Reductio ad Coulteram

This one has had blogs ablaze in the past 24 hours--the Hitler v. Coulter: Who Said It? quiz. I got 11 out of 14--it is surprisingly hard. I'd feel a lot more vigor in my laughs if all the quotes had been footnoted, though I have not as of this writing noted anyone more up on their Fuhrer chapter and verse than me debunking this.

Comments

[J.R.]

So we have Al Gore as the Unabomber, Coulter as Hitler, and programmers as serial killers. Reality is scary as hell.

[John W. Payne]

I also scored 11 of 14. What ones did you miss? I missed five, seven, and twelve. Really thought I had nailed 'em all.

[The Real Bill]

I got 13 out of 14. Here's the one I missed:

"Hence it is that at the present time the liberal is the great agitator for the complete destruction of America. Whenever we read of attacks against America taking place in any part of the world the liberal is always the instigator."

[The Real Bill]

Wow! I took the programmer or serial killer test and only got 7/10. I guess it's easier for me to tell Coulter and Hitler apart. What the hell that means I have no idea.

[Mark]

Sweet. I got 10.

Holy crap Coulter has come up with some shit in her time!

[Terrorific]

It's kinda funny....but doesn't really?prove much. I'm sure it would be possible to do a "(blank) vs Hitler" bit for just about anyone if you choose the right quotes.

For the record, though, I'd still much prefer Hitler as a dictator to Coulter. He was gracious enough to off himself when he figured out he was wrong.

[Barry Campbell]

I got 11 out of 14 citations as well. I am not personally familiar with the oeuvre of either Ann or Adolf, except for having read an exceprt from Mein Kampf for a college class almost 20 years ago and occasionally catching a Coulter column or one of her appearances on Bill Maher's show.

Ann's act is getting kinda stale and she desperately needs to eat a a couple of bacon double cheeseburgers, but I will observe in her defense that this rather unsubtle quiz tries unsuccessfully to elide a very key point: while every fascist rages against "liberalism," certainly not everyone who rages against liberalism is a fascist.

[crimethink]

Terrorific,

I doubt Hitler died thinking he was wrong. It probably had more to do with fear of what the Soviets would do to him. I wonder, would he have offed himself if it were the US Army at the gates of Berlin?

[crimethink]

Barry Campbell,

Also, the word "liberalism" had an entirely different meaning in Hitler's day.

[Joe Majsterski]

I got them all right, but I think it's because, as a linguist, I was paying more attention to the way that things were said, rather than to the content, at least to a certain degree.

[Joe Majsterski]

BTW: That website (www.giveupblog.com) is obnoxious.

[madpad]

It's kinda funny....but doesn't really?prove much. I'm sure it would be possible to do a "(blank) vs Hitler" bit for just about anyone if you choose the right quotes.

Not "just about anyone." Coulter has few parallels when it coomes to mindlessly and pointlessly blaming liberals for every evil while ignoring open and blatant hypocrisy among conservatives and rewriting history so that a scumbag like mccarthy is a saint.

[Mr. F. Le Mur]

Same stupid quiz, different website:

"For this quiz I've replaced some of Hitler's pro-Aryan and anti-Semitic language with the words, "America", "Democrat", "liberal", and "the liberal media" to make the Coulter quotes a little more difficult to spot."
http://www.giveupblog.com/hitlercoulterquiz.html

The quiz linked to by Doherty merely supports the "liberals are liars" assertion since it omits the fact that the quotes are bogus.

Jesus, people, do you all believe everything you read?

[Dave Straub]

I took this one a few days ago and managed to get 13 right. I was aided by something I had seen Andrew Sullivan say earlier that day: that Ann Coulter trades in "ad-copy prose." Keeping that in mind made the quiz pretty easy. I don't remember which one I missed.

[Mr. F. Le Mur]

I'd feel a lot more vigor in my laughs if all the quotes had been footnoted,
'Tis hard to footnote bogus quotes.

though I have not as of this writing noted anyone more up on their Fuhrer chapter and verse than me debunking this.
Consider it debunked. Liberals are not only liars, they're also gullible and stupid.

[Jesse Walker]

I got 12/14, and if it weren't for the substitutions noted by Le Mur I would have gotten 13/14. The only surprise is the quote about the Bolshevik Revolution. Calling Lenin a "sexual anarchist" seemed too nutty even for She Who Cannot Be Named.

[David]

This quiz would be more effective if all the quotes were Coulter.

[madpad]

Liberals are not only liars, they're also gullible and stupid.

Thank God the conservatives that buy into Ann Coulter's garbage aren't gullible or stupid, eh?

