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The Donald, the Dictator, Left Us Quite a Mess |
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Published 1/20/2021
Roanoke Times, Roanoke, Virginia
By John Freivalds
It’s no longer just pejorative or outrageous to call Donald Trump a dictator or someone with dictatorial tendencies; he is one. And this shakes many of us to our self-serving core. How did this person appear in our political system? Aren’t we better than that? This is a banana republic on steroids. TV shows, pundits, social media, snobbery of the elite, all led to a false illusion, if not delusion, of who Americans really are. All men are created equal? Here’s the dictionary definition of a dictator: ”A person who orders others about domineeringly, or one whose pronouncements on some subject are meant to be taken as the final word.”
All this was hidden from view by our Constitution. Trump tried to be an absolute dictator but was constrained by an active “fake news” media, and a skeptical Congress and courts. Because of all this he escaped being compared to Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany who had no such constraints and who drove Germany to ruin. The comparison is no longer far-fetched and is now debated openly.
Hitler promised economic growth and gave it for a couple of years, as did Trump. Hitler wanted the Third Reich to last 1,000 years and Trump wanted the U.S. to only think of itself. Hitler incited his base to believe an ethnic group, the Jews, were at the heart of all problems. Trump has done the same thing by blaming Muslims, Mexicans, Blacks, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Nancy Pelosi, Chinese, AOC, the Taliban, Democrats, Palestinians and Iranians for everything from trade deficits, riots, rape, crime, drug smuggling, terrorism, introduction of Sharia law, speaking foreign languages, as well as the coronavirus. Immigration would stop, aliens rounded up and deported and families separated and put into camps. Hitler believed in huge rallies with Nazi flags flying and “Sieg Heil” salutes. Hitler’s base was like Trump’s: led by many uneducated, if not fanatical, whites who became a cult wearing red hats.
Hitler controlled the media and its message scripted by Joseph Goebbels, his minister of propaganda. Trump used the Fox network and Sean Hannity and fellow pundits as his echo chamber. Trump even tried to use the immigration service, the U.S. Marshals service as a sort of Gestapo and even the 82nd Airborne to crush dissent. Fellow dictators were embraced and enamored by Hitler, as was Italy with Mussolini and Trump with Russia’s Putin.
The German people, like many in the U.S., let the dictatorship go on. Everyone hoped that Trump would pivot and regale in his position and not be divisive. Instead, the Republican Party became an instrument for Trump to use to silence and demonize critics. Trump legitimized bigotry, and strange people with strange medieval comments came out of the woodwork. It even didn’t catch a lot of attention when Trump’s former chief of staff Steve Bannon said that the head of the FBI and virus scientist Dr. Fauci should be beheaded and their heads put on spikes on either side of the White House. Yep, he said that.
But both Hitler and Trump came to their end when they took on an issue that was too big for them. With a lot of victories behind him Hitler decide to invade Russia while fighting the rest of the world. His generals told him not to and Hitler got rid the ones who did not agree with him. Hitler committed suicide in a bunker with the Russians approaching but believing some secret weapons would save him.
Donald Trump decided to take on the coronavirus with blab alone: “It will just disappear. It is just a common cold,” Trump said. Science was trashed as was anyone who disagreed. And the generals Trump brought into his administration to give the appearance of order and logic were all fired. Trump basically traded away all his talent for people he could trust. Would you want Rudy Giuliani to be your lawyer?
What to do? Now it is up to us to clean up the mess and disunity that we were left with and hope that there is not another dictator in America’s future. But I always keep writer Eduardo Galeano’s words in mind: ”History never really says goodbye; history says ‘see you later.’”
Here is what the people are saying.
hazydavy Jan 20, 2021 6:20am
Yes there is a lot to do to clean up the mess Trump left us. But we need some time to decompress. The first thing to do this morning is to sing this song as Trump leaves Washington:Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye
-David
oldman46 Jan 20, 2021 8:19am
Every word true and Trump's legacy will be nearly turning the US into a dictatorship with the help of his enablers and fanatical cult .
Ed R Jan 20, 2021 12:59pm Good frackin' riddance....to the worst president in modern history. edr
stevenelson Jan 22, 2021 5:39am “Come On! Give Me a Break, Man!” – Biden Struggles Through Covid Presser, Snubs Reporter… And It’s Only His First Full Day in Office