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It was the year 1924 when Adolf Hitler uttered the ominous words: “Germany will either be a world power or will not be at all.” The foreboding words marked the beginning of a sinister chapter in history, as Hitler ruthlessly exploited the fears, insecurity, and frustrations of the German people to seize power and brutally dismantle democracy.
Germany in the early 1930s was a nation reeling from the catastrophic aftermath of World War I and the soul-crushing economic devastation of the Great Depression. Hitler and his vile Nazi Party capitalized on this climate of uncertainty, wielding fear-mongering tactics and viciously scapegoating minority groups to amass support. They brazenly promised to restore Germany to its former glory (echoes of MAGA, perhaps?), appealing to fervent nationalist sentiments and the desperate desire for iron-fisted leadership. Blinded by desperation and a perversely misplaced sense of loyalty, countless German voters fell under Hitler’s noxious spell, naively believing he would be their messiah.
As the Nazis mercilessly tightened their stranglehold on power, these voters became complicit in the blood-curdling atrocities that followed. They willfully turned a blind eye to the sadistic persecution of their fellow citizens, the savage erosion of civil liberties, and the nightmarish transformation of Germany into a fascist hellscape. Some even enthusiastically participated in the orgies of violence and oppression, fueled by a toxic brew of hatred, fear, and a sycophantic desire to curry favor with the regime.
Fast forward to the present day, and we see bone-chilling parallels in the unhinged rhetoric and reprehensible behavior of some MAGA supporters in the United States. A recent video from Republicans Against Trump, presenting a group of stalwart pro-democracy conservatives, showcases jaw-dropping interviews with MAGA sycophants who express a blood-curdling willingness to embrace authoritarianism.
When asked if they would prefer four years of Donald Trump as a dictator or four years of a Biden re-election, one supporter responded with breathtaking ignorance, “Sometimes in life, we all need a good pedaling from the principal to set our lives on the right track, and this country needs a little bit of that.”
Another interviewee went even further, ludicrously suggesting that the 22nd Amendment, which wisely limits presidents to two terms, should be savagely repealed to allow Trump to serve for “a lot more than four years.” They shamelessly declared, “This country needs a dictator. I hate to say that, but it’s the truth.” The Founding Fathers fought tooth and nail to establish a system of checks and balances, ensuring that no single individual could wield unchecked power like a tyrant. The very notion of a dictator, even one aligned with their own twisted political views, should be utterly repugnant to any true patriot.
This dangerous mindset is further exemplified by the so-called “Project 2025,” a dystopian fever dream of America as a Christian nationalist state. This project, which Trump insists he knows nothing about, aims to viciously dismantle the separation of church and state, impose draconian religious values on public life, and create a society that more closely resembles the oppressive regime of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale than the land of the free. It is no wonder that former high-ranking officials from Trump’s own administration, including Bill Barr and James Mattis, have sounded the alarm about the dangers of allowing Trump to return to office.
So here we are, trapped in a nightmarish déjà vu, watching in horror as history threatens to repeat itself.