[Madog]

Even better -- Hitler Cats!
http://hitlercats.motime.com/

[thoreau]

12/14

But I did have to pause and think about a few.

I guess this thread must be immune to Godwin's Law, since a German dictator whose name means the end of internet discussions was the stated topic of this thread.

Or maybe it means that there will be no meaningful discussion in this thread, and any hope of meaningful discussion ended even before the thread began.

[Mona]

That was hard to do! But I only missed 2; attributing two to Coulter that actually were propounded by Adolph. I tried to discriminate by older v. more contemporary style, as well as by direct invocation of America. So, while Ann COULD have penned these (as I guessed she had), Der Fuhrer actually spewed them:

"Hence it is that at the present time the liberal is the great agitator for the complete destruction of America. Whenever we read of attacks against America taking place in any part of the world the liberal is always the instigator."

"Here the liberal's procedure is as follows: He approaches the worker, simulates pity with his fate, or even indignation at his lot of misery and poverty, thus gaining his confidence...With infinite shrewdness he fans the need for social justice, somehow slumbering in every American man, into hatred against those who have been better favored by fortune..."

[adolfa]

Mein Kunt.

[madpad]

I missed the second one of Mona's as well. I always though of "social justice" as a more modern term.

[joe]

LeMur, you need to have another web site tell you that Hitler didn't actually make statements about liberals in America, and you're calling other people stupid?

[Mona]

(Oh, I agree with the commenter who notes "liberal" meant something a good deal different to Hitler than it does to Coulter. And also that such a "test" could invidiously be apllied to many by picking stray Hitler bon mots and placing them beside those of another subject, since I'm sure that Hitler uttered, oh say, many nice things about pets. But nevertheless, there is a kernel of truth in this little game.)

[madpad]

LeMur's universe intersects with Ann Coulter's. In that one, no matter what crime or sin you commit, it's always a liberal's fault and conservatives are always smart, blameless and well-dressed.

[Phileleutherus Lipsiensis]

I got 11 out of 14 by randomly picking results. 🙂

[Karen]

I read this before looking at the quotes, so I didn't keep my score. It would have been cheating. Because this thread touches on Ann Coulter, I thought y'all might like to know that the writers at "Feministe" have found a new nickname for Ms. C: Blitzkrieg Barbie.

[Chris]

Unofficial 14 out of 14. Do I know my fascists or what!

Check your answers. The system gave me a 12 out of 14, but it incorrectly marked me wrong on two that I answered correctly.

[P Brooks]

"Also, the word "liberalism" had an entirely different meaning in Hitler's day."

I believe a "liberal" of the thirties would be pretty similar to a "libertarian" of today. So, watch yer step, ya pinko threats to civilisation.

- I only got nine right (by guessing based on stylistic clues); I try to avoid reading anything by either of them.

[mediageek]

12/14.

This concludes my little diversion spent in Godwinastan.

[Ellen Evans]

I got 12 of 14, without ever having read either author, which is perhaps too noble a designation for either Ms. Coulter or Herr Hitler. I don't know anyone who takes Al Franken seriously, no matter their politics - how can it be that there are those who think Ms. Coulter has anything to say worth listenting to?

I am one of those who never votes, because it only encourages them; I have become utterly disenchanted with politicians of all stripes, worldwide.

Alas.

[madpad]

Some folks pointing out differences in the meaning of "Liberal" of the 1930s and "Liberal" of today.

More hilarious subtext (to me anyway) is the apparent lack of difference in a "fascist" of the 1930s and an "extreme conservative" of today.

[P Brooks]

"...apparent lack of difference in a "fascist" of the 1930s and an "extreme conservative" of today."
'
That's not right- yesterday's "fascist" is today's "patriot." Or- wait- is it the other way around? Which one wears the helmet?

[SR]

I got 12/14. I missed the "The truth is another hateful 'bourgeois institution'" and "These scum manufacture..." questions.

[cjp]

Wow -- completely unexpectedly, I got 14 out of 14.

I just went by the complexity of the sentence structure (Ann has to use real-simple talk for her audience; Adolf could afford to be a bit more flowery) and a few historical cues.

[happyjuggler0]

Actually, it is important to note they substituted words like Jew and put in liberal instead. So if you read liberal and said a ha, it must be Coulter, you missed the point.

I got only two of them wrong. I forget which two, both near the end. I think I got lazy. 🙂

[WSDave]

This would have ben a lot easier if they had printed Hitler's quotes in German....

[bzial]

12 out of 14.

[Tbone]

Jesse:

I used to prefer Richard Belzer's "Facist Barbie Doll" (from one of Maher's HBO shows) but I'm totally going with "She Who Must Not be Named"

Thanks.

[WhoDis?]

