Are We Normalizing Nazism?

Nazis. Just hearing the word used to make our skin crawl. They were depicted as ugly, cruel, syphilitic ogres, goose-stepping to atrocities. What happened? Hitler advocate Nick Fuentes has a huge online following raging against jews and seeking to morph America into an Aryan Nation. Fuentes was given a podium of five million viewers to spew his views in an interview with Tucker Carlson, who also had Darrel Cooper, a Nazi proponent who says Winston Churchill was the villain of WWII, as a guest. The popular rapper Kanye West released a Hitler praising song and sold Nazi themed merchandise. The richest person on earth made an apparent Nazi salute on TV, viewed by the nation. Neo-Nazi groups celebrated the gesture as a deliberate nod to their ideology. He did not issue an apology and dismissed the criticism, posting Nazi themed puns on “X”. 

In WWII, my father and two uncles fought with the Navy, Army, and Marines. They risked their lives to defend us against the tyranny we appear to be inviting back by giving Nazism a platform. Remember that most of today’s 56 dictatorships were not overnight coups but steadily eroded freedom and the rule of law to gain power. Welcoming the Third Reich into our cultural mainstream is troubling. Are we normalizing Nazism? If we don’t demand our leaders call out this hate, we risk moving further towards a legacy of cruelty, bigotry, and rage.