Call Him Hitler But Let's Be Fair About It

An Objective Way To Ask If Trump Could Be Hitler

Life often gives us warnings when we are headed on the wrong course. They're subtle. They're quiet. There easy to miss, but when you look back you realize that if you had paid attention to that moment, your life would have not taken that awful turn.

I'm talking about Trump, of course.

Oh come on, you knew I was going there, It's not like I'm the only one. Go search on "Trump Hitler". Even those trying to say he's not Hitler are arguing that he is more like Mussolini or Silvio Berlusconi. (And that's just the Washington Post).

The problem is that if you searched on "Obama Hitler" or "Bush Hitler", you would find a lot of links too. Comparing to Hitler is sooo yesterday.

So how do I talk about him without sounding like a raving, well, blogger?

In my last blog, The Repeal of Godwin's Law, I argued that, while most of the time comparing a politician to Hitler was wrong, there are rare times when the comparison is necessary.

So, given we are at such a time, are we in danger of Trump being the new Hitler? (Yeah, that sounded like a raving blogger).

So, let's do something a little different. Let's have some ground rules.

First of all, 'Trump is Hitler' is incorrect. No one is suggesting that Trump is trying to resurrect the Third Reich. What I really mean is:

Could the Trump Candidacy endanger the US Democracy?

And there's my second ground rule. This is not about Trump. This is about his candidacy. As far as I know Donald J. Trump is a descent and generous man. There is even evidence to this. This is about the way he has chosen to run for the presidency. So, from now, that exactly how I'll refer to it: the Trump Candidacy. (I'm still making jokes about him, however).

And by extension of these two rules, we are not talking about character, temperament, or policy. That's all part of the standard election debates. The question is whether this election is different. (I mean other than it looks like the start of a WWE match).

My third ground rule is that the Trump Candidacy is an indication of the Trump Government. (OK this is more a point, but it is relevant). Yes, the Trump Government could be totally different, but if that's the case, then this is all just one big con job. (Wait a minute!)

OK, my final ground rule. (We'll more of a clarification.) I mean endanger our democracy, not take over. It's enough that a soft coup is tried, whether bloody or not. Even a constitutional crisis, impeachment, or needing to be saved by Jack Bauer is enough reason to raise alarms.

Got all that? Yeah, it was a lot. But we're trying to be fair and thorough here. What do you think this is? Twitter?

But, this did go on a bit, so I'll just have to continue in my next post. There, I'll talk about how the H-word applies (if at all) to the Trump Candidacy.