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Comment by spython | Hacker News Reader

Not to compare the two, but Adolf Hitler also got into power pretty much legitimately. He was elected, and the Enabling Act of 1933 that gave him the power to enact laws passed Reichstag and Reichsrat and was signed by the president.

You can reach dictatorship in legal ways. Being abolished may be seen as an inherent design feature of democracies.

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I'm not a Hitler expert, but I didn't know he was elected. What position did he get elected to prior to the Enabling Act giving the Nazis power? Is it comparable to being elected President in the US?

He lost the presidential election, but was then appointed chancellor by Hindenburg after the Nazis won most of the government through the electoral process. Chancellor of Germany is roughly equivalent to president of the US (Angela Merkel is chancellor). After that civil liberties were revoked.

So he was not elected, but he was legally appointed and as a result of overwhelming electoral victories by his party. Just another example of the non-equivalence of “legal” and “moral” in all cases.

It is a salient point as a response to the post: There are already checks and balances. Unfortunately Congress and a sizeable portion of the public are with him. He is not a dictator, he legitimately won the election and I can see good support for him on my Facebook "friends"

The failure of government to stand up to a dangerous and deranged populist is relevant IMO. When that populist then leads the government, it’s time to at least be concerned. I doubt that Trump is worthy of direct comparison to Hitler beyond that point, but I’m also glad that I don’t live in the US right now!

    > Is it comparable to being elected President in the US?

You'll get a decent idea of the situation by reading up on the Reichstag fire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

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