This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.
Michael Commane
It’s one of the No-Nos in journalism that you never compare a current politician or public figure to Hitler. It just isn’t done and even in these turbulent times of dictatorship on the rise it’s not a good idea to place anyone in the same league as Hitler, who is one of the worst examples of evil. Hannah Arendt at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem spoke of the ‘banality of evil’.
Everything seems to be in flux these days.
Trump in the USA, Erdogan in Turkey and Orban in Hungary all show signs of extreme right-wing politics. The governments of Poland, Austria and Italy are looking evermore xenophobic in their attitudes and policies.
But Donald Trump seems to be at the head of the posse.
We know about his bluster, vulgarity and disdain for those who oppose him but what do we know about his followers?
I watched in full two rallies he held in late June. One was at Duluth in Minnesota, the other in Columbia, South Carolina.
Trump roars and screams, insults two young protesters and tells another person to ‘go home to his mommy’.
Watching the two rallies what struck me most of all was Trump’s ability at inciting his audience to extraordinary levels of hatred. He is a demagogue. His words, his gestures, everything about him has the ability of getting ‘his people’ to feel angry with everyone who is standing in the way of making ‘American great again’.
A word, a nod from Trump and you hear the crowd scream ‘lock her up’, or roaring in a vile way ‘USA, USA’.
Anyone who has ever watched Hitler rallies will have noticed how he had that ability of turning his audience into adoring worshippers. They screamed with outstretched hands ‘Heil Hitler’. They called him ‘Der Führer’ - The Leader.
Before Trump began to speak in South Carolina a local politician referred to the US President as ‘a force of nature’. An to insult to nature. How far away is the expression ‘a force of nature’ from ‘Der Führer’?
After World War 1 and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles Germans felt humiliated. Hitler promised them a way out and picked scapegoats on whom to blame all their woes.
In his speech in South Carolina when Trump mentioned the migrants and asylum seekers entering the USA he quickly referred to people of Middle East origin.
Across Europe, in the US demagogues have found the perfect scapegoats on whom we can blame all our woes and troubles.
The day after the Trump rally in South Carolina BBC 2’s ‘Newsnight’ reported on a far-right Polish group visiting their like-minded comrades from the National Front in Leeds. It was scary television.
A former Polish priest, spewed out venomous bile. Although identified as a former priest, he was wearing a roman collar. Indeed, there was a number of priests, at least men dressed in clerical clothing, at the meeting. And again the cause of all our woes is the foreigner, especially those from Africa and all Muslims are painted with the same horrific brush.
Hitler managed to turn millions of decent Germans into haters of Jews, homosexuals, Russians and people with special needs. He blamed them for all of Germany’s woes and promised ‘his people’ that he would make ‘Germany great again’.
Trump, Erdogan, Orban are all finding scapegoats on whom we can vent our hatred.
Hitler created fear among ordinary decent Germans. Trump is doing the same.
We’re living in dangerous times.
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