More Free Advice I Assumed People Knew Already

Well it seems Scott Feschuck has beat me to it (after the rant about Bob Cole), but I’ll be giving out this handy-dandy list of okay and not-okay moments to bring up the Nazis.

Okay

• You’re a veteran of WWII.
• You are teaching world history and are between the years 1933 and 1945.
• You have just released a book, movie, or television series exploring some aspect of WWII Germany.
• You are doing a news story on neo-Nazi movements, or possibly genocide.
• You are shooting them in Call of Duty 3, or any other WWII based game.
• You are talking about Sgt. Rock beating up Nazis (or Ratzis) with his .50-calliber ammo belts that he uses as good luck charms.
• You are a comic-book creator/fan/collector and are referring to war-time comics with Nazi Gorillas or Cowboys fighting Nazis on the moon.

Not-Okay

• Comparing them to anyone or any group who (and here’s the important part) didn’t try to annihilate an entire people.
• You are seeking election to the House of Commons.
• Referring to the person who keeps playing their music on the boom-box as a Radio-Nazi – see point one.
• Referring to anyone you just don’t like, or agree with, as some form of Nazi – see point one.
• Anything remotely complimentary.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should help. The trick is to not come off as hysterical by making flippant claims because the thing is - Hitler and the Nazis were really really evil. Global warming isn’t great (or totally unavoidable if we’re to believe what you’re saying) but it’s melting some ice and while it could possibly flood the riding you’re trying to win, it’s not organized, intentional and immediate genocide by one group of people on another. Unless the group of people you’re criticizing actually did do something similar, it’s best to leave Nazis out of it. In fact, just don’t ever bring up Hitler and the Nazis as long as you’re seeking election (or running an advocacy group for the environment). Seriously, just don't. Ever. No matter what.

So let’s say you’ve made the mistake of comparing people who aren’t organizing a genocide to the Nazis, what should you do?

• Apologize as soon as possible for trying to be sensational thus being flippant to the victims of the Nazi regime. Don't equivocate or claim to be quoting someone else because it makes any criticism of you easier to stick.

Of course there are less effective approaches, such as:

• Try to get Harper or Baird to refer to someone as a Japanazi thus making him look worse in terms of WWII-regime comparisons.
• Making a joke about how there should be a Stalinist party to go with the other two communism-based parties in Canada.
• Getting the former leader to blog on your party’s homepage where he compares a provincial leader grabbing a seat in the gallery of the provincial legislature to veterans giving their lives to defend democracy.
• Standing by your comments and hoping voters will understand.

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