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

[Brian Courts]

Woo-hoo - I got 14/14 too. Do we win something? Maybe a set of Coulter / Hitler bobblehead dolls?

[D.A. Ridgely]

12 out of 14.

I think it would be far more interesting to see how self-identified progressives and self-identified social conservatives score.

[P Brooks]

Who Dis- that sounds suspiciously like Mencken

[Don Mynack]

I'm at a loss to explain liberals pathological hatred of/fascination with Coulter. It has to be they all secretly want to bang her. There can be no other explanation.

[highnumber]

WhoDis? sounds like Hitler to me.
Oops, google tells me it was Goering.
Mencken, Hitler, Goering, Groening, Hasselhoff, what's the difference? Lousy Germans all of them!

[PapayaSF]

14/14, and unlike many around here I think Coulter is more often correct than not.

It is a bit of a cheat to modify the Hitler quotes. I'll bet I could make selective modifications to quotes from various Communist dictators, mix them with quotes from current Democratic bigwigs, and end up with a quiz that was far harder.

[madpad]

I'm at a loss to explain liberals pathological hatred of/fascination with Coulter.

I'm just spitballing here but my guess is it starts with her open pathological hatred of them. That she irrationally blames them for every perceived problem, slight or evil in the world - including (way erroneously) the demise of her hero, Joseph McCarthy - probably doesn't help.

That every other word out of her mouth features the word "liberal" and some permutation of sin is just the cherry on the sundae.

My guess is that you're also at a loss to explain many not-so-liberal's (some of whom posting here) hatred of her as well. To clear that one up, most of us find her to be an insufferable loudmouth moron.

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

12 out of 14. I am pleased by that. This does not mean that much of what she said is exactly wrong. Its tends to be how she delivers it not what she has to say.

[Isaac Bartram]

It is a bit of a cheat to modify the Hitler quotes.

"a bit of a cheat" is an understatement. It pretty much invalidates the whole thing. But validity probably isn't important here.

I'll bet I could make selective modifications to quotes from various Communist dictators, mix them with quotes from current Democratic bigwigs, and end up with a quiz that was far harder.

Considering that Nazi Germany had an extensive welfare state and economic regulation it probably wouldn't be hard to come up with such a list.

Also, given Hitler's opinions on transportation, housing, animal cruelty, environmentalism and tobacco use is there anyone who could not be compared favorably to him with a few selective quotes. There was hardly an area of private or public life on which Hitler did not at one time or another express an opinion. Most are quite banal and quite in line with most conventional poular opinion. He was, after all, first and foremost, a successful politician.

Without his bizarre racial beliefs and insane militarism Hitler's ideas were not all that remarkable.

[Isaac Bartram]

He was, after all, first and foremost, a successful politician.

On second though that's not true. He was, first and foremost, an evil bastard. And second, he was a successful politician. And while the set of politicians who are evil bastards is large, the set of politicians as evil as Hitler is quite small.

And none of what I wrote should be taken as any kind of a defense of Coulter.

[whit]

coulter is many things, but moron is not one of them

her background aside (which is both impressive and strongly suggestive of "non-moronity" 🙂 )...

the fact that she engenders so much hate, controversy, and has millions of internet people wanking about her endlessly in blogs etc. (like we are right now) is indications of a very intelligent woman who KNOWS how to market a schtick for supreme "effect"

i don't believe for a heartbeat that she actually believes everything she spews.

it is a remarkably effective schtick and she is actually quite funny at times. she does engender hate, but her most successful result is that she reveals hypocrisy from the left. recall that she has been physically attacked (pies, etc.) for merely speaking her mind, whereas i am not aware of any liberal/"progressive" (no matter how absurd - e.g. Michael Moore, Sister Souljah, Angela Davis) who has been subject to physical attack for speaking their minds.

she has brilliantly allowed the far left to expose THEIR intolerance by creating an extreme persona and making THEM "lose it" so to speak by attacking her physically vs. with contrary viewpoints.

i have seen way too much of this type of stuff from the left recently. in my area (seattle), there were dozens of (reported) incidents of vandalism and theft of rightwing political signage (*bush/cheney* signs etc.) during the last election, but i don't recall even ONE incident of the rightwingers removing/defacing political signs supporting candidates of the left

it's actually a very shrewd strategy. by engaging in histrionic extremes, she exposes the true antidemocratic tendencies of many on the left.

[madpad]

but i don't recall even ONE incident of the rightwingers removing/defacing political signs supporting candidates of the left

Happens all the time down here in Florida.

And for the record, exposing the intolerance of the left - by being an intolerant right-winger - is kinda bizarre, don't ya' think? Does the word 'brilliant' actually apply?