The Leader is Always Right

In the comments thread to this earlier post about head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel Steven Bradbury’s assertion that “The president is always right,” Carp said:

Anyone ever see this propaganda poster from Germany in the thirties? It simply says, in big bold letters: "Der Führer hat immer recht."

It means, "The Leader is always right."

I'll look for a photo link—I saw it at a holocaust exhibit in a German museum several years ago. It's considered one of the basic principles of the political philosophy of the Third Reich.

Indeed this is true. Below is an image from the official papers of a union worker under the Nazi regime, detailing the bearer's duties. And, as you’ll note, it ends with the reminder "Der Führer hat immer recht!"


Now, before anyone gets their panties in a twist, I’m not suggesting that Bradbury, or Bush, or anyone else is a Nazi. But no other authoritarian regimes have been Nazis, either. Authoritarianism comes disguised in many different cloaks, sometimes even democracy, and one is not necessarily accusing a regime of being the same as the Nazis by pointing out that they share unsettling traits.