It's almost never a good idea for a political figure to invoke the name of Hitler. In fact, that very mistake undoubtedly contributed to premature demise of Sean Spicer earlier this year.

Of course, the rules are slightly different for former President Obama as the media barely batted an eye when he compared the rise of Trump in the U.S. to that of Hitler in the 1930s and warned people to "pay attention...and vote" lest they want "sixty million people to die." As Crain's noted, Obama's controversial comments came at a speech before the Economic Club of Chicago earlier this week:

Still, the U.S. has survived tough times before and will again, he noted, particularly mentioning the days of communist fighter Joseph McCarthy and former President Richard Nixon. But one reason the country survived is because it had a free press to ask questions, Obama added. Though he has problems with the media just like Trump has had, "what I understood was the principle that the free press was vital." The danger is "grow(ing) complacent," Obama said. "We have to tend to this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly." That's what happened in Germany in the 1930s, which despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic and centuries of high-level cultural and scientific achievements, Adolph Hitler rose to dominate, Obama noted. "Sixty million people died. . . .So, you've got to pay attention. And vote."

Not surprisingly, while the media obsessed over Sean Spicer's Hitler reference for days/weeks, we would challenge readers to find a single American mainstream media outlet that bothered to note Obama's similarly outrageous statements in a meaningful way. The closest we could find was a note from The Hill, entitled "Obama warns of complacency, notes rise of Hitler," which didn't even bother to highlight the clear Trump reference in Obama's comments...in fact, they went out of their way to downplay it...

Obama told the forum's audience during a question and answer session that the danger at hand was "grow[ing] complacent," according to newspaper Crain's Chicago Business. "We have to tend to this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly," Obama said. Despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic, Adolph Hitler rose to power, he continued. "Sixty million people died. ... So, you've got to pay attention. And vote." While some could see the remark as a veiled jab at President Trump, Obama did not mention Trump by name during the event, according to the newspaper.

Of course, the media's efforts to protect their liberal heroes at all cost should come as a surprise to precisely no one at this point.