Within the last week political big wigs have twice invoked the monster of all put-downs – the (unspoken) Nazi word. First of all Viviane Reding compares the French decampment of Roma’s to the ‘situation’ of the second world war, and now the Pope gives Britain a stern warning on its secular tendencies, reminding the godless that Hitler too was an atheist and look where it took him. It’s a reference that certainly gets attention – want to show that you mean business? Compare your opponent to a Nazi.

In some ways I suppose it demonstrates progress if we’ve moved on enough for a German to compare the UK to Nazi Germany, however barmy I might consider the reference. I’m rather surprised however that the Daily Mail doesn’t seem to have jumped on the opportunity to ‘correct’ this oversight of his holiness, taking instead a largely Conservative and anti ‘aggressive atheist’ line.

The French are also somewhat ‘astonished’ by the Commissioner’s new hard line, and even though Pope Benedict apparently did not use his new Nazi name calling trick in this incidence, the ‘irony’ of being criticised by German was apparently not lost on some intellectuals when he did decide to pitch in with his own condemnation (pointed out by Charlemagne’s recent post). Perhaps it was this reference that persuaded Benedict that he might as well put it out there first if Nazi-isms were going to get landed on him anyway.

Personally I’m a bit bored of the Nazi reference; it’s just a bit too easy. Don’t we have some more original analogies?