The Volokh Conspiracy - Is John McCain's website suggestive of NAZI iconography?

It was a pleasure to see Ann Althouse at the New York Law School conference yesterday.

Ann has a post today on a disturbing line of attack on John McCain's website, which uses as much black, white, and gray as possible:

John McCain has an aesthetically pleasing website, which is distinguished by the very low color level. Instead of the usual florid blue and red, it uses elegant, crisp black, white, and gray. Perhaps that calls to mind some beautifully photographed black and white movie. Bring on the liberal commentators, and what movie do they think of? Of course, it's "Triumph of the Will," which, admittedly, is a film known for its crisp black and white photography (to go along with its Nazi propaganda).

Here's Atrios:

Imperial Stormtrooper Chic

And Ezra Klein piles on:

Atrios is right, John McCain's new campaign web site is totally "imperial stormtrooper chic."

The color scheme strikes me as more evocative of 1930s Hollywood than NAZI iconography. NAZI colors are black, white, and definitely (blood) red.

Here is a page of 1933-45 NAZI propaganda posters.

Here is a page of 1030s Dutch political posters, some of which appear to be pro-labor or progressive.

I have no idea how representative these selections are. While there are certainly more black-and-white (and low color) posters in both collections than one would see in the 1930s French or Swiss travel posters that are sold on the market today, that may reflect more the desire to depict travel (or food) in more colorful terms.

Germany, 1933:

Netherlands, 1933:

The four posters I copied here are neither the most, nor the least, colorful on either site. They all are from the same year, 1933.

The few FDR posters I've seen are not particularly colorful either:

Exra Klein goes on to criticize the martial tone of the content of the McCain website, a criticism with which Ann in part agrees.

UPDATE: There are MANY excellent comments below, which require some additional qualifications.

First, "Imperial Stormtroopers" refers more directly to a military force in Star Wars (who wore black and white uniforms), rather than the NAZIs. Of course, they were named Stormtroopers to suggest NAZIs.

Second, I noted that Ezra Klein attacked the martial tone of the content of the site, as well as its color scheme, though I didn't discuss his comments. Klein makes explicit NAZI references, but many of them focus on the videos, rather than the black-and-white color scheme.

So while Atrios's comment wasn't explicitly about NAZIs, Klein's was, though Klein focused more on the videos than on the color scheme. Although I still find the line of argument "disturbing," which was my main editorial comment, I realize that by quoting just part of Ann Althouse's post, my original post may have implied more than was justified.

	[Jim Lindgren, February 17, 2007 at 2:55pm] Trackbacks Is John McCain's website suggestive of NAZI iconography? It was a pleasure to see Ann Althouse at the New York Law School conference yesterday. Ann has a post today on a disturbing line of attack on John McCain's website, which uses as much black, white, and gray as possible: John McCain has an aesthetically pleasing website, which is distinguished by the very low color level. Instead of the usual florid blue and red, it uses elegant, crisp black, white, and gray. Perhaps that calls to mind some beautifully photographed black and white movie. Bring on the liberal commentators, and what movie do they think of? Of course, it's "Triumph of the Will," which, admittedly, is a film known for its crisp black and white photography (to go along with its Nazi propaganda). Here's Atrios: Imperial Stormtrooper Chic And Ezra Klein piles on: Atrios is right, John McCain's new campaign web site is totally "imperial stormtrooper chic." The color scheme strikes me as more evocative of 1930s Hollywood than NAZI iconography. NAZI colors are black, white, and definitely (blood) red. Here is a page of 1933-45 NAZI propaganda posters. Here is a page of 1030s Dutch political posters, some of which appear to be pro-labor or progressive. I have no idea how representative these selections are. While there are certainly more black-and-white (and low color) posters in both collections than one would see in the 1930s French or Swiss travel posters that are sold on the market today, that may reflect more the desire to depict travel (or food) in more colorful terms. Germany, 1933: Germany, 1933: Netherlands, 1933: Netherlands, 1933: The four posters I copied here are neither the most, nor the least, colorful on either site. They all are from the same year, 1933. The few FDR posters I've seen are not particularly colorful either: Exra Klein goes on to criticize the martial tone of the content of the McCain website, a criticism with which Ann in part agrees. UPDATE: There are MANY excellent comments below, which require some additional qualifications. First, "Imperial Stormtroopers" refers more directly to a military force in Star Wars (who wore black and white uniforms), rather than the NAZIs. Of course, they were named Stormtroopers to suggest NAZIs. Second, I noted that Ezra Klein attacked the martial tone of the content of the site, as well as its color scheme, though I didn't discuss his comments. Klein makes explicit NAZI references, but many of them focus on the videos, rather than the black-and-white color scheme. So while Atrios's comment wasn't explicitly about NAZIs, Klein's was, though Klein focused more on the videos than on the color scheme. Although I still find the line of argument "disturbing," which was my main editorial comment, I realize that by quoting just part of Ann Althouse's post, my original post may have implied more than was justified.