Greene’s ahistorical claim that the Nazis were socialists

Those who apparently do not know history are doomed to make basic mistakes.

It seems so simple. The official name of the Adolf Hitler’s political party — the Nazis — had the word “socialist” in it. Ergo, it must have been a socialist party. And that means that Democrats, some of whom call themselves socialists, must be Nazis. Or something like that.

Greene is not the first Republican lawmaker to make this facile observation. So here’s a quick history lesson. (The video above also provides a useful primer on socialism.)