Two apropos political quotes

One thing about working in academia - you run across many quotes hanging in, around or outside offices that people consider witty. I must confess, it's one of the things I like about my new job.

Anyway, I ran across two today that I feel are worth sharing.

The first one, I hesitate to write at all though, because it's attributed to a Nazi. Not that a quote from a Nazi is automatically off-limits; we can always learn, even from abhorrant monsters. The reason I hesitate is because "Nazi" is so trite in the U.S. these days. I'm sick to death of politicos slapping the "Nazi" label on enemies and people who disagree with them.

Anyway, the quote is by Hermann Göring, the Nazi commander of the German Luftwaffe and second in command of the Third Reich:

Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or 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 to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.

Parts of that certainly apply to our political landscape today, do they not? Specifically when discussing the War in Iraq and the War on Terrorism with some people. The minute you disagree, you are "siding with the terrorists." Am I calling Republicans Nazis? No, but certain elements of their fearmongering does have shades of Nazism.

The second quote is from Richard Perle, who served on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004 (and as Chairman of the Board from 2001 to 2003 under the Bush Administration.) It reads:

If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now.

Wow, that was pretty accurate - about as accurate as Vice President Cheney saying on Meet the Press in March 2003 that we'd be greeted as liberators if (when) we invaded Iraq.

One other interesting tidbit about Perle that I found on Wikipedia today regards a feud he has with noted author Tom Clancy. It reads:

When discussing his new book "Battle Ready" co-authored with retired general Anthony Zinni, author Tom Clancy stated that he almost came to blows with Perle. According to Clancy:

"He was saying how (Secretary of State) Colin Powell was being a wuss because he was overly concerned with the lives of the troops," Clancy said. "And I said, 'Look ..., he's supposed to think that way!' And Perle didn't agree with me on that. People like that worry me."

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I found the the Perle quote on Wikipedia, and I'm wary about that site, as much as I love it, because lots of inaccurate information can be posted there. But, it raises interesting quesitons.

If the Perle quotes/stories are true, it wouldn't be the first instance of an unscrupulous character working in the Bush administration.