Neither the Nazis nor Fascists in general come from the left. Otherwise, it would have been the KPD that took over, no. While the name may be confusing at first sight, there is practically nothing in the ideology or intentions of National Socialists that would assign with any left-wing ideals.

I know this is off-topic, but someone does need to do some debunking, no matter how ridiculous the theory. And as far as I know, this never happened with the 9/11 truthers, at least in a big way. Which totally plays into their conspiracies, of course. So msybe someone should do that, it might help. I know, birthers are more fun, but still...

Perhaps it's that other show he does? Futurama is, in my opinion, one of the greatest show's of all time, certainly where cartoons are concerned. It's extremely funny and well written, managing to look subtle even when it's over-the-top. They managed some incredibly deep satire.

And it looks to be up for a revival, as Comedy Central has, on the tail of the very recent and very awesome movies, ordered at least two more seasons. I suspect it's a secret plot by CC to get all of the good shows, until FOX is left with crap...muahahaha

You know, if Leno hadn't told Limbaugh just _whom_ he might hit, I don't know if he would have even recognized the former Vice President...just saying, Leno must have seen this coming, especially since he mentioned Gore.

That would be aweseome. He's a really smart guy, and he'd do his job.

Someone else who killed her own kids was Magda Goebbels (wife of Joseph Goebbels, of course). This is a big part of the plot in downfall, possibly the biggest of tragedies in a story of penultimate tragedy.

Apparently, as the Soviets closed in on Central Berlin, both parents felt their children should not have to live in a world without national socialism. So they killed them. All 6 of them.

It's the most awful thing you'll ever see in a movie.

Of course, both Magda and Joseph committed suicide thereafter, so there was never a jury for them...

Note that I'm not drawing comparisons here. But i do think intentionally killing children is the most evil thing, and the ultimate treachery if they are your own.

It's different if you're schizophrenic, of course. But then, maybe all the Nazis were schizophrenic. Who knows. I doubt most murderers are sane people. So possibly it's a bad excuse.

You're the man, Patrick. As a member of an Expat family, I fly quite a lot, so it's nice to have some sound advice on airlines. Also, nice to see that All Nippon, which I will have to use a lot for the next few years (together with Lufthansa) is statistically safe(leave it to the Japanese to have their one fatality _not_ be a customer).

"And, say what you will, the Church has absolutely always given a shit about poor people, which is more than I can say about a lot of other religions."

-- Randy G.

Really? I object. Islam actually has mandated almsgiving. That's right, give to the poor or burn. It's not just "give to the poor sometime" it's "do it regularly or else..." idk how they enforce that, or any of the details, but that sounds like suiting actions to words right there. Just saying...

A lot of folks on here have pointed to Catholicism's caring for the poor. And they do fund a lot of hospitals. But they also kind of support policies and practices that prolong or deepen poverty...like outlawing condom use, supporting evil dictators or what have you. Mostly what they seem to do is giving fish to people, not so much teaching them to fish (and possibly taking a few rods and nets away). I don't know how it balances out in the end, but I'd be careful considering them socialist; though they do seem to think in Social terms (but half the time in some rather unhelpful social terms).

Just saying.

I like Thomas Servos point about the Iranians not necessarily wanting secular or liberal democratic reform on a broad scale. However, it is important to note that Iran has a very varied set of political currents, and there probably are quite a few people who do want a secular democracy. They may not be a majority, but they are there. The other issue is that I'm not so sure the Iranians chose Theocracy. From what I know of the 1979 revolution, reformers used religion as a sort of "legitimate front" for their revolution, since most people wouldn't want to argue with religion. Thus, religion became the official parole of the revolters, which enables the mullahs to kind of hijack the movement after the Shah was gone.

Especially on that last part. To us outsiders, that Pledge of Allegiance thing is pretty scary sometimes...

But I agree with the other stuff, too. Stalin was certainly not rational, and neither was Hitler. But the problem is that religious people (the ones arguing that Hitler was atheist) don't care whether he was rational, only that he wasn't one of them...

I see it almost exactly like that. The guys in power are always trying to hold on to it. And they will usually oppose even the most obviously positive changes because it means someone else will soon call the shots.

YES, that's right, the word Bill O'Really tried to introduce. I am everything he hates...I'm also not American, so I could care less what you call it. Progressive, to me, seems to be far more universal, however.

A point about European (Neo-Marxist? WTF???) liberals. What's the difference between them and you? The same as between you and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich...you technically agree with almost everything he says, but since your society doesn't take it seriously, you don't either.

ps: Read up on Prussia, please...

my thoughts exactly (more eloquently expressed).