The recent half-hearted comment by Trump that he would be a dictator (for one day) calls to mind the acts of Adolph Hitler. On March 23, 1933 the German Reichtag passed The Enabling Act. These are the essential provisions/impacts of that law. (1) Hitler retaliated against his opposition by having them jailed; (2) Hitler gave himself the power to overrule the German Constitution; (3) Hitler stationed his secret police near all unjailed members of the Reichtag to intimidate them into supporting whatever he proposed; (4) he forced the German Supreme Court to actually revise the word “revolution” to mean “government accepting different ideas”; (5) Hitler alone could form foreign alliances without any outside approvals; (6) Hitler expanded his term of office from 4 to 8 years; (7) Hitler outlawed the formation of any political parties except the Nazi Party; (8) he insulated the German Supreme Court from interfering in any decisions he made and they did not object. Calling this law by a different name “The Law to Remedy the Distress of the People.” he characterized this law as his way of protecting the German citizens. Does any of this sound like the Trump you’ve heard in recent months? The “retribution” comment, the Supreme Court obedience, the avoidance of the term “insurrection” (revolution); his threat to imprison anyone he sees as traitors (the opposition). All these similar moves should suggest that the Trump-Hitler playbook has the same content. An ironic coincidence: The Reichtag building burned down a month after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. The US Capitol was sacked two months after Trump lost the election. It appears that physical destruction of the past is symbolic when dictators want to chart a new course.
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