Please Stop

Just stop comparing the modern United States to the Weimer Republic.

I have been seeing these comparison by people as a way for them to demonstrate that the US is going down the same path as Weimer Germany, which of course led to the rise of Adolph Hitler. They state that Hitler was elected and we all know what happened afterwards.

While I like the attempt at not reliving history the comparison is so superficial that it serves no real purpose except to frighten people.

Looking deeper you can see the comparison does not hold up.

First, the Weimer Republic was a 14 year democratic experiment that replaced a centuries old autocratic system, in Germany, after the First World War. In other words Germany had no democratic tradition before 1919. The German people were used to being ruled by an autocrat, they had no idea how to "do democracy" and they had no idea how to prevent going back to autocracy, assuming they wanted to prevent it. Of course, the United States is one of the oldest democracies in the world. It has had almost 250 years to develop, nurture and build that democracy. Anybody who believes that it could be overthrown by a wannabe autocrat that easily is very much mistaken.

Second, the Weimer government was the only government that had any power in Germany after 1919. Therefore, the Nazis only had to focus on it. They did not have to worry about other people in Germany having other power bases that could compete with theirs. The United States is a federal system. They have 50 individual power bases in their 50 states. Some of them might agree with Donald Trump and they might even accept autocracy but what they will not do is give up any of their own power to achieve it. Meanwhile there are many states with people who would actively resist the US reverting to autocracy with whatever tools they could lay their hands on. And that does not even touch on the various power bases within the Federal government who could work against any efforts to overthrow American democracy.

Third, Weimer Germany was the result of the Treaty of Versailles, which was designed to humiliate Germany and the Germans after the First World War. It beggared the German people and ironically created a true united German nationalism. Before the Treaty most Germans identified with their region of Germany, such as being Prussian, Saxon or Bavarian. After the Treaty they began to think of themselves as Germans. So when the Nazis came along the German people were ready to hear and support the Nazi message of reestablishing German pride and power and they united behind them. It is interesting, Hitler won just over 30% of the vote in 1933. If he would have allowed elections to take place, as scheduled, in 1937 he would have won a majority of the vote, possibly a landslide. The US is divided, probably more divided than it has been since the end of the US Civil War. What it means to be American is no longer agreed upon by its people. If one person or group of Americans tries to overthrow the current democratic order they will be resisted and fought by other groups who disagree with them.

Finally, Adolph Hitler was an evil, hate filled son of a bitch. However, he was also a shrewd politician with a well defined plan to achieve his goals and the discipline to stay focused and carry through on those plans. He also surrounded himself with a cadre of capable men who could assist him in achieving his goals. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has the attention span and temperament of an enraged toddler. He may have delusions of becoming a dictator but he lacks the wherewithal to achieve it and the people he has hired that could assist them are about as intelligent as he is, which is to say not very intelligent at all.

So, making the claim that US democracy is in mortal danger from Donald Trump because he was elected, as Hitler was in 1933, is just wrong on so many levels. I would remind you that the founders of the United States designed a government with the primary purpose of preventing one of them from setting themselves up as a king. After almost 250 years that system is still pretty much intact so a would be king is going to find it difficult to become one.

That is not to say that Mr. Trump and some of his more capable people could not pull it off but it would take years to do it and they do not have that kind of time. They have about six months. At that point the internal data analytics within the Republican Party will begin to show the beginning of a surge in support for the Democrats. A surge, that if left unchecked, would sweep the Republicans out of power in the House and the Senate. The Republican leaders in both Chambers will want to prevent that and their only real chance of doing so will be to distance themselves from Donald Trump, and begin to obstruct some of is agenda. We saw that from the end of 2017 to the mid-term elections of 2018 during Mr. Trump's first term. And that was when his more baser instincts were kept in check by some of the people around him. They are long gone and he has surrounded himself with yes men who will make no attempt to urge him to moderate. The result will be a huge backlash that we will see in November of 2026. Once that happens and Congress is in the hands of the Democrats the Trump Presidency will essentially be at an end and any further attempts to overthrow America's democracy will end with it.

The next few months are going to be difficult and Donald Trump and his group of village idiots will do untold damage to the US and its people. However, despite his desires, he will not be able to overturn American democracy before changes in the political situation in the country begin to frustrate those desires. When you add that to the total lack of discipline on his part the more likely outcome of the next few years of the Trump presidency will be a Democratic Congress in 2026 and them adding the White House in 2028.