General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Downfall of the American People:
When the people of a nation lose the ability to recognize the danger, consequences of their decisions and actions, the people lose control of their fate.
Last night I watched a documentary about Hitler that I have never seen before. It examined Hitlers's personality traits. Hitler's and Trump's personality traits are shockingly similar.
Hitler was obsessed with appearance. He used video , pictures, the news media to stage things beforehand in order to make himself look great. Sound familiar? He was extremely vengeful and spiteful. He loved to destroy his enemies and humiliate them as he did it. Hitler did not believe in any kind of law except his own.
In my opinion there is only one big difference between Hitler and Trump. Hitler did not have a constitution and a strong legal system to hold him back when he took power, Trump did. Trump has spent his entire presidency trying to destroy the rule of law and the constitution. He has searched for the worst among us to replace people in our government agencies and courts. If Trump is successful in this endeavor, I believe he could become, join the list of the most evil men in history. There will be nothing in the way to control him.
While watching the show about Hitler, They showed him returning to Berlin after his staged victory tour of Paris. All of Berlin turned out to greet, worship their Savior. As I watched the massive crowd surge forward trying to get closer to their savior, they reminded me of the Trump voters, then it hit me.
That video was taken around 1940. Five years later most of the men in that massive crowd were dead. Five years later most of the women in that massive crowd were either dead or raped by the Russians. In 1940 they had no idea what was coming their way.
Soon the American people will be making one of the most important decisions in our history. Whether or not to convict and remove Trump. If he is removed the American will be taking control of their fate. If he is not removed, the American people will be giving up control of their fate, It's that simply.
No one can predict the consequences of not removing Trump. It is fair to say they will not be good. Trump's followers will cheer if their Savior is not removed. Just like the people of Berlin cheered Hitler. The rest of us will say, we have to vote him out November, not knowing if we will be able to have a fair election, not knowing what are fate will be from now until the election.
The American people are playing a very dangerous game.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)Hitler believed he was going to lead Germany into an era of greatness and world domination (the "thousand-year Reich" ); he wasn't in it for the money. Trump talks about making America great again but he doesn't care about America at all. He cares only about acquiring more wealth and boosting his own self-esteem. Hitler was a megalomaniac who wanted to rule the world; Trump is a money-obsessed narcissist who wants to own the world. But Trump has the same potential to cause enormous harm.
shockey80
(4,379 posts)History does not repeat itself, it rhymes. Trump and Hitler, their actions, their goals are not exactly the same, but much of who they are, the actions they took and the evil within them, rhymes.
What the german people did and what the Trump voters are doing, rhymes.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)Heartstrings
(7,349 posts)All of your op!
democrank
(11,092 posts)Doing rhymes
GetRidOfThem
(869 posts)Have to completely agree with the analysis and that circumstances "rhyme". My fafther lived through the third Reich, and had plenty of stories to tell. I saw many parallels between Trump's rise and what happened in Germany. I hope Americans will be able to accept their own shame in the matter as Germans had to...
DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)Trump Putin German Parade Float?????
Maybe you can google That set of words and get the picture. It's priceless.....
If Trump sees it, he will surely go all out on Germany and it's people......
olegramps
(8,200 posts)Hitler primarily put the blame for the failures of Germany on the Jews. They were the major cause for the fall of Germany. He also scapegoated the liberals and homosexual. His program followed "The Fourteen Characteristics of Fascism" by Dr. Lawrence Britt that I have posted several times on this board. They also accurately describe the policies of the Republican Party over the last 50 years. I will not post them again unless requested.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)Celerity
(43,286 posts)It is uncanny how closely it describes the US today.
Johnyawl
(3,205 posts)...Hitler was 45 years old when he assumed the title "Fuhrer". Physically and mentally he was still in his prime. Trump is 73, fat, out of shape and is visibly deteriorating physically and mentally.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)We could get lucky - Trump's long history of poor eating and exercise habits might catch up with him before he has to lock himself in a bunker with Goebbels - oh, wait, I meant Stephen Miller.
at140
(6,110 posts)Trump will not die before age 80 of heart attack if he continues playing golf.
But he could get cancer.
deteriorating physical and mental health maybe our saving grace. I hope all that hate/greed consumes him.
brewens
(13,566 posts)Most of us get a little exercise out there. I no longer play, I went back into fishing. I don't slice so bad fishing unless it's really windy.
That idiot doesn't even ever have to climb a brushy hill to look for a ball, and drives his cart right on the green. Might as well just have a servant hit for him too.
