Climate change and and the Nazi analogy: A case study of Al Gore and Glenn Beck

July 8, 3:46 AMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt

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Al Gore giving the supposed "Nazi" speech.  AP Photo Steve Parsons

In doing some research for my next article I ran across the following headline on the Fox News website which immediately drew my interest:

"Al Gore Compares Fight Against Global Warming to Struggle Against Nazi Germany."

Upon reading this headline I intended to write an article scolding Al Gore and analyzing how the "Nazi" analogy is used too often.  As I did more research the shape of the article change somehwhat.  First let me address the use of the Nazi analogy.

Today it seems EVERYONE is being compared to the Nazis. The most frequent victims seem to be Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Harry Reid, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Obama supporters, Obama opponents, climate change supporters, climate change opponents, etc.  All of these comparisons are bogus.

First, let us be clear about who the Nazis were.  The Nazis were a political group who used violent methods to takeover their country.  The Nazis invaded other countries and started a world war.  The Nazis censored media, prohibited elections and opposing parties, and did away with all democratic rights.  The Nazis believed they were the master race and systematically killed 11-17 million people because they deemed them "inferior."  The only person I can think of today that legitimately could be compared to the Nazis given these facts is Kim Jong Il.  The sad thing is I have never heard any comparisions of Hitler and Kim John Il.

Let me explain further using an example.  I am not a big fan of Dick Cheney as can be seen in some of my earlier columns.  As much as I dislike the views of Cheney he did not prohibit the 2008 election or outlaw the Democratic party so that he could hold power.  He did not try to eliminate an entire race of people in concentration camps.  Therefore, calling Cheney a "Nazi" is entirely inaccurate and wrong even though it may get me the attention I so desperately crave.  So I would encourage everyone, Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, and Conservatives to leave the Nazi accusation on the shelf for a while until someone truly as evil as the Nazis come along.

Now on to the Al Gore headline.  I researched feverishly trying to find the quote from Al Gore where he used "climate change" and "Nazi" together.  I failed in my pursuit for one obvious reason.  The quote does not exist to my knowledge.  If someone can point me to a transcript or video of the quote I would love to see it.  I have read one detailed description of the speech I found and watched a video of the speech and found no such quote.  Maybe the quote or video has not been released yet and if this is the case I am surprised given the news stories relating to the quote.

This revelation was bothersome because in reading the Fox News headline you would think Al Gore went on and on for many minutes comparing the threat of climate change and the Nazis together.  The purpose of the headline is clear, to make Al Gore look like a radical who is comparing climate change to the Nazi threat for no reason.

The reality is that Al Gore's argument is much more nuanced.  You can read a detailed description of the speech and watch a short video clip here.  What Gore did say is that the world population currently lacks the political will to deal with climate change, and that historically political leaders like Winston Churchill have only been able to combat a threat when political will and awareness existed to a threat.  Now I will grant the fact that you could stretch this analogy out and say that Gore is comparing climate change to the Nazis, but it is quite a stretch to say this is the emphasis of the Gore speech.  Rather, the emphasis of the speech is on the need for political will to combat a threat, any threat.

Furthermore, what exactly is so damning about Al Gore using the Nazi threat and climate change threat in conjunction?  Does climate change have character which is being defamed?  Does climate change have feelings that are being hurt?  If opponents believe the Nazi threat to be more real and tangible then this is a reasonable argument which should be made but it is not as if Al Gore called a person out as a Nazi for no reason.  Gore genuinely believe climate change is a real and huge threat.  He could be wrong but if so prove he is wrong rather than simply trying to make him out as an extremist.

On the other side of the aisle Glenn Beck, as opposed to Gore, does use the Nazi term to attack a person.  In the following clip Glenn Beck EXPLICITLY compares Al Gore to the Nazis in a lengthy diatribe.  After watching both videos of the Gore and Beck speech, Beck is undoubtedly the guilty one in using the Nazi term too freely.  You can say Al Gore is wrong all you want but to compare his methods to that of the Nazis is disingenuous and wrong.