Williams made the analogy on Fox and Friends early yesterday and ABC was quick to respond:
Says ESPN, in a statement: "While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize he is closely linked to our company through the opening to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast."
Williams, perhaps best known for his "are you ready for some football?" lead-in to ESPN's Monday Night Football, Monday compared this summer's so-called golf summit between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner as "one of the biggest political mistakes ever."
As Williams put it on Fox News' Fox & Friends: "It would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu."
When asked on Fox to explain his analogy, Williams said Obama and Vice President Biden are "the enemy."
No matter how you want to slice it, Williams clearly played the Adolf card when describing Obama. This is the problem when trying to compare Obama to a mass murderer; he hasn't gassed millions, he hasn't imprisoned millions more, nor has he started a war that killed tens of millions of civilians. You can say Obama is bad, incompetent, a clown, a devious SOB - I suppose it's even OK to say he's evil, although I wouldn'g go that far myself.
But you can't compare him to a mass murderer like Hitler.To do so cheapens the Holocaust, and the suffering endured by tens of millions who fell under the brutal Nazi tyranny. By using that analogy, you may bring Obama down to Hitler's level, but you also diminish Hitler's crimes by comparing his rule to Obama's. The comparison works both ways which is why it should never be made. It's over the line and Williams crossed it.
Of course, there is the matter of double standards here, as the LA Times points out:
Will Madonna take the field at halftime during the Super Bowl come February?
Madge is reportedly in talks to headline the 2012 halftime show at Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, which would mark her debut on the massively watched pro football telecast -- that according to a sports blog citing a source "close to the event."
The singer and director's rep told the Ministry on Monday that there is "nothing to confirm at this time"; an NFL official similarly had no comment to SBNation.com regarding its report.
The significance here is Madonna's own checkered history of playing the Adolf card, as Jammie Wearing Fool points out:
Madonna kicked off her Sticky & Sweet Tour in the U.K. Saturday, and stirred up a beehive of controversy by comparing Republican presidential nominee John McCain to Adolf Hitler in a video montage during the show.
During the song "Get Stupid," Madonna flashed images of McCain alongside photos of Hitler and brutal Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, as well as images of destruction and global warming, according to British paper The Times.
By contrast, in the next segment of the performance, she used the image of Democratic nominee Barack Obama alongside pictures of John Lennon, Mahatma Ghandi and Al Gore.
ESPN has made no decision on whether to air the iconic opening "Are you ready for some Football" number next week. I doubt they will until Williams apologizes.
If he doesn't, the only place you're likely to see that song is on YouTube.
Hat Tip: Hot Air
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