In rereading the great Michener's "Poland", I was reminded of just how entangled that nation

[Atticus]

has been throughout history with virtually every country or province around it, including Ukraine.

In the chapter dealing with the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany, I was struck by the following passage about a brutal Nazi commandant:

"---he believed without question that Germany was intended by destiny, OR GOD IF ONE WISHED, to rule Europe and that Adolph Hitler had been brought to Germany from Austria to lead the nation to SUPREMACY. Therefore,---,( even for trivial rule violations )--- no punishment could be too severe."-------- ( EMPHASIS MINE )

The Nazis believed that Hitler had been chose or anointed by God and that ANYTHING they did to support his vile whims was "doing God's work".

If that is not enough creepy similarities between the Nazis and the "evangelical" Trumpies, consider this: the uneducated "judges" put on the bench by the SS wore RED CAPS!

[tblue37]

1. Redcaps are murderous fae:

The redcap (or powrie) is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. He is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds and is known for soaking his cap in the blood of his victims.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcap

[John1956PA]

2. An interesting novel, indeed. I remember the dialog about Ukraine

One character said to the other words to the effect, "Ukraine is all flat and uninhabited, except for Kiev."

[pecosbob]

3. It changed from 'we are destined to rule' to 'we were tricked by criminal gangsters' pretty quick

My dad worked at NASA...I met some of the people responsible for the V2s that fell on London. Many of the choices 'we' made at the end of that war in preparation for the next were nothing less than reprehensible. The Poles were treated pretty badly by all participants in the end.

[Igel]

4. In other words,

like most other utopian groups that believe right and history are necessarily on their side.

Putin's sure he'll win because God's on his side, Xi's sure that the Chinese way is best because of how history develops under Marxist theory (same for the USSR), others talk about "being on the right side of history" or the "moral arc of the universe" (or God, if you wish).

[Cyrano]

5. Trump said, on camera, "I am the chosen one."