[Lew Benton has asked me to post the following.]
John,
It Can’t Happen Here is a 1935 dystopian political novel by Sinclair Lewis. Set in a fictionalized 1930s United States against the backdrop of ascending fascism in Europe and the rise of Nazi Germany, it follows an American politician, Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, who quickly rises to power to become the country’s first outright dictator (an allusion to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power at the same time), and a newspaper editor who sees Windrip’s fascist policies for what they are.
The novel describes the rise of Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and “traditional” values, a’ la Donald Trump.
He campaigned on a populist platform, promising to restore the country to prosperity and greatness, and promising each citizen $5,000 per year while portraying himself as a championof “the forgotten man” and “traditional” American values. Sound familiar?
After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government via self-coup and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force and cowering sycophants. He outlaws dissent, incarcerates political enemies, eliminates the influence of the Congress, curtails women’s and minority rights and corrupts the court system.
Of course, then, It Can”t Happen Here seemed a fantastical nightmare. But now, ninety years on, it is happening and in broad daylight and for all to see. It is getting worse everyday. The VA health care system has been hobbled by layoffs, the National Guard is dispatched to quell nonexistent civil disturbances, the House Speaker is totally emasculated and the military is ominously rebranded and renamed. Trump lives vicariously through the military because he was deemed “unfit” to serve by his draft board in 1968.
Is Trump the contemporary “Buzz” Windrip, the demagogue and fascist leaning politician portrayed by Lewis in “It Can’t Happen Here.” It is now as plain as day. But Trump is worse. A convict, a sexual predator, a petty, vicious ‘man’ who revels in calling others names, taking health benefits from the marginalized and, now, shutting down the government.
The Country seems to have passed the tipping point and we have no one to blame but ourselves if we standby and do nothing.
Lew Benton
Saratoga Springs Politics 
Your observations are spot-on as is your conclusion — we must not stand by and do nothing. We Americans who love our country must protect it. We must not condone, ignore, or accept what is happening. We must speak up and urge others to do the same, non-violently.
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This is absolutely true and I saw this scenario playing out when HRC ran.
She won the vote count and should have been president which would have been the end for Trumpf.
Then I researched the 12th Amendment and found the “Founders” wanted the 12th since they did not
believe the “people” would do the right thing. What the founders forgot was that this government was
the people; not the Congress, not the President, not the Supreme Court but the people. I knew then that the
Constitution was doomed to fail. The results are now straight in front of everyone’s eyes to see for themselves.
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Trumpf? He soundly beat HRC and thank god he did.
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More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than any other losing presidential candidate in US history.
The Democrat outpaced President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, with 65,844,954 (48.2%) to his 62,979,879 (46.1%), according to revised and certified final election results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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Are you familiar with the Electoral College?
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So let’s see, Lew.
Trump = Hitler because… “The VA health care system has been hobbled by layoffs, the National Guard is dispatched to quell nonexistent civil disturbances, the House Speaker is totally emasculated and the military is ominously rebranded and renamed.” and also “A convict, a sexual predator, a petty, vicious ‘man’ who revels in calling others names, taking health benefits from the marginalized and, now, shutting down the government.”
Let’s break it down:
I didn’t vote for Trump either time and yeah he says some questionable things, but can we please stop the Hitler comparisons especially when the statements have zero basis in fact?
We are far from living under a dictatorship or fascist state or whatever you think is happening right now.
Why do you have such little faith in our Constitution that you think one man is going to bring the whole country down by saying some words you don’t like?
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[Lew was unable to respond through the software to A Lander and asked me to put his response up.]
Dear A Landholder,
Thank you for your comments.
You reference a USA Today story suggesting, contrary to my comments, that VA health care staff and clinical program reductions have been made whole.
The VA healthcare delivery system has been compromised by Trump, Musk and the budget director. Some nursing and other staff work two consecutive shifts to maintain minimal service. Medical, surgical and mental health patients are waiting sometimes months for care. Many (most) do not have access to care outside the VA.
The current Trump budget director is one of the architects of Project 2025. It calls for privatization of certain services and closure of some hospitals.
So, A Landholder, this is what I propose. I have a 10:00 am appointment tomorrow at the Stratton VA Hospital in Albany. Give me a call (518 888 5483) and we can drive down. I’ll give you a tour, you can speak with patients and asked them how the availability and quality of care has changed under Trump.
I’ll buy lunch and we can go over Project 2025 proposals in detail. And on the drive down and back I’ll be happy to go over the other errors in your post.
So call. Need to leave Saratoga by 8:45.
Lew Benton
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Landholder. Ok I’ll play along with your game by signing in as Landholder 2. When and where has Mr. Benton compared Donald J Trump to Hitler?
I have a yes or no question for you. Is Donald J Trump a convict?
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Did you not read the piece?
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I agree with Lou and Barbara. What we are seeing is unlike anything that has ever occurred in our country. Even the first Trump administration embraced a level of reasonableness and continuity that is missing with Trump Version 2.
It does not help that one of our three branches of government is compromised. Due to the imperfect tradition of appointing Supreme Court Justices, necessary checks on executive power are currently failing. Despite the fact that, since 1988, we have had 16 years of Republicans and 20 years of Democrats appointing the current members of the Court, we have a lopsided 6-3 majority of conservatives, some of whom are very far to the right of mainstream judicial philosophy. This isn’t Donald Trump’s fault. He just happens to be a very imperfect president at a very opportune point in our history.
Donald Trump’s recent speeches at the Charlie Kirk memorial, at the United Nations and at the gathering of military generals should be seen in their entirety by all. A man who is supposed to be the president of all the people should not ‘hate’ the opposition. A man who is supposed to be the leader of the free world should not be mocking those who are trying to make progress against pending climate catastrophes. The Commander in Chief should not be re-defining the military to exclude talented women or people of color or gay people or those who have gender identification issues. Eliminating DEI does not make our military stronger. In fact, diversity, equity and inclusion make our military stronger and our democracy healthier.
Chris Mathiesen
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