As a German who has learned so much about that period at school and even while not being at school (it is a subject that is almost permanently documented in the public media, and even in movies with international success; in fact most successful movies either concern the Nazi period or the East-German dictatorship), I am almost ticking boxes about similarities. What is different though is the fact that the people who are not in the cult are better organised, at least at the moment. What is also different, and what would have been the wet dream of the Nazis, are the surveillance methods that exist nowadays, i.e., social media which allow such an extent of manipulation that it is scary. And equally scary is the fact that some of the tycoons owning the social media companies are so close to the regime. Let's hope that the message of the opposition remains to be heard. The Democratic Party definitely has a lot to learn about communication and touching the wider public....
I would add the threat of AI and this administrations push to develop it further. AI is still in its infancy, is still collecting data (notably from Meta, Twitter, and other sources). The broligarchs could care less about the fact that the government is absorbing your thoughts (posts), data (financial and physical) . . . I'm sure Hitler would definitely had more than a wet dream with AI at his disposal.
It's even more scary if you concede that most of the tycoons owning social media companies, are no just close to the regime but very influential part of it.
What you have absolutely right my dear German friend, is that the Democratic Party has a lot to learn about messaging towards the wider public and I should add, towards the working class in particular. Thanks for your comment 😄
I quit all the social media except for Instagram and substack. I logged out of Instagram last week to boycott and haven't logged back in. Thinking I am going to delete it from my life but sadly will miss the social (completely non political) friends and family I follow there. That is the only reason I haven't deleted the app yet but still logged out. Several people have suggested joining Bluesky as it's not currently run by oligarchs YET.
For whatever reason I was never on Instagram, Facebook or any of those.
My contact with family and friends was always through WhatsApp. Clean and simple. I'm considering, as you do, joining Bluesky. Thanks for your reply Amber
I was on Twitter, fb and Instagram because I had a small bake shop and posted pictures, lunch schedule and specials on all of them, it was a big boost for my sales. Once I closed the shop I left fb pretty quickly then Twitter before it became the cesspool it is now and seriously considering deleting Instagram too. The security and tracking from this companies and their total lack of “protecting our info” is abhorrent. I don’t want to support their hate and greed. My family has a family chat text so easy enough to reach that group if/when I want. The rest I will do without. Will miss some of them for their content on family, home improvements, exercise, food and fashion tho, that’s what’s keeping me.
As an exchange student in Germany in 1969, my sponsor family's father educated me on his view of the Nazi’s. At the end of WW II, he walked back to Allgäu and almost lost his feet from the fridge cold. His experience, including being drafted, harkens to the mind set of Republicans today. It helps me have a better understanding MAGA. But, and a big BUT, today's economic climate in the US and recent history is radically different from his experience in Germany in the late 1930's, which was a major factor in the rise of the Reich. Let's hope that power is not perceived as the solution to the existential grievance of our fellow citizens.
Well I guess his ex wife was accurate when she said that Deadbeat Donnie kept a copy of Mien Kampf on his nightstand. He's been waiting for a long time to repeat the mistakes of history instead of learning from them. Good thing he's such a "stable genius" (sic) that he will be doing it right this time.
NOPE, I am not joining that although it certainly has been closely resembling history of that time. There are still many good people on the democratic side of congress and they continue to work to find anyone left that isn't folding to the criminal/bully in chief. They and we all need to push back now, not later.
FOX. Just imagine the howling from Hannity, Hegseth, Fox & Friends, et al if a Democrat had unleashed a similar unconstitutional salvo on the country. HL: "If that instills a sense of panic, it’s not a bad thing; one of the worrying aspects of the past week is the relative absence of outrage and pushback, certainly in Congress and in the American electorate as a whole."
Where Are The “Occupy The Whitehouse” Yahoos? I Was Hoping For Some Plain And Simple Civil Disobedience By Now! Do I Have To Get Off My Death Bed To Start It?
If you recall, 45/47 is hot to issue a martial law order. While I support those willing to join in protests, I think this has to be front and center in their minds as they engage. We *all* saw what happened in Oregon and Minneapolis under the first administration; (the vans that forcibly removed protestors, Kyle R and his vigilantism . . . if 45/47 is looking for an excuse to declare martial law, *any* protesters on 5 Feb need to be exceptionally careful and non-violent. Do not give the excuse to that man to declare martial law. If he does, I think we should let South Korea's actions guide us. But I DO NOT want to see another Kent State or worse.
This is an outrage but you said that there was no outrage in the public, there is! Our Republic needs oversight. We cannot let Trump get away with this. What can I do to protest this? He needs to be held accountable. I blame my friends and neighbors who voted for him.
