Dear editor:
There have been several interesting letters over the last month and many show the results of how the Republican Party has brilliantly set up the most sophisticated, adaptive, diverse, powerful and extremely well-funded network of a print, social media and TV propaganda machine. From that influence, we saw one reader write how Liberty Guard is "engaged in public education," another delivered a very twisted review of Saul Alinsky's work, another person wanted elected officials to write our safety and health laws so that businesses would not be burdened, and of course we have "FOX News."
Some recent internet chat comments say current campaigning reminds them of reports on how the German government was overtaken in 1938 with screaming speeches, racial profiling and fear mongering. Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), American Nobel-winning author, penned "It Can't Happen Here" in 1935, a semisatirical novel about our presidency being won by a fascist. In the book he wrote, "if fascism came to America, it would come wrapped in the flag and whistling 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'" Lewis' book summary on Wikipedia is an interesting read on this political ideology.
Also from the history files, there was another large political fight and the United States Office of Strategic Services described one candidate as: "His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time, blame them for everything that goes wrong; and take advantage of every opportunity to raise a political whirlwