Reductio ad Hitlerum: I See Nazis!

Yesterday, I puzzled over Rush Limbaugh's comparison of Obama's health care logo and the Nazi eagle. The subliminal fascism Limbaugh spotted, after being tipped by some weirdo blog, was just the caduceus, a common symbol for medicine. But when one is looking for Nazis, Nazis one tends to find.

Now, from the other side of the aisle, comes Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA), comparing those protesting ObamaCare townhall meetings to…just guess:

"What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics," Baird, D-Vancouver, said in a phone interview. "I mean that very seriously."

I bet he does. Just in case Baird is actually as dumb as I fear he is, he should be aware that in the first months after the Nazi seizure of power, according to historian Ian Kershaw, the SA disappeared 500-600 political enemies. Just like the Tea Party people!

And a bonus Nazi comparison from hack columnist Bill Press, who sees the "Nazi playbook" being employed by Obama critics  to "shut down discussion" about health care. How his syndicated column made it to press—with copy boys dodging the trudge and wedge of local Sturmabteilung activists; newspaper trucks smashing through fascist roadblocks—is a bleedin' miracle!

Taking a page right out of a Nazi playbook, organizers bus in professional protestors and arm them with instructions on how to take over meetings, shut down discussion, shout over any pro-health care reform speakers, and then post video of the resulting chaos on YouTube. It's mob rule, pure and simple.