[From article]
Donald Trump has been compared to Hitler by some famous and influential people lately. But rest assured, Mr. Trump will likely not cross the Rubicon and break America’s increasingly tenuous grip on Republican governance.
For one thing, it is hard to envision how a man of almost 70 who spent his entire life working in the private sector could be a Hitler due to his age. History shows that becoming a despot is a young(ish) man’s game. Here are twenty of the worst despots of the past two centuries, along with their ages when they became the head of state, to illustrate my point:
[List of top twenty dictators by age, embedded]
So Donald Trump would be the oldest despot in the list by 14 years were he to become the head of state, and older than the average by almost 30.
I suspect this is not a coincidence. If you’re too young, you can’t ascend to power except if it’s one of those hereditary promotions (e.g. Hirohito). On the other hand, if you’re too old you don’t have enough testosterone to want to be a dictator. The Mayo Clinic says T declines by about 1 percent a year after you’re 30 or 40, meaning that by age 70, Mr. Trump’s is probably less than 75% of his peak level.
[. . .]
the oldest of the 19 9/11 hijackers was 33 years of age: Smashing oneself into a building full of innocents while hoping that Allah will reward you is, among other things, extremely risky.
[. . .]
Democratically elected heads of state tend to not be despotic, despite the widely known (especially this year) stupidity of voters. Therefore this is a second reason making it unlikely that Donald Trump would declare himself Fuhrer after election.
[. . .]
With free will, for instance, Barack Obama can argue against his opponents’ actual arguments instead of using straw men at his next “I’m quite a bit better than the Americans who elected me” speech. Hillary Clinton could tell us why, really, she didn’t use a federal email system even though it was cavalier at best to shun it. And Debbie Wasserman Schultz can answer a question – any question – directly, ever. I just wouldn’t count on these things.
[. . .]
My fear is that he is a president that we have seen before -- that he is one who will fray the edges of our Constitution one millimeter at a time while soiling the Republican brand for decades to come by increasing the size, scope, and debt of the federal government.
[. . .]
*It should be noted that before it was all over, Amin’s title expanded from “President” to “His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.” That he did not Conquer the British Empire seemed to cause him hesitation only as much as not being Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas. That is, not at all.
**It is a common myth that Hitler won election to become ruler of Germany. In reality he lost his last election to famed WWI hero Paul von Hindenburg in 1932 and was thereafter tragically appointed to an influential position in Hindenburg’s government, which he used as leverage to take complete control of the country when the President died in office.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/03/no_trump_wont_be_another_hitler.html
March 21, 2016
No, Trump Won’t Be Another Hitler
By Adam Mala
No comments:
Post a Comment