<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Nick Gier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next election won\u2019t be decided at a Ballot Box.
It\u2019ll be decided at the ammo box.
<\/em><\/a>\u2014American Patriots Three Percent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.
<\/em>\u2014Donald J. Trump \u200a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018 Donald Trump appointed Gen. Mark Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In Bob Woodward\u2019s new book War <\/em>Milley told him: \u201cTrump is a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country.\u201d In an interview on October 22, Gen. John Kelly said that Trump fits \u201cthe general definition of fascism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milley fears that if Trump becomes president again, he will court-martial him and other military leaders who have crossed him. In a September 2023 Truth Social post Trump threatened Milley with execution for treason. The triggering event was a phone call that Milley had made to his Chinese counterpart, one that had been authorized by Trump administration officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnemy from Within\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has declared that \u201cthe enemy from within is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.\u201d (He boasted that he could easily \u201ctake care of them.\u201d) Trump said that \u201cwe have some very bad people. . . radical left lunatics. They should be very easily handled by the military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump specified two targets in particular: former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and soon-to-be California Sen. Adam Schiff whom he described as \u201ca sleazebag\u201d and \u201cmajor lowlife.\u201d As always, Trump is filled with hatred for his perceived enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascism vs. Communism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascism and communism were the two greatest totalitarian political movements of the 20^{th<\/sup> Century. The main difference is that fascist leaders sought support from corporate interests while the communists eliminated, with devastating consequences, private business. The threats are the same from both: no free press, no democracy, and general political, cultural, and personal oppression.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n}

Trump continues to praise the dictators of the world: they are \u201cat the top of their game, they\u2019re tough, they\u2019re smart, they\u2019re vicious, and they\u2019re going to protect their country.\u201d He idolizes Chinese Communist President Xi Jinping, saying that he is \u201cbrilliant\u201d and \u201ccontrols his people ruthlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hitler \u201cDid Good Things\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Gen. John Kelly heard Trump say that Hitler \u201cdid some good things,\u201d Kelly, incredulously asked, \u201cwell, what\u201d? Trump answered that Hitler had \u201crebuilt the economy.\u201d Kelly was shocked that he said nothing about the Holocaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump admired North Korea\u2019s Kim Jung Un because his people gave him unconditional allegiance, and he commended Hitler who got total loyalty from his generals. In a private conversation in the White House, Trump told two individuals: \u201cI need the kind of generals that Hitler had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump wants Total Loyalty<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Gen. John Kelly once reminded that Nazis generals (including Erwin Rommel the most famous) tried to assassinate Hitler three times, but Trump responded, ignorantly, that was not true. Kelly was distressed to hear Trump demand that total loyalty was what he wanted from his military officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some critics are disputing Kelly\u2019s remarks, but John Bolton, Trump\u2019s former national security adviser, asserted that \u201cyou can take what John says to the bank.\u201d However, Bolton declined to call Trump a fascist, because he is \u201ctoo lazy and dumb to wrap his head around political philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military officers under Trump in a second term might have serious concerns given, as the Atlantic\u2019s<\/em> Jeffrey Goldberg asserts, Trump\u2019s \u201cdenigration of military service, his ignorance of the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, his admiration for brutality and anti-democratic norms of behavior, and his contempt for wounded veterans and for soldiers who fell in battle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Milley: No \u201cWannabe Dictator\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In his retirement speech Gen. Milley declared: \u201cWe don\u2019t take an oath to a king, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don\u2019t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We don\u2019t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we\u2019re willing to die to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Hitler and Trump promised that, if they won, as Trump told evangelical Christians recently, \u201cyou won\u2019t have to vote again\u201d because \u201ceverything will be fixed.\u201d When, on January 30, 1933, German President Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor, he moved, spreading terror with his stormtroopers, to eliminate communists, labor leaders, and all other internal enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Militias Ready to Act<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we have now learned that \u201ctrucks of militia units were out hunting FEMA personnel\u201d turned out to be one armed individual who was arrested, there are dozens of militias (some concentrated here in Northern Idaho) that are ready to act in defense of Trump. Antifa, the only left-wing group of which I\u2019m aware, has virtually disappeared from the political scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2024, according to the Counter Terrorism Group, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon \u201cclaimed there was a Maga army that would persist until Trump regained the presidency. Three Percenter militia members have reiterated that they would be willing to use violence against voting centers to support Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump Seeks Total Control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dictators seek total control\u2014hence the term totalitarianism. It means eliminating the separation of powers doctrine and the complete takeover of the military, the economy, and the government. At the end of his administration Trump attempted to remove employment protections for the government\u2019s civil servants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s executive order for this action was rescinded by incoming President Biden, but the goal was that these non-partisan, well trained professionals would be replaced by Trump loyalists. One commentator argued that it would undermine a system that \u201chas existed for more than a century and severely impair the integrity and effectiveness of the federal government, with grave consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Politico <\/em>vice-presidential candidate J. D. Vance suggested that \u201cif the president says, \u2018I get to control the staff of my own government,\u2019 and the Supreme Court steps in and says, \u2018You\u2019re not allowed to do that,\u2019\u201d Vance proposes that Trump simply ignore the ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The supreme irony is that Trump would not be an effective dictator. First, he is not smart enough and he is in obvious mental decline; and second, as Gen. Kelly has said: \u201cHe\u2019s not a tough guy by any means, but in fact quite the opposite.\u201d He has been easily manipulated, especially by Russian dictator Vladmir Putin. As president he would be a pawn for the dictators of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick Gier of Moscow taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Email him at ngier006\u2202<\/span><\/span>gmail.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Nick Gier The next election won\u2019t be decided at a Ballot Box.It\u2019ll be decided at the ammo box.\u2014American Patriots Three Percent I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.\u2014Donald J. Trump \u200a In 2018 Donald Trump appointed Gen. Mark…<\/p>\n