Analogy of the Week

By Joe Klein | @JoeKleinTIME | May 9, 2011 | +

In South Carolina, Rick Santorum did well* in the first Republican debate, won the Republican straw poll and compared pre-kindergarten programs to fascist Italy. His grandfather left Italy, he said, because his uncle:

…used to get up in a brown shirt and march and be told how to be a good little fascist. I don’t know, maybe they called it early pre-K or something like that, that the government sponsored to get your children in there so they can indoctrinate them.

*To say that someone “did well” at the Republican debate in South Carolina, which proved to be a ridiculous and embarrassing spectacle, is akin to saying someone “did well” on Celebrity Apprentice. It bears no resemblance to “doing well” in terms of proposing or explaining policies that might improve our Republic, or in displaying anything like presidential wisdom or leadership. It means the candidate pandered successfully to nutballs.

Related Topics: Republican Party

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