The mob is admonished to think critically

Speaking once again of Hank Jr.:

The other thing I dislike about the affair is the inability of the chattering mob to think critically. Williams was not comparing Obama to Hitler. He was just trying to suggest two diametrically opposed figures whose cooperation seemed to him as unlikely as between the President and Speaker of the House. — Prof. Rick

Perhaps, but critical thinkers might examine the entire record:*

When one of the Fox & Friends said he did not understand the analogy, Williams said: "I'm glad you don't, brother, because a lot of people do. They're the enemy: Obama! And Biden!"**

Just in case you were wondering which part of the analogy was who, because apparently it eluded the purview of Prof. Rick's critical thinking.

While it's true nobody's going to mistake Hank Williams Jr. for a U.S. foreign policy scholar, the point of his illuminations had nothing to do with comparing Obama to Hitler but rather it was the selection of Hitler and Netanyahu for the purposes of the illustration. It's an article of faith among conservative Republicans — and I mean literally, an article of faith — that in the ceaseless struggles among Israel and its local Semitic adversaries, the Israelis can do no wrong. And among the chief continual right-wing criticisms of Obama are of his alleged sympathies toward the Palestinians, in opposition to the Saviour's Chosen People's security.

Hank Williams Jr. is no opinion leader (it is hoped) but he's obviously an opinion follower and his remarks to Fox & Friends are a reflection of the general wing-nut narrative, pervasive within the network's rotisserie of buffoonish "pundits" and articulated since long before his election, that Obama is a concealed Islamist bent on the subjugation of Israel. That Hank Jr.'s addled ramblings conjured up Hitler is less noteworthy than that Netanyahu — himself an erstwhile Fox News pundit — put in an appearance. In other words, the dog-whistle is piercing with this one.

And of course Prof. Rick, consumer of right-wing media, heard it too.

* Or watch several minutes of cringe-inducing video here.

** "The Three Stooges," continues Hank Jr., leading us to wonder how anybody could make it in music without being able to count to four.***

*** Besides Johann Strauss Jr.