I think he may be done golfing if the last couple weeks are any indication.
at140
(6,110 posts)of a heart attack.
I have known 1000 club members at 2 private golf clubs for 15 years, in the sense I always heard about who died and how. Among the regular players (3+ rounds/week) even those who rode carts, and were fat and drank generously on the 19th hole, I never heard of a heart attack under age 80. It was all cancer or some other physical malady such as diabetes. But no heart attacks. It was surprising!
ancianita
(36,017 posts)welfare cheat.
at140
(6,110 posts)to the end, rest assured. However I give him a small credit for donating his entire salary.
And he more than makes up for that donation by frequent use of Air Force One flights to his rallies.
DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)IT ISN'T TRUMP........IT IS THE REPUBLICAN SENATE enabling him and emboldening him. With out the Republican Senate he wouldn't have made it a day after inaguration. The Republican Senate, enabled him to gain control of the Dept. of Justice, and The Supreme Court among other things....
Focus on the presidential election, but spend equal or more going after the Republican Senators across the nation.....
The dictionary defines FASCISM as a merging of Government and Corporations.
The Republicans are on the threshold of installing their wet dream, Tyrant/Fascist run government.
Don't think they won't do ANYTHING/EVERYTHING between now and the election to guarantee it happening after the 40+ years they have been relentlessly working towards this goal. Twelve short/long months people. You can't even begin to imagine the events that will take place between now and then, or what I think will confront the people of the United States the day of the election, and the day after.....Think about it......
WASF
Perseus
(4,341 posts)Trump is useless, he is just what Grover Norquist asked for, an idiot who can use a pen. He has actually upped that wish and has become a divider, a promoter of hate and racism, and a Putin puppet, so he has gone where republicans were not planning, but nonetheless, without a corrupt Senate he is nothing.
I am hoping that impeachment removes him from office, but if its not to be, then make sure all your friends who think alike and understand the danger that republicans are to the country, that they go out and vote them out of office, lets have a majority on both houses, and hopefully a Democratic president as well.
DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)There will be no more elections after November 3rd.........Sorry, don't want to depress you. Unless of course they are like the Russian "elections"........NOT SO LOL anymore everyone.........
I am old, gonna relax and try to enjoy the things I enjoy for the next eleven months leading up to election day.
I am afraid that everyone in the U.S. or for that matter, everyone in the world, isn't near ready for what is coming election night and the next day. The night of the 2000 election and what took place after that election will look like a Sunday Church Social compared to what we are all gonna see. (or much more realistically "suffer"......
And silly of all us to get all worried about Y2K.........On a scale of one to a million, considering what could have happened on Y2K, Y2K would have been a three or four, maybe a five.........
Anyone thinking anything else had better stay stoned every hour of every day from here forward.
And have some extra special, extra strong pharmaceuticals stashed away, and ready for November 4th.........
The same way people have had their heads buried in the sand for the past forty years, they should continue to bury their heads in the sand, or better yet parade around with their heads covered with a MAGA hat...........
dalton99a
(81,433 posts)The Nazis claimed a monopoly on victimhood. Mein Kampf includes a lengthy pout about how Jews and other non-Germans made Hitlers life as a young man in the Habsburg monarchy difficult. After stormtroopers attacked others in Germany in the early 1930s, they made a great fuss if one of their own was injured. The Horst Wessel Song, recalling a single Nazi who was killed, was on the lips of Germans who killed millions of people. The second world war was for the Nazis self-defense against global Jewry.
The idea that the powerful must be coddled arose in a setting that recalls the United States of today. The Habsburg monarchy of Hitlers youth was a multinational country with democratic institutions and a free press. Some Germans, members of the dominant nationality, felt threatened because others could vote and publish. Hitler was an extreme example of this kind of sentiment. Today, some white Americans are similarly threatened by the presence of others in institutions they think of as their own....
The attraction of the Nazi conspiracy thinking is that we can feel like victims when we attack. Its vulnerability is that the world is full of facts. Hence Hitlers hostility to journalism. In the Germany of the early 1930s, the newspaper industry was suffering after a financial crisis. Hitler and other Nazis used the idea of the Lügenpresse (fake news) to attack remaining journalists who were trying to report the facts. In Germany and Austria today, the far right once more speaks of the Lügenpresse, in part because the American president has made the idea respectable. The extreme right in Germany and Austria knows perfectly well that fake news is American English for Lügenpresse.
