Yes, the vast majority of such analogies are ridiculous, even offensive. But I sympathize on one level. With the way history is taught in schools, how many analogies will, without a doubt, be grasped by one's audience? I'd bet Durbin's mention of Pol Pot caused a few heads to be scratched. (via Bookworm Room)
Update: Jonah writes:
It is true, as Durbin claimed, that if he were to read the allegations about depriving prisoners of food or forcing them to defecate on themselves, many Americans would be reminded of the Nazis. But that’s because vast swaths of the public and their opinion leaders prefer to live in historical and moral ignorance. (As for thinking of Pol Pot’s killing fields or the Gulag, it’s unlikely, as neither gets a fraction of the attention it deserves.)
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