, 2009 - 06:56 ET by HockeyKidDoes Leonhard live on an alternate-reality earth? I don't understand how he can claim that Japan's stimulus program was successful--it clearly was not.
And he claims that the only reason other stimuli didn't succeed was lack of enough stimulus--completely failing to acknowledge the detrimental effects of government spending programs and the exacerbating effects that expanded spending would have.
He must be a die-hard Keynesian--like my old econ professor who told his class (with a straight face), "Just because the model isn't supported by real-world observation doesn't mean we throw out the model."
And a fan of George Soros should be ignored any time he opens his yap anyway.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Learning the wrong lessons from history
April 3, 2009 - 07:06 ET by GalvanicUnfortunately, Mr. Leonhardt doesn't understand that the key element to both his conclusions is the Second World War.
Hitler geared Germany for fighting it, then triggered it, and ultimately left his country and much of Europe in ruin.
FDR's New Deal had run aground in 1938, and only World War 2 pulled the US out of the Great Depression.
Our stimulus package back then was a war we had hoped to avoid, and then ion retrospect, contemporary historians credited the New Deal. Economist today have a different assessment, but Democrats don't.
What's missing
April 3, 2009 - 07:19 ET by 10ksnookerSimple, when the money ran out Germany turned to war.
The downside of all these socialists schemes, the money always runs out.
Little by little
April 3, 2009 - 08:19 ET by general companyThe real agenda seeps out. You are exactly right about the money. That is what I keep asking the liberals I can find to argue with,"what happends when the money runs out, or devalued to where it isnt worth nothing". The BDS generaly sets in after that. Unfortunatly most libs think that because Bush got the ball rolling, it's suddenly ok now that Obama is doing it.
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Well, thanks to Obama's
April 3, 2009 - 07:36 ET by moderncommentaries83Well, thanks to Obama's friends at the Weather Underground, we also know who the victims of this new Hitler's holocaust will be:
Conservatives, capitalists, pro-lifers, and Christians.
Remember that the Weather Underground talked, seriously, about systematically killing about 25 million people who refused to embrace socialism/communism.
4 times the number of people killed by the Nazis in concentration camps.
And this time, there's no brave superpower in the world that will defend us. Indeed, most world powers will probably ship their dissenters to the US for elimination.
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
The similarities are
April 3, 2009 - 08:11 ET by seawardgatorThe similarities are striking, taking from the people to fund the programs, then dispose of them. Many who may have supported Hitler initially, soon discovered they could become targets also. While some closest to the party line were showered with the loot obtained from others. Good thing no one in our congress makes any deals or earmarks that they personally gain from.
Another Similarity
April 3, 2009 - 08:16 ET by JustAlDon't forget the role of pseudoscience in justifying the redistribution of wealth (from citizens to the state). Whether it's measuring skull dimensions or CO2 emissions, it is the same thing, flawed theory cloaked in scientific jargon, perpetrated to steal and eventually to kill. Already the far left is pointing out the need to decrease the population "to save the planet."
So we have come full
April 3, 2009 - 08:17 ET by dscottSo we have come full circle? In the 1920's and 30's the liberals all said fascism was the wave of the future. They adored Hitler and Mussolini. It wasn't until Hilter turned on Stalin that they changed their tune and decided Stalin's version of dictatorship was the one they would rally behind due to the Axis being at war with the US. Even liberals were not so stupid as to be found on the wrong side of a conflict back then.
What I find of interest is Chavez's pronouncement that the US is still an empire even under Obama. Obama and his cohort having successfully pulled off a bloodless coup here, now flexing his powers gets to decide who runs GM or any other corporation, is still seen as a competing power to the modern day Axis (Venezuela, Iran and North Korea). Under Obama the US has ceased to be an agent of Democracy, a leader of the free world, but now a self serving agent of one among many each jockeying for their maximum self benefit however they define it.
This suggests to me that Obama like FDR will be open to using war as a pretext for distracting the public from his failures, as the economy continues to tank, his failures will be rightly pinned on him. The victim card is a powerful play on a national basis. All Obama lacks is a sneak attack by some foreign power to rally the country behind him. FDR and the then leadership of the US along with Britian and Holland via their colonies in the Pacific were strangling Japan economically. This was due to their invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Don't get me wrong, Japan was not a victim, but a rising power who used military force in order to break the economic stranglehold in 1941 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Isn't this what we see now with the current Axis? We and other countries as an instrument of foreign policy are economically strangling them to achieve certain goals without resorting to open military conflict???
History is about to repeat itself, the only unknown at this point are the details and the ACT that officially starts a war.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
Stupid is as Stupid Does
April 3, 2009 - 10:25 ET by nofate"In the 1920's and 30's the liberals all said fascism was the wave of the future. They adored Hitler and Mussolini. It wasn't until Hilter turned on Stalin that they changed their tune and decided Stalin's version of dictatorship was the one they would rally behind due to the Axis being at war with the US. Even liberals were not so stupid as to be found on the wrong side of a conflict back then."
