In the second part of an with Howard Kurtz published on the Daily Beast today, important Fox News fellow Roger Ailes characterized N.P.R. executives as “Nazis” for firing correspondent Juan Williams. “They are, of course, Nazis,” he said, unwittingly using the phrase “of course” to great comic effect. “They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don’t want any other point of view. They don’t even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive.”
It was, of course, only a few hours later that Ailes, following a critical statement from the Anti-Defamation League, issued an apology. “I was of course [emphasis ours] ad-libbing and should not have chosen that word,” Ailes wrote to the A.D.L. Indeed! In fact, other than within the context of World War II, no one should. As we have already pointed out, dismissing one’s enemies by calling them “Nazis” is never, ever an effective rhetorical strategy and invariably ends up damaging the reputation of the speaker, not the “Nazi.” If you’re thinking about calling someone a Nazi, do remember to consult the following equations for guidance on whether it’s the right move for you.Calling someone a Nazi = Future apology
Not calling someone a Nazi = No apology necessary
It is, of course, your choice—but make it an informed choice. In other news: the Ailes-Kurtz interview is not the most intellectually dishonest output from the Newsweek Daily Beast Company this week.
Meanwhile, despite their best efforts, the House Republicans have been so far unable to prevent the federal government from continuing to fund N.P.R. The New York Times reports: “Republicans in the House tried to advance the defunding measure as part of their ‘YouCut’ initiative, which allows the public to vote on which spending cuts the G.O.P. should pursue. But their push was blocked, 239 to 171, with only three Democrats voting with a united bloc of Republicans.” The more interesting news is perhaps the fact that defunding N.P.R. somehow qualifies, in the eyes of the electorate, as a spending cut the G.O.P. should pursue.
See also: “The Faces of N.P.R.,” a Vanity Fair slide show.