It appears that if you are an authoritarian tyrant everyone looks like a Nazi when they oppose your will.  Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the  German government for blocking rallies of Turkish nationals — saying that the decision is “no different to those of the Nazi period.:  Erdogan has been widely denounced for his destruction of the secular traditions of Turkey and his attack on free speech and the free press.  Erdogan somehow missed the global ridicule of his (of all people) objecting to the denial of free speech.  Now, undeterred, Erdogan is denouncing the Netherlands as Nazis after the denied permission for a plane carrying Turkey’s foreign minister to land in the country ahead of a rally supporting his notorious expanded powers.

I think it is a mistake to deny protesters for either side of this controversy despite the curious image of protesters celebrating Erdogan’s assumption of authoritarian powers and his denial of free speech and a free press in Turkey.  Yet, Erdogan returned to his favorite theme and proclaimed  “They do not know politics or international diplomat . . . these Nazi remnants, they are fascists.”

Well, if any one could recognize fascists or authoritarians, it would clearly be Erdogan. Yet, most of us would not put the Netherlands in his same category.