Yeterday in "Metro New York" and Today's Dumb Ass Letter

An article I wrote on how Bush is no Hitler, but rather an incompetent Mussolini, was printed in yesterday's Metro New York. I'll reprint it here since the link is not direct, although if you want to see a very dyke-y picture of me, by all means click on the link and scroll to page 10.

Comparing Bush to Hitler goes to far
No beating around the Bush: I think that George W. is the worst president in the history of the United States. His lack of regard for the Constitution, his enrichment
of the powerful and wealthy at the expense of the rest of the citizenry, and his maniacal pursuit of war in Iraq makes him just a cut above the others when it comes to the long-term detrimental effects his actions will have on the country.

In fact, I suspect Bush may secretly wish to outdo atrocities committed against democracy by 20th century Presidents Woodrow Wilson (the Sedition Act of 1918
made it illegal to use “disloyal, profane, scurrilous or abusive language” about the government, and/or armed forces during war), Herbert Hoover (whose corruption came to light during the Teapot Dome Scandal, regarding noncompetitive bidding for an oil field on public land) and Franklin Roosevelt (who demonstrated flagrant disregard for constitutional and human rights when he authorized Japanese-American internment
during WWII). Bush certainly has the edge on these presidents once his defiance of Congress, alienation of the international community and commitment to government
in secrecy is added to his record.

Yet during a recent trip to Italy, when I saw a poster that equated him with Adolf Hitler, I was offended. Referring to Bush as Hitler is very popular with protesters in the U.S. and abroad. In doing so, protesters denigrate the true evil that Hitler wrought on this planet. Bush may be a terrible person, and his policies have undeniably led to the deaths of many thousands of people, but he never systemically ordered mass murder. Bush’s intention is not genocidal, and to claim otherwise is an insult to people who have experienced a direct attempt to permanently eradicate their cultures.

That said, there are figures from the Second World War to which Bush may be compared. Italians should know better than most that Bush has a striking resemblance to their very own fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Mussolini exploited a fearful population while promising security and order. He exercised censorship and mastered the use of propaganda, something Bush is trying very hard to emulate. While
Mussolini discriminated against minorities (in this case Italian Jews), he never sent any to death or labor camps. The parallels are thus uncanny — although
Mussolini was at least successful in getting the trains to run on time, whereas Bush is busy destroying national infrastructure, including entire cities.

I think it is very clear that I think Bush is an evil fearmonger who discriminates against different groups of people, just like Mussolini. However, unlike Hitler, Bush has not planned and executed genocide. Of course, today's letter to the editor misses the entire point completely. My friend Michael Boyajian wrote:

Regarding Suzanne Reisman’s column “Comparing Bush to Hitler
Goes Too Far” (July 25): Reisman may have it wrong. There are strong parallels between Bush and Hitler. Both used fear to reach certain ends, launched long, unjust
wars, broke the rules of democracy and targeted scapegoats — Hitler committed genocide against the Jews and Bush fostered hatred against the gay community. Yes, a close scrutiny indicates that there is some rationale to this comparison.

Michael, if your thick little head finished reading the column, you will see that I agreed with you on all of your points except that Hitler is so evil HE KILLED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN DEATH CAMPS. Has Bush rounded up gays and killed them? No? Then I guess the parallel is not nearly as close to HItler as it is to Mussolini and other fascist leaders who don't go that one special step further and launch genocide campaigns.

What the fuck is wrong with people that they can't understand that discrimination is a vile, morally repulsive and terrible thing, but it is not the same as killing nine million people? And this, my friends, is why I hate people.