Reply #3: As one who lived in German-speaking countries for years and

[JDPriestly]

who is married to a German scholar who lived through WWII in Austria, I agree with Chomsky: the right-wing media in the U.S. and the right-wing of the Republican Party are using the same kind of rhetoric that the NAZIs used. And in true Rovian fashion, they are deflecting legitimate analyses that point out that they are using NAZI-like propaganda techniques (and used them during the Bush era) by claiming loudly that Democrats and Obama are the NAZIs. Of course, for them, "NAZI" is just a bad word. They have never studied the NAZIs and have no idea what they were about or what they did -- other than the concentration camps. There was much, much, much more -- like their domination of the media with hysterical speeches and scare-tactics (my husband vividly remembers hearing this as a child). Limbaugh comes to mind. Limbaugh with his rhythmic speech and the hypnotic swaying of his body and his voice as he speaks. Limbaugh -- who speaks for dramatic effect not for the sake of honest discussion.

Even here on DU, I have heard people argue that the NAZI label should not be used for the right-wing. But, I assure you it is appropriate. Read The Lost City which describes how the right-wing gradually took over the city of Vienna and literally decimated the far-left (much further left than anything we know in the U.S.) voices there after the banks crashed and the political mood in Germany darkened and shifted further to the right.

We live in perilous times.

I speak out against Obama's appeasement of the far right here on DU. I do that not because I think Obama is a bad man but because I know how dangerous his appeasement is. That is what the center right did in Austria. They appeased the far right. They reached across the aisle. They were eventually destroyed. The far right does not tolerate any kind of dissent. They do not appease. We saw that with the Bush administration.

I am far more centrist than Chomsky on many things, but I do agree with his statement on this short video.