Glen Beck and un-healthy Nazis

Mike Huckabee agrees with Michelle Obama regarding obesity, so Glen Beck has labeled him a “progressive.” That doesn’t sound like such a bad label … except for the fact that Beck considers the progressives to be like Nazis. Glen Beck’s consistent comparisons of people with different political viewpoints as Nazis are obviously ridiculous, insulting, wildly inappropriate, and an impediment to real problem solving. Not as obvious, but still as damaging in all of the same ways, is the position that any agreement with the other political party on any issue is an act of treason, not just to your political party but maybe to your country as well. Glen Beck apparently believes that Republicans must stick together on every issue, even if it is an issue of great importance to them and one in which they happen to agree with people across the aisle (which is the case here for the formerly obese Huckabee). This is clearly artificial. No two people can agree on every issue, so good luck getting millions to agree. It is an attempt to coerce republicans into agreeing with Beck. It is also a prioritizing of the good of the party over the good of the country and a labeling of honest debate and disagreement as almost treasonous. It is an insulting approach, and one that is guaranteed to impede the efforts of those who want to work together to solve problems.