In a speech to the Minnesota atheists last Sunday, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison broke one of the most important, yet unwritten rules in political speech: The Minnesota Democrat used an analogy involving Nazi Germany to score political points.
Opinion: A Nazi Analogy is Never a Good Idea
This rhetorical tactic has gotten a slew of politicians in trouble. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., made the analogy about Guantanamo, former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., used it when the Democrats were set to fillibuster, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., used it when the Republicans were set to filibuster, and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., used the analogy in reference to stem cell research. The list goes on and on.
Democrats and Republicans have attempted to score political points with a Hilter or Nazi analogy. It generates sensational news for a cycle as the opposing side attempts to score political points until the offending politician concedes that the analogy was wrong.
The Star Tribune reported Sunday night that Ellison said of 9/11, “It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.”
The Reichstag fire was exploited by Hitler to consolidate his power and usher in the Nazi regime.
By Monday morning, a comparison of 9/11 to the Reichstag had morphed into a comparison of President Bush to Adolf Hitler. Mark Drake, communications director for the Republican Party of Minnesota, wrote in a press release, “Keith Ellison’s despicable comments likening President Bush to Adolf Hitler need to be immediately repudiated by all Democrats in Minnesota. To compare the democratically elected leader of the United States of America to Hitler is an absolute moral outrage which trivializes the horrors of Nazi Germany.”
By Tuesday, a nationally read Minnesota blog, Powerline, had picked up the story and it had spread to hundreds of conservative sites. “In promoting the disgusting conspiracy myths of radical ‘truthers’ and extremist Muslims, Ellison is simply working his latest hustle to the growing audience in the nut-ball box,” wrote Scott Johnson. “It’s an audience that includes the Minneapolis atheists who fancy themselves too intelligent to believe in God.”
By Wednesday, Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten penned a column in which she asked, “Where is George Bush, with all his shortcomings, in the terrible tale of the Reichstag fire and its aftermath? On what grounds does Ellison compare Bush with Hitler, who butchered 6 million Jews and many others?”
Kersten is no stranger to using a Nazi analogy to score political points. Last year, she compared those who thought Terri Schiavo had a right to die with dignity (a majority of Americans at the time) to the Nazis. Much like Ellison’s gaffe, it’s a loose analogy:
Congressman Keith Ellison
Freshman Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), the only Muslim in the U.S. Congress, has caused controversy after comparing President Bush to Adolf Hilter, and suggesting that the Bush Administration may have been complicit in the terror attacks of 9/11.  

Speaking to a group of atheists in his home district in Minnesota, Ellison equated the 9/11 attacks and aftermath to the 1933  Reichstag fire in Germany, which helped cement Hitler's power.

He carefully parsed his words stating that he would not 'accuse' the Bush Administration of planning 9/11 because "you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box - dismiss you".

Ellison, a co-sponsor of a bill to impeach Cheney for "high crimes and misdemeanors," described the Vice President as "the very definition of totalitarianism, authoritarianism and dictatorship" and further condemned his refusal to answer Congress' questions.

Ellison's promise: "You'll always find this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists all you want," reportedly "raised eyebrows" among the 300 present. 

Ellison later clarified that he believes that Osama bin Laden was in fact responsible for the attacks of 9/11.

Condemnation came quickly with Republican Mark Drake of Ellison's home state saying: "To compare the democratically elected leader of the United States of America to Hitler is an absolute moral outrage which trivialises the horrors of Nazi Germany."