Man with a Mouth

Nan Politics, ,

Letter to the Editor in the local newspaper:

My husband has been reading about World War II. The first of the set is “Winds of War” by Herman Wouk. This is a quote from the second book, “War and Remembrance,” page 1082:

“Nobody made the Germans follow Hitler. He wasn’t a legitimate ruler. He was a man with a mouth, and they liked what he said. They got behind him, and they let loose a firestorm that’s sucking all of the decent instincts out of human society.”

36 thoughts on “Man with a Mouth”

  1. I am scared Nan. You should hear people in South Carolina. It’s like freaking Nazi Germany. He even has white supremacist groups making robo calls!!!

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    • I’m scared too … and I don’t even live in the south!

      This article says:

      According to the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is “a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others.”

      It goes on to say:

      What happens when another world leader who is a loose cannon doesn’t give Trump the admiration that he feels he deserves? We can be sure that notoriously anti-American dictators like Kim Jong-un of North Korea or Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei aren’t going to give him any respect, let alone praise. How would a President Trump react when he feels he is being put down or undermined? Will we see the start of World War III because the leader of the most important nation in the world doesn’t feel that others are kissing his ass as much as they should be?

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  2. …People can be really dumb at times…. And remain so, even facing facts!
    Isn’that what has happened with so many (too many) people when Hitler opened his mouth and raised his “Heil!” arm?
    I vaguely remember having seen my father dressed in a black shirt and brown trousers, coming home from some National-Socialists-related meeting in Indonesia, where we lived at that time. We have not spoken more than a few words on the subject, but I know that that had been his last participation. In the beginning, those ideas were really very attractive to lots of non-Germans too. But my dad used his brains, refusing to let them be washed [equal to: remaining dumb :-)], and ended his membership. I was a kid; that must have happened around 1935/36. In other words, JUST IN TIME!

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    • That’s exactly the problem … the ideas are very attractive to many people. And instead of using their brains (like your father did), all they’re doing is using their ears and ignoring the part that exists between them.

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    • One of Trump’s wives (ex, I believe) said that he had a copy of “Mein Kampf”or Hitler’s speeches (don’t recall now which) on his nightstand and read it for inspiration on leadership ‘n things.

      You know what they say:

      Great minds (ugh) think (gaah) alike (gulp).

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      • Surely a man like that has a ton of skeletons in his closet, I can’t imagine the other Repubs haven’t managed to dig any of them out. Rubio did give him a shot or two though. It didn’t take them any time at all to put together the “Fast Boat” book in time to damage Kerry beyond repair.

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        • I’m sure his opponents on both sides have plenty of ammo to use, but the problem with it is two-fold:

          1. most of his opponents still have something akin to a conscience or at least good taste, so they refrain from stooping to his level and do not use his primitive tactics;

          2. when you attack Trump, no matter how, i.e., whether it is using substance or insults, his primitive response to the attack always leads to an increase in his popularity;

          3. if you use only insults — i.e., Trump’s own prefer tactic — he will cry foul and play the victim, turning the fight to his advantage.

          IOW, it is always a win-win for Trump.

          The only thing that can vanquish a psychopath is a bigger psychopath — and we don’t have one handy (yet?), not in this election at least.

          But watching this… spectacle, we are learning just how widely psychopathic American population really is.

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  5. People may have chose to follow Hitler, but it’s not really as simple as that. I can’t remember all the restriction the allies placed on Germany after WWI, but things like depriving them of a military and leaving the country in poverty was part of it, and so the country as a whole had very little self-determination. So the people were ripe for a Hitler who with passion, anger, and promises of a better life was able to gain the hearts of the people. The west recognized how it contributed to what Germany became to start WWII and we didn’t make the same mistakes after WWII ended, and Germany as a result has become an excellent example of a secular democracy. Mad men have always existed and what we have to ask ourselves, what are the conditions that allow that mad man to be listened to? When does crazy sound reasonable? After 35 years of fear mongering mixed with fire and brimstone religious rhetoric and a weakening education system (especially in the South) all of a sudden you have a base of people who respond only to emotion over reason.

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  9. Arch: I followed the link just out of curiosity, and kept reading it at a stretch. Found a very interesting opinion with regard to the current disputes on the US presidential candidates, in the last but two paragraph:
    …one understands why a commentator like Croft might say that Trump is Evangelicalism. But reading closer, it becomes clear that Trump and Cruz and Rubio are not the problem…

    Nan: returning to the “origin” of your post, I remember Herman Wouk as the author of the only (fascinatingly written) book I’ve read years ago, “The Caine Mutiny”. Wanting to perhaps read it again, I couldn’t find it. But I’m sure I will, of course after having searched my wife’s bookshelves – at least six times the length of my own modest five meters.-

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    • It sounds like this is one of those “businesses” that used tRump’s name but he himself was not actively involved. He probably never read any of the promotional material about him hand-picking the staff. As much as I’d like the school to win, I have a hunch tRump will win and be vindicated. And then, of course, he’ll “trumpet” the results for all to hear.

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