I just read in The Pilot (Wednesday, Sept. 9, "Pep Talk: Obama Tells Kids to Take Responsibility") that one local parent would not allow her children to watch President Obama's speech, comparing it to a Hitler-style brainwashing.

Before I get in to this, a few things about myself, I am college educated, I did not vote for Obama: I have read "Mein Kampf" and I just read the transcript of the president's recent speech to the children of this country. The speech reads more like something from Abraham Lincoln or JFK than anything from Adolf Hitler.

Comparing Obama to Hitler, who killed 11 million people including 6 million Jews and 1.5 million children, is not only blatantly irresponsible, but wholly ignorant, freakishly misguided and completely lacking in compassion to those who suffered under, and fought against, the Nazi regime.

The mention of Hitler for comparative purposes greatly diminishes the monstrosities committed by Hitler and the Nazis. This is a clear manifestation of Godwin's Law, which states, in brief, that any argument will eventually turn into a mudslinging event after all valid points have been presented and parties run out of realistic points of contention.

The president said in his speech to the children, "Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide."

Compare that to this quote from "Mein Kampf:" "The spark of a genius exists in the brain of the truly creative man from the hour of his birth. True genius is always inborn and never cultivated, let alone learned." Hitler believed that you were either born great or born a peasant and could offer nothing of value to your society. Then he killed 11 million people.

Justin D. Bradford

Pinehurst