In 1933, Germany was a nation of 67 million people. It was one of the world’s most industrialized nations, with a highly educated population, and many renowned writers, philosophers, artists, industrialists and scientists.
Then they elected Hitler, a megalomaniac dictator with goofball pseudoscientific convictions and a definite mean streak, to the highest office in the land.
In only 12 years in power, he caused a world war that caused the deaths of between 50 and 80 million people, left Europe in ruins, and resulted in the total destruction of Germany, his own country.
How was it possible that such a nation voluntarily put such a man in power?
Now I know.
Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.
It’s all about manipulating the disgruntled, and finding someone to blame. I don’t believe that the majority of Trump supporters are bad or ignorant, any more than the German people fitted that description in 1933. The rest, as they say, is history (in the making).
But, to use one of the Chancellor’s most famous quotes, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” – a philosophy that has been worked by many over the years quite successfully and which seems to be the current model being used.
The biggest problem is that the GOP had no mechanism to see this happening and to address it, being more concerned with saving their own necks than providing a credible second party. The GOP died in 2016.