I was watching this on the History channel this morning and at one point they compared the Sith Lord saying, “you are either with us or against us” to GWB saying “You are either with us or you are with the terrorists.”

I know that many believe (in spite of a standing ovation by a joint session of Congress) that this was a gross oversimplification and a hateful comment by GWB. I might agree to some extent but the comment was made at a time of great emotions and it was obviously received well before all the partisan reflection started.

I was wondering, is a comment like this always inappropriate? If someone had said, “You are either with us or you are with Hitler.” would that comment come under criticism?

I understand that there are differences in the situation. Is it a matter of saying it too soon or never saying it?