Never Trump, Part One: Weimar
By Uptown Sinclair
Now is the time to wake up. Both history and posterity demand you take action to defeat the continued rise of an American dictator.
Beginning November 9, 1918, Germany was known as a constitutional federal republic called the Weimar Republic. Like the U.S. today, Weimar was plagued by inflation and political extremism. Then, such extremism manifested in political murders and two attempted coups. Now, such extremism manifests itself in political violence — such as the hammer attack on Mr. Pelosi1 — and attempted coups — January 6, 2021 (during which five people lost their lives). The parallels do not end there.
In 1921 Adolf Hitler named himself chairman of the far-right National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Under that party’s imprimatur, militia-types took over a political meeting held at a beer hall. This “Beer Hall Putsch” was easily snuffed out by authorities and the little corporal was sentenced to five years in prison for high treason. During his stay in prison, Hitler penned his own come-to-Satan memoirs entitled My Struggle. Among other things, he described fantastical antisemitic and communistic conspiracies and decried the weakening and sickening of the “German race.”
Today, former-President Trump details his struggle on a near-daily basis through his own social media platform. Among other things, he has described fantastical antisemitic and communistic conspiracies and decried the poisoning of American blood by immigrants. The immigrants who are poisoning the nation’s blood are those who infiltrate the southern border (thanks to Brandon’s and the far-left’s replacement conspiracy) and not those from Anglo-Scandinavian countries, whom Trump welcomes with open arms. Additionally, like the little corporal, his cult of personality is supported by a loose network of militia and would-be purgers.
In 1924, the eye of the storm passed over Weimar. This period was known as the Golden Twenties — greater prosperity helped assuage inflationary effects, political extremism entered a hibernation phase, and the Republic began to earn the trust of its First World War enemies. One might draw the conclusion that we too are in our Golden Twenties. Following the January 6 insurrection in the U.S., the domestic economy has strengthened, inflation notwithstanding; Ultra Maga extremism has been haled into U.S. courts, Trump-appointed judges notwithstanding; and relations with China have improved, its no-limits friendship with Russia notwithstanding.
When the stock market crashed in October 1929, the effects were global and catastrophic. A banking crisis rocked Europe in 1931. Foreign credit was withdrawn from German enterprise and the resulting high unemployment in Weimar led to renewed social and political unrest. A shift to political extremes led to exaggerated and entrenched positions incapable of compromise. The executive governed through decree rather than through the constitutional framework of checks and balances.
This political inertia and power vacuum created the environment in which parasites like Nazism and Hitler could feast and thrive. Starving, out-of-work Germans found solace in being told it was not their fault. If only the German people had not been stabbed in the back, Germany would have won the First World War! The economy would not be burdened by war guilt reparations! But the German people were stabbed in the back, Hitler lamented. They were stabbed in the back by global Jewish and financial interests. Outsiders had destroyed the German Empire and its proud people. But fear not, Hitler said with mock humility, I am your retribution and redemption. Through me, the German people shall cast off their shackles, evict outsiders and their capital, and obtain the living space needed to revive the Teutonic spirit.
Today, we are still experiencing our Golden Twenties — we just don’t know it. One of the reasons why we don’t know it is because we are told repeatedly we are drowning in domestic and international turmoil. On the one hand, recessionary and inflationary pressures mean good, upstanding American families are spending more on staples. On the other, because of Brandon’s brazen foreign policy, American interests are threatened by conflict in Ukraine, Gaza, and Yemen. Never mind that the domestic economy is thriving and that wages and income largely keep pace with inflation. Never mind that actors other than the current administration instigated much of today’s global conflicts and, besides, the American consumer seems rarely troubled by murder and rape abroad.
We are told all these things because it behooves wannabe dictators like Trump and his allies. You are spending more on groceries and other staples because of socialist taxes and communistic diversity initiatives. Your kids’ futures are worse than your past because illegal people are invading your community, stealing scarce resources, and raising your cost of living. Worse, these aliens, who are browner than Todd and Karen, are poisoning the nation’s lily-white blood. Worse still, Brandon and his anti-Christian socialist/communist cabal are inviting the vermin here! We are told all of this and know it to be wrong; and yet, many of us do nothing about it and go on with our business.