I found this in "Liberal Fascism", pp.122-123:
No matter what it is called, it is all statism- the state, in the form of whoever happens to be the charismatic figurehead du jour, makes the decisions. There is no longer room for individual expression, capitalism, entrepreneurism or anything else that doesn't fit into the regulated policies of the state. We have started down this road before, it's just that for those of us with a conservative/libertarian point of view, this time it's looking a lot darker. This guy and his henchmen are admitted statists- the particular form- i.e. communist, socialist, whatever- is irrelevant. They are out to destroy the last vestiges of the constitution and any possibility of individual thinking in future generations. Witness the "greening" of Elmo, and other propagandistic takeovers of the minds of toddlers and children.
"The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."
michaelyon-online.com
With everything he has done
April 3, 2009 - 14:10 ET by MrSnugglesWith everything he has done to weaken the war on terror, there will be another attack on American soil. I am guessing that it will occur after all the Gitmo detainees are let go in the USA, with full benefits of course.
Wow-BHO and Hitler
April 3, 2009 - 08:26 ET by JIMMY1660does this mean BHO will kill off all gays as Hitler did?does this mean all news media will be screened by the Gestapo?who will BHO round up and place into camps until they can be killed? Hitler a good thing?? ask Soros why he left Hungary?? maybe because he would have been put into a camp.??
BHO- POTUS, is a Liar and Socialist
Soros took part in the
April 3, 2009 - 14:12 ET by MrSnugglesSoros took part in the genocide of jews in Europe.
Congress passes budget abomination last night
April 3, 2009 - 11:09 ET by SickofLibsNow we have our own Kristallnacht, too - April 2, 2009.
Can't wait for the 'medical experiments' to begin.
Kristallnacht
April 3, 2009 - 15:40 ET by slickwillie2001Kristallnacht will come to America, and it will be carried out by ACORN goons on rented buses, and we will be paying for those buses through Obammy's Youth Corp funding. Obammy will be like a Japanese artillery director with his pointer, directing them where to go. Likely starting point will be the homes of industrial and financial leaders.
Another Similarity
April 3, 2009 - 11:50 ET by JustAlThe seeds of the current financial crisis lay exposed for all to see for decades, yet they came to full flower in a relative heartbeat, just in time for the election.
So I ask, is this the financil "Richstag Fire?"
Already the left have finished the job W started of looting the treasury. And now the media will suppress any bad economic news and scream like pubescent cheerleaders about the most insignificant good economic news to build up His "O"lliness, this is my prediction.
This is useful in the sense
April 3, 2009 - 13:12 ET by Chris NormanThis is useful in the sense that it underscores the accusation that Obama's policies are taking us more towards a fascist/corporate state - where the crushing central government doesn't actually run the corporations - they just command the corporations on what to do - like in Nazi Germany. Hannity and others, I think, are mistaken in calling this plain old "socialism". Other shades of Germay include the government and unions in bed with each other, huge government programs designed to placate and pacify the workers. The only thing yet it lacks is a strong war machine and an internal security force - and the latter may be coming. It is "fascism with a happy face".
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Fascism is socialist, it
April 3, 2009 - 14:14 ET by MrSnugglesFascism is socialist, it only differs from communism in that, as you said, fascism is government control of the economy while communism is government ownership.
I think it would be more
April 3, 2009 - 14:18 ET by Chris NormanI think it would be more effective for Hannity and others to label the Obama policies correctly so the future evidence would back those labels up. Hannity is so stuck on the "socialist" label it makes his arguments look rickety. He really should read and listen to Jonah Goldberg.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
First Lincoln, now Hitler, is Jesus next?
April 3, 2009 - 14:10 ET by CobraManIs there any famous names that the liberals are NOT trying to associate with Obama? That's what happens when someone tries to assume prominence of recognition and authority in our current society without actually accomplishing anything to deserve that prominence.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Apology
April 3, 2009 - 15:17 ET by Jman449Sounds like the NYT owes Marge Schott an apology. Aren't they saying what she said?
Pitchforks
April 3, 2009 - 16:15 ET by slickwillie2001Re fascism, at a White House meeting with financial institution executives last week, Obama said this to them: "My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks".
That's a pretty stunning message from a President. Is he saying that if they don't agree with him and do things his way, that he will send in the ACORN buses? Is this the way a President should talk to Americans?
Article: Inside Obama's Bank CEO Meeting: http://www.politico.com
So it was good to call Bush a Nazi?
April 4, 2009 - 17:49 ET by j17ghsWhy didn't The New York Times ever tell us it was a good thing to compare Bush to Hitler!? Now they tell us!