I remember back when Reagan was President, he once visited Germany and while in Germany he visited some cemeteries and gave some speeches about the value of the lives given to rid the world of Nazism and Fascism. During that trip he was invited by the German Chancellor (Helmut Kohl?) to visit a German military cemetery at Bitburg. Reagan at first declined the invitation, but Kohl insisted that it would be a powerful way to symbolize the friendship between Germany and the United States, who had once been on opposite sides of the most destructive war in history. Reagan eventually agreed and visited the cemetery with the express purpose of demonstrating solidarity with Germany by honoring those who had died in patriotic service to their own country.

Of course the Leftist media in this country went nutzo (which is what they typically do whenever they get their collective panties in a wad) and presented Reagan’s act as a blatant endorsement of Nazism. Of course since the Leftist media had been comparing Reagan to Hitler for years by then, the opportunity to say “See, I TOLD YOU he was a NAZI!!!” was simply too much for them to pass up. The resulting brouhaha ended up with the resignation of Reagan’s Chief of Staff, Michael Deaver.

Will Smith made a thoughtful and intelligent statement about the likely thought processes in Hitler’s mind. I agree with Will that Hitler did what he thought was advancing the public good. The problem, as Will and I both know, is that Hitler was both evil and insane and what he thought was good was NOT good. This is so self-evident that an intelligent person does not think it necessary to point out.

No doubt this will blow over like the Bill Bennett comments of racial differences in crime rate. But I always find it interesting to see how this sort of thing plays out. You can tell a lot about people by how they react to a flap like this.

FOXNews.com – Will Smith Blasts Gossip Sites for Misinterpreting Quote About Hitler – Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment
LOS ANGELES — Will Smith is angry over celebrity gossip Web site articles that he said misinterpreted a recent remark he made in a Scottish newspaper about Adolf Hitler.

In a story published Saturday in the Daily Record, Smith was quoted saying: “Even Hitler didn’t wake up going, ‘let me do the most evil thing I can do today.’ I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was ‘good.”‘