Is Donald Trump Just the Latest Incarnation of the German American Bund?

Is Donald Trump Just the
Latest Incarnation of the German American Bund?

By

Leonard Zwelling

         I suspect I am beginning to sound like quite an alarmist to
my regular readers, a Johnny One Note in a distinctly minor key.

         Donald J. Trump scares the hell out of me.

         First, he is basically a know-nothing, coarse boor who
hasn’t the vaguest idea what it means to be President of the United States. He
has no acquaintance with the subtle nuance that fills the day of the leader of
the free world. Mr. Trump has easy answers to all the world’s problems. And
they are ludicrous.

No
one is going to waste the time or money to build a wall between America’s
southern border and Mexico, let alone get the Mexicans to pay for it. He’d be
better off trying to build a wall on the moon and get the aliens to pay for it.

         Second, he may look at the Israeli-Palestinian question as
the toughest real estate negotiation in history. It is not. It is a basically
insoluble dilemma born of two peoples wanting the same land, both with
historical claims to the disputed territory. One of the principals is a modern
democracy with one of the best militaries in the world. The other is a third
world country dominated by terrorists with no viable economy at all. The only
way the Palestinians gain is for Israel to give up something. That’s fine, but
why should it? Unless and until the Arab states including whatever you call the
group of Muslims and Christians in Ramallah, give up the notion that Israel
will be pushed into the sea, then and only then, will the Israelis have a basis
to give up territory to the Arabs. For now, the incentives on Israel’s part are
to take as much land as possible to guarantee its security. Oh yes, and they
DID build a wall.  And it works. It is
450 miles long, but not foolproof as the recent knife attacks in Jerusalem and
Tel Aviv demonstrate.

         It is critical for Mr. Trump to grasp that the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute is not one between equals. It is not that Israel
has a greater right to the land because of historical claims. It has greater
right to the land because it took the land when the surrounding neighbors
declared war against Israel—and lost! As surely Mr. Trump knows, the losers
don’t get to dictate the terms of the agreement that ends hostilities.

         Third, when you ask thousands of people to raise their right
arms in a political rally, you are revisiting images of the pre-war 1930s in
New York and other places in this country where the German American Bund
transparently backed Nazis in Germany with Nazi flags flying beside the Stars
and Stripes and with large figures of George Washington being called the
country’s first fascist (please see the links to reading and videos below).

         Donald Trump is not amusing. He is so blind to the optics of
his voters’ pledges and rallies in which peaceful protestors are beaten up by
thugs in the crowd that he doesn’t understand what he is invoking. This is not
America or if it is, we need to remind ourselves of our id-like streak and be
mindful about keeping it firmly in check.

         It is bad enough that we should have men like Ted Cruz
running for the Presidency spewing obstructionism and non-cooperation between
people of good will who think differently about government. Mr. Rubio is only
minimally better and even Mr. Kasich was a bit shrill at the debate on Thursday
night, but at least he has actually accomplished something in his life.

         People, this is serious. I am not fond of some of Bernie’s
positions on trade as I believe in free trade, but like him believe whatever we
do we should put our own workers first. Hillary is in fact NOT a good
politician as she states and appears awkward on a regular basis and is
constantly surprised at her poor performances as occurred in Michigan. The Dems
are not giving us great choices.

         But they are a helluva a lot better than what the GOP is
rolling out—two junior senators with little to show for their time in the
Senate, a Governor who has no chance of winning, and Mr. Trump, who is just
plain frightening in his ignorance and arrogance.

         That’s our choices. Awful, but clear.

         Nonetheless, review the enclosed material. That rally in
Madison Square Garden with the swastikas is chillingly reminiscent of what we
have seen here in recent weeks.

         And you don’t have to be Jewish to be scared.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American_Bund

http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/american-nazi-organization-rally-madison-square-garden-1939/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPGT7EaCiIY

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=136371&start=15