It seems the right is none too happy with one of Bill Maher's guests, Max
Brooks, author and son of filmmaker Mel Brooks, for his comments on this Friday's Real Time. Brooks compared the extremists in the Republican party who have decided to brand themselves as the so-called "tea party" to the rise of the Nazis in post-WWI Germany.
Here's where the conversation evolved following a discussion on the Mississippi GOP U.S. senate primary and whether or not it was rational for African Americans to get involved in that primary and vote for Thad Cochran, Limbaugh calling those voters "Uncle Toms", Palin threatening to change to a third party, and whether or not there's even the slightest possibility we'd see the far right of the Republican party split off and form their own party.
Maher Guest Draws Comparison Between Tea Party, Nazis:
Author Max Brooks drew a comparison between that splintering and the rise of the Nazis in Germany in the 1920s and 30s.
On the issue of Mississippi itself and Thad Cochran winning with the help of black voters, Maher surmised that these voters obviously know “they will never elect a Democrat, so they might as well vote for the least shitty choice on the Republican side.”
He suspected that the GOP could very well split if the tea party continues to get this pissed by Republican establishment tactics. That’s when Brooks drew this comparison.
“In Germany in the 20s and 30s, there was this right-wing reactionary element that was so terrified of anarchy and communism that they said, ‘You know what? There’s a group of street thugs that are real ideologues and they’re willing to take it and they’re willing to bloody themselves, and, you know, once they get into power, we can control them.’”
Conservative radio host Andy Dean questioned the comparison, and Brooks simply said that “ideologues are only loyal to ideology” and that’s true for anyone who doesn’t “reach across the aisle” or “participate in the democratic process.”