Hitler = Voldemort?

(I put a question mark at the end, so it means I can't get sued!)

Whereas I used to defend Gay Rights and post funny videos, I now find myself half-asleep and defending celebrities. Why? They don't need my help. Well, I'm unemployed and lonely, so what else do I have to do?

Aubrey O'Day, former Danity Kane member, appeared on some fox news show and apparently called Fidel Castro and Adolph Hitler "brilliant men." (::edit:: Micheal Jackson apparently did too.)

Is she so wrong?

Now that I have your attention, let me preface - I didn't watch the clip. I couldn't stand her singing voice, I sure as shit can't take her speaking voice. Chances are she didn't bother to defend herself in any intelligent way. I, however, can.

Fidel Castro and Adolph Hitler are/were Brilliant men.

Now, before I get shot...
Does this mean they were good men?
Absolutely not.

Some of the worst people are some of the smartest. I mean, let's look at fantasy even. Dr. Doom. Lex Luthor. Bowser. Voldemort. Ganondorf. All brilliant. Powerful. Captivating. There's a reason they could win. Of course Adolf was a brilliant man - he conquered his own country and then half the world. He was a strategist, a manipulator, a genius. No, this does not mean he was a good man. He used his power for evil.

To be fair, I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of history is not strong. Having said that, I'll also say that I know next to nothing about Fidel Castro, though I suspect he's also incredibly intelligent. According to Wikipedia, he's served like six different positions in Cuban government. Granted, Bush served a few different positions in ours, but we're America. Up until recently, we hadn't had a President that didn't sound like a hick in over twenty years. We allowed Britney Spears, who can't discern her child from a delicious marshmallow (y'all!) to dominate pop culture for a decade.

Time Magazine intended to name Adolph Hitler as last centuries most influential person, but people lost their shit over it. Wasn't he though? Wasn't he that generations Voldemort he-who-shall-not-be-named? He's spoken about in every history class, no matter what the topic. Everyone knows what a swastika looks like, and everyone knows the salute. We've all learned about WWII, and should we ever rise to power, we know better than to invade Russia. He's the second funniest card in Apples to Apples (Touchy-Feely Helen Keller is #1.) He definitely was last centuries most influential person - everything he was affects who we are today.

I reiterate - yes, Adolph Hitler was a Brilliant and Influential person. This does not make him a good person. People have this kind of reaction because they react the same way the magic community did about Voldemort. Everyone knew everything about him, but people were so afraid to say anything about him that it cause mass hysteria every time Harry refused to call him "he-who-shall-not-be-named" or whatever. We're allowed to talk about Adolph Hitler. We can talk about Hitler so long as we don't talk about how awesome the number of jews, gays, and other minorities he killed; but we can talk about the fact that it happened. We can talk about how influential it is. We can talk about how Brilliant, but epically misguided he was. It's okay now. The war's over. Let us speak.

I knew Aubrey O'day was destined to say something stupid the second I saw she was on Fox News. I, however, can defend myself far better than she can.

I may not be as brilliant as Adolph or Fidel, but I have to be smarter than Aubrey O'Day.