Fixing It

 WITHIN TWO WEEKS of Donald Trump's first presidential candidacy, I was done with him, having at first been enthusiastic about it. New blood, and all that. His vicious dishonesty had soon become evident. Access Hollywood was the clincher. When he was shockingly elected, a friend of mine called him "that orange haired Hitler". All hair color aside, Trump and his supporters, and his rise to power, and his administration, and his and the behavior of his supporters since their eventual election defeat, do indeed and have always reminded me of Hitler and the NAZI party, based on my advanced degrees in modern European history. A thuggish gangster demagogue leader, spewing big lies, inflaming his minions, and his vile gang of thuggish gangster supporters. That's what I saw, and still see. Because the word "Socialist" is deeply embedded within the acronym "NAZI", uneducated right wing folks often try to categorize Hitler as "left wing", which, of course, is nonsense. Hitler was far, far right, and said so, daily. So were his policies, if you'll examine them closely. Trumpian policies, indeed. Now, along comes General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the nation's highest ranking man in military uniform, with a new book just out: "Only I Can Fix It", about the final months of the Trump administration. General Milley in his book (actually the general is not the book's author, but his observations constitute the main part of it) says that Trump reminds him of Hitler, and that Trump's followers and political movement remind him of the NAZI movement. Sound familiar? Is there an echo in here? Milley says more. He ways that after Trump's election defeat, he (Milley) was convinced that Trump would do anything to stay in power, and we afraid that the apparently unstable man might try to use the military to achieve that end. Milley says that he had private conversations with many of the highest ranking people in the military, and that they agreed that they would refuse to obey any illegal orders that might be handed out by the lame duck president. Obviously, a book worth looking into, considering its source. Any Trump supporter is naturally going to derisively dismiss the Hitler analogy. Hell, Hitler dismissed the truth about himself, as did is followers. Consider the fact that Trump and h is supporters still insist that the election was stolen, that the capitol insurrection was a good idea, and many of them including some of my good friends, believe that Trump shall still, one fine day, be returned to power, and Biden thrown out as election fraud is exposed. In short, mental illness, like physical illness is widespread in American society, and deeply embedded within the Trump movement. In short, people who support Donald Trump are stark, raving crazy, demonstrably. Now, they'll doubtless try to discredit and slander the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, as Trump already is.  For my money, General Mark Milley is a pretty credible source.