Ted Cruz and Adolf Hitler and John McCain.
10 Analogies on the Republican Congress. Actually, 11, because the “Honorable Mention” is the most amusing one. Arguably the only one worth noting. Because if you want to make an allusion, what you want is to something of either obscurity or convolution.
There is something in the latest “tiff” between McCain and Cruz.
Now the angry veteran of GOP politics is after Cruz once again. This time, it’s about a reference to appeasement of Adolf Hitler that Cruz made during his epic 21-hour fili-talkathon against Obamacare on the Senate floor.
This came during a long section in which Cruz was talking about times in history when “pundits†said things could not be done, but then they were.
For instance, during the Civil War, there “were a lot of voices who said the Union cannot be saved,†Cruz said, but it was.
Then came the Nazi part.
“If we go to the 1940s, Nazi Germany – look, we saw it in Britain. Neville Chamberlain told the British people: Accept the Nazis. Yes, they will dominate the continent of Europe, but that is not our problem. Let’s appease them. Why? Because it can’t be done. We cannot possibly stand against them,†Cruz said.
At this, McCain took umbrage. Why? Well, for one thing, umbrage and McCain are well acquainted. For another, it’s because this seems like a reference to the GOP Senate establishment, which disdained Cruz’s talkathon against Obamacare as a waste of time. Democrats control the Senate, in this view, and President Obama will veto anything that defunds his signature health law achievement.
Also… um… Hitler?
“I resoundingly reject that allegation. That allegation, in my view, does a great disservice. I do not agree with that comparison. I think it’s wrong,†McCain said on the Senate floor shortly after Cruz’s speech ended.
McCain went on to say that Cruz had told him he was speaking only about talking heads, but McCain wasn’t buying it. “I find that a difference without a distinction. I find that something that I think I have to respond to,†McCain said.
We note… perhaps? Perhaps not? We can’t distinguish McCain from the “talking heads”. He’s got a regular practically weekly shot on the Sunday political talk shows. But somehow this is neither here nor there, because… um… again… Hitler?
So he continued responding, saying in essence that to compare the two situations was pretty objectionable, considering. Left unsaid was the obvious point that as a war veteran and former POW, whose grandfather commanded US naval air forces at Guadalcanal and whose father captained a World War II sub in the Pacific, McCain does not think comparisons between the legislative process and Hitler should be made too easily.
He did say that the voters had the chance to consider Obamacare in 2012 – and the GOP nominee lost.
“The people spoke: They spoke much to my dismay. But they spoke, and they reelected the president of the United States,†McCain said.
Given that McCain took to the floor shortly after Cruz left it, his words were something of a purposeful slap in the face. Cruz’s conservative supporters replied in kind.
“Beltway barnacle McCain’s longevity is NOT admirable. It’s a bane,†tweeted right-leaning pundit Michelle Malkin.
“Right leaning pundit” Michell Malkin.
Kind of like saying… (wait for it, me… mr. ironist…)
“Right leaning historical figure… Adolf Hi” … oh, never mind.
“It’s fun for Dems when McCain lights into Cruz, but no Republican’s criticism does more to endear Cruz to the base,†tweeted Slate political analyst Dave Weigel.
Yeah, well. Whatever.
My favorite bit from the latest Hitler bash…
On Wednesday morning, the Anti-Defamation League weighed in. “I wish Senator Cruz would have used another comparison, but his statement does not trivialize the Holocaust,” Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL, said in a statement sent to Mother Jones.
You know. If you’re the Anti Defamation League, maybe you have to pick your battles. Or maybe you get a little tired that every time some politico figure throws out a terrible Hitler analogy, you get a call and are asked for a response.