The other day on his show which I don't watch and neither do you, MSNBC TV host Joe Scarborough screamed at a guest, "You compared me to a Nazi!" This is not an uncommon argument. If you do a Google search for "compare AND nazi," you'll find thousands of instances where people have been accused of comparing someone to a Nazi. Same goes for "compare AND hitler." Isn't this bad phraseology?
I mean, if I said to you, "Hey, you're better looking than Hitler was" or "You know, you are so much nicer than any Nazi could ever be"…well, I just compared you to Hitler and/or a Nazi but you're not offended, are you? I mean it's pretty faint praise but if I'm not trying to rub the sins of Hitler and his ilk all over you to put you in their category, it's not an insult.
Every single dictionary definition of "compare" says something about noting the similarity or dissimilarity between two different people or things. If I say you have nothing in common with Nazis, I'm comparing you to Nazis.
Really, this post is not about Hitler or Nazis. It's about misuse of the word "compare." I think what people mean is to equate someone to a Nazi or associate someone with a Nazi or maybe even liken someone to a Nazi.
People love to do that. It's like, "What's the worst thing I can say about this person I hate? I know! I'll say he's just like Hitler! That'll teach him to not invite me to his birthday party!"
I can never prove this but I think back before the Internet, back when we had our childish arguments on computer bulletin board systems, I may have been the first person to ever insist that you can't equate someone to Hitler or a Nazi unless they're actually (a) declaring themselves committed to the objectives of the Third Reich or (b) committing acts of murder and genocide. If someone tells you you can't post a message on a certain message board, they are not the equivalent of a Nazi. If they commit mass killings, especially of a specified race or religion, then fine. The people who ordered the slaughter in Darfur…them, you can liken to Hitler.
Joe Scarborough is not a Nazi. He's nothing like a Nazi. He's also nothing like a good TV host, either.