Jesus Chomsky

Oops, forgot a comma...or did I?

Either way, no one would ever accuse Noam Chomsky of making flippant remarks or offering unthoughtful opinions. That being said, you have to wonder what he was thinking by Godwin's Law recently by invoking Nazi Germany in a political discussion.



Perhaps not always a faux pas, the reference of or comparison to Nazism is increasingly cringe-worthy the more we become removed from it. As we step farther away from that time period, Hitler and Nazism grow in our historical perspective as the ultimate villains. He is, according to our current social calculation, the unquestionable prototypical enemy. Though, in practice, other political and economic systems are more inverse to our own than Nazism (read: Communism); eugenics and the selective elimination of social segments makes it an unparalleled foil. Looking behind us, the social significance of Nazism grows as we blunder through purportedly noble interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The solidarity, sacrifice, and commitment to battling Nazism that resulted in its vanquish makes it a paragon of the American way. As a result, comparisons to Hitler are almost always exaggerated and almost always in poor taste.

In regards to Chomsky, it's surprising to hear him compare the right-wing media (Fox News, the radio) to the transition from the Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany. Forget the point he's making, no one has ever won an argument with a Hitler comparison. Hitler was unique and, as mentioned, too important in our historical landscape to use in a contentious comparison to media bias. For a guy so erudite, this is embarrassingly low-brow.