Orange Jesus is not Adolf Hitler
Though the comparisons are understandable and not completely off-base
It’s a comparison so emotionally and historically charged that there’s an Internet “law” governing it: Godwin’s Law, which holds
that as an online discussion grows longer (regardless of topic or scope), the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler approaches 1.
It was all too easy during Donald Trump’s Reign of Error to compare his words and actions to that of Adolf Hitler and the actions of his Administration to that of the Nazis. Unfortunately, some of the parallels were purely emotional, unfair, and way off base, though they may have felt good to those making them.
Others were much closer to the truth, which was distinctly disturbing in a country that prides itself on representative democracy- you know, one man, one vote? In the almost two years since Orange Jesus (Oh, how I wish I could claim credit for that one) has been out of office, the Nazi comparisons have been hard to miss. Worse, they’re becoming harder to refute.
In a stinging interview Friday, one-time presidential candidate Hillary Clinton compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, and his political rallies to Nazi gatherings.
She zeroed in on a Sept. 17 event in Youngstown, Ohio, where members of the crowd raised a stiff-armed salute to the former president that is chillingly reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
The one-finger salute reportedly stands for “Where We Go One We Go All” — a saying in the far-right QAnon conspiracy movement.
Some wags would claim that the crowd was using the wrong finger- it should’ve been the middle finger- but Sec. Clinton makes a very good point. Of course, she’s been pilloried by the Far Right for it, but that doesn’t make her observations any less valid.
“I remember as a young student, you know, trying to figure out how did people get basically drawn in by Hitler. How did that happen?” Clinton said during an onstage interview at The Texas Tribune Festival, a “politics and policy event” in Austin, Texas.
“I’d watch newsreels and I’d see this guy standing up there ranting and raving, and people shouting and raising their arms. I thought, ‘What’s happened to these people?’” she continued.
“You saw the rally in Ohio the other night: Trump is there ranting and raving for more than an hour, and you have these rows of young men with their arms raised. I thought, ‘What is going on?’”
Indeed, what IS going on? If you wanted a historical parallel, you could look at the 1936 Nuremberg rallies. While the Youngstown rally wasn’t nearly as disciplined, the actions and responses to Trump’s words were eerily similar.
Both Hitler and Trump were/are populists whose appeal lies in their simplistic manipulation of the fear of The Other. In Trump’s case, he can claim that he’s never been overtly racist, but his policies and those supporting him belie his denials.
He speaks in code and dog whistles, which allows him the patina of plausible deniability even as his followers know exactly what he means.
Of course, the fact that the crowds at his rallies are almost universally White, Conservative, Christian, and heterosexual is merely a happy coincidence, right?
(Tell me your in a cult without telling me you’re in a cult)
This sort of thing has been inevitable since Trump’s inauguration day. If you remember his “American carnage” rant and what a dark picture of America he painted that day, he’s never deviated from that. At least Ronald Reagan had his “Shining City on a Hill” and George W. Bush his “Thousand Points of Light.” Donald Trump turned federal law-enforcement personnel loose in the streets of Portland to bust heads- and loved every minute of it.
To him, that’s leadership. Leaders don’t console the families of the fallen; they dispatch troops to kick ass and take names in the name of law and order. A natural leader uses his authority to crack down on those questioning him and shows them who’s in charge.
Donald Trump isn’t asking for much. Not really. He wants to be an absolute, unquestioned leader who rules with an iron fist and whose authority is neither disputed nor questioned.
He doesn’t just want to be President again. He’s running to be Führer, someone who can suspend the Constitution when it serves his purpose, install his own people in positions of power, and enrich himself and his family and cronies.
Is that too much to ask?
So is Donald Trump the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, or is the comparison unfair? Or does comparing Trump to Hitler or any other maniacal, murderous despot run the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law and queering the conversation to the point of no return? Considering the number of supporters who show up at his rallies in Nazi regalia or carrying Nazi flags, the comparison hardly seems unreasonable, but it’s also rather simplistic.
For instance, it’s doubtful that Trump would have the brains, the balls, or the thought processes necessary to institute anything like the Nazis’ Final Solution. Of course, something similar could happen here, but it seems unlikely.
I can only speak for myself, but I’m sick and tired of hearing Trump’s name day in and day out, multiple times a day. I’m disgusted by hearing news programs obsess over him and his antics. I understand why it’s happening, but we hear far more about Trump and his spurious bullshit than we do about the current President- who’s doing some pretty good things.
With any luck, the Justice Department will soon indict Orange Jesus for something nefarious, but I think it’s unlikely he’ll ever see the inside of a prison cell. It’s far more likely he'll die before America gets that satisfaction.
For now, though, I wish the media would dial back their constant 24/7/365 obsession and fascination with all things Trump. We have a President whose name ISN'T Trump and whose compassion and competence put Mango Mussolini to shame. Joe Biden has more of both in the fingernail on his left pinkie than Donald Trump has ever had. Shouldn't we act as if we recognize that instead on constantly fixating on the trainwreck that is Orange Jesus?
In the meantime, we would probably also do well to lose the Nazi comparisons. Yes, the historical parallels might be difficult to resist, but we can understand and respect the past without wallowing in it. Whatever happens, the future will be its own unique set of historical events. Looking back 80 years to the atrocities of the Nazi era may be tempting, but it minimizes the horrors of those years and will make it difficult to understand our future.
Enough is enough.