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When I first heard that the theme of Mr. Bush's inaugural was freedom, I thought about how many dictators use the word freedom while taking it away. So I looked up Mr. Hitler's speeches. Then I read Mr. Bush's speech. I must admit that Mr. Bush made a very good case for freedom. Indeed, a very good case for world freedom while setting us up as the defenders of freedom. I was suprised to see how clean his rhetoric was and how little room there was for narrowing that definition to the American brand of freedom.
However, I did find some similarities between Bush's inaugural address and Hitler's speech of January 1937 to the Reichtag. Hitler was very unpopular in England that year and not very well liked by the Prime Minister, Mr. Eden.
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Hitler |
| And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat. ... These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes ... |
But we know that all our efforts would have been in vain if we did not have the loyal cooperation of hundreds of thousands of political leaders, innumerable officials and countless soldiers and officers, who did their work under the inspiration of the ideal of our national resurgence. And above all we must acknowledge that our success could not have been attained if we were not backed up by the united front of the whole people. |
| History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty. ... May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America. |
As I look back on the great work that has been done during the past four years you will understand quite well that my first feeling is simply one of thankfulness to our Almighty God for having allowed me to bring this work to success. He has blessed our labors and has enabled our people to come through all the obstacles which encompassed them on their way. |
| Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time. |
I thank all those men and women who have assisted in building up our party organizations and working in them with success. ... Thus the Party and the defense forces are now the guarantors sworn to devote themselves to the preservation of our national existence. |
| A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice. |
On this historic occasion I must once again thank all those millions of unknown Germans, from every class and caste, profession and trade and from all the farmsteads, who have given their hearts, their lives and their sacrifices, for the new Reich. |
Well, maybe i'm reaching a little, but the overall plea of Bush sounds much like Hitler's at a time when Hitler was at war with the world. Bush could easily have used Hitler's words and been on target. Are we at war?
Of course, these are just words, Bush is a politician, and, like many a woman, has the perogative to change his mind.
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