By Calvin Hill
The time has come for those in the media, the Never Trumpers and the GOP opposition to stop shying away from the Hitler comparisons as it concerns Donald J. Trump. It is not a major historical secret that Adolf Hitler did not begin his fascist reign upon Germany, Europe and Asia, by marching Jews into concentration camps and gas chambers. Holocaust survivors and their families have been very vocal about seeing the similarities to 1930s Germany in Trump’s America. If Trump’s refusal to remain silent about his plans for the future of America do not frighten you, you are in dire need of a “woke-up” call because drag shows, non-white immigrants and diverse colleges and military units will be the least of your problems.
Former and present Republicans, who have managed, advised and strategized GOP campaigns for decades are even sounding the alarms. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has openly declared that white supremacist ideology is posing the biggest terroristic threats to the American homeland. If finding out that a white nationalist militia group plotted the kidnapping and execution of an American governor doesn’t “woke you up,” or seeing Marjorie Taylor Greene wielding the Speaker’s gavel after having declared that if she, and her people, launched the January 6th insurrection, “they would have been armed and they would have won,” then it is understandable how a classroom full of bullet riddled 6 and 9 year olds does not pierce your empathetic emotional psyche.
Straight out of the Hitler playbook, Donald Trump has boldly informed his followers that what they were seeing and what they were reading was not really happening. He has convinced them, despite his lifelong pathology for lying, that he is the arbiter of what is true, that what he has said and what you have viewed is untrustworthy because it was aired by “the fake news.” Nothing about Trump indicates that he was smart enough to discover such a devious and dishonest sleight-of-hand. However, his history suggests he is clever enough to lift his penchant for media manipulation from Joseph Goebbels, Adolf’s publicist. In an interview with Barbara Walters, she brought up the fact of Trump having a book of Hitler’s speeches. He attempted to blow it off as a gift given to him and threatened to sue Vanity Fair because they reported him having the book. It was also reported that his first wife, Ivana, said he kept it on his night table. Circumstantial evidence would point to he read it.
Understandably, watching babies being separated from their families and justifying their being caged was not Auschwitz, Dachau or Buchenwald, but it could be the start since they have also been negatively depicted. Seeing hundreds upon hundreds of your neighbors and fellow citizens, some adorned in military gear, assault the nation’s Capitol leveling destruction and wreaking havoc in a bloodthirsty march to assassinate the next two public officials in the line of presidential succession is not Kristallnacht carried out by a horde of brownshirt recruits. But the level of rhetoric, post January 6, by that mob has threatened that the next time, better armed and nationwide, it could be.
Donald Trump’s ideological takeover of a well-financed media organization, under the guise of “news channel,” is not some unusual phenomenon. We have seen it before, and continue to see it in other countries where democracy has already breathed its last breath. Despite their patriarchal and misogynist hierarchy costing Fox $1 billion or so in defamation and sexual harassment settlements, they seem to regard chasing the money, as opposed to truth and accuracy, as policy. Several of those considered “serious journalists” have been vanquished after word from The Donald reached his cult masses. The Congressional Republicans have gone all-in on the various Trump defenses and his non-existent platform to aid the American people. In fact, in 8 months, they have yet to do any of the things they vowed if given the House majority in 2022.
It was not what the Republicans promised the American people, but their collective platform has become retribution. The House leadership has filtered down to their electors and electorate, their plan to dismantle every agency that keeps America safe. The fact that Donald Trump has openly advocated for the termination of the Constitution has not dissuaded them from supporting his reelection. The inflection point that Joe Biden spoke of during the 2020 campaign is still upon us. This time it is more serious. The Supreme Court, while seemingly operating as an ideological ‘star chamber’ devoid of ethics or honor, is having their Constitutional authority defied by an Alabama legislature intent on segregated voter suppression.
Ironically, this Hitlerian march toward fascism is being led by the race baiting, xenophobic religious bigot that Sen. Lindsey Graham asserted Donald Trump to be. The Donald revels in the media references of him as a mob boss. In reality, he is the coward that Ted Cruz proclaimed. Trump repeatedly led acolytes on a path to prison for his personal and political benefit. Steve Bannon, Mike Flynn, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone were all pardoned after plying their lawlessness on behalf of the quintessential projecting RINO, Donald Trump. He then requested, cajoled and threatened state and Congressional officials to break the law in his bid to steal the 2020 election.
However, when it was suggested that Trump declare martial law and seize voting machines, he balked. When faced with the opportunity to remain in office, misguided and illegal as it was, it was Donald Trump who was the coward and the “pussy.” Hundreds of misled, misinformed and misguided Americans are now languishing in prisons across the country because they fell victim to the charisma of pathological lies. And when he had the presidential authority to issue a blanket pardon for those who ransacked the Capitol, maimed and battered police officers and threatened the life of the Vice President and Speaker of the House, Trump lacked the courage that Jimmy Carter possessed when he pardoned the Viet Nam era draft dodgers against political advice. It is probably of little comfort to those presently jailed, and their families, that Trump now calls them patriots and offers to pledge allegiance while they sing from behind bars.
In Donald Trump’s warped sense of the Constitution, he attested Article II says “I could do whatever I want.” Even after his electoral defeat and facing multiple criminal indictments, Trump’s arrogant mouth has been the best witness against himself. Yet, the Republican Party has ceded their Constitutional oaths, as well as their dignity, to a dictator loving “wannabe.” The din of the boots we heard on the soldiers we saw goose stepping in the black and white newsreels of Nazi Germany are now seen and heard on the streets of America carrying Confederate flags, tiki torches and wearing MAGA hats.
This is all happening in real time. If 2024 does not work out in the way that is best for sustaining our rule of law and democratic principles, it will be too late to believe we can fix it in 2028 unless we stop being afraid to say so now. Herr Trump will see to that.
The Op-Ed Alternative 