Dear Mr. Greenwald, You are right to point out that the trivializing of Nazi imagery in politics and in public life through Nazi and Hitler comparisons has become something of an epidemic in our political and popular culture. Holocaust analogies are becoming so common that they have all but lost their meaning, especially to the younger generations.
As we have said many times, this trend is disturbing and offensive on a number of levels. Offensive or inappropriate references to the Holocaust must be loudly condemned at every opportunity. Indeed, many of the examples you cite are deeply offensive and equally repugnant, and certainly worthy of condemnation.
However, your suggestion that the Anti-Defamation League has been selective in singling out liberals for condemnation, while remaining silent about the abuse of Holocaust imagery by those on the right, is preposterous. ADL has a long and public record of speaking out against the use of offensive Holocaust imagery from both the left and the right, and we have repeatedly made clear that the use of such imagery is unacceptable in any context and from any quarter. We speak out against the trivialization of the Holocaust whenever and wherever and from whomever it comes, be it Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative.
The ADL record on this issue, which is available to anyone willing to put in a little time doing research, shows that we have consistently spoken out against politicians and pundits of all stripes, not to mention corporations, advertising agencies, sports personalities, media celebrities and others who have made inappropriate analogies to the Holocaust and Nazism. Often, we give people the benefit of the doubt -- assuming that those who are employing Nazi or Hitler imagery do not necessarily realize the impact of their words, or are ignorant about the history of World War II and the Holocaust, which is why we do not always immediately issue press releases or go on the attack. Our goal is first and foremost to educate the offender so that he or she will come to understand why their words cause pain, and not repeat them in the future.
Our goal has never been to shame or embarrass people, or to use our criticism on this issue as a tool for political attacks. Had you bothered to contact us before writing your piece we would have been glad for the opportunity to condemn the use of Holocaust imagery and those who routinely use Nazi references as a political attack tool, including the recent examples you cite. Many of these individuals you use as examples have been on our radar screen, and we would have been prepared to share with you our file on the subject, which is more than two-inches thick.
Our record of speaking out includes familiar political figures on the right (Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes, Sen. Rick Santorum); on the left (Sen. Dick Durban, Sen.
Robert Byrd, Rep. Keith Ellison); media personalities (Joy Behar, Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann, among others) celebrities and sports figures (Harry Belafonte, New York Giants Coach Tom Coughlin, Prince Harry); religious figures (James Dobson, D. James Kennedy); and corporations and organizations (Wal-Mart, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Volkswagen, CafePress.
com). And the list goes on. Ironically, ADL has weathered similar accusations before.
When we denounced former Senator Rick Santorum, R-PA, for his remarks comparing the Democrats' use of the filibuster to Adolf Hitler, we received hundreds of e-mails from conservatives accusing us of singling out Santorum because we did not like his politics. This claim, while false, took on a life on its own on the Internet, which is why we are writing you today, as your piece unfortunately only helps to perpetuate this myth and seriously misinforms your readers. Here are just a few of the more recent examples of our speaking out publicly against the inappropriate use of Holocaust/Nazi imagery.
All are a matter of public record. Some are available on our Web site; others have been widely reported by the news media: ADL called on Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) to retract his comments likening what happened in the aftermath of the burning of the Reichstag in 1933 – the rise of Nazism – to 9/11 and the War on Terror (July 2007). The League denounced remarks by radio personality Glenn Beck where he compared efforts to raise awareness about global warming to Hitler's plans to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust, saying his remarks are part of "a troubling epidemic on the airwaves, where comparisons to Hitler and the Holocaust are becoming all-too facile" (May 2007).
ADL expressed public disappointment when no one from the New York Giants' management took a public stand to denounce the remarks of Coach Tom Coughlin, when he linked the criticism he received for a losing football season to criticism against Hitler during the war (April 2007).
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