On his radio show, Michael Medved interspersed clips of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's speech at the Democratic National Convention with clips of Adolf Hitler saying, “Sieg Heil.” Afterward, Medved stated of Kucinich's speech that "[e]verything was there except for 'Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer,' " a reference to the Nazi slogan meaning “one people, one empire, one leader.”
Medved interspersed clips from Kucinich's DNC speech with clips of Adolf Hitler
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On the August 27 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Medved interspersed clips of Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich's speech at the Democratic National Convention with clips of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler saying, “Sieg Heil,” as Daily Kos diarist “mediaprof” noted.
Medved played the end of Kucinich's August 26 speech, in which he said:
This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.
Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.
Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America.
After airing Kucinich's remarks, Medved stated: “Well, what's interesting about this is in the version that you saw on TV, they didn't have microphones in the audience, and when you actually hear what was going on in the audience, you understand why Congressman Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, was getting so excited at the end of his speech. Here's what the speech sounded like when you actually hear the audience response.” Medved then played clips from Kucinich's speech interspersed with clips of Hitler leading an audience in chants of “Sieg Heil”:
KUCINICH: Up with health care for all.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with education for all.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits.
HITLER: Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with peace.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with Obama-Biden. Wake up, America.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Wake up, America. Wake up, America.
After airing the clips of Kucinich and Hitler, Medved stated that "[e]verything was there except for 'Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer,' " a reference to the Nazi slogan meaning “one people, one empire, one leader.” Medved continued: “I mean, this is pretty, pretty amazing. He [Kucinich] has the same stature as a former orator.” Indeed, as the Daily Kos diary noted, Medved's website summarized the first hour of his August 27 show as: “Hour 1: Dennis Kucinich sounds like another short guy.”
As Media Matters for America noted, on the February 11 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, Tom Sullivan similarly aired what he called a "side-by-side comparison" of a Hitler speech and a speech by Sen. Barack Obama.
From the August 27 broadcast of Salem Radio Network's The Michael Medved Show:
MEDVED: All right. Wake up, America. Now, and in case you think he forgot his main theme of “Wake Up, America,” he concluded his speech on this inspiring basis.
[begin audio clip]
KUCINICH: This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left, this is a call for you to go from down to up: Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, our water system, our sewer system, our ports. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions, and protect the environment. Up with health care for all.
MEDVED: Try some decaf.
KUCINICH: Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.
MEDVED: Up yours.
KUCINICH: Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America.
[end audio clip]
MEDVED: OK, now he was getting pretty excited. And when you actually see this on tape -- and very few people saw it live. If by the way you agree with Dennis Kucinich, and you think this was a fine speech, please give us a call: 1-800-955-1776. You kind of wonder, how did he get so excited? Well, what's interesting about this is in the version that you saw on TV, they didn't have microphones in the audience, and when you actually hear what was going on in the audience, you understand why Congressman Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, was getting so excited at the end of his speech. Here's what the speech sounded like when you actually hear the audience response.
[begin audio clip]
KUCINICH: Up with health care for all.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with education for all.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits.
HITLER: Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with peace.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Up with Obama-Biden. Wake up, America.
HITLER: Sieg Heil!
KUCINICH: Wake up, America. Wake up, America.
[end audio clip]
MEDVED: OK. Everything was there except for “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer.” I mean, this is pretty, pretty amazing. He has the same stature as a former orator. Surely, this is -- it's pretty amazing. You talk about Big Tent Democrats. You feel comfortable in the same party, do you, with Dennis Kucinich? If you do, you can give us a call: 1-800-955-1776.