IOWA. They really should retire Grassley at the earliest possible moment. He's lost a cognitive step for sure. He's rolled over. Though important and very senior, he has crickets to say about "Trump’s sacking of IGs who are “not my people” is a direct threat to that core value. It is fundamental that they are not supposed to be “his people.” "
91 yo. Waaay past time for him to hang it up. Plus he needs a more current picture to show how decrepit he really is--one from 20 years ago doesn't cut it.
He's way past his sell-by date. But he is a billboard with light on the issue of term limits. Good idea for Senators, Congressmen, and Supreme Court Justices. I'd say: 18 years or age 85 - you're out!
Christina there are still 3 special elections coming up...trmp has done enough extreme actions my bet us they will go blue and at least make it difficult to get anything done
This is really Bad, Harry, there's going to be no guard rails in place for Illegal activity and Corruption?! Thank You, for making sense of this miscarriage of Justice,and putting it in prospective for us today. I will be reStacking ASAP 💯
I keep asking wheher they have RIF rights? Are any of them "whistleblowers"?
I don't feel sorry for most of them because they were mostly Trump appointees....
I have been retired for a long time, but I always thought they and the GAO, OMB were toadies... we lost $ trillions, off budget, during GWB and later Trump....
The firings may be against constitutional law, but those stalwart guardians of our Constitution, the Supreme Court jesters. have placed their leader above the law - or placed him AS the law. Treasonous crud, the whole MAGA lot.
I appreciate your contribution to keeping me well informed. I just have one quibble about today's podcast and that is your stating that the US is the best country in the world. I have lived in many countries and spend winters in Florida. Do you think you could name one facet of America that is better than, say, Canada or Denmark? I can assure you that as much as we "foreigners" love what is lovable about the US, we wouldn't trade our universal access to healthcare for what's available in America. Thanks for your excellent work. Joanna (an immigrant to Canada and now Canadian citizen)
"relative absence of outrage and pushback" And therein lies the rub. Far too many Americans don't possess even a fundamental knowledge of how government at any level works and have no sense of history except in the very broadest terms. This works in favor of authoritarians and accounts for their low level outrage and pushback at best. Resignation is the helpmate of tyranny.
But, as for those who purportedly protect our interests in Congress and elsewhere, it is not a case of ignorance or indifference but , rather, a case of self-interest and self -protection. There will be no outrage or pushback among many in this group because they want to hold on to their jobs more than they want to hold on to democracy.
I understand Congress is a complete failure at holding this administration accountable but is there no organization filing lawsuits? What do you recommend we as individuals do?
Trump is the poster boy for using his position for greed. Many members, from both parties, by rights should have to return part of their earnings based on inside info to the Treasury.
IMHO some of the IGs are blind or are complicit. E.G. Where is the IG report on Musk, a defense contractor, a NASA contractor supporting Trump for personal gain?
Others have tried that on Substack, but it is not in the menu of options. Perhaps Harry has an idea -- that could be shared in the Substack community for others who follow others -- of a way there could be a button for "I can't subscribe right now, but here's a small donation."
I am aware of all the distraction Trump has caused to cover up the fact that he will never keep his campaign promises because they were lies and propaganda. However, with the confirming of Hegsworth, which means Gabbard, Kennedy etc. will fly through, and now this, I’m scared, and refuse to get angry because that’s an emotion for me that’s very unhealthy. I came here as an immigrant child from Canada - my grandparents from Kyiv escaping the Bolshevik Revolution and my grandmother being Jewish; my mother a English war bride who lost both parents and aunts and uncles from London bombings in WWII. My cousins are asking why does America hate them, asking what has gone wrong. Now they face the same issue with elections coming up and popularity if their far right! And the worst of this, I live in Iowa and our senators are Ernst, and Grassley! Our entire state government is a GOp trifecta led by Pat Grassley - guess who’s grandson!
If he gets away with this, there will be no ends to his lawlessness. The democrats need to take on the McConnell attitude during President Obama’s first term. Whatever the thugs are for, we are against. And hold that line. Yes we are in the minority right now, but by the slimmest of margins. Surely there are some reasonable republicans who are having buyers remorse. We need to look to the midterms and fight!
It seems to me that an appropriate response to an illegal firing would be for all 17 IGs to report to work as usual Monday morning and stay on the job until the president follows the law. An appropriate response in Congress would be that Republican Leaders, joined by their Democratic colleagues should demand the same. JKW
Welcome to Germany 1933.
As a German who has learned so much about that period at school and even while not being at school (it is a subject that is almost permanently documented in the public media, and even in movies with international success; in fact most successful movies either concern the Nazi period or the East-German dictatorship), I am almost ticking boxes about similarities. What is different though is the fact that the people who are not in the cult are better organised, at least at the moment. What is also different, and what would have been the wet dream of the Nazis, are the surveillance methods that exist nowadays, i.e., social media which allow such an extent of manipulation that it is scary. And equally scary is the fact that some of the tycoons owning the social media companies are so close to the regime. Let's hope that the message of the opposition remains to be heard. The Democratic Party definitely has a lot to learn about communication and touching the wider public....
