The wholesale takeover of America’s government

I’m not a historian. I am just a citizen who is very concerned about the similarities between the way in which Adolph Hitler took total control of Germany in 53 days and the way in which Trump with his quick start and his wealthy clique is so close to undoing our democracy and rendering the U.S a pariah in the view of the rest of the world. One observation of Hitler was that he had the ability to sense “the potential weakness inherent in every formal form of law” and then ruthlessly exploit that weakness. Have you noticed anything like that with Trump?

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of the Weimar Republic. He immediately began the destruction of their form of government. It took 53 days to undo the German government and take total control. And Hitler followed their constitutional principles in accomplishing this.

Obviously, there are many differences in the two historical scenarios but there are way too many similarities. One difference is that Trump is not starting out following the law; he is engaging in illegal activities and so is less law-abiding than Hitler. Trump and Hitler both had/have a surprising charisma with “charm” enough to allow victory. This has driven the acceptance of Hitler, and Trump so far, by enough citizens, by a small margin, to green-light them.

Hitler was able to become popular as he accomplished seemingly favorable things for the German people through excessive spending. In Trump’s case, polls show his popularity remains constant while his tool, Elon Musk, is dropping in favorability quickly, taking the hit for him.

I don’t know what Trump may do to retain favorability as he threatens to fire massive numbers of people, cut back Social Security and health care programs, decimate programs to deal with Climate Change, and on and on. His chaotic attacks on our financial and social institutions present the confusing, disturbing news events we see on a daily basis. He may be “weird” but he’s no dummy.

Ignorance and gullibility are not adequate excuses for allowing a wholesale takeover and destruction of our government. Our political leaders need to be contacted and told that it is now or never.

It’s existential and it’s happening! And possibly on a 53-day schedule! We must stop him!

— Bruce Robinson, Niwot

Inaccurate to call federal workers bureaucrats

Language matters! Steve Silverman’s guest opinion in the Saturday, Feb. 8 Daily Camera steps on its own message before it even gets past the title: “Trump’s hollowing out of the federal bureaucracy harms Coloradans.” Referring to the federal workforce as a “bureaucracy” is inaccurate, demeaning and perpetuates the longstanding fallacy that federal workers are lazy leeches feeding at the public trough. In fact, federal workers are the folks who stay up all night making sure evacuees have a place to sleep and something to eat, they risk their lives fighting fires, they’re doctors and nurses and scientists who have dedicated their careers to making hurricane predictions more accurate. They are the unsung heroes who keep our planes in the air and our food safe to eat. They are not bureaucrats!

— Darlene Steward, Boulder

Hickenlooper no longer represents our interests

If you are angered by Trump’s cabinet picks, please call John Hickenlooper to express your dismay. Sen. Hickenlooper has supported over half of Trump’s nominees. This includes Scott Bessent, who helped Elon Musk gain access to government records after being confirmed as Treasury Secretary. Sen. Hickenlooper no longer seems to represent the interests of Colorado. His office can be reached at 303-244-1628. Leave a message if the staff are unavailable.

— Meg Tilton, Boulder