Recently i received a thoughtful comment regarding my blog (Freedom versus Authoritarianism) that questioned globanomics for its comparison of Hitler and Trump and putting the two in the same basket.  It made be take pause--at least for a while.  Here was the comment i received regarding that blog.

"While I'm loathe to compare Trump to Hitler since Hitler killed millions, Trump's rise to power was eerily similar. And he seems to model his entire PR campaign on Hitler's."

-----

Now here is my response.

Your comment made me take pause and reconsider globanomics' position regarding Hitler and Trump.  And even though the pause has been short (less than 24 hours), i think globanomics must stick with its position.

Most of the damage Hitler did took place more than four-years after he took control of the German government.  In other words, total control takes time.  Would Donald Trump have used the U.S. Government to kill millions?  I hope we never have to find out.  I do know, however, that a second term of Trump would have meant that the entire Executive Branch, including the Department of Defense, would have been politicized and completely under the control of Trump in a fascist manner.

We have learned in the past few days that Trump was already trying to get the Defense Department to operate politically.  Trump even wanted his generals to operate like Hitler's--his words, not mine.  We also have learned recently how Trump revamped the Secret Service (ironically, the SS).  And let's never forget the "Stand Back and Stand By" statement to his underground right-wing henchmen.

Finally, Trump may not have killed millions, but globanomics still holds him responsible for the politicization of the coronavirus vaccine, which did in fact result in the unnecessary death of thousands.

-----

Further, but not part of my response.

Just because Trump was unable to fully implement his racist agenda, we must not be afraid to call it out for what it was and is.  The silence of a large sector of the German population who feared the repercussion of speaking out against Hitler, gave Hitler the power that he craved.  The United States is currently in civil war territory where there is clearly a side that wants fascism power over democracy, and this is no time for the democracy side to stand on the sidelines, be quiet, or worry about overstating its concern.