DL sees a different comparison:
The administration pronounced Slobodan Milosovic a latter-day Adolf Hitler and decreed that his effort to retain sovereignty over Kosovo went beyond ethnic cleansing to genocide–a new Holocaust.
My examination revealed much greater similarity in motive and action between Milosovic and Abraham Lincoln than between him and Hitler. A substantial segment of the nation was attempting to secede, and he sent his forces to prevent that from happening. As the Serbian troops gained ascendancy they marched through Kosovo as Sherman through Georgia–killing, raping, pillaging, burning–to destroy the Kosovar’s will and capacity to continue the insurrection.
Of course there were major differences in kind and quality, but the equation of Lincoln and Milosovic holds up about as well as most historical analogies one might attempt. It was close enough to get me shouted down in what we call “polite society”–including by my own family–every time I broached the thought. One might think I had said something naughty about affirmative action in college admissions or corporate hiring and promotions.
Well, we can’t have people thinking that Lincoln was Hitler, can we? After all, everyone knows that he’s Hussein… I mean, Ahmadinejad. Or something. Sometimes I cannot believe what passes for rational discourse in this country. It almost makes one feel as if the dumbing-down of the school system is redundant.
The sheep do hate it when you disturb their mindless grazing.