Saturday, March 29, 2008

Do you agree with the Reunification of Austria and do you Vote for Hitler? (yes or no please)


This is a hilarious document. The Anschluss Osterreichs was the 1938 annexation of Austria into Greater Germany through the Nazi Party. The ballot text reads "Do you agree with the reunification of Austria with the German Empire that was enacted on 13 March 1938, and do you vote for the party of our leader Adolf Hitler?," the large circle is labeled "Yes" and the smaller circle "No".

The Anschluss was one of the first steps in the long-desired creation of the German-speaking empire in territories Germany had lost during WWI. There was also the Rhineland, the Saar region, the Sudetenland, Memelland, and ultimately all the violent invasions and annexations that occurred after the Blitzkrieg of Poland in '39, die Polenfeldzug.

I cannot resist drawing some analogies between 1938 and 2008.

The question we all want to know is, Senator Obama, Do you support US Imperialism?

The truth is candidates do not want
to talk about ending US imperialism; Obama talks about ending the mindset that led to the invasion of Iraq, but not about imperialism. And if he ends the mindset that got America into Iraq - does that mean he is actually going to get us out of Iraq? What about other countries? And isn't the imperialist mindset much more deep-seated than our analysis of relationship between Iraq alone? What about Afghanistan?

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