In the United States today, reporting was already in trouble for similar reasons before Trump, like Hitler, began to claim that the reporters who seek the facts are liars and enemies. Naturally, the president denies responsibility when people take him at his word and draw instead from the conspiracy thinking he himself spreads. Trump blames the press for attempts to murder members of the press. He seizes the occasion, as always, to present himself as the true victim. The facts hurt his feelings.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/30/trump-borrows-tricks-of-fascism-pittsburgh
Fascism is unfolding before our eyes, but it's treated like "politics as usual."
lame54
(35,282 posts)Trump hijacked credit for a rising healthy economy
Mme. Defarge
(8,026 posts)Im betting on the smart people in ours. If we survive this crisis, and I believe that we will - especially after witnessing those brave and noble public servants speak truth to power during the impeachment hearings, and especially after the judges ruling last week that so eloquently and powerfully defended our Constitution and the rule of law - I believe we will show the world that the worlds longest lasting democracy is alive and well and stronger than it has ever been.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Its up to us to see it realized. This is our second big test as a country. The Civil War was the first. The lead up to and including the present fascist era is the second. The seeds though, were sown during our inception. Our Founding Fathers didnt even pretend that we were already a true Democracy. But they did give us the tools to become one.
Mme. Defarge
(8,026 posts)The Vietnam war, 3 political assassinations and the civil rights movement. It was pretty dicey then too.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)or when we Boomers were younger. As a matter of fact I think our marches were quintessential democracy in action. Im not making light of assassinations because they were horrible for our country, but they werent acts of fascism, or a real threat to Democracy.
Mme. Defarge
(8,026 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)Im talking about our form of government. Youre talking about violence. No one says Democracies dont get violent. They do. We fought a Civil War over it and were in real peril of becoming a dictatorship right now. Were fighting for our very form of government. The violence you bring up was bad for sure but our very form of government wasnt an issue or in peril.
DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)Nothing we have been through, in the history of this country can even begin to prepare you for what we are about to see on November 3rd and November 4th.
I truly hope, deep down, that I am dead wrong for the sake of Man (woman) Kind........
DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)Lonestarblue
(9,963 posts)The question is whether well have a fair election. Will Russia tamper with votes this time or change voter registration data? Will Republicans suppress enough votes so they win in key states? Will Republicans close enough voting locations in minority neighborhoods at the last minute to prevent thousands from voting? Will corporate owners of voting machines who are big Republican donors program their own machines to favor Republicans? They do not allow that programming to be examined after the vote, claiming trade secrecy, so there is no way of knowing and many do not have paper backup.
I believe that Republicans are desperate and they will do any or possibly all of the above, and possibly even things we havent thought about. The question is whether we will have enough turnout to overcome their cheating.
Demonaut
(8,914 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)1. Campaign finance rigs the playing field to elect politicians who are corporate friendly and who will pass laws to benefit Donors instead of the rest of America:
2. Revolving door guarantees that government agencies and the like are run by corporate insiders such as the oil and mining interests being in charge of our public lands and government contracts. It is a reward system for former politicians. They also go into lobbying their former colleagues at extremely high salaries;
3. Our media is beholden to their major advertisers who control many of the stories that get reported, or dont get reported at all;
4. The RW media has programmed a significant percentage of Americans to ignore facts and revel in anything that pisses Democrats off even to their own detriment.
Until we address these issues we will continue to spiral down the drain!
DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)In EMS we often used the expression "circling the drain" to describe a critical patient, or even worse "grave condition"
We are at that moment in the United States.................
WASF
littlemissmartypants
(22,631 posts)DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)You made my day, by making me laugh........I love you........
littlemissmartypants
(22,631 posts)DENVERPOPS
(8,806 posts)We will know in about 12 months........ Maybe a miracle will happen....????
democrank
(11,092 posts)Thank you~
mylightningtoo
(58 posts)Campaign Finance - yes!
Lack of Congressional term limits - think Mitch McConnell
Gerrymandering
Perhaps the move away from earmarks- legislators have less reason to work together anymore on basic legislation
Lack of knowledge about how our government and constitution work - think, "Mexico is going to pay for the wall."
ancianita
(36,017 posts)It mesmerized Germans about their "story" of superiority through their superior leader.
Because of that triumphal story of their collective will, they played their parts, thinking that film story was the truth.
May Americans vote their fate wisely.
kairos12
(12,851 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)calimary
(81,195 posts)People who so blindly follow him are sick in the head.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)We could go on for days!
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,319 posts)MineralMan
(146,284 posts)There was no video in 1940, only film. It's an important difference.
