I could point to articles that say 160 or so kids died in the child labor gangs that helped build those tunnels, but the kind of people who support hamas have ideas and ideas are bullet proof. cannot change their minds, not even with a hatchet.

You're absolutely right about Hamas -- but I'm not convinced that "the world" sides with them. The UN General Assembly sides with Hamas, but that does not represent world opinion, it is merely a club of dictators to whom no one should listen.

Gaza Strip Attacks By Israel Draw Condemnation From Latin American Nations:

The Argentinians joined neighboring Brazil and Chile in condemning the use of force by Israel in Gaza, marking a sharp contrast from previous battles between Israeli and pro-Palestinian forces in the past.

Foreign ministers of France, Germany and Italy condemn antisemitic protests:

While the majority of pro-Palestinian protests in Paris, Berlin, London, Vienna, Amsterdam and other cities have taken place peacefully, some have descended into verbal and physical attacks on Jews and Jewish property, including synagogues and shops.

And those were just the ones at the top of a google search.

Protestors are demanding a "proportionate" response from Israel.

So, Israel should launch random rockets into the populated areas of Gaza? The IDF should build tunnels into Gaza in order to randomly kidnap Palestinian civilians and then violently murder them?

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The Palestinans have only themselves to blame for their situation.

Seventy years ago, hundreds of thousands of Germans were forced out of their homes and ancestral lands in what is today Poland and forced to march to what was to be the modern Germany. They then spent 50 years under the brutal totalitarian rule of Soviet domination (despite what Gerald Ford said). Today, East Germany has been reunited with West Germany and is thriving.

Seventy years ago, after centuries of being ruled by foreign powers, the Korean peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel. South Korea was an illiterate and poverty-stricken nation ruled by a brutal military dictatorship. The Koreans eventually rebelled against the dictatorship, installed a democracy, and began manufacturing crappy appliances and cars. Today, South Korea is a thriving industrial nation whose products are leading-edge, innovative, and in demand around the world.

Seventy years ago, the UN partitioned the Palestinian Mandate into a Muslim territory and a Jewish one. The Jews declared their territory a nation and the Muslims immediately attacked them The Muslims attack was repulsed by the fledgling Jewish nation. The Muslims attacked the Jewish state several times over the next 70 years, failing every time. The Palestinians continued to be dominated by ideologically-driven zealots who forsook modernizing the area's infrastructure in favor of using the self-induced poverty as a PR ploy. The Palestinian leadership established no industrial base (except bomb making), developed no education system (except indoctrination), and, today, their territory remains a third-world backwater hell-hole.

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And don't forget, Hamas, unlike Hitler and the Nazis, was actually voted into power.

Hitler was voted in to power. He just kept his end game a secret until he had solidified his power base.

Hamas won the election based on their genocidal goals

"And don't forget, Hamas, unlike Hitler and the Nazis, was actually voted into power."

I have not forgotten. That's why I would not blink an eye if Israel decided to just carpet-bomb all of Gaza and make it a cordon sanitaire.

Hitler was voted in to power. He just kept his end game a secret until he had solidified his power base.

Hamas won the election based on their genocidal goals

Posted by: lujlp at July 30, 2014 2:20 AM

No, luj, Hitler was never elected Chancellor. He was placed in the job as part of a coalition government. The National Socialists never got more than 37% of the vote in Germany.

Hamas, on the other hand, outright won the election in Gaza.

No, luj, Hitler was never elected Chancellor. He was placed in the job as part of a coalition government. The National Socialists never got more than 37% of the vote in Germany.

This is kind of a quibble. Since parliamentary style democracies don't do direct elections, it is still true to say, 'Hitler became chancellor of Germany through the democratic process.

Socialists, (nationalists and otherwise) have always been about 'one man, one vote, one time'

You just have to consolidate your power enough to steal the next election, or stop holding them all together.

This is why some people believe that Obama isn't leaving when his eight years are up.

I think he is leaving, not because he wouldn't like to continue being the golfing king, just that with millions of guns in private hands, America would be tough place to survive as a dictator.

Since parliamentary style democracies don't do direct elections, it is still true to say, 'Hitler became chancellor of Germany through the democratic process. ~ Posted by: Isab at July 30, 2014 5:09 PM

Through the democratic process, yes, but elected as an expression of the will of the German people, no.

Most governments in parliamentary style democracies are formed by a dominant party. In Weimar Germany, like France, there were too many parties for one to have enough votes to form a government. The Nazis were actually on the decline when they won 34% of the votes in the last election (they'd gotten 37% in the one before that).

The right wing parties won the majority of the votes and the right to form a government. None of them could stand the Nazis, and the right wing didn't have a majority without them. And without a majority, the Communists, as the next largest bloc, would be invited to form a coalition government.

Thinking they could control them, the right wing parties invited the Nazis to join them. At first they denied Hitler the chancellorship, but he insisted and threatened to pull out if he didn't get it.

So, they caved and gave him the chancellorship and a few minor posts, keeping the major ones (Treasury, Foreign Ministry, and Defense) out of the hands of violent thugs. Unfortunately, they gave the Nazis the Interior Ministry and through it, control of the several police forces throughout Germany. The rest, as they say, is history.

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This is why some people believe that Obama isn't leaving when his eight years are up. ~ Posted by: Isab at July 30, 2014 5:09 PM

He might leave, but the Democrats may not.

If the Republicans win Congress in 2014, watch for the Dems to bypass Congress entirely. Once they've firmly established one-party rule, I don't think they'll happily give it up.

Hitler only got 37% of the popular vote in 1933, and Abraham Lincoln only got 39.7% in 1850. What makes Hitler's elevation to Chancellor less legitimate than Lincoln's election to President?

Hitler only got 37% of the popular vote in 1933, and Abraham Lincoln only got 39.7% in 1850. What makes Hitler's elevation to Chancellor less legitimate than Lincoln's election to President? ~ Posted by: markm at August 1, 2014 5:20 PM

Hitler ascended to the chancellorship on 34% of the vote after von Papen and von Schleicher fatally wounded the Republic. And no one's arguing HItler's ascension wasn't legitimate - even though it was based on his threats to unleash the SA if he wasn't given the job.

Too many people make the erroneous argument that "Hitler was elected" - as if his ascension to the chancellorship was an expression of the will of the German people. My argument is that it wasn't.

By the way, Lincoln won 39.7% of the popular vote, but 59.4% of the electoral vote. More states chose him than didn't.

Here's a fairly decent breakdown of how Hitler came to power:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/collapse.htm