Either August Salemi (“Trump is the antithesis of Nazism,” Aug. 24) is a liar or he is woefully ignorant about Nazism, Donald Trump, American progressives, and the left’s motives for wanting to tear down monuments that celebrate slavery and treasonous Confederate generals.
Nazism is defined as “the body of political and economic doctrines held and put into effect by theNazisin Germany from 1933 to 1945, including the totalitarian principle of government, predominance of especially Germanic groups assumed to be racially superior, and supremacy of the führer,” (Merriam-Webster).
There is nothing in the definition of left-wing progressivism that would fit any part of this definition. Progressives completely reject the supremacy of the president, we do not believe that any group is “racially superior,” and we completely reject any totalitarian principles of government.
Donald Trump gave a nod of legitimacy to the U.S. Nazi Party when he said that the progressives who opposed the Nazis in Charlottesville were “as bad” as the Nazis who were marching there. After all, Trump knows that the Nazis, the KKK, and the white supremacists all say they are a proud part of his voter base.
Laurence Houlgate
Paso Robles
This article appears in Aug 31 – Sep 10, 2017.
