re: #286 Obdicut

Further:

If I, or someone else, compares a group that is nationalistic, xenophobic, highly socially conservative, highly religious, antagonistic to science, and tending towards a monoculture to the Nazis, isn’t that at least more consistent, and less outrageous, than comparing a group that shares none of those attributes to the Nazis?

You pretty much make my point. Lots of people do not agree that most Tea Partiers are like that. They will say you’re crazy for calling Tea Partiers Nazis. But they may think that NPR is pushing liberal ideas, government officials using public funds to spread their own agenda. “Just like the Nazis! Sure, it was bad to call Tea Partiers Nazis, but it’s ok here because, you know, it’s right in this case.” A very annoying position, but one that I’m sure is held by many.

Failing to recognize when one is doing the very thing that one observes to be flawed in people you disagree with is a hallmark of partisanship. And the amount of rationalization people do to convince themselves that they are not falling victim to their own partisanship is astonishing. I guess it comes down to pride, really.