DonaldsRump
(7,715 posts)MineralMan
(146,284 posts)It plays role in everything.
pintobean
(18,101 posts)Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)are motivated by greed, fear, and survival. He could care less about policy.
VOX
(22,976 posts)Voter suppression, travel bans, abortion bans, deregulations, immigrant scapegoating, withdrawal from various international accords, loyalty oaths, etc.
Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)Firestorm49
(4,030 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,489 posts)Meanwhile, in mass, we diligently arm and gird ourselves for.......
Black Friday........
certainot
(9,090 posts)had not been ignoring talk radio for 30 years.
this only gets worse if we keep ignoring it.
all other factors are part of the democratic process and are subject to feedback, reform, improvement
as an unchallenged 20-1 monopoly rw talk radio is the only major political factor that operates outside the free speech spectrum. it's the ONLY unique advantage trump has and dit is ffucking idiotic for sensible americans to keep ignoring it and think things are going to get better soon.
without it trump has nothing. those senators and congressmen are not afraid of trump or a few blockheads and blonde perms on fozx, they're afraid of limbaugh and the few hundred other blowhards on 1500 radio stations who follow limbos lead and scream to the dittohead/teabag/trump base while hiding behind call screeners, increasingly fed by the kremlin.
that is also the orange samson's hair, the most vulnerable talrget for activism, ready to fall apart
Kaiserguy
(740 posts)talk radio needs to be addressed. If a couple of Billionaires who are running for President wanted to do some real good they would start buying up right-wing radio stations and change the format.
certainot
(9,090 posts)the monopoly will fall apart. i don't think the planet can wait for billionaires
boycotting ANY advertiser on ANY rw radio station/show and protests at stations and the 88 universities will send advertisers running and will force the ad industry to ask advertisers if they really support trump and global warming denial. and when universities start looking for apolitical alternatives to broadcast sports on many of those stations will be forced to go to other programming
ancianita
(36,017 posts)occupant gets another four years. That's it. Right wing radio propaganda will be mainstream culture.
certainot
(9,090 posts)it will be easy to destroy rw radio
all dems/'the left' have to do is stop ignoring it. easy as that. make liimbaugh the face of the gop - it would be true and a disaster
texasfiddler
(1,990 posts)It has permanently warped the minds of millions of working class folks that listen each day in their work vehicles from coast to coast.
certainot
(9,090 posts)and they need to see protests and boycotts of those stations
mountain grammy
(26,614 posts)I was able to see your post thanks to your link and I agree.
Your post was removed.... ??
ancianita
(36,017 posts)mountain grammy
(26,614 posts)ancianita
(36,017 posts)Tumbulu
(6,272 posts)Absolutely correct!
Uncle Joe
(58,342 posts)Thanks for the thread shockey.
PatrickforO
(14,570 posts)Playing a dangerous game, I mean.
A game that leads either to the rebirth of our republic, or one that leads down a dark path to holocaust.
I do not use that word lightly - holocaust.
But, should our institutions NOT hold and Trump successfully takes the power of a dictator, then he will begin the oppression.
Jews, Muslims, people of color, gays, disabled. Hitler called such people 'useless eaters' and his solution was simple. Round them up. Confiscate their property and wealth. Cage them in camps. Use the healthy ones as slave labor and starve them as they work. Finally, kill them and burn the bodies.
It could happen again. Very easily.
Loge23
(3,922 posts)There is absolutely nothing about the #IPOTUS that can be considered spiritual in any way.
The evangelicals, catholics, and other so-called christians that support this beast are in for a reckoning should he remain in office past the 2020 election.
He couldn't give a rats ass about these people or their vaunted single-issue BS. Same goes for the rural illiterates - he has nothing at all in common with them either.
Factor in the nuclear codes and basically no one is safe.
We're very close to the edge here.
mountain grammy
(26,614 posts)moondust
(19,972 posts)Channel?
Sounds interesting.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)If you have say, AT&T or Direct TV it will be on their network. Otherwise go to their website: https://www.ahctv.com/ look for list of shows. You might also find some of their programming on YouTube.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)Rome fell because of corruption. Our democracy has been corrupted by money. Republicans, Wall St, and monopolistic corporations are mainly the root of this corruption. The SCOTUS Citizens United decision has enabled dark basically limitless money to buy Senate and congressional seats. Donald Trump is merely the symptom of a much deeper ethical problem.
