Hitting Thomas Sowell Over The Head With Palin Derangement Syndrome

Hitting Thomas Sowell Over The Head With Palin Derangement Syndrome

The latest meme being pushed is that Sarah Palin somehow, someway, compared Obama to Hitler. Think Progress started it off with:

Palin encourages followers to read column warning that the BP escrow fund could lead to a Nazi-like dictatorship

Greg Sargent at The Washington Post promptly took time out from smearing Sharron Angle with the “Birther” epithet to post a similar headline:

Sarah Palin tells followers to read article comparing BP escrow fund to Nazism

Andrew Sullivan joined the act, awarding Palin a Hugh Hewitt Award, as did Alan Colmes, who wrote: Palin Jumps on the Sowell “Obama As Hitler” Bandwagon.

So what is all the firestorm about?

Sarah Palin sent a tweet recommending that her supporters read Thomas Sowell’s column Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?

Sowell is a leading conservative thinker and writer, affiliated with the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford.

In the column, Sowell used multiple historical analogies — including but not limited to Nazi Germany — to show what happens when the rule of law is abandoned in favor of the rule of one man. But Sowell did not call Obama Hitler or compare Obama to Hitler. Conservatives4Palin has more debunking this allegation.

The impetus to Sowell’s column was Barack Obama’s unilateral decision announced on television that Obama would “instruct” “inform” British Petroleum how much money to set aside in an escrow account.

The prospect of a President unilaterally taking it upon himself to usurp the judicial function was unseemly, even if you liked the result. I made this point in my prior post, The Bully’s Pulpit.

I think Sowell’s analogy to Nazi Germany was unfortunate, but an all too common argument which is a favorite of left-wingers when talking about George Bush or the Arizona immigration bill. There were more recent and relevant analogies Sowell could have used, such as Richard Daley Sr.’s Chicago.

But why the hysteria on behalf of the Think Progress crowd over an unremarkable event?

First, it’s Sarah Palin. And the Democratic media machine never misses an attempt to smear her. What counts for them is the headline, not the details.

Second, and equally important, Palin is being used as the means of ostracizing and attacking Sowell. Think Progress and the others want to declare Sowell off limits, to isolate and target him so that others will think twice before linking. What better way than using their visceral hatred of Palin as the means of attacking Sowell?

Just think, from this point forward the headline will be “[insert conservative author or politician’s name here] supports the author who called Obama Hitler.” It’s false, but again, it’s the headline that counts.

Isolate, freeze and attack. They’ve found their weapon to use against Sowell.

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