The tipping point for the Nazi takeover of Germany arguably occurred when President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor.\u00a0 This was the culmination of a long, arduous process the Nazis started in the 1920s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the years following the end of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, the newly formed Weimar Republic was in shambles, reeling with the aftereffects of the war.\u00a0 On the whole, the German populace viewed the loss of the war and the terrible terms of the treaty as a stinging, humiliating defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Playing on that, the Nazis argued Germany had been stabbed in the back by the politicians who agreed to the treaty.\u00a0 They portrayed the Weimer Republic as riddled with corruption and degeneracy, and led by Jews and Marxists \u2013 whom they blamed for everything.<\/em> \u00a0They projected the idea that Germany was on the brink of a communist revolution and that Hitler was the only <\/em>person who could solve these problems, and make Germany strong again.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n By July 1932, the Nazis had become the largest political party in Germany, amassing 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag<\/em>.\u00a0 On January 30, 1933, the tipping point, Hitler finally maneuvered Hindenburg into to appointing him Chancellor, achieving his long-held goal to lead Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n About a month following, the Reichstag building was set on fire \u2013 possibly by the Nazis<\/a>.\u00a0 Seizing the opportunity, Hitler shrewdly blamed the communists, proclaiming the fire to be the prelude of mass terrorist attacks and an imminent communist revolution.\u00a0 Dozens of communists were immediately rounded up and thrown in jail.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a bid to provide legal cover for the mass arrests and to expand his own power, the next day, Hitler succeeded in getting President Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree<\/em>.\u00a0 The decree suspended the people\u2019s most basic rights, including the freedom of expression, the right to assemble and organize, and freedom of the press. \u00a0This was all necessary to ensure public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On March 24, 1933, Hitler made his final power grab when the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933<\/em>. This amended the German Constitution, giving him complete dictatorial powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The German people bought it, lock stock and barrel.\u00a0 And the rest is history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there\u2019s no way to make a direct comparison between Germany of 1933 and today\u2019s United States, nonetheless, there are still some noteworthy parallels.\u00a0 Look at the leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump and Hitler share many similarities.\u00a0 For example, their<\/a> attacks on the democratic processes, their<\/a> attacks on the news media, their attacks on immigrants and minorities, their contempt for the rule of law, their embrace of extreme nationalism, the way they enriched their elites to bolster their rule, their disdain of labor movements, and their quest for unlimited power \u2013 these are all shared traits.\u00a0 And like Hitler, Trump was elected as a someone who would fix everything \u2013 he\u2019d make America great again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s much-vaunted base gleefully overlooks the facts that he\u2019s a pathological liar, a misogynist, a vengeful petty tyrant, a bully and a malignant narcissist \u2013 and that he\u2019s running roughshod over the Constitution of the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at his most recent performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following his acquittal in the Senate, Trump\u2019s first acts were to wreak vengeance on those who testified against him.\u00a0 Then he abused his office trying to bully a federal judge into reducing the sentence of his crony, Roger Stone.\u00a0\u00a0 And in tandem, he abused his power attempting to have the Justice Department unlawfully interfere in Stone\u2019s sentencing.\u00a0 Then finally, after being publicly rebuked by William Barr for interfering in Department of Justice criminal cases, Trump doubled down, incorrectly claiming he had a legal right.\u00a0 And that\u2019s only in the first week after acquittal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sham trial and acquittal most strikingly show the cowardice of the Vichy<\/em> Republicans, and their abandonment of their constitutional oaths. The sham first became apparent when they voted against hearing witnesses like John Bolton who could offer first-hand testimony of Trump\u2019s unlawful actions.\u00a0 It was complete when they voted to acquit claiming lack of evidence.\u00a0 Their hypocrisy was mind-numbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are no checks and balances left; our democratic system is broken. Trump acquitted is a Trump unbound by any<\/em> rules or laws.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big question then, is where will Trump unbound go from here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure the Germans were asking the same question in early 1933.\u00a0 But no one should have been surprised at what happened after Hitler seized power; Hitler went to great pains to lay out all of his plans well in advance, in Mein Kampf<\/em>.\u00a0 Trump is no different. Trump\u2019s speeches and tweets offer great insights into his twisted, autocratic thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The recent legal pleadings by Trump\u2019s attorneys also offer great insights. Their main thread, is that \u201cwhile in office, the president enjoys absolute immunity from any kind of criminal process.\u201d\u00a0 One of his attorneys actually argued that Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and yet the police couldn\u2019t even investigate, much less prosecute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clearly, Trump believes he has sovereign immunity. \u00a0He sees himself as king.<\/em>\u00a0 Given his penchant for dictators and his other malevolent personality traits, it\u2019s highly doubtful that Trump would be a benevolent king.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump is nothing if not an opportunist. The only thing he\u2019s lacking right now is his own Reichstag fire<\/em> moment. When that comes \u2013 and it will come<\/em> \u2013 then like Hitler, he can consolidate his power and get rid of those bothersome laws, and judges and Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people foolishly argue that the United States is a mature democracy, with enough checks and balances to prevent the overthrow of our Constitution.\u00a0 That\u2019s wishful thinking.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already crossed the threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Germany in 1933 was a cultured, sophisticated, industrialized nation, but it allowed itself to be led into oblivion \u2013 by its lawfully elected leader.\u00a0 The United States is not immune. We are well started down that slippery path.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s acquittal shows we\u2019re very close to our tipping point.\u00a0 Our \u201cReichstag fire\u201d moment will surely soon follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coming election may likely be our last chance at saving our democracy.\u00a0 Trump must<\/em> be defeated.\u00a0 Our Republic cannot be allowed to fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" King Trump and the fall of the American Republic? The tipping point for the Nazi takeover of Germany arguably occurred when President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor.\u00a0 This was the culmination of a long, arduous process the Nazis started in the 1920s. In the years following the end of World War I and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}