I have read a lot about Nazi Germany, its rise, and key figures in its leadership. When Hitler and the Nazis were starting out, they were well-funded by wealthy industrialists, who thought that they could control him and get profitable gov contracts. Sound familiar?
I see our main problem as one of the human failing of greed. How many millions, billions does it take to be happy? Our churches and public schools have failed us in teaching ethical morality of no killing, no stealing, no lying, no sexual misconduct, no harsh speech, no divisive speech, no envy, no ill-will, and no wrong views.
ArtTownsend
(439 posts)Sounds somewhat familiar, no?
Good thread by the way, recommended.
warmfeet
(3,321 posts)In less than 5 years we may not even recognize this country.
This not something I enjoy saying.
Get out the fucking vote.
We still have a chance. Get out the fucking vote.
Fuck the russians, fuck trumpslittledickorangeyclownmickfuckstick, get out the vote while we still have a chance.
There is still a chance. Use it to the best of your ability.
Joinfortmill
(14,410 posts)It is the Senators, not the American people. who will actually vote to remove him. The majority of Americans want him gone.
BigmanPigman
(51,584 posts)in a few ways...
1. He liked dogs
2. He cared about his health enough to be a vegetarian (another reason was that he was against animal cruelty and suffering...how ironic!).
3. He had talent (his paintings were pretty good in my opinion).
Of course I am not saying Hitler was better or even equal to tRump at all, but he did have a few positives going for him that the fucking moron does not.
Ponietz
(2,957 posts)he was a good fisherman
he enjoyed a game of riddles
no one youd rather have lead you through the Dead Marshes.
triron
(21,994 posts)triron
(21,994 posts)YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)Our President, the House of Representatives,the Senate, state, local, and federal judges, all military personnel, are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. No one, not even the President of the United States, is above the law. I believe that when people realize how badly broken our Democracy has been attacked and obstructed by the right wing in this country,they will rise up. The key is: WHEN.
There will be no downfall, we WILL rise up. This is not Nazi Germany!
Perseus
(4,341 posts)And I am gambling that I am right on this.
Hitler did not have a patriotic military. I have to believe that the military will not allow this con to rule like a dictator, that they will not go out and do his work against the people. Yes, they are commanded to take orders from the commander-in-chief, but they also have the oath to defend the country from foreign and domestic enemies, I am counting on that.
The other thing Hitler did not have was an FBI and a CIA who I have to think that as apolitical as they claim to be, they must hate his guts, and I doubt they would allow this guy to go much further. I am counting on that too.
Aquaria
(1,076 posts)Is that Hitler liked animals and had a pet. That indicates some capacity for empathy. Plus, Hitler served during a war, and thus wasn't a complete coward.
Dimwit Flathead can't even manage those things.
Heck, even Ted Bundy did volunteer work, chased down purse snatchers and worked for political campaigns--rather than running for office himself. All of which show some sense of concern for his community.
When you can't even be as decent as Hitler or Ted Bundy, you are the worst scum of the earth.
Ever.
democrank
(11,092 posts)It clarifies priorities on Americas urgent to-do list.
jimlup
(7,968 posts)but yes, there are many apt comparisons.
Personally, I am expecting impeachment to fail. The likely result, in my opinion, will be similar to what happened with Clinton. A trial in the Senate that will result in censure, not removal, because a majority will agree to that.
Hope lies with the 2020 election. But we had better make DAMN SURE IT ISN'T STOLEN!
Mc Mike
(9,114 posts)He was studying up.
Xolodno
(6,390 posts)W pretty much put us in serious overdraft in two vital areas, the rest of the world to trust on a "just war" and domestic "appetite" in foreign wars.
Now with Trump, its proven that the US populace can't always be trusted to do the right thing nor, more importantly, elected officials who damn well know the truth, but rather would save their own ass.
Next, the world knows that there is too much corruption in US politics. Lending credence to other authoritarian regimes to say "see, they aren't too different"
We've pulled out of Military, Political and Trade treaties, meaning our word isn't worth it.
We will not recover from the trade wars. The barrier to entry for most nations to compete against US farmers was infrastructure investment. Now with our stupid trade war, they can invest and the time we pull out of this, the sunk cost will be spread out.
Our influence is retracted. The EU wants its own military and negotiate with Russia on its own terms, that's going to gain traction, we will no longer be Europe's "agent". And I won't even go into how we screwed ourselves in South East Asia.
UCmeNdc
(9,600 posts)greytdemocrat
(3,299 posts)Try getting your facts straight, this paragraph is an embarrassment.