Godwin's Law
Sadly, the US Senate does not follow Godwin's Law, which says that, in a Usenet newsgroup, the first person to resort to a Nazi reference has lost the debate, and it will soon end. The esteemed Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, today actually compared those trying to preserve the filibuster to Adolph Hitler. Watch it for yourself at Crooks and Liars.
Granted, it's impossible to actually pull a coherent thread of argument out of what he said, and some sentences sound like he's making the case for the Democrats. His Hitler analogy doesn't make sense to me at all, but it's pretty clear that he's comparing Democratic objections to his position to some hypothetical statement by Adolf Hitler. I'm stunned that I would ever consider Usenet newsgroups as maintaining a higher level of rhetoric than the US Senate.
Even more stunning is that Santorum recently was quite critical of Robert Byrd's comparison of the Republican consolidation of power to the 30's Nazi consolidation, as Think Progress reports.
Perhaps Santorum just wanted to make sure he kept the "Most Over-the-top Award" after Frist said that the Democrats wanted to "kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees." Frist did earn a huge tastelessness bonus for saying that on the very same day Judge Lefkow from Chicago was on the Hill, testifying about the brutal slaying of her family by a man intent on killing her.
On the other hand, perhaps Santorum is just absolutely insane.
Granted, it's impossible to actually pull a coherent thread of argument out of what he said, and some sentences sound like he's making the case for the Democrats. His Hitler analogy doesn't make sense to me at all, but it's pretty clear that he's comparing Democratic objections to his position to some hypothetical statement by Adolf Hitler. I'm stunned that I would ever consider Usenet newsgroups as maintaining a higher level of rhetoric than the US Senate.
Even more stunning is that Santorum recently was quite critical of Robert Byrd's comparison of the Republican consolidation of power to the 30's Nazi consolidation, as Think Progress reports.
On March 1, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) made a reference to Hitler in a speech about the nuclear option. Santorum lashed out at Byrd for his remarks. From the 3/11/05 Charleston Journal:Oh, and by the way, Santorum today tried in his tangled way to suggest that it was the Democrats who were out to change centuries-old Senate tradition, which, as I believe he knows, is completely the opposite of the truth. He also suggested that we bombed Paris in 1942. I believe that is also wrong.
Byrd roused the ire of many Republicans when he tangentially referred to Adolf Hitler during a speech on March 1 defending cloture and the right to debate.
[Snip]
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., asked Byrd to retract his comments, stating they "lessen the credibility of the senator and the decorum of the Senate." The Anti-Defamation League also criticized Byrd.
Perhaps Santorum just wanted to make sure he kept the "Most Over-the-top Award" after Frist said that the Democrats wanted to "kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees." Frist did earn a huge tastelessness bonus for saying that on the very same day Judge Lefkow from Chicago was on the Hill, testifying about the brutal slaying of her family by a man intent on killing her.
On the other hand, perhaps Santorum is just absolutely insane.
posted by Paul at 5:45 PM |
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