Why can't Trump supporters admit there is something wrong with him

[henryp]

Are the parallels meaningful though?  

No.  Trump wants to be Hitler, but Hitler would have fucking hated that weak piece of shit.

Nevertheless, the parallel is valid enough-- if trump could have brown-shirts and SS supporting him, he'd very obviously do it in a second.

Very obviously.  I take everything I've said back.

---

My argument would be that these are incredibly generic political strategies that have been used since governments were formed, and the fact that Hitler did some of them as well doesn't make them nefarious to the degree people are implying when they are drawing 'meaningful parallels'.

No, they're not generic. Some politicians use them, others don't. Which tools a politician prefers to use can tell you much about him or her.

Another, which I forgot to mention but which Trump avails himself regularly, is the "Big Lie", mastered by Goebbels.

Also, the Rant. They both use that to good effect.

But really, the reason for the drawing of parallels lies in the willingness to castigate an entire group of people in order to attain political success ... never mind the people who are hurt in the process.

Do you think castigating is what made Hitler special.  Or do you think it was the murdering that followed the castigating.  Because castigating is like THE political move of the 21st century.  Seems like it's at the heart of every campaign.  Find a group of people and call them evil.   NRA, religous right, hollywood elite, wallstreet, 1%, blacks, Hispanics, whites, males, atheists, educated, uneducated, people who watch fox news, people who went to ivy league schools....  and on and on and on and on and on.   

Ranting I'll give you, is rare in presidential politics because it gets the 'not presidential' tag.  But I assume it'll be back in fashion 2020.  Bernie used it to pretty great effect.  Tapping into the anger is definitely a smart political move.   Big lies...who's not doing it? You don't have to partake in these things, as long as you are okay with topping out at city councilman in some backwater town.

It's not a coincidence that, as far as I can tell, every politician is a shithead.

[The Grand Nudger]

Every politician may be a shithead, but there aren't many that intentionally turn themselves into a running hitler joke. Mostly because of how terrible that whole hitler thing was. I guess we're just due for a reminder or something.

The castigating is very literally what -made- hitler. It's how both he and trump rose to power. Take that away, and one would be a disgruntled nco, and the other a washed up reality star. Because of it, and because of peoples susceptibility or downright desire for that message..one become fuhrer and the other became president. So yeah, long story short, it's what made them special. Next.

[henryp]

I think I can sum it all up in one sentence.

If Hitler didn't kill 6 million jews and invade Poland, we'd be arguing over whether Trump is just like Stalin.

I'm fairly sure that's a brilliant point, and I can't imagine who's going to appreciate it other than me. But I'm going to pat myself on the back, and moonwalk out of here like a champ anyway.

[Fireball]

You'd have to go read some of those absurd, ridiculous comparisons, for the first time...because you seem to think people are likening him to hitler for committing genocide and invading canada...which would be absurd..but, unfortunately, only exists as a proposition inside your own head.

Oh, I get it now.

So if I say Taylor Swift is just like Charles Manson, and I can find 5 ways that's true.  It's a fact, even if none of the 5 ways include the stuff where Charles Manson had a cult and murdered a bunch of people?

But that's okay, because even though I left out the stuff that made Charles Manson one of the worst people ever, the implication that Taylor Swift is a bad person, just like Charles Manson because of the other non-murdery similarities is still rock solid logic.

  Where DO you get all that straw? FFS.

[The Grand Nudger]

I think I can sum it all up in one sentence.

If Hitler didn't kill 6 million jews and invade Poland, we'd be arguing over whether Trump is just like Stalin.

Unlikely, since Stalin had an entirely different mo.  The common thread in all of this, and in trump and hitler comparisons..is the existence of so much common thread.

[Court Jester]

The dude's not right but it was the lesser of two evils. I couldn't vote for Clinton. Same for sanders had it been him either though.

Figured Trump would do better than those two would have and I still don't think he's done anything too outlandishly stupid in the grand scheme of what's best for the country as a whole. That's just my opinion though, and no amount of arguing is going to change anyone else's mind on the matter really.

[henryp]

Oh, I get it now.

So if I say Taylor Swift is just like Charles Manson, and I can find 5 ways that's true.  It's a fact, even if none of the 5 ways include the stuff where Charles Manson had a cult and murdered a bunch of people?

But that's okay, because even though I left out the stuff that made Charles Manson one of the worst people ever, the implication that Taylor Swift is a bad person, just like Charles Manson because of the other non-murdery similarities is still rock solid logic.

  Where DO you get all that straw? FFS.

I had to look it up, but I believe what you're looking at here is called Reductio ad absurdum.  

If you can imply Trump is evil like Hitler for having similarities to Hitler that aren't the primary reasons we associate Hitler with evil (Genocide/Invasion)

Using that logic, you can also imply Taylor Swift is evil like Charles Manson for having similarities to Charles Manson that aren't the primary reasons we associate Charles Manson with evil (cult/murdering).

Logic don't take no prisoners.

To be fair, khem could say he thinks Taylor Swift is just like Charles Manson because of them both being powerful persona's used to manipulate young women for personal gain. And if khem agrees to that, the logic is sound for his Trump/Hitler thing. But it would certainly torpedo the strength of the argument to say Trump is just like Hitler using the same logic that concludes Taylor Swift is just like Charles Manson.

HYE YA!! LOGIC KARATE!

[The Grand Nudger]

@Jester
I agree entirely.  If nothing trumps done so far seems outlandishly stupid...he's not exactly going to top any of that. No amount of arguing...really no amount of anything is likely to change your or anyone else's opinion.    Hopefully, trump gives us no reason to change either of our current opinions.

@Wally,
Still trying to give trump a pass so long as he doesn't gas a jew, I see. You can't bring yourself to acxknowledge that you were not only unaware of the comparisons..but unaware of the very comparisons which you were calling ridiculous. It's -never- been about gassing jews........hopefully, that's completely out of bounds for a president...hopefully, our system is immune to such fuckery. It's about trump being as much of a hitler wannabe as our system will stand, as much as even his apologists can stomach...and more than any decent person or common patriot could forgive. Had a single jew never been gassed..Hitler still would have been hitler, a giant dick..and a yooge geopolitical problem. The cheetoh can manage to emulate his hero in that much at least, and already has.

[henryp]

You have to commit genocide AND try to take over the world to be Hitler. Look at poor Slobodan Milosovich. He did his genocide, and I don't even care enough about him to see how to spell his name, let alone make asinine comparisons to score cheap political points with dumbos.

[The Grand Nudger]

You have to commit genocide AND try to take over the world to be Hitler.

You don't have to do either to be like him..to make yourself the subject of accurate and damning comparisons..and there was a time when hitler hadn't quite gotten to it yet, himself....... The cheetoh proved that, in providing so much accurate comparison without managing to gas a jew or take over the world (but I wouldn;t put him in the control room of a gas chamber if I were you..don;t wanna test the theory).

For the very last time..no one thinks that trump gassed any jews.  If that's what -you- thought people were saying..you were just flat out wrong. 

Look at poor Slobodan Milosovich.  He did his genocide, and I don't even care enough about him to see how to spell his name, let alone make asinine comparisons to score cheap political points with dumbos.

I had to deal with the aftermath.  Maybe that's why I take this shit just a smidge more seriously than you do? People like him are proof that I'll never own a time machine.