How he caught the West off guard.

To be fair, though, that “stupid” Sarah Palin saw him coming.

A little history.

I don’t think this justifies Obama’s comments, though.

…in the Middle East:

At the beginning of the decade, Muslim Brotherhood godfather Sayyid Qutb had written his own Mein Kampf titled, “Our Struggle against the Jews” in which he claimed that Allah had sent Hitler. The claim has more recently been repeated by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Al Jazeera in ’09.

“The last punishment was carried out by Hitler… Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers,” he said. Today everyone agrees that the Nazis were evil. By the fifties, even Eichmann’s fellow Nazis were looking to jettison the Holocaust and improve their brand. But the Nazis back then were often treated the way that Muslims are today.

Media coverage emphasized distinctions between the radical and moderate Nazis. (Hitler was, of course, a moderate.) Nazi grievances were treated as legitimate. Their crimes were lied about and covered up.

In 1933, the Associated Press’ wire report claimed that the persecution of Jews had already ended. Another wire story headlined “Jew Persecution Over Says Envoy” cited Secretary of State Hull’s relief that the Hitler regime was doing its best to curb further persecution of the Jews.

Hull would later apologize when the Republican Mayor of New York City referred to the Fuhrer as a “man without honor”. Mayor LaGuardia might have been suffering from Fuhrerphobia.

Jewish protests were treated as shrill and baseless alarmism.

“U.S. Investigation Shows No Cause for Protest,” the AP headlined its coverage.

“Notwithstanding assurances given by German government leaders and by Hull that the Nazi excesses against the Jewish race had ceased in Germany, Jewish leaders went ahead with plans for mass protest meetings,” another wire story read. “All requests that these meetings be canceled fell on deaf ears.”

A week before the story, the first official Nazi concentration camp of Dachau had opened.

The media coverage should sound familiar. It’s how Iran’s nuclear buildup is being covered. It’s how Muslim violence against Jews is covered. It’s discussed reluctantly and immediately dismissed. Jews are written off as pests who refuse to listen when Kerry, like Hull, tells them there’s nothing to worry about.

That is how the Holocaust really happened.

I could be polite, and say their heads are in the sand. But really, they’re up their fundaments.

[Afternoon update]

The Islamic State is raising an army of child soldiers, and we’ll be dealing with them for decades.

But, but…CRUSADES!

This says it all:

I’ll make a deal with Obama. If he finds the people responsible for the Crusades, the Inquisition, or American slavery still alive and malicious, we’ll bomb them too. In the meantime, how about we start telling the truth about the Islamist terrorists who are right now literally enslaving young girls as sex objects, slaughtering anyone who doesn’t think like them, acquiring territory in the Middle East, and threatening attacks on the US and Europe? History professors can blather on ad nauseam about events 1,000 years ago, but Presidents are supposed to focus on the here and now. Skip the ignorant and hypocritical lectures, and do your job.

He doesn’t seem to know what his job is.

[Sunday-morning update]

[Bumped]

[Sunday-afternoon update]

Remember when FDR said we shouldn't get up on our high horse in fighting Imperial Japan and Nazis because we used to have slavery?

— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) February 8, 2015

Remember when Churchill said we should be humble in fighting Nazis because the English used to disembowel traitors?

— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) February 8, 2015

[Mid-afternoon update]

Some history of the Crusades for those who (like Obama) are historically ignorant, from Claire Berlinski.

In light of Obama’s idiotic comments at the Prayer Breakfast, this oldie is worth a re-read (or read, if you haven’t).

…have killed more people than the Spanish Inquisition. So he shouldn’t get up on his high horse, I guess.