National Stats during Obama Admin

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(01-21-2017, 04:43 PM)Dill Wrote: Seems like we ought to be checking how well the words apply to whatever they are describing.  There is no legal or responsible definition of "traitor" that could apply to Obama.  In Nazi Germany, the term "traitor" came to be extended to anyone who opposed the will of Hitler and his party. Only by adopting that logic could Obama be considered a traitor.

Comparisons between Trump and Hitler may be impractical, since in the US the term gets bandied about quite a bit with little attention to referential accuracy.  Obama gets called a Hitler, for example, because he promotes healthcare and supports a woman's right to choose. Whenever the term is used, the debate is only ever about the fact it was used; people don't bother to check the degree to which it might fit. But this does not mean they are always way off or simply partisan vilification.

Still, we may see more Trump/Hitler comparisons in the future, since Hitler was authoritarian, populist, pro-life, militarist, and misogynist. 

He hated liberals and "leftists" and maintained control among party elements by setting them against one another, brooked no criticism, vilified the "Lugenpresse" and German intelligentsia, and made a pact of peaceful coexistence with Russia (to the consternation of Left and Right). He classified world leaders not as good or bad, but strong or weak--hence the respect for the Russian leader, with whom he could more closely identify. 

He set out to "Make Germany Great Again" with an anti-immigration, anti-minority, pro-infrastructure platform with the support of only a third of German voters and control of the executive, and by appointing Army officers and wealthy industrialists to cabinet positions. (Many Germans who opposed Hitler simply went along with him, figuring he would change once he got into power and/or the inertia of existing government and military industrial complex would keep him in check.)

His "Germany first" policies quickly evolved into "Germans first" policies which defined many loyal Germans as racially non-Germans and unwanted immigrants, and set the stage for the ethnic cleansing of Germany, first by expulsion of families, then by imprisonment, then by gas chambers.

There are important differences though. Hitler had first-hand military experience and better impulse control. Also, he came to power in moment when Germany was on its knees militarily, politically and economically, and when its constitution included a clause allowing for its chancellor to assume dictatorial control in times of political crisis. Trump, on the other hand, has no impulse control or military experience,and assumes power in a still democratic US with no dictatorship clause and the worlds' largest military and economy.  

What we ought to do is strive to apply terms accurately. We may learn something from history if we examine it closely before seeing only partisan "name-calling" whenever an historical analogy is invoked.

Say what you mean. Do you condone or agree with the comparison of Trump to Hitler or are you just pointing out what others may say when they compare Trump to a man the was responsible for the extermination of millions?