Some of us are old enough to remember the 1930s Brown Shirts maintaining order at National Socialist rallies in prewar Germany. Recently, those eerie memories returned as TV pictures showed Trump's security people evicting protesters during the melee at Trump's Chicago rally. Trump recalled one past protester as "a real bad dude-he was a rough guy, and he was punching. And we had some people-some rough guys like we have right here-and they started punching back," Trump said. "It was a beautiful thing."
Trump also brought back more of those old memories when he called for a raised right hand voting pledge from his supporters at an earlier rally. The famous German Heil Hitler (hail Hitler) right arm salute was widespread in Europe during and before World War II.
These Nazi comparisons are certainly not intended by candidate Trump, but he does remind me of a dog chasing a car, and wondering what the dog would do with the car if he did catch it. Trump's plans for the United States if he catches it in November are somewhat vague. I can't help my apprehension.
Rolf Westgard
St. Paul
