I was happy to see that this newspaper publishes letters with opposing viewpoints. In the Dec. 31 issue, two letters opposed the viewpoint of my letter titled “Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump and Trump suckers” that compared Trump to Hitler. They questioned such comparisons and provided their facts that purportedly supported their position. It was suggested that I should read about the atrocities committed by Hitler and the Nazis. Fact is, I clearly pointed out many such atrocities.
Hitler connected to the German people by promoting nationalism and his influence can be seen in old black-and-white photo images and newsreels that show the masses with arms outstretched toward their fuhrer, followed by Germans doing their patriotic duty by burning synagogues and shattering Jewish-owned shops.
To show Trump’s ability to incite followers under the banner of white nationalism, just watch the events during the insurrection of Jan. 6 brought to you live on all the television networks. Fact! About 150 police officers were injured and four died in the attack. But the Republicans deceived and recast the attack on the Capitol as a “Normal Tourist Visit.” The BIG LIE!” Has that expression ever been used before?
Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s economic woes, claiming that immigrants and Jews were taking jobs from Germans and many were criminals and rapists. What followed was the bureaucratic, state-sponsored murder of 6 million Jews. As for Trump, he blamed immigrants for making us unsafe, separating migrant parents from their children at the border and putting the children into cages. Muslims were banned from entering the United States.
I am accused of “a number of half-truths and some absolute untruths” such as “Adolf Hitler had a deep understanding of mass psychology and mass propaganda.” Fact! “Hitler took pride in being a master salesman and showman.” Historians agree that Hitler and Trump were both masters of mass communication. Hitler mastered talking to the masses, utilizing newspapers and using the new medium of radio to his advantage. Trump’s oratory inspired many and he mastered television and social media.
Hitler’s party existed only to attain power, destroying bureaucratic rationality through the use of propaganda. In his “Mein Kampf,’ he wrote; “In the BIG LIE there is always a certain force of credibility.” Trump is a narcissist who believes in conspiracy theories and is intolerant of those who disagree with him. He boasted of having “total authority,” schemed to overthrow a legitimate election and as Liz Cheney has said, “He’s a threat to American democracy”.
The letter writer repeats what I wrote; “if you repeat a lie often enough, some people might believe it.” The New York Times, a national newspaper of record, reported that Trump over his four years as president made 30,573 misleading claims.
I was wrong stating that World War II ended when Germany surrendered to the Allies in May 1945. The date of Germany’s surrender is correct, but the war actually ended in early September when Japan surrendered. The letter writer went on to discuss the extraneous subject of Japan, even mentioning that Trump “just doesn’t care for Japanese food all that much,” which has nothing to do with my article. But it is a tactic used by Trump and the Republicans to simply change the subject and avoid dealing with the topic.
I am asked if I “really believe that tens of millions of Americans could have been fooled enough to vote for someone with all of those monumental failings?” I respond by asking how could tens of millions of Americans be convinced to go unvaccinated against Covid-19 when the risk of testing positive for Covid-19 was 5 to 10 times greater and the risk of dying 14 to 20 times greater.
But what do scientists and doctors know compared to politicians? After all, on Feb. 27, 2020, Trump in talking about the Coronavirus said, “the outbreak will be temporary. It’s going to disappear. On July 4, 2020, he said, “99 percent of Covid-19 cases are totally harmless.”
Tell a lie often enough and keep repeating it and people will come to believe it, especially if the people are not smart enough to realize the lies are repeated to them. I’m tired of hearing all these lies being repeated by people who are ignorant, because they lack knowledge, information or awareness of what’s being told to them, and stupid, for having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense. Trump suckers! That says it all.
Alvin Goldberg
Great Neck
