With regards the Nazi reference, I suspect he's picking up on the "Ihre Papiere, Bitte" and the reference to jack-boots. The language, the phrase and the attire are all associated with the Nazi regime, although he never mentioned it by name.
With regards the "birther-ist" comment, the article does say:
"I think Quora’s ridiculous, birther-ist requirements
for a “government-issued ID” are a little bit rough,
... "
Hard to say, but a good point. As someone from Germany this phrase is not really connected to either of these two special regimes. It's more a general phrase, rarely still in use (for example for completely different scenarios, since the literal translation is harmless). I think of police and an annoyance if I read that.
Hey, for me this is probably closer to Orwell than to historical reference. I do have to admit that the picture is provocative and stupid though.
It may be. I decided to poke around and if it wasn't used by Nazis, the idea has thoroughly penetrated the collective consciousness to the point that I can't quickly debunk or prove it via Google. For instance, http://www.amazon.com/Papers-Please-Identity-Documents-Autho... , a book titled "Papers Please: Identity Documents, Permits and Authorizations of the Third Reich". If an author with this level of research is allowed to make the connection, I think I can be permitted it.
Also, historical truth is of dubious value here anyhow, the point I'm making is the word picture being painted, not the veracity of the words being used for the painting.
Good catch. I didn't notice the picture accompanying the article until after I'd posted, and I searched for "bitherist" rather than "birther". Apologies to OP for overlooking their meaning.
As RiderOfGiraffes notes, it's there. This article is just drenched with emotion-laden terminology and turns of speech to gin up a controversy about something that is actually still worth writing about but does not deserve this treatment. It's not totalitarianism, it's a company that has grown very quickly having some growing pains dealing with its customers. Certainly very on topic for HN, but this framing is ridiculous and unnecessary. TechCrunch at its finest.
I've been on the Internet long enough to know that getting accused of being a totalitarian is almost a rite of passage more than anything else, but every once in a while something like this still manages to stick out despite my general desensitization to the accusation.
Further, watching my original post bounce up and down, I'm impressed at how people either can't see it either because they are desensitized far more than I am, or are somehow offended at the idea that it's wrong to use this imagery or something? Or are ignorant of the provenance of the phrasing being used? I'm at a bit of a loss to explain the number of people who seem to think that not only is this just peachy, it's not acceptable to have a problem with it or something.
I found 0 instances of "Nazi" or "bitherist" in the TC article linked.
Have I missed something?