Trump isn't Hitler and You aren't a Historian So shut Up. For most of the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, and probably still in some fringe circles I’m not aware of, far-right Christians called Barak Obama the Anti-Christ. I distinctly remember one post that heralded the approaching end-times with a quote from Revelations, referring to a “dark man in power”. You honestly don’t know whether to laugh from obtuse ignorance, or hang your head in despair from lazily concealed racism. To this day, I’m still not completely sure that most of this was sincere, or rather one of those many stupid things vulgar people enjoy saying from time to time for applause. I’m too cynical to believe that people actually believed that, but I’m too pessimistic to also deny that --probably -- a great many really did believe they could get other people to believe it. In my ignorant youth, I thought this phenomena was exclusive to fundamentalists. Yet I was wrong. It seems that the older and more jaded and cynical I become, the more independently stupid the world grows in proportion. I haven’t gown smarter; the world just got lazier with its bullshit. And comparing Donald Trump to Hitler and Republicans to Nazis is bullshit; every bit as ignorant and stupid as calling Obama the Anti-Christ. Don't believe me? Hitler, although mediocre, always wanted to be an “artist” of some kind. He applied to a prestigious art school twice while living in Vienna, and was rejected twice; as far as I know Trump has never applied to any liberal arts school, in defiance of his dead father, to become a bohemian painter. This is of course a superficial comparison, but superficialities are not beneath those who compare Trump to Hitler no matter how ignorant they are of specifics. After his rejection, Hitler went to Wagner operas innumerable times. Does Trump like Wagner? If so he’s missed many opportunities to play Flight of the Valkyrie at his racist rallies. Hitler also read voraciously and had a retentive memory; Trump forgot that he said he’d make Mexico pay for his racist wall, and often forgets that he’s racist to begin with. Soon, however, Hitler ran out of money from his inheritance and had to live in a men’s home. Trump inherited money too, which is one similarity, but he spent his money building a business whereas Hitler, aside from selling paintings, never worked a day in his life. If there’s any evidence that Trump lived in a homeless shelter I’d love to see it. One of the major differences between Hitler and Trump is their relationships with women. Trump has had three divorces, a fact people love pointing out, whereas Hitler had only one marriage that ended in a double-suicide. Trump can be characterized as a playboy or womanizer; Hitler was afraid of women, was a severe prude when around them, and although was something of a sex symbol as the Fuher, never exploited that sexually. Germany was unaware of Hitler’s relationship with Eva Braun until 1945. He was insanely protective of his niece Geli Raubal, until she committed suicide; an event, one of only two, that Hitler reacted to within in a normal range of human grief. And let’s not forget Hitler’s entourage of lesser demons. Goring was a war hero and respected socialite; Pence is better left undiscussed. Goebbels, aside from being quite possibly more antisemitic than Hitler himself, was a master manipulator of mass media, perhaps the first politician to ruthlessly utilize all available media for state-sponsored propaganda; Trump’s tweets are embarrassing. And Himmler was both a ruthless fanatic and highly effective organizer; no one in Trump’s cabinet resembles him in the slightest either by devotion or efficiency. That’s one of the main problems with Hitler-Trump comparisons: on some level you have to admit the Nazis were efficient, organized, and determined – qualities people prone to making weak analogies are not smart enough to acknowledge of their political enemies. It must be all negative. For an act as complicated and extensive as the Holocaust, which would be hard to accomplish in a dictatorship, let alone a republic with a balance of powers and, by the way, an armed population, to be carried out, you have to admit at least a far greater amount of competence the Nazis had than making fun of Trump's tweets and general incompetency allows given basic goddamned consistency. You're trying to have to things at once, all the while believing that people are dumb enough not to notice. Like Goebbels. Hitler fought in WWI and received a medal; Trump hasn’t fought in any wars, although he did by other means acquire a Purple Heart – another fact people love to point out without realizing it undermines their Hitler fantasies. Hitler was possessed of a “worldview” that consisted of three premises: the Jews were responsible for Germany losing WWI – the famous “stab in the back” myth – and had seen to it that they and they alone profited from the Treaty of Versailles; the German race was superior to all others, and must cleanse itself from impurities – Jews, the mentally challenged, homosexuals, non-National Socialists – in order to recover greatness; in order to thrive, Germany would require “living space” – areas that she could farm to support a growing population – which would require perpetual war to attain. This worldview, however insane, cruel, and racist, was internally consistent and one Hitler maintained unswervingly until his death in his bunker. Trump has no worldview, consistent or not, that includes any one of those three premises. Even if I concede that he is racist towards Latinos and his immigration polices are similar to the Nuremberg Laws and his executive orders resemble the Enabling Act and putting children in cages doesn’t shamefully exploit a comparison with the Holocaust – and I am not by any means conceding any of that without hard evidence – Trump has no motivation behind any of it that would fit into an ideology compatible with Hitler’s. I’m confident Trump couldn’t care less about WWI, a fact he proved himself by skipping the Armistice Day memorial, yet another pesky fact Trump-Hitler obsessives conveniently forget. If Trump has grand plans to cleanse society of undesirables – however defined – he’s taking his time about it. Hitler accomplished most of his race-based legislation within a year of being Chancellor; Trump hasn’t even got his damn Wall up yet. And far from explicitly stating, as Hitler did in the 1920s, and again in Mein Kampf, and again and again, that Germany must make war in the East – i.e. Russia –Trump is rather chummy with Russia and doesn’t seem too concerned that we’ll need Russian land to feed German-American farmers. Is Trump even German? Trump’s coziness with Russia completely undermines the Trump-Hitler garbage to the point that anyone who expresses both views simultaneously is either an utter moron or knows nothing of history. Hitler showed at least superficial respect for Ludendorff and Hindenburg; Trump mocked John McCain. And lastly, Hitler was a master orator. Trump, even at his most grab-em-by-the-pussiest, pales in comparison. Hitler was a competent actor; have you seen The Apprentice? While Trump has charisma and defeated a formidable array of career politicians in the primaries, Hitler took a radical fringe group and elevated it to unrivaled dominance, and also quite literally murdered people who got in his way. Until Trump has his Night of the Long Knives I’m going to roll my eyes, each and every time, someone compares Trump to Hitler with a straight face. But perhaps the biggest difference between Nazi Germany and Trump’s America is that, once Hitler was elected Chancellor, Germany experienced a mass exodus of intellectuals, writers, journalists, and other celebrities – a cultural vacuum from which, in the words of one scholar, Germany “never fully recovered”. A lot of intellectuals and writers and actors and celebrities said they would move to Canada if Trump was elected, and never did; a fact that shows, if nothing else does, that they don’t really actually believe he is Hitler. They just want you to. Because they think you’re stupid. |