Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, recently compared the January 6th fascist insurrection itself to Kristallnacht in a viral video.
Many found the analogy compelling — both Kristallnacht and the insurrection were fascist riots with surreptitious state support. But other commenters were uncomfortable with the comparison, noting that Kristallnacht resulted in far more destruction and death.
Schwarzenegger was certainly well-intentioned, and did not intend to minimize Jewish suffering. The same cannot necessarily be said when far-right figures like Pirro or Steve King use the comparison.
I think being uncomfortable with the comparison because Kristallnached -resulted- in more destruction and death is very much too soon to call. Other than some arrests and people being fired, all of the mechanisms that led to last week are still in place, the key people behind it are still functioning and still saying the election was stolen, and they are still saying things like “Donald Trump will be the next President.” Additionally this stuff isn’t just happening in DC, but at state houses.
To the GOP congress members who finally certified the results, they are calling in death threats and mobs of screaming people are harassing them in public.
The left and the right both love to compare their political opponents to Nazis.
The difference is that those who actually have lived experience dealing with literal Nazis before, during and after WWII overwhelmingly agree that the Trumpists are the ones who most closely align with that movement.
Which ought to be staggeringly obvious to everyone anyway considering that those who continue to self-identify with the Nazi movement overwhelmingly support Trump.
But it’s such divisive language. You could drive the fascists into doing normal fascist behavior. We really should be looking to unify, heal, and get back to normal. It’s just like my abusive ex says: “why must you make me beat you? You know it’s very tiring for me.”
The fact that you’re even giving them some benefit of the doubt and trying to be even-handed in the face of an actual Nazi coup shows how far we’ve fallen.
I was worried (OK, I was fucking terrified, even though I am an ocean away) that there would be co-ordinated far right attacks in DC through the night despite a curfew being called. That’s already too close to Kristallnacht.
It was surprising how many of the arrests/citations were for violating the curfew and that those people were themselves surprised. Like as the amount of mayhem sunk in for those who didn’t realize what they’d been a part of, they didn’t think to leave the area under a lawful order. The curfews are for other people, right? Not us?
