For some odd reason I got up thinking about Prince Harry and the dust-up over his Nazi uniform. I agree with one writer who said that, other than Harry's own responsibility, at least some of the blame lies with his elders; those responsible for making him understand just why his costume was so offensive to so many. In other words, he clearly doesn't understand the far-reaching horror that was the Nazi blight on human history. Few kids do.

I would also lay blame on our popular media-driven culture. In movies, books, TV shows and plays, and video games the Nazis have been reduced to archetypes of evil. And who can blame the writers? The Nazis make perfect bad guys, and come with their own sinister back story and occult imagery. But as a historical entity the have been marginalized to the point of being cartoons. Thanks to the shallowness of Western culture, so obsessed with T&A, celebrities and gossip, Hitler and thn Nazis are ancient history (in black and white at that!). It's no wonder that for people Harry's age Adolf Hitler is about as scary (or as real) as Ming the Merciless.

When I was in third grade we once made kites that each of us decorated according to our own creative urges. They were then put up on the wall outside of our classroom. My kite was, simply, the Nazi flag with the swastika in the center. I didn't understand why this upset the adults so much. I knew nothing about Nazis. I just thought it looked cool. My step-father explained to me why there was a problem. But to my parents' and teacher's credit my Nazi kite stayed on the wall with everyone else's. I was not singled out or shamed, and I was given the opportunity to learn a valuable lesson. These days they would suspend me and the media would portray my parents as possible closet anti-Semites because such imagery was in my head at all (like kids don't see this stuff in popular entertainment).

So in regard to Prince Harry and his ill-advised costume choice, all I can say is that I understand. The Nazis had all the cool outfits. But I bet that now Hitler is more real to him than Ming. I gaurantee you that Harry has learned his lesson.