I used to offer the gallows humor that if the Dems said the Holocaust happened and the GOP said it didn't CNN would urge both sides to be reasonable.
In 2016, we have the exception to the rule. The Godwin Rule in particular, which argues against Hitler and Nazi comparisons.
But I read that as not abusing such comparisons by egregiously overusing them as some on the Right has. Often the charge of anti Semitism has been used against anyone who is critical of Israel politically.
But while not everything is like Hitler, and while the great majority of things are not like Hitler, some things are. A very few.
And the rise of Trump is like that. The similarities between Trump and Hitler are striking.
1. Both are against 'bad trade deals' and claim that other nations are 'beating us in everything.'
2. Both promise to make the country 'great again. But who is to blame for the nation's demise? For Hitler it was the Jews, for Trump it's the Mexicans and the Muslims.
3. Both ran in a democratic election. This is why it's dangerously naive to assume it can't happen here or that Trump is nothing like Hitler.
4. Hitler even keeps a copy of Hitler's speeches next to his bed.
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-ex-wife-once-said-he-kept-a-book-of-hitlers-speeches-by-his-bed-2015-8
5. All the world leaders Trump seems to admire are dictators: Putin, Kim Jong-Un, the Chinese government in the Tinanmen Square Massacre.
Yes, maybe our constitutional protections are strong enough. But why would you want to test them out? Even if they were able to restrain Trump's worse excesses, there's still a whole lot of terrible things he could do. Imagine the scope of executive actions he would take.
Unlike Obama, he wouldn't worry about whether the law said he couldn't take them. Even if a Court later reverses unlawful actions what about the long lag in between?
The idea that the military would take him out if he went too far is not comforting. It's' better not to have a constitutional crisis in the first place than hope that we are strong enough to survive it.
There are a lot of things that Trump has run on that the GOP could live with. Those who are looking for Paul Ryan to restrain Trump should remember that Ryan also wants huge tax cuts for the rich and wants to destroy Medicare.
Yes, in the primary Trump had said he won't cut entitlements. But his advisers didn't get the memo.
https://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/05/but-at-least-donald-trump-wont-cut.html?showComment=1463419162337#c6201741043827131680
While Trump has focused more on baiting Muslims than baiting Jews, he has made some allusions to his view of the Jews. And then there's his use of the Jewish Star of David on Saturday.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/corey-lewandowski-star-david-donald-trump-225072#ixzz4DRQiWqgc
"First he came for the Mexicans. Then women. Then the Muslims. Now the Jews! What's next? #racist"
https://twitter.com/RehabRowdies/status/749734010427932674
In 2016, we have the exception to the rule. The Godwin Rule in particular, which argues against Hitler and Nazi comparisons.
But I read that as not abusing such comparisons by egregiously overusing them as some on the Right has. Often the charge of anti Semitism has been used against anyone who is critical of Israel politically.
But while not everything is like Hitler, and while the great majority of things are not like Hitler, some things are. A very few.
And the rise of Trump is like that. The similarities between Trump and Hitler are striking.
1. Both are against 'bad trade deals' and claim that other nations are 'beating us in everything.'
2. Both promise to make the country 'great again. But who is to blame for the nation's demise? For Hitler it was the Jews, for Trump it's the Mexicans and the Muslims.
3. Both ran in a democratic election. This is why it's dangerously naive to assume it can't happen here or that Trump is nothing like Hitler.
4. Hitler even keeps a copy of Hitler's speeches next to his bed.
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-ex-wife-once-said-he-kept-a-book-of-hitlers-speeches-by-his-bed-2015-8
5. All the world leaders Trump seems to admire are dictators: Putin, Kim Jong-Un, the Chinese government in the Tinanmen Square Massacre.
Yes, maybe our constitutional protections are strong enough. But why would you want to test them out? Even if they were able to restrain Trump's worse excesses, there's still a whole lot of terrible things he could do. Imagine the scope of executive actions he would take.
Unlike Obama, he wouldn't worry about whether the law said he couldn't take them. Even if a Court later reverses unlawful actions what about the long lag in between?
The idea that the military would take him out if he went too far is not comforting. It's' better not to have a constitutional crisis in the first place than hope that we are strong enough to survive it.
There are a lot of things that Trump has run on that the GOP could live with. Those who are looking for Paul Ryan to restrain Trump should remember that Ryan also wants huge tax cuts for the rich and wants to destroy Medicare.
Yes, in the primary Trump had said he won't cut entitlements. But his advisers didn't get the memo.
https://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2016/05/but-at-least-donald-trump-wont-cut.html?showComment=1463419162337#c6201741043827131680
While Trump has focused more on baiting Muslims than baiting Jews, he has made some allusions to his view of the Jews. And then there's his use of the Jewish Star of David on Saturday.
"Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Sunday blamed the blowup over his former campaign's use of imagery some saw as anti-Semitic on "political correctness."
The controversy follows a tweet on Saturday with a graphic labeling Hillary Clinton the "most corrupt candidate ever." The text was laid over a six-pointed star and on a pile of money. Trump deleted the tweet hours later. The Clinton campaign questioned the use of the six-pointed star, which resembles the Star of David, an important Jewish symbol. In the past, Trump has faced criticism for anti-Semitic remarks from his supporters, and the candidate's support for Israel has been called into question."
"The bottom line is this is political correctness run amok. If this were to be a star next to Hillary Clinton without the cash behind it, no one would be questioning this," Lewandowski said during an interview on "State of the Union" on Sunday. (Lewandowski was recently hired by CNN following his departure from the Trump campaign.)
"Lewandowski claimed the image was meant to evoke law enforcement"
"This is the same star that sheriff's departments all over the country use to represent law enforcement," he said. "You're reading into something that isn't there."
"They put a new tweet up with the circle," he added. "The message is the same. Let's look at the message. The message is that Hillary Clinton is corrupt."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/corey-lewandowski-star-david-donald-trump-225072#ixzz4DRQiWqgc
Law enforcement doesn't use the Star of David.
That Lewandowski is defending anti Semitism is not a surprise. It should be a surprise that he's being paid by CNN to do it.
But hey, opinions differ.
But hey, opinions differ.
P.S.
T Mac on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/RehabRowdies/status/749734010427932674
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