1/

I've been thinking about these comparisons.
There are interesting similarities, but gor whatever reason (some semblance of sep of powers left, plus different personality disorder?)--there are important, interesting differences. https://twitter.com/AgainCassandra/status/1390670638067634176

2/Both men are attracted by lies--for Hitler (and von Hindenburg), the lie is that Germany wa on the verge of winning WWI, but disloyal politicians ruined it. For Trump, it's much more narrowly personal: Everything Obama did was wrong, the country was falling apart under Obama.

3/Hitler wants a pan-German state--with citizenship, residency, and civil rights for ethnic Germans. SInce 2018, Trump wanted to end birthright citizenship (not sure whether he ever grasped 14th Amendment);

4/Trump's rhetoric may have been different than Hitler, but he saw himself as genetically superior. In 2010, he told CNN that he was born with "a drive for success" and was a "gene believer," comparing the quality of his gene pool to a set of fast racehorses.

5/In 2016, in MS, he told a crowd: ""I have Ivy League education, smart guy, good genes. I have great genes and all that stuff, which I'm a believer in."

6/In MN, in Sept, he said: "You have good genes, you know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn't it, don't you believe? The racehorse theory. You think we're so different? You have good genes in Minnesota."

7/And then went on to warn his audience that "Every family in Minnesota needs to know about sleepy Joe Biden's extreme plan to flood your state with an influx of refugees from Somalia, from other places all over the planet."

8/But again, tho Trump's focus on genetic superiority was repulsive, it was more narrowly personal than Hitler's. I've no doubt Trrump would make those distinctions based on race--but even more than that, Trump foused on his own superiority.

9/And Trump's style for a coup was much differrent than Hitler's. On 1/6, he told his supporters: "Now, it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. And after this, we’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you."

10/And then he got in his limo and went back to the WH. Trump would never be able to organize the Beer Hall Putsch--and Trump's books were ghostwritten, all extolling Trump--not a tome on the two enemies of the nation.

11/And Hitler had a devoted circle of aides, without much turnover (excepting the Knight of the Long Knives, which isn't quite turnover). Trump's administration was a revolving door.

12/Hitler promoted the myth of the "dolchstoss"--in 1918 the German Army was stabbed in the back by Jews and their lib allies. For Trump, it's the stolen elec; he was stabbed in the back by Big Tech, the fake news media, Pence, McConnell, Kemp, SCOTUS,Bill Barr, Dom;n Voting.

13/And to be sure, there are similarities in the degree to which Hitler's aides--and Trump's aides--would jockey around him, and tell him wht he wanted to hear, hoping that he would notice them.

14/And Hitler and trump are both at the center of personality cults--both among their aids and among their supporters in the mass public. And they both draw suport from angry people who feel that somehow, life has failed to deliver what they think they deserve.

15/And Hitler and trump are both at the center of personality cults--both among their aids and among their supporters in the mass public. And they both draw suport from angry people who feel that somehow, life has failed to deliver what they think they deserve.

16/Both rely on propaganda: For Hitler, Dietrich Eckart edits the Völkischer Beobachter newspaper, which is devoted to perpetuating a kind of mythology about Hitler, who restored Germany to its rightfulplace. For Trump, it's Breitbart, FOX, and OAN...and Q.

17/Neither were good administrators. Both delayed decisions--true procrastinators, tho Trump also liked that reality tv show cliffhanger. Both had chaotic administrationgs, because they were inclined to just let subordintes fight it out.

18/Of course, there were differences. HItler seized power as a formal authoritarian--Trump may have fantasized about that, he may have seen the GOP members of Congress as his employees--but that's not how Congress works, even under Trump.

19/Whereas in Germany, the government ws able, after 1932, to slowly but steadily incrase the limitations on Jewish individuals, the destruction of their civil rights, the theft of their property--the GOP Congress for 2 yeas, and then the GOP Senate for 2 years appared paralyzed.

20/And other differences--Hitler had no use for conspicuous consumption. And he loved dogs.

But the most important differences, of course, is genoicide, primarily against Jews: to have civil rts, prop/homse, legal identity, autonomy, and finally their lives stripped from them.

21/I wrote this thread, though, not only to express the thought that there are some interesting similarities and differences between the two men--but also to express my dismay that Trump might return to social media or that we'd forget what it is like living ina pesonality cult.

22/It wasnt' good for democracy. It wasn't good for he republic. And we as voters, as citiziens need to make sure that we protect -- that we even improve -- the political system that we have, which is tronger than any one man.

/end