This is a very sharp and wise man.

You know, Chickie, you keep saying that, but you never provide any proof. Surely you can come up with at least ONE link to Salon or Greenwald denying the Holocaust, since according to you this happens on a regular basis.

I am puzzled by intelligent people who stand by and allow their country to be taken over and run by extreme radical types.

I don't think that's exactly how it happens. I think the intelligent people themselves make up reasons to go along with the radicals. They don't just stand by -- they enable.

"I believe in a drug free America." -- that's a pretty radical vision for a supposedly free country to entertain seriously.

It would take a fairly radical degree of authoritarianism to turn that vision into a reality, seeing as how we can't even keep a single prison drug free.

How could we accomplish something like that without tearing up the Bill of Rights and building mass concentration camps for potheads?

We were already by 2000 the most heavily incarcerated country in the entire world, partly thanks to the Clinton-Gore administration.

While Al Qaeda was setting up terrorist training camps in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the Clinton-Gore administration was enthusiastically pandering to the far right by waging a deceitful campaign of fear against -- marijuana!

That campaign of fear primed Democrats to applaud vigorously when Al Gore stood up and made "I believe in a drug free America" into the unofficial Democratic party platform by announcing it with a giant fist pump on the convention stage in 2000.

Not one single journalist took Gore to task for that enthusiastic declaration of his or asked him EXACTLY what he meant or what kind of government programs he was considering pushing through Congress to make this radical vision of his a reality.

Instead of Gore radicalism, we ended up with Bush radicalism -- which was probably much worse, but we'll never be able to prove that in a controlled experiment.

Intelligent Republicans enabled Bush radicalism just like intelligent Democrats enabled Gore radicalism.

There was no non-radical choice, and it wasn't because the intelligent people were sitting on their hands.

No, the intelligent people just divided up and picked their favorite authoritarian radical to enable, so the other team's authoritarian radical wouldn't win.

And now what?

Now in California we have to cancel summer school for our children because we've got too many people locked up to scale back spending on our prisons.

But the intelligent people accept this as normal now. The intelligent people have turned an idea that once would have seemed quite radical into something that's so normal now there appears to be no way out.

The strangest part is that level-headed, truth-seeking people are in the minority, so that instead of being the norm, they are considered fringe radicals. Most people don't seem to care at all and if you actually do, or even just have an opinion outside the Democratic or Republican norm, most people won't take you seriously. It's suspicious to be too involved. Laziness and apathy are the laws of the land. Intelligent and well-meaning people, even if they disagree on some issues, can always recognize each other for their sincerity and earnestness.

I thought it was interesting how Obama's great-uncle came right out and said, "He did it for political purposes". He obviously respects Barack but doesn't blindly tote the line for him, even though they're related. It's a refreshing change.

I learned something very shocking about Einstein at an Einstein conference a few years ago -- he was a radical leftist when he was young.

Einstein was marked for assassination by the German police not just because he was a famous Jew.

Einstein was an admirer of Lenin and was involved in violent street demonstrations supporting Communism when he was young.

So there's an example of a highly intelligent person in Germany who didn't just stand by and let the extreme radical right take over -- he stood up and fought for the extreme radical left, which ironically and tragically ended up helping the radical right take over.

Hitler didn't come to power as a radical in a moderate country. He came to power as a radical competing against other radicals during a time when radical visions for the world had become the norm.

Hitler didn't come to power as a radical in a moderate country. He came to power as a radical competing against other radicals during a time when radical visions for the world had become the norm.

-- Silenced

When Hitler came to power Germany had a Democracy. Hitler spent years,building the nazi party, he was even imprisoned once. It was his propaganda machine against jews and communist that created 'enemies', much like the right wing of the republican party does today. It was a slow building movement of indoctrination. Imagine, if Hitler and Goelbels had FOX news.

Over the years I have watched various film archives on the Nazi. Because of the Nazi archives released in recent years from the from the former Soviet Union and East Germans archives, there are many new evidence revealed about the detailed planning the Nazis put into creating, building and running the camps and their systems panned and developed to kill Jews. It did not just happen.

When a government creates fear, and enemies its's citizne fear reprisals for not complying to new laws, then you can understand how these things happen. Very similar to fear created by the Bush administration around 9/11. ...WE must protect your safety, therefore we will take away some of your civil liberties. There has been no big public outcry over wire tapping or torture because citizens in the U.s. have been made to believe it is necessary.

Hitler had a well orchestrated Public Relations plan created by Goebles (sp) up to the day he Nazis lost. I have been aware of this propaganda machine for years, but recently they have released many of Goebles diary and speeches with sub title translations. I saw this on PBS recently. It's amazing how much like they are to right republican talking points.