Trump’s “NAZI talk” is so stereotypical of what Hitler was saying that it is difficult to decide whether he actually believes it, or if he is just following a playbook that worked well in the past.

Nazism was not just a peculiar feature of German history in the early 20th century, it is fundamentally the result of and built into the psychology of a certain economic, historical and philosophical world view. Its called Fascism. Its origin comes from a middle class that fears its gains and successes are being threatened, and from a commercial elite that seeks to exploit that fear for its own benefit.

Fascists don’t all have to be identical, or think and act in exactly the same way. Trump may not start World War III or round up his enemies into concentration camps, but it is getting harder every day to rule that out. Fascists see the world in similar ways and tend to react in similar fashion. Trump is one, and that’s not too surprising. But we can deal with that. But that so many Americans are willing to go along with him is breaking my heart.

It remains to be seen whether Hitler and Trump differ in degree, but its pretty clear there is little difference in kind. But the similarities between Americans today and the Germans of a century ago become clearer and clearer every day. And that breaks my heart even more.