Putin deploys Godwin's Law with veiled comparison between U.S. and the Reich.

[WilliamPitt]

Hm.

Putin Cites Third Reich in Veiled Criticism of U.S.
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: May 9, 2007

MOSCOW, May 9 — President Vladimir V. Putin obliquely compared the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich in a speech on Wednesday commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, apparently in an escalation of anti-American talk within the Russian government.

The comments were the latest in a series of sharply worded Russian criticisms of the foreign policy of the United States — on Iraq, missile defense, NATO expansion and, more broadly, United States unilateralism in foreign affairs.

Many Russians say the sharper edge reflects a frustration that Russia’s views, in particular opposition to NATO expansion, have been ignored in the West. Outside of Russia, however, many detected in the new tone a return to cold-war-style antagonism, emboldened by petroleum wealth.

Mr. Putin’s analogy was a small part of a larger speech, otherwise unambiguously congratulating Russian veterans of World War II, known here as the Great Patriotic War. Mr. Putin spoke from a podium in front of Lenin’s mausoleum on Red Square before troops mustered for a military parade.

Mr. Putin called Victory Day a holiday of “huge moral importance and unifying power” for Russia, and went on to enumerate the lessons of that conflict for the world today.

“We do not have the right to forget the causes of any war, which must be sought in the mistakes and errors of peacetime,” Mr. Putin said.

“Moreover, in our time, these threats are not diminishing,” he said. “They are only transforming, changing their appearance. In these new threats, as during the time of the Third Reich, are the same contempt for human life and the same claims of exceptionality and diktat in the world.”

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/europe/10cnd-russia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

===

Godwin's Law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies) is an adage formulated by Mike Godwin in 1990. The law states:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

Godwin's Law does not dispute whether any particular reference or comparison with Hitler or the Nazis might be apt. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that overuse of the Nazi/Hitler comparison should be avoided, as it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

[CBGLuthier]

1. not a violation

Was not an online discussion so does not violate the law.

Besides which this is one of those cases where the comparision is correct. To quote Basil Fawlty, "This is exactly how nazi germany began"

[WilliamPitt]

2. You are correct

I changed the headline. Thanks.

[90-percent]

3. well

nice to see the anti-Putin NAZI's are already on the nets spouting their Goebbellian propaganda!

I'm being facetious, of course. Seems like it's time for GWB to have another deep look into pooty-poots soul. GWB may have been in the middle of an acid flashback and got a false reading at his last Putin soul peeking session?

-85% jimmy

[stevedeshazer]

4. 28 June 2001

http://www.janes.com/regional_news/americas/news_briefs/fr010628_04.shtml

<snip>

"I LOOKED the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul." These were the words of President George Bush after his recent meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Bush was immediately attacked by some members of Congress for this glib statement; former KGB officers like Putin are not meant to have souls, and most certainly not souls easily detected through just a cursory glance. Yet, in two respects, Bush was right. Getting a sense of Putin's soul is not equivalent to saying that one liked what one saw. More importantly, when it comes to predicting what Putin will do in the near future--which is the only issue of interest for American decision-makers--Putin is a fairly open book."

[Cha]

9. Wonder if rove told

him to say that? Or did bush just pull that shite outta his ass?

[richardb]

5. Third Reich

Does this remind you of anybody else?

"The myth of Hitler's support for the "Big Lie" technique was also cited (page 219) in a report prepared during the war by the United States Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler's psychological profile <1>
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it. - OSS report page 51 <2>"

[emilyg]

6. Yes it does.

[Selatius]

7. That's crap.

In America, we call that having conviction. In America, people vote for those who take stands and have conviction over those who appear to have neither, even if those stands and convictions run counter to what most Americans want.

And then, they drive off the bridge because they didn't want to admit they took the bridge that was busted...by Katrina.

[IChing]

8. LOL.........you are right ---"Conviction" is something Americans can't get

with the rule of law now, let alone "justice"

[Cha]

10. That's their fookin' playbook!~

Where do they get off using hitler's playbook!??

[newyawker99]

11. Hi richardb!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[90-percent]

12. nice first post

Nice first post, there RichardB. I've read elsewhere that Karl Rove is a big fan of Nazi propaganda techniques. He's got it mastered to the point he's now a Goebbels doppelganger.

67 years later and decent Americans are still forced to deal with goddamned Nazi's!

I stand with Joe Wilson on Karl Rove, however, I think Joe and I wil have to settle for Karl getting goose stepped out of the White House instead of frog marched.

-85% Jimmy