Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 16, 2011

Maybe he was planning on using Lincoln as his model. Born in a log cabin in the foothills of Berzerkistan

Love it!

Dang. I guessed the last panel was going to say “NO, NO. IT’S W’S….” It easily could have.

Hitler is definitely his model.

To give you a glimpse of what may have been some of Trudeau’s research (done by some of his lawyer employees, no doubt; emphasis via ALL CAPS mine), note the following:…………………………………………………[William Randolph Hearst, owner of the San Francisco Examiner and other U.S. Newspapers] signed ADOLPH HITLER to write articles for his newspapers, the first was published Sept. 28 and the second Oct. 5. [In 1932 he made a] contract with MUSSOLINI and Margherita Sarfatti for 26 articles. [In] 1934 … Hearst changed from pro-union to anti-union by opposing the American Newspaper Guild; helped break the San Francisco general strike; met with HITLER during European trip; began an anti-communist witch-hunt. 1935 – Hearst’s “last crusade” was his opposition to FDR after Jan. effort by Roosevelt to join the World Court; he opposed the second New Deal as Roosevelt’s “Raw Deal” especially its plan to TAX THE RICH as announced in FDR’s June speech to Congress. …. [In] 1937 [Hearst] gave up control to avoid bankruptcy. [In] 1938 [H]earst’s assets were cataloged and began to be sold by trustee Judge Clarence Shearn[. Hearst] was anti-British and pro-peace as HITLER took Austria and Czechoslovakia.………………………………………………….Source: .https://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/index.php/Industry/HearstCorporation

Maybe Jeff could ghost-write the memoir.Wish I could remember who it was, or why the guy got this bright idea, but I remember back in the 90s or early 2000s some editorial writer (definitely not a conservative) suggested repealing the “natural-born citizen” requirement so that such talent as Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright could run. Albright would bore her own party and get steamrolled in the primaries. I get the feeling that Kissinger would view the Presidency as a sort of demotion. Would love to see his strategy for garnering the Vietnamese-American vote.

I’ll bet Trudeau sampled a lot of dictators in order to create a sort of composite — that and a few entirely unique characteristics, such as enhanced childishness. Hitler acted impulsive and childish in his “Beer Hall Putsch [thrust, blow, push].” ………………………………………The Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, or the Munich Putsch, was Hitler’s attempt to overthrow the Weimar government of Ebert and establish a right wing nationalistic one in its place.………………………………………Source: History Learning Site > Modern World History > Weimar Germany > The Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/beer_hall_putsch_of_1923.htm>.Also, Adolf seems to have had 30-40 IQ points on Trff: To emerge with only 40 members rivaling “a number of loud right-wing parties” as the sole power party, now with 35,000 members, took brains as well as “beer hall” guts. Seems Trff was nowhere near smart enough to pull off this rougher-than-Iowa kind of politics and remain top-dog leader (führer). Adolf had no family help and no pedigree; just a ton of chutzpa coupled with convincing brain power.………………………………………[T]he fledgling Nazi Party. Lead by Adolf Hitler it had about 35,000 members by 1923. Though this figure appears low in the whole scheme of German politics (in the 1920 election the Nazis had not got one seat in the Reichstag), there were only about 40 members of the Nazi Party in 1920, so its growth rate was relatively quick. However, nationally, the Nazis Party was just one of a number of loud right-wing parties.………………………………………Source: Same

You know I found The Wit and Wisdom of Ado;f Hitler" a light and enjoyable read.

Rolls, I went there and found this:…………………………………………………..George Bush’s grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany.The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.…………………………………………………..But wait, there’s more. Ya just gotta go to.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar.if ya wanna the rest. It’s about a civil lawsuit filed ’gainst the Bush fam.

Probs with Rolls Royce’s article for wannabe readers:

(1) It’s long: 4,000 words. At 250 words per typewritten page, that’s 16 pages to read..(2) Although the source, The Guardian, is fairly rep, the article itself is old: Saturday 25 September 2004, when W was struggling to maintain his re-election erection. (I’d rather read an updated source.)