I would add the threat of AI and this administrations push to develop it further. AI is still in its infancy, is still collecting data (notably from Meta, Twitter, and other sources). The broligarchs could care less about the fact that the government is absorbing your thoughts (posts), data (financial and physical) . . . I'm sure Hitler would definitely had more than a wet dream with AI at his disposal.
One of his admirers seems to be on a constant high, it seems. Or is the ketamine?
He who doesn't know history is doomed to repeat it.
It's even more scary if you concede that most of the tycoons owning social media companies, are no just close to the regime but very influential part of it.
What you have absolutely right my dear German friend, is that the Democratic Party has a lot to learn about messaging towards the wider public and I should add, towards the working class in particular. Thanks for your comment 😄
I quit all the social media except for Instagram and substack. I logged out of Instagram last week to boycott and haven't logged back in. Thinking I am going to delete it from my life but sadly will miss the social (completely non political) friends and family I follow there. That is the only reason I haven't deleted the app yet but still logged out. Several people have suggested joining Bluesky as it's not currently run by oligarchs YET.
For whatever reason I was never on Instagram, Facebook or any of those.
My contact with family and friends was always through WhatsApp. Clean and simple. I'm considering, as you do, joining Bluesky. Thanks for your reply Amber
I was on Twitter, fb and Instagram because I had a small bake shop and posted pictures, lunch schedule and specials on all of them, it was a big boost for my sales. Once I closed the shop I left fb pretty quickly then Twitter before it became the cesspool it is now and seriously considering deleting Instagram too. The security and tracking from this companies and their total lack of “protecting our info” is abhorrent. I don’t want to support their hate and greed. My family has a family chat text so easy enough to reach that group if/when I want. The rest I will do without. Will miss some of them for their content on family, home improvements, exercise, food and fashion tho, that’s what’s keeping me.
You'll have peace of mind Amber.
It's worth it 👌.
As an exchange student in Germany in 1969, my sponsor family's father educated me on his view of the Nazi’s. At the end of WW II, he walked back to Allgäu and almost lost his feet from the fridge cold. His experience, including being drafted, harkens to the mind set of Republicans today. It helps me have a better understanding MAGA. But, and a big BUT, today's economic climate in the US and recent history is radically different from his experience in Germany in the late 1930's, which was a major factor in the rise of the Reich. Let's hope that power is not perceived as the solution to the existential grievance of our fellow citizens.
Well I guess his ex wife was accurate when she said that Deadbeat Donnie kept a copy of Mien Kampf on his nightstand. He's been waiting for a long time to repeat the mistakes of history instead of learning from them. Good thing he's such a "stable genius" (sic) that he will be doing it right this time.
NOPE, I am not joining that although it certainly has been closely resembling history of that time. There are still many good people on the democratic side of congress and they continue to work to find anyone left that isn't folding to the criminal/bully in chief. They and we all need to push back now, not later.
FOX. Just imagine the howling from Hannity, Hegseth, Fox & Friends, et al if a Democrat had unleashed a similar unconstitutional salvo on the country. HL: "If that instills a sense of panic, it’s not a bad thing; one of the worrying aspects of the past week is the relative absence of outrage and pushback, certainly in Congress and in the American electorate as a whole."
I am immensely disturbed that the opposition has had no leader step forward. At this point, sitting on hands is not a viable option.
Where Are The “Occupy The Whitehouse” Yahoos? I Was Hoping For Some Plain And Simple Civil Disobedience By Now! Do I Have To Get Off My Death Bed To Start It?
If you recall, 45/47 is hot to issue a martial law order. While I support those willing to join in protests, I think this has to be front and center in their minds as they engage. We *all* saw what happened in Oregon and Minneapolis under the first administration; (the vans that forcibly removed protestors, Kyle R and his vigilantism . . . if 45/47 is looking for an excuse to declare martial law, *any* protesters on 5 Feb need to be exceptionally careful and non-violent. Do not give the excuse to that man to declare martial law. If he does, I think we should let South Korea's actions guide us. But I DO NOT want to see another Kent State or worse.
This is an outrage but you said that there was no outrage in the public, there is! Our Republic needs oversight. We cannot let Trump get away with this. What can I do to protest this? He needs to be held accountable. I blame my friends and neighbors who voted for him.
Join the ACLU for one - help to save the 14th amendment (birthright citizenship) right now.
IOWA. They really should retire Grassley at the earliest possible moment. He's lost a cognitive step for sure. He's rolled over. Though important and very senior, he has crickets to say about "Trump’s sacking of IGs who are “not my people” is a direct threat to that core value. It is fundamental that they are not supposed to be “his people.” "
91 yo. Waaay past time for him to hang it up. Plus he needs a more current picture to show how decrepit he really is--one from 20 years ago doesn't cut it.
