Our 1933 Moment

[kennetha]

What would you have done in 1933? Where would you have stood? Would you have said to all those who were gripped with terror at his rising that they should not give into panic, but should give the man a chance? Would you have thought to yourself "How bad can it be really? The Reichstag will check him. Vice Chancellor Van Papen will be the puppet master behind the scenes. And Von Neurath will be the voice of reason in foreign affairs." Would you have convinced yourself that he couldn't possibly mean all that he says, that the worst of it was merely for show, or to play on people's emotions? Would you have sat on the sidelines, adopting the stance of a mere spectator, devoid of political agency? This is our 1933 moment. Let us not repeat the errors of the past.

[dhol82]

1. Don't think the shit will hit the fan until next year

That will be the Reichstag fire.

Hope our type of government will not allow a total control. Not all that hopefull.
Not sure how to prepare. Hope I am being just too alarmist.

[roamer65]

3. Pre-Nazi Germany and the current United States are very different.

There are distinct regional and ethnic differences, unlike 1933 Germany.

We are more likely to follow a path similar to the old Soviet Union, if it gets bad enough.

[dhol82]

7. So, we'll have to wait for a president, sometime in the future, who will let the states separate?

Looking forward to the future 'United States of Canada!'

That will, of course, leave behind 'Dumbfuckistan!'

[uponit7771]

23. Unnnn, in a civil war context we are but not we are in exact position 1933 Germany was in with

... the Nazis taking a plurality (not total) control and the Nazis weren't as willing to trade their souls for control like the GOP is right now.

For a civil war, we're in DIRECT context as the old Soviet Union a civil war right now in the US would be very very very bloody... it would tear this country apart.

[tenorly]

6. A very plausible fear - considering that's exactly what they already did in 2001.

Somehow I doubt Drumpf can resist the temptation to pull a stunt like that himself. God help us all.

[ffr]

18. No your alarm is real. Rural America is off the hook off the constitution and they're out for blood

They want news networks shutdown if they don't carry tRump's water. They want libtards and dumocrats strung up and names taken. I'm not saying this, they're saying this. How long ago did they say this? Within the hour.

These people see me and think I'm ultra conservative by the looks of me, so they speak as though they need not put on a filter for anyone. I don't watch Fox Noise, but their hate speech is probably just a little bit more militaristic than what is said on TV. The hate is deep and so is the uneducated way they present their message. Unhinged and CRAZY!! RW TV & radio gives them a platform to feel like they're in the majority to do whatever it is they feel they need to do to 'old school' us dummies into line or else.

One of these days they're going to get a rude awakening.

[Warpy]

2. In 1933, most people didn't have a clue just how bad it would get

I know that friends who mouthed the Nazi political line would have been off the guest list the way Trump Chumps are now. I'd have read "Mein Kampf," which Hitler actually wrote, although I haven't read "The art of the Deal," which Twittler did not. I would be alarmed enough then to keep my passport up to date as I do now.

With the invasion of Poland, I think the writing on the wall would have been clear enough to send me running into Switzerland, much of my cash having preceded me.

Remember that in 1933, the Germans were fed as steady a diet of broadcast conservative/fascist bullshit as most Americans are now. Even the most sensible didn't see things like the Final Solution and the attempted takeover of continental Europe coming. We have no clue what this orange horror has up his sleeve, or what he will be permitted to do about it.

Offhand, I'd say get a passport and save your money just in case. Or, if you're young and broke, find a few people you trust with your life and start grooming them to become the extremely disloyal opposition if the worst starts to happen.

[uponit7771]

24. +1, the other indicator will be a small tactical nuke or dirty bomb or one of his kids hurt to get

... people behind him if he doesn't improve on the economic situation in a year which I don't see him doing much of unless his admin lies out of its ass on the UE numbers.

Benedict Donald is the most unpopular president elect in polling history and has no mandate while at the time of the Reichstag fire Hitler was up in popularity because of how much US money was thrown at him.

Either way, he has to get people behind him to be the threat like Hitler was ..even his people think he's an asshole

[Chasstev365]

4. Big Difference

Germany had no tradition of democracy, while we do! If they push it too far, people will say enough and demand Trump's impeachment!

[dhol82]

9. Right, we will be able to impeach him with congress and the supremes on his side

Sure.

[ffr]

19. Exactly! We cannot even get McConnell to investigate Russian involvement in our elections

because the Russian's helped the R candidate. So long as assholes like him are in power, it's their way or the highway.

