When Ben Franklin left the signing of the Constitutionm, which replaced the Articles of Confederation, he was asked, “Do we have a monarchy or a republic?” He replied, “A republic if you can keep it.” Not since the Civil War has our democracy been so threatened.

Hitler attempted to overthrow the government of Bavaria when he and friends attempted the Beer Hall Putsch. He was promptly arrested. While in jail, he wrote Mein Kampf outlining exactly what he would do when he became chancellor of Germany. He recognized he could not achieve his ends by violently overthrowing the German Government, but needed to take control legally and from within. After the end of World War I, Germany was in terrible condition with an aging president and an economy in shambles. Inflation was so high that money was worthless. The German people were looking for answers to the terrible condition of their country. Hitler had the answer–a simple answer. He put many former soldiers into uniforms–the SA and turned them loose on the communists. Hitler’s Nazi Party did not have the majority of control of the German legislature. He got himself appointed chancellor when he refused vice chancellor position. He needed a scapegoat for the complex problems Germany faced. He staged a fire in the Reichstag and declared marshal law. His scapegoat, of course, was the Jewish population of Germany. This was easy–there was already a lot of antisemitism in Germany. With marshal law in effect, he could begin a crackdown on Jews, gypsies, communists, homosexuals, unions and anyone who disagreed with him. He attacked free press and consolidated his power. Instead of having soldiers pledge allegiance to Germany, he now required them to swear loyalty to him. Hitler and his partners in the new Reich employed the big lie (Germany’s problems were blamed on the Jews). Trump blamed immigrants from Mexico. Trump’s big lie was that the election was stolen and many people voted illegally for Democrats. “Tell a lie big enough and often enough and people will believe it. MAGA people still believe the election was stolen. Hitler employed extremist language and vilified his opponents and had big torch lit night time mass rallies which enflamed his followers. He appealed to people who felt left behind. As we know (unless you are a holocaust denier) we saw that Hitler do exactly what he spelled out in Nein Kampf. After the war, a Lutheran Pastor, Pastor Niemöller was asked how a modern country could have done so many awful reprehensible things. I will paraphrase him here. “First they came for the communists and I was not a communist so I did not speak out. Then for the unionist and I was not a union member, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the gypsies and the homosexuals and since I was neither so I did not speak out and then they came for the Jews and I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” So what does this have for us today? We will go over that tomorrow when we look at what will happen if Trump gets elected. He has already said that he will be a dictator on day one and he will go after his political opponents or those he perceived to be opponents. He will be an authoritarian ruler and with the Trumpist reactionary Supreme Court which has removed almost all constraints on a president, he will be unchecked and will do whatever he wants. Read How Democracies die. And if you are interested in corruption in Ohio government, read David Peppers 2 books.

Tomorrow: what Trump did during his presidency and what he says he will do if elected again.