The Echoes of Weimar Germany Should Not Be Ignored

Real Clear Politics ^ | December 06, 2016 | Richard Cohen

[artichokegrower]

Last week on MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," a guest mentioned the new unmentionable: Weimar. The guest was Bob Garfield, a liberal media critic, and he was discussing Donald Trump. Hayes was mildly disapproving of the reference. "I tend to stay away from Weimar comparisons for a variety of reasons," he said. That would make sense if only Trump himself did not constantly bring it to mind.

[artichokegrower]

Now, ask yourself what might happen if there was a huge terrorist incident on American soil. Might this man of little knowledge and no restraint attempt to suspend civil liberties?

With a Trump Administration the hope is that there will be no huge terrorist incident on American soil.

And small frequently ignored factoid but Senator Hilary Clinton co-authored a bill making it illegal to burn the American flag.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

a guest mentioned the new unmentionable: Weimar

A guest "mentioned the new unmentionable"!!!! Get me to a fainting couch. A hack journalist said "Weimar" on some low-rated, brain-dead Liberal TV talk-fest. Richard is such a drama queen.

[rlmorel]

Funny how, in the last eight years, you would never, never never, NEVER hear any reference to the Weimar Republic.

I did soil my browser by reading part of the article, but gave up quickly. It is library speak, by libtards who think Barack Obama is a constitutional scholar.

[HarleyD]

“Man of little knowledge...”????

They never stated the same thing about an unknown junior Senator from Illinois.

[Tijeras_Slim]

These morons probably never heard of the Weimar Republic until last week and now they act like they discovered it.

[rlmorel]

library speak = libtard speak.

Spell check.

[rlmorel]

Exactly. Like a kid who goes to college, and comes home to lecture his parents on all that is new under the sun.

As they roll their eyes.

[buffyt]

Great comment!

[rlmorel]

Hahahaha...fainting couch! Haven’t heard that one in a while, sounds like something Ann Coulter would say to their faces! (That is a compliment, by the way!)

[pax_et_bonum]

library speak = shhhh

;-)

[silverleaf]

What “echoes” of a Weimar Republic”?

I don’t get it?

Is the US going to sign away control of its economic system via a new Versaille treaty or something?

Or are these history simpletons simply tossing around terms darkly associated with “Nazis”

[Gumdrop]

Cohen wished to make a point without using the now tired reference to Hitler. So, he thought he was being very, very, very clever, as all liberals do.

[MNJohnnie]

There are no echos of Wiemar. Anyone claiming there is is a complete historic illiterate and infantile poltical hysteric without the slightest hint of a notion of a wiff of a clue of a fact.

Leftists poltical/media figures are quickly rendering themselves figures of mockery and contempt with these sort of absurd nonsensical hysterics. They fail to realize this sort of chicken little hysteria is going to do irreparable damage to their intellectual credibility going forward.

[SkyDancer]

0bama had limited knowledge - for almost eight years and it’s not over yet; several more weeks to go.

[unread]

"libtards who think Barack Obama is a constitutional scholar."

.....A stain on the sheet....A steaming pile......I can think of lots of things to call Obama....constitutional scholar does come to mind.....

:(

[ichabod1]

I don’t get it. The parallel would be that the passed 8 years were similar to the left-dominated, feckless, globalist, ineffectual Weimar Republic, and Mr. Trump would represent the rejection of that that led to the full blown NSDAP control. I don’t see the problem here.

[MNJohnnie]

“Man of little knowledge...”????

Actually the "man of little knowledge" here is the Richard Cohen who sites Wiemar with a complete and total lack of any understanding or the Wiemar Republic and its weaknesses.

[stonehouse01]

If one can indeed make any case that there is an echo of the Wiemar Republic in the U.S. at this time, Obama is solely responsible.

In Germany debt was astronomical after WWI so they became dependent on foreign money (U.S.) = Under Obama our debt is in the trillions and we became dependent on Chinese loans.

Obama’s economic policies created the U.S. “echo” of the Wiemar republic if one even buys the premise here.

Ridiculous leftie thinking!

[MNJohnnie]

There are no echos of Wiemar. Anyone claiming there is is a complete historic illiterate and infantile poltical hysteric without the slightest hint of a notion of a wiff of a clue of a fact.

Leftists poltical/media figures are quickly rendering themselves figures of mockery and contempt with these sort of absurd nonsensical hysterics. They fail to realize this sort of chicken little hysteria is going to do irreparable damage to their intellectual credibility going forward.

[bjc]

Agree 100%. It is utter nonsense. The only remote parallel is the emergence of a populist leader. That is it. I have no idea how Trump will perform as President and I defy anyone to present anything like an evidenced based assessment.

An infinitely better historical analogy would be how the US dealt with the economic collapse of the early 30s and what a similar economic meltdown would mean for the role of government and, more importantly, our individual rights. But that would require a much deeper reading of history beyond cartoonish and sophomoric references to the Weimar Republic.