Why Do Some People (Still) Like Trump?

              There was a guy in my family, married to a cousin of mine, who was once convicted of some crime having to do with the way he ran his business. He still came around to family parties, but nobody talked to him for years.

              Given what I just said, how do you explain the fact that Donald Trump has been convicted of fraud and sexual assault and at least half the country not only doesn’t care, but wouldn’t at all mind if he served as President for another four years?

              I’m going to try to answer this question, but since I’m as yellow as any yellow-dog Democrat can be, I may get it wrong. So, bear with me, okay?

              Before I get into Trump however, let me try to put his situation into a proper historical perspective.

              I have said many times that Hitler was able to turn Germany into an authoritarian national state because he took advantage of an economic and social situation which had created a virtual collapse of the German economy and made most Germans feel that their vey lives were at risk.

              But a little bit of nuance needs to be added here, because as late as 1928, only five years before Hitler took power, the German economy had rebounded entirely from the post-War years, unemployment was way down, inflation had disappeared, France had pulled its troops out of the Ruhr, none of the victorious countries which demanded reparations cared, and the Nazi party at most had only 2,000 members and Hitler himself was seen as a failed buffoon who was lucky to have only served nine months in jail.

              Then, in 1929, the worldwide economy fell apart, things quickly went from bad to worse, Hitler disavowed direct, physical action and instead began to promote the Nazi party as a legitimate contender for control of the Parliament even though he wasn’t allowed to make public speeches in many locations within the German national state.

              Hitler didn’t turn Germany into an autocracy in 1933 by dint of physical force. He was given the Chancellorship because the Nazi party held the largest, single bloc of seats in the national legislature. Once he controlled the government, he quickly passed a series of laws and edicts which effectively ended the Weimar Republic after its twelve-year rule.

              But the point is that Hitler’s claim that he would make Germany ‘great again,’ was readily accepted and supported by a population which had only been facing social and economic difficulties for the previous five years.

              Sound familiar? It should. Because this is what we are told is going on today as we face the improbable but certainly possible Second Coming of Trump. Like Hitler, Trump even has his favorite villains whom he identifies as being responsible for the current ‘mess.’ In Trump’s case it’s not Jews per se but all the Communists and Socialists who make up the Deep State.

              Of course when Trump attacks such ‘globalists’ as George Soros, he’s sliding over into a soft kind of anti-Semitism, but he treads gingerly around that issue because he’s still hoping to land big financial support from megadonors like Steve Schwarzmann and the widow of Sheldon Adelson, just to name two very wealthy Jews.

              Meanwhile, this still leaves open the question as to why so many law-abiding Americans believe that a guy facing more than 90 felony charges should be considered the person who will run the entire federal penal system and be responsible for all investigations of any and all federal crimes.

              There are lots of people out there who no doubt don’t believe that Trump has done anything illegal at all. Or even if he has broken some law, nobody’s gotten killed so what’s the big friggin’ deal?

              After all, we’ve all done something we shouldn’t have done but that doesn’t mean the FBI should be allowed to crash through our front door and run around our home as if we have anything to hide.

              And just because maybe Trump isn’t exactly telling the truth when he says that the 2020 election was a ‘fraud,’ I just happen to like the guy. I like the way he talks; I like the way he wants to take care of guys like me, I like the fact that he’s not afraid to admit that he’s gotten a little ass on the side, I like how he stands up against all those smart-ass big shots in Washington and takes the side of the little guy.

              What Hitler understood and used to build his Nazi party was that there are always people out there who feel they have been screwed. And if you can make them feel that you understand why they have suffered and when you’re in charge they’ll never suffer again, then you can always count on these folks to get together and support your campaign.

              Does that make Trump another Fascist? Not really, because to institute a Fascist dictatorship you need the active complicity of the courts, the military, and the police.

              You may be able to do that in a country which has only been a functioning democracy for twelve years, but it’s a different kettle of fish when the country where you want to abolish a democratic system has been operating under a Constitutional form of government for 236 years.