He's way past his sell-by date. But he is a billboard with light on the issue of term limits. Good idea for Senators, Congressmen, and Supreme Court Justices. I'd say: 18 years or age 85 - you're out!
Who if anyone has standing to sue when Trump ignores laws passed by Congress?
Congress, via articles of impeachment. But that is a pipe dream with this HR and Senate.
Christina there are still 3 special elections coming up...trmp has done enough extreme actions my bet us they will go blue and at least make it difficult to get anything done
The answe to your question Julie is, the democratic side of Congress.
If they do not, we better start calling them.
This is really Bad, Harry, there's going to be no guard rails in place for Illegal activity and Corruption?! Thank You, for making sense of this miscarriage of Justice,and putting it in prospective for us today. I will be reStacking ASAP 💯
I keep asking wheher they have RIF rights? Are any of them "whistleblowers"?
I don't feel sorry for most of them because they were mostly Trump appointees....
I have been retired for a long time, but I always thought they and the GAO, OMB were toadies... we lost $ trillions, off budget, during GWB and later Trump....
The firings may be against constitutional law, but those stalwart guardians of our Constitution, the Supreme Court jesters. have placed their leader above the law - or placed him AS the law. Treasonous crud, the whole MAGA lot.
I appreciate your contribution to keeping me well informed. I just have one quibble about today's podcast and that is your stating that the US is the best country in the world. I have lived in many countries and spend winters in Florida. Do you think you could name one facet of America that is better than, say, Canada or Denmark? I can assure you that as much as we "foreigners" love what is lovable about the US, we wouldn't trade our universal access to healthcare for what's available in America. Thanks for your excellent work. Joanna (an immigrant to Canada and now Canadian citizen)
Well, the weather. Maybe that’s why you spend winters in Florida. Not much else though.
"relative absence of outrage and pushback" And therein lies the rub. Far too many Americans don't possess even a fundamental knowledge of how government at any level works and have no sense of history except in the very broadest terms. This works in favor of authoritarians and accounts for their low level outrage and pushback at best. Resignation is the helpmate of tyranny.
But, as for those who purportedly protect our interests in Congress and elsewhere, it is not a case of ignorance or indifference but , rather, a case of self-interest and self -protection. There will be no outrage or pushback among many in this group because they want to hold on to their jobs more than they want to hold on to democracy.
I understand Congress is a complete failure at holding this administration accountable but is there no organization filing lawsuits? What do you recommend we as individuals do?
Trump is the poster boy for using his position for greed. Many members, from both parties, by rights should have to return part of their earnings based on inside info to the Treasury.
IMHO some of the IGs are blind or are complicit. E.G. Where is the IG report on Musk, a defense contractor, a NASA contractor supporting Trump for personal gain?
Very Good Point.
He fired almost all the IGs
Daniel, you make a very good point!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/17/trump-aclu-civil-rights
Please offer an occasional support option for those of us not in a position right now to make a commitment but wishing to support your work
Others have tried that on Substack, but it is not in the menu of options. Perhaps Harry has an idea -- that could be shared in the Substack community for others who follow others -- of a way there could be a button for "I can't subscribe right now, but here's a small donation."
Shock & Awe indeed! The newly crowned king raises his scepter and smites.
I am aware of all the distraction Trump has caused to cover up the fact that he will never keep his campaign promises because they were lies and propaganda. However, with the confirming of Hegsworth, which means Gabbard, Kennedy etc. will fly through, and now this, I’m scared, and refuse to get angry because that’s an emotion for me that’s very unhealthy. I came here as an immigrant child from Canada - my grandparents from Kyiv escaping the Bolshevik Revolution and my grandmother being Jewish; my mother a English war bride who lost both parents and aunts and uncles from London bombings in WWII. My cousins are asking why does America hate them, asking what has gone wrong. Now they face the same issue with elections coming up and popularity if their far right! And the worst of this, I live in Iowa and our senators are Ernst, and Grassley! Our entire state government is a GOp trifecta led by Pat Grassley - guess who’s grandson!
If he gets away with this, there will be no ends to his lawlessness. The democrats need to take on the McConnell attitude during President Obama’s first term. Whatever the thugs are for, we are against. And hold that line. Yes we are in the minority right now, but by the slimmest of margins. Surely there are some reasonable republicans who are having buyers remorse. We need to look to the midterms and fight!
Yes, it is called obstructionism. The silence from the Dems is deafening.
Let’s start calling it what it is- NAZI tactics.
Stop with the “Trumpisms”
It seems to me that an appropriate response to an illegal firing would be for all 17 IGs to report to work as usual Monday morning and stay on the job until the president follows the law. An appropriate response in Congress would be that Republican Leaders, joined by their Democratic colleagues should demand the same. JKW