George:

Go to the official website of the re-election campaign of Bush/Cheney.

Click on the video -- where it says "Watch."

You will see "The faces of John Kerry's Democratic Party ... The Coalition of the Wild-Eyed" -- followed by images of Al Gore, a cut from what appears to be a MoveOn.org ad that has a picture of Hitler and a picture of Bush, Howard Dean, Michael Moore, Dick Gephardt, and Adolph Hitler.

"How dare they drag the good name of the United States of America through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prison... [George W. Bush] betrayed our country. He played on our fears."

Adolph Hitler, shouting in German, appears while some text appears that says, "God told me to strike at Al Qaida, and I struck them."

Then there is a picture of Bush, while the text reads, "God told me to strike Saddam Hussein, which I did."

Maybe that appears in a MoveOn ad also, though there is no attribution.

I have two thoughts on this.

First, although I think MoveOn exceeded the bounds of political good taste with its own reference to Bush and Hitler, the Bush/Cheney camp has done so as well. I never saw the MoveOn ad that they are apparently excerpting, so I can't comment on it, but what is most striking about the Bush/Cheney ad is that its incorporation of Hitler into the ad makes no real sense. It is completely gratuitous. It suggests that Adolph Hitler is a Democrat, supporting John Kerry.

Any political copywriter knows that there are ideas for ads that you have, that you laugh about, and then you throw away. This was one of those ideas that they should have thrown away.

Second, I think that the quotes about God telling Bush what to do are accurate quotes from Bush -- which scares me even more. "God told me to violate international law, and I did." What's next -- "God told me to call off the November elections?" "God told me to invade Canada?"

The recent Supreme Court case on the pledge of allegiance, though it was decided on a technicality, led to some fascinating discussion (by Justice O'Connor in particular) about the notion of "ceremonial Deism" -- the idea that it is permissible for governmental bodies and governmental officials to invoke the name of God as something of a rhetorical device to substitute for the idea of "good." "God save this Honorable Court" is not said by the bailiff who opens court as a request to God that He come down and lift up the judge into the heavens; it is almost more a reminder to all that we hope that the judge will do that which is right in the courtroom. There is a vast difference between such "ceremonial Deism" and the notion that God is personally speaking to the President and telling him what to do. Even many people of great religious conviction are troubled by the image of the person who holds the power to launch nuclear war acting on his belief that God has personally directed him to make war.

Lloyd Snook (electronic mail, June 25, 2004)

Editor's Note: The Bush/Cheney '04 ad is prefaced by this statement: "The following video contains remarks made by and images from ads sponsored by Kerry supporters. John Kerry has denounced our use of these ads attacking the president. He has not denounced liberal supporters like Al Gore, George Soros, and many others who have made speeches comparing the President to Adolph Hitler."

For pieces on God and American Diplomacy, see A Republican Looks at Bush & Co. With a Furrowed Brow, God and American Diplomacy,

For a local comparison of Bush to Hitler, see Sherwood Ross Comments on Bush, Hitler and Kim II Sung.