But there are some who are receptive to the false narrative. There are some who are indeed struggling and welcome the identification of those responsible. Trump says I am your retribution. Through me, those who are responsible for your perceived burdens, pain, and shame will be held to account. Those who would prosecute me for high crimes and misdemeanors are the same people who would prosecute you merely for saying “f----” or “n----.” You know what he means when you watch footage of January 6 and you see multiple scaffolds erected on our nation’s capitol. You know what he means when he says a widely-
respected four-star general deserves to be executed because he disagreed with an attempted coup. You know what he means. He is your redemption.
And once Hitler was empowered with the executive office, there was no turning back. From 1932 to 1945, millions were killed across the world, starting with the murders of personal and political enemies at home. Jews, Roma, communists, homosexuals, disabled, among others, were separated from the real German society. Those unfortunate people who were flesh and blood just like you and me were ghetto-ized, then imprisoned, and then liquidated. The reign of terror followed the German armies East. After all, the German people required living space. Only after the physical and spiritual toll of total war — the effects of which are still felt today — was Hitler’s madness terminated. But the evil ideologies of Nazism, tragically, are not so readily destroyed.
And it seems we have learned nothing from the Twentieth Century and nothing from former-President Trump’s term of office. He has already tried to retain power through persuasion, money, and muscle. We know of at least five people who died because he suggested his supporters hang Vice President Pence by the neck. His actions have led to multiple indictments and charges, and yet he says I am the victim of political gamesmanship. And if they can come for me — a former president and overall great dude — then they can sure as s--- come for you, who are nothing. But fear not, for I am your retribution and redemption.
And once reelected, Trump admits he will be a dictator. Only for one day. But everyone knows when you are granted one wish, only, you wish for more wishes. The one day is Trump’s one wish. That one day would not be limited to 24 hours; no, it would last until his chosen successors breathe their last. Upon Trump’s reelection, there would never be another presidential election in the U.S. At least, not as we know them. Suddenly, we would have elections in which the incumbent (or his anointed) receives 95% of the vote. You know that I mean.
And what would be so bad about that, you wonder? After all, prosperity is the dictator’s security. But ask, prosperity for whom? You have already been advised that, should Trump be reelected, those experiencing homelessness, including illegal aliens, would be rounded up and placed in camps; those who would dare do their duty (like special counsel and political representatives) would be punished; and those who refuse to question their duty would be rewarded. But these are merely the admissions his advisers feel comfortable revealing. The truth would be much more like the concentration camps that sprung up across Europe and the western U.S. in the 1940s, much more like the reign of terror in 1790s Paris and 1930s Germany — nights of long knives and unsubstantiated allegations — and much more like the authoritarian regimes staring directly into our faces from Moscow, Pyongyang, and other locales.
And you know Trump and his allies have misused their House Majority to aid Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Is it any wonder Putin openly advocates for Trump’s reelection and does God knows what behind the scenes to ensure it? After all, on day one of his dictatorship, Trump would end the conflict in Ukraine. How? By forcing Ukraine to enter into a peace as humiliating and destructive as that foisted on Germany in November 1918, even though Ukraine was not the instigator of the conflict.
And the “peace” that Trump advocates for in Ukraine is not the peace sought by an actual follower of Christ. Evangelicals, pay attention. The peace sought by both Trump and Putin is the peace of the conquering army. The peace observed through subjugation and dramatic retribution. Trump openly supports Putin and his authoritarian regime, but it cannot be because Putin stands for peace and justice. Whatever earthly goods Putin is blackmailing Trump with are surely golden.
And yet, there is still time to prevent the dictatorship. There remain mechanisms to prevent the end of our democratic experiment. As legal practitioners and leaders in King County, it is incumbent upon you to step into the breach.
Trump and his ideologies represent a threat not only to our democracy but also to democracies across the world. We must have the purpose, aim, and wherewithal to prevent his reelection. As a sworn defender of the Constitution, your responsibility, dear reader, is to protect the democratic institutions we hold dear. Your efforts will be felt not only here but abroad. I implore you all not to be silent in the face of the threat. I implore you to be proactive and ensure our children enjoy the freedoms for which our forebears died and we take for granted.
1 One could reasonably consider this country’s daily mass shootings to be political violence, too.
