Using Hitler as analogy to all things we disagree with is not only faulty logic and exudes ignorance of history, it's contemptible.
It's a phenomena, I've observed, that found expression during the George W. Bush administration when leftists compared Bush to Hitler. Ironically, if one wants to get technical about it, Nazism fell on the left side of the scale and not the right.
Following the Bush=Hitler assertion came a cascade of terrible analogies inserting Hitler. The NDP have used it and Nancy Pelosi used it just last week; forgive me if I single them out but theirs stood out off the top of my head. There have been others and perhaps I'll try and research and list some of them here soon enough.
Most recently, a Montreal city councilor compared General Amherst to Hitler and lobbied to have his street name changed. No word on Lionel-Groulx yet...Thankfully the Tremblay administration is showing maturity and is having none of the request.
The councilman's knowledge of history is suspect indeed - ah such individuals infecting our political ranks! - and is best to focus what's left of his dubious intellectual capablities into other areas. You can't rewrite history and the fact that Montreal is a "French" city (in reality it's a bilingual city but don't that to nationalists) is irrelevant to our "English fact" heritage. The English have every right a place at the table of Montreal history.
I fear for our anayltical minds!
Just.
Terrible.
Amherst was no worse than many others in his time. The guy who effectively caused the epidemic amongst the First nations was a general, working under Amherst, named Bouquet. Sounds French to me.
ReplyDeleteYes Amherst toyed with the thought, did he wish it executed, that is not very clear. Bouquet may have been overzealous. But back then that is how things were done.
Yes, that's how I understood it.
ReplyDeleteTalk about opening a can of words! Are the French blameless? Probably not.
It's a can of worms not worth discussing.