re: #253 stevieray

Le Pen’s use of the word “detail” just doesn’t sit right with me. I’ve been mulling it over, trying to put my finger on why it seems so wrong, and it finally dawned on me:

If the gas chambers and the murder of millions can be seen as a “detail”, whether a major or minor one, it can be removed from the “core” of Nazi ideology. It can be presented as a “detour” from an otherwise mainstream movement.

I think that’s what Le Pen wants — to pretend that Nazism can be a regular political movement. By acknowledging the holocaust even as he moves it to the periphery of Nazi ideology, he can present his beliefs as part of the mainstream.

You make an excellent point.