Letter: Another history lesson

To the Editor:

Dictators are not true leaders. Serving as an enlisted and officer, I saw different leadership styles. Good leaders possessed positive qualities: personality, character, moral compass, compassion. I had the privilege of working for a guy named Schwarzkopf, 1st Brigade Commander, 9th Infantry Division – a leader in the true sense.

Trump and so many like him are not leaders. He’s a dictator, a little Mussolini who admires guys like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. Trump covers just about every characteristic of dictators: creating fear, an enemy, control of law enforcement and military, using threats and violence, macho persona. They are narcissists, egomaniacs, psychopaths, who have no moral compass, no transparency, con men who demand adoration and control, a projection that they/he embodies the needs/will of the people, valuing subordinates’ loyalty over any expertise. They are fascists.

Look at some who called Trump out for what he is when he was running for nomination. They did a 180 to kiss his backside to save their political careers once he was elected; self interest over the good of the people and our democracy. He thinks Putin is his buddy, but Putin is not. Disruption to our democracy is one goal. Just like Putin, Trump’s motives are only self-serving. Both play on past/present grievances to promote their ideology, saying how great their country can become. They sow uncertainty and discourage thinking outside the propaganda they preach. They play on gullibility and lack of critical thinking. They say they are for every person and will stand up for your rights, at the same time slowly eroding them, trying to silence those who don’t agree with them.

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact/fiction, true/false no longer exists.” Hannah Arendt. Those who wrap themselves in our flag and/or use the Bible as prop are not true patriots.

“Don’t forget that every people gets the government they deserve.” White Rose Society, June 1942, Germany.

Bottom line, vote not for your pet cause, but for the lesser of obvious evils.

Allen Close

Oswego