[Martin Eden]

5. Too many people are frogs in a pot of water, slowly being brought to a boil

By the time they realize they have to jump out, it is too late.

[Ace Rothstein]

8. You're going to have mass secession from the Union if Trump tries something too crazy.

[sarisataka]

10. Ah yes, the wisdom of knowing what would happen looking backwards...

What would you have done on November 6, 2016, knowing how the election would turn out?

What do you recommend we do now?

[kennetha]

14. You are missing the point

There was a decisive moment in 1933, the decisiveness of which was not immediately evident. Decisive moments do not always announce themselves. But history teaches us that they creep up on us while we are asleep or otherwise unaware. We ought be alive to the real possibility that this is such a moment and we ought prepare ourselves to respond appropriately.

[Snarkoleptic]

11. When you feel like a blue speck in a red map, think of this guy.

[Crash2Parties]

12. History never repeats itself precisely, but it does repeat *patterns* and there will always be

certain types of people who crave power, to the detriment of everyone else in a society. It's a cycle, and we are nearing the end of one.

[C Moon]

13. I recall when Bush was first elected he alluded to dictatorship in a positive way.

I also recall him saying something about extending the length of a U.S. Presidency, because it's not enough time to get anything done.
I can't help but wonder if that is something the GOP will work on changing: removing term limits for President, and term lengths.
I don't know what that would require, but seeing they have complete control, I'm sure they'd be able to accomplish it.

[BobTheSubgenius]

15. I can't see states ceding yet more power to the feds. NT

[Ford_Prefect]

16. He said it BEFORE he was selected. It was one among a number of telling remarks he made

that in retrospect were telegraphing his message to "his" people.

The GOP are far more likely to remove the need for elections by arranging some kind of a state of emergency, forcing repeated delays in the electoral process. They will try to rewrite how we vote, who is qualified and what that vote is worth: rural versus urban and along other class lines. They will try to further engineer that anyone who votes for "the enemies of freedom" will be shamed as a traitor.
They will be ruthless in distorting our history, and the truths about how well off America actually is, and the simple reality that most Americans live and work in a far more diverse culture than they know exists and not only in urban centers. They will invent new excuses and replay old racist lies to generate a "USA" versus "Them strangers" (China) dichotomy. They will endlessly extol American Exceptionalism and the desperate need to dig up every ton of coal or pump every gallon of oil and natural gas under the many National parks and monuments to insure our Liberty. They will deny, deny and deny any evidence or research showing that we have reached or passed a turning point in the life of the planet or that fracking in any way is a threat to local and regional water supplies or world wide atmosphere.

Make no mistake that this is a war for the future of human and American culture and the future (if any) of the planet we need to live on.

My own view is that some of what they want to accomplish will not work because the Constitution and the structure of our government won't allow it to, although that will not prevent them from making one hell of a mess of things trying to do so. Some of the people who have been proposed to lead in doing these things are so incompetent they will make such a mess so badly that they will fail, but while they are at it they will succeed in damaging or ruining the institutions we depend on, which seems to be one of their goals.

I have no doubt that some of the people put in charge will be ruthlessly effective in their roles and will turn institutions inside out, or reduce them to rubber stamps for fascist adventures, profiteering, and grimly effective engines of genocide through neglect, if not outright murder.

[C Moon]

22. This is awesome, Ford_Prefect

Thank you.
Can I add that I think, because there are so many "incompetent" people being used, that is why the Cheneys are stepping up to help.
It's fucking scary stuff.

[NoMoreRepugs]

17. K&R well said kennetha

[colsohlibgal]

20. It Is Chillingly Similar

Hitler got elected too, at first. Then he went after people by religion, race, sexuality, etc.

This guy now has all the trappings of a despot. He wants lists already, even Federal employees who believe in climate change.

I agree, fight, fight, fight, but keep a passport handy.

[OnlinePoker]

21. I'm just waiting for him to turn his eyes north

I'm expecting he'll want to invade my homeland for lebensraum.

[uponit7771]

25. He'll turn south first and stated so to some degree, he wants Mexico to pay for a wall and

... he'll lie out of his ass to say they did so .... or .... make them pay in some way.

But Benedict Donald doesn't have the time and space to do what Hitler did seeing the economic numbers in the US are pretty high due to the Obama admin, he can't take credit for that.

He can worsen the economy though and it'd be obvious if he tried a tactical nuke or dirty bomb to get people behind him... in the US even Benedict Donald supporters know he's an asshole.

I don't see that changing