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February 06, 2007

De-Nazification

Callimachus at Winds of Change has a succinct summary of why George Soros' comments about 'de-Nazifying' the United States after the Bush administration steps down in 2009 were, at best, inappropriate.

Words have meaning. If Mr. Soros didn't mean what he said, he needs to learn how to use words correctly, or stop speaking in public.

Update: Edited to replace missing verb in opening paragraph.

Update: Kudos to Mr. Soros for backing off his rhetoric. He gets bonus points for actually apologizing, as opposed to the more typical 'I'm sorry if anyone was offended' apology.

Posted at February 6, 2007 05:19 PM

Andrew Olmsted

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Comments

I think you may be missing a word in that first paragraph.

Posted by: Asteele [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 6, 2007 07:56 PM

Worse, I was missing a whole phrase. Thanks.

Posted by: Andrew [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 6, 2007 08:01 PM

Soros:

"As regards my use of the term "de-Nazification," I am not too proud to admit this was a bad choice of words. I certainly do not put the United States and Nazi Germany in the same moral category. What I meant was that the United States needs to engage in a profound soul searching about the harm the war in Iraq has done to others and ourselves. Post-war Germany underwent such a process to its lasting benefit. Perhaps truth and reconciliation would have been a more felicitous expression, although it is also inaccurate because we need to be reconciled with ourselves not the terrorists. For the record, I am not equating the U.S. to South Africa either."

Posted by: Hilary Bok [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 9, 2007 02:52 PM

Good for him. I'll update the post.

Posted by: Andrew [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 9, 2007 02:57 PM

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