Jargon watch: the uproar over Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin's June remarks comparing the abuses at Guantanamo prison to the crimes of Nazi Germany reminded us once again of what should be a hard and fast rule of politics: Nazi/Hitler comparisons--while always tempting--are never a good idea.

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"If I read this [a list of abuses at Guantanamo prison] ... and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others."

--Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), on abuses at Guantanamo, June 14, 2005

Apology made: 3 days later; "I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood."

"The audacity of some members to stand up and say, 'How dare you break this [filibuster] rule' It's the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, 'I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me. How dare you bomb my city. It's mine.'"

--Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), on the filibuster debate, May 16, 2005

Apology made: 2 hours later, "It was a mistake, and I meant no offense."

"Sixty years ago in Nazi Germany, it was state policy [that] in order to perfect humanity, it would be required to destroy humanity. And the medical experiments at Auschwitz were carried out for that explicit purpose."

--State Sen. Bruce Chandler (R-Wash.),on stem cell research, March 15,2005

Apology made: 3 days later; "The references made to the...