Portrait of Donald Rumsfeld

Portrait of Donald Rumsfeld (2004)

Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.
--Herman Goering

Either you are with us, or you are with Hitler the terrorists.
--George W. Bush, September 20, 2001

Although a recent Newsweek poll notes that 63% of Americans disapprove of the Bush Administration's handling of Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld suggested last week that the majority of Americans are the equivalent of Nazi sympathizers. From CNN:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday accused critics of the Bush administration's Iraq and counterterrorism policies of lacking the courage to fight terror.

In unusually explicit terms, Rumsfeld portrayed the administration's critics as suffering from "moral and intellectual confusion" about what threatens the nation's security.

Addressing several thousand veterans at the American Legion's national convention, Rumsfeld recited what he called the lessons of history, including the failed efforts to appease the Adolf Hitler regime in the 1930s.

"I recount this history because once again we face the same kind of challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism" he said.

Here's Keith Olbermann channeling Edward R. Murrow on Donald Rumsfeld:

Talk about the either/or fallacy slapping you upside the head. Let me see if I got this straight:

With us...

[Image seen on Bad Attitudes]

Against us...

[Book cover seen on Amazon.com]