Gasp!

Hitler got out of the army, where he had been an unsuccessful low-level officer. (Prior to which he had been an unsuccessful artist who would paint and paper houses to make ends meet.)He discovered he had a gift for public speaking, chose to go into politics to take advantage of it, and became one of the most talented public speakers of the last 100 years.Interestingly, the last paragraph applies equally to the President. (The other two would be PM Churchill and Dr. King.)

Oops; typography fail: read “sentence” rather than “paragraph.” Sorry.

I think Trff would make a fine Secretary of State for a President Rick Perry.

Actually, I think what was meant to be said in the second panel was “abusive father,” not “abusive farmer.” That would be much more accurate, since ’ole Adolf was 100% a city boy. One more instance to GT that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

A LOT of people supported Hitler in the early years. Because the things he was pushing were badly needed reforms, law and order, cleaning up the streets, economic improvement, creating jobs, etc. etc. It doesn’t really make sense to indict anyone for supporting him in those years. Later it became evident (if you were willing to face the facts) that he was a repressive dictator bent on conquering the world and destroying all happiness. You COULD have known this was his agenda by going to his early rallies and just listening, and seeing who he hung out with. But who does that?

Hitler offed himself.

http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/bushfamilyfundedhitler.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV_49xlZ07Q&feature=related

Prescott Bush, Henry Ford, Charles Lindburgh, yep- Hearst- Adolph had lots of U.S. supporters, most looking to “do business with business”. As to growing up the son of wealthy privilege, a total failure in all efforts and getting into politics even when your oratory skills are matched by a cartoon chipmunk, doesn’t mean you can reach the top; when the right power ($$$$) is behind you. But as to the son of a poor farmer, like Texas cotton, and a gift for empty oratory and strident “faith”, maybe we should consider the current entry?

Ministers confirmed they were looking at new powers for police.Let them loot and blaze the way for us.Found in todays Independent.UK

dtrout:Is Rick Perry related to Luke Perry? Neither one ever seems to play a grown up when they have a camera on them.

I thought he was describing W’s story too.

Sammysock: National Socialist Party was a term used by various entities before the NAZI’s grabbed it, it meant that you were nationalistic and racist (jingoist) and few focused on the authoritarianism seeing it as paternalism. Nazism had nothing to do with socialism or it’s ideals of economic reforms other than the nebulous idea of the government helping the people by helping the businesses (Volkswagon being the primary example) and much of its support came from the massive weapons making industry that was the only real builder left after the first WW. And people sought a strong father figure to give them “leadership.”Currently our own DOD war machine accounts for 1/4 of our economy. The largest industry is PRIVATE debt. Buying and reselling, Chopping into derivatives, reselling. Crashed the economy after a nice 10 year unrestricted (excuse me, self regulated) run. So we have a dying economy, a massive war machine, a President who has been weak in dealing with the problems and a democratic system that keeps stumbling over its own feet in solving the real issues. Guess who is now very open to be deceived by a right wing father figure who wants to “save us.” Guess which party is preaching hatred, jingoism, business as God and war machine politics while telling us the other side is evil leftists. Guess which country has voter more concerned about Paris Hilton than if Paris is burning.Anyone guess why the Tea Party got lots of votes and why oldies like my mom-in-law who voted for them are just now waking up to the facts of their cost cutting malarkey. Anyone begin to understand why Trrf could actually run in this country and win?

Good plot except that Alois Hitler was a civil servant, not a farmer.

Okay everybody, the common questions among us seem to be: .What was Trudeau trying to accomplish with his Hitler analogy to Trff? What does that have to with Dubya? And what does it have to do with the political situation in America today? Does Rick Perry factor in as a wannabe Bush III? Something’s going on here in this story arc. What is it? As we used to say when I was a pre-adolescent, “Strange things are happening”.

“Socialism for him meant keeping the CAPITALISTS in line and under HIS PERSONAL CONTROL. " – That’s what fascism is (in the economic sense) – it combines elements of a protection racket (the private sector nominally owns the means of production) and Marxism (but the decisions of what to produce are owned by the State). Youse can own da joint, but da boss decides what’s made.

Bravo!

Excellent.

I confess I don’t know what NSDAP is, but I do know that the corporations could not do what they wanted. They had to do what Hitler wanted them to do. He had a dream, quite different from Martin Luther King’s dream to be sure, but a dream nonetheless. And the corporations had no choice but to follow that dream. I did read THE ARMS OF KRUPP, and that book makes clear that the “captains of industry” had to toe the line. They had no more choice than the “little guy”.

I am suprised so many made the conection.

Okay everybody, I looked up NSDAP. (You knew I would, didn’t you?) And here’s what I found on Wikipedia:………………………………………………………………

[The NSDAP was the] German political party of National Socialism. Founded in 1919 as the German Workers’ Party, it changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party when Adolf Hitler became leader (1920–21). The nickname Nazi was taken from the first word of its full name, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. The party grew from its home base in Bavaria and attracted members from disaffected elements throughout Germany. It organized strong-arm groups (later the SA) to protect its rallies. Though the failed Beer Hall Putsch diminished the party’s influence, the effects of the Great Depression brought millions of new members, and in 1932 the party became the largest bloc in the Reichstag. After Hitler was named chancellor in 1933, he obtained passage of the Enabling Act, and his government declared the Nazi party to be the only political party in Germany and required bureaucrats to become members. The party controlled virtually all activities in Germany until Germany’s defeat in World War II (1945), after which the party was banned.………………………………………………………………

Of interest: “The party controlled virtually all activities in Germany until Germany’s defeat …”. Quite simply, this INCLUDED the corporations, the capitalists, the “captains of industry”, everybody. Nobody escaped. Hitler’s rule was ABSOLUTE and his dictation was ABSOLUTE. .Do you think for an instant that some arms manufacturer could get away with selling tanks, e.g., to the Soviet Union in order “to make a buck” under the doctrine of “free market capitalism”? If you do, then have I got some ocean-front property in Kansas to sell you real cheap!

Things can be in cruise control at the Fatherland and then one event and a conflicted self image can cause the treads to come off the panzer and the tires on the Mercedes to go flat. God,I hate car dealers.

@dtpi; how do you get the computer to display the Greek [pi character?

@ AshburnStadiumI thought the last Austrian to take over a foreign govt was big Arnie. And he made a great fist of that one, too.

I think Trudeau has been getting a bad rap here because he made a simple typo, the kind of thing every last one of us does. Here’s what was written: “the sullen, semi-educated son of an abusive farmer fails dismally at everything he tries”. Now it should be obvious that “abusive farmer” is an oxymoron, whereas “abusive father” isn’t. .Here’s the way the revised clause should read: “the sullen, semi-educated son of an abusive father fails dismally at everything he tries”. The word “farmer” has 6 letters. So does the word “father”. Letters in common are f, a, e and r. Obviously, the diphthong “rm” has been inadvertently exchanged for the diphthong “th”. Just as obviously, the e-spell-checker failed to pick up the error because “farmer” is spelled correctly. .Okay, so his human proofreader also goofed. We all goof.

Chikuku: .You say George H. W. Bush, Dubya’s daddio, was “good”. Weeeell, maybe. But he failed to keep what was to many on his side of the political divide his most important campaign promise: “READ MY LIPS. NO NEW TAXES.”.After he caved and raised taxes, he compounded his “mistake” by obstinately IMO refusing to back down, refusing to explain, and refusing even to be humble about it. Power corrupts. .I remember watching on TV. GHWB was jogging. Reporters were clogging around, asking, What about your pledge? What about your campaign promise?.I remember hearing him say in that funny nasal twang of his (not truly Texan; I’m a Texan and I know the difference): “READ MY HIPS.”.Then he took off and continued his jog. After that his popularity ratings began their fatal slippery-slope downward slide. (Fatal in the sense that they never recovered for him.)