Picture 5The New York Times noted on Monday that rightwing opposition to the Democrats’ health care reform plans contains plenty of references to Nazis. On Wednesday, a Minnesota-based, rightwing health care group offered a local example, announcing a former Hitler Youth who has compared Obama’s policies to the rise of Nazi Germany as its headliner at an upcoming fundraiser.

Citizen’s Council on Health Care, a conservative outfit that lobbies against government involvement in the health care industry, is bringing Maria Anne Hirschmann, a former Hitler Youth turned evangelical Christian (complete with her own ministry), to Minnesota for its $100 a plate “Freedom Celebration Dinner” on Nov. 9.

Hirschmann stirred controversy this spring when she was tapped to speak at the Air Force Academy, a government institution, in Colorado Springs. Her previous public statements led to outcry from a variety of groups and the subsequent cancellation of her speech.

Hirschmann compared President Obama to the rise of Hilter’s Nazi Germany. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Hirshmann has said, “Obama, like Hitler, is ‘a charismatic leader who promises full pocketbooks.’ Obama’s pro-choice stands, she writes, resembles those of Hitler, who ‘brought abortion to a systematic level and declared the killing of unborn babies a national duty.’”

The Gazette continued:

In her April 2009 newsletter, Hirschmann states she is not comparing Obama to Hitler, rather she sees “trends in America that led Germany into disaster…” She goes on to ask, “Is this unlimited new spending and reckless printing of paper money similar to the economic recovery of Nazi Germany? Yes, it is and it made the German people jubilant because Hitler turned the economy around within four years. Nobody saw that the next four years prepared for World War II, and within 12 years most of Germany was in ashes and Europe nearly destroyed.

Following the cancellation of Hirschmann’s speech at the Air Force Academy, the Gazette interviewed her:

BARNA: You’ve been a critic of President Barack Obama

HIRSCHMANN: Obama is the result of a trend in America that is going away from the Judeo-Christian ethic. Obama is a socialist, one step from communism.

He could pave the way for a future Antichrist. Obama scares me because he has no record and people flock to him. Hitler also had no record, people flocked to him and both wrote a book. Christians laid flat and Hitler came to power, just like with Obama.

Obama is the result of the secular news media brain washing America. The media put Obama into power. He is so inexperienced …

Other statements by Hirschmann have raised eyebrows, as well. For instance, she sees the global war on terror as a Christians-versus-Muslims conflict. “Islam is a religion that believes it has a calling to make the world Muslim and do it violently and nonviolently — whatever way to spread Islam will be done,” Hirschmann told the Colorado Springs paper. “If the U.S. military does what God tells them, he will bless America,” she said.

Hirschmann’s speech at the Citizen’s Council on Health Care fundraiser will be titled “What Does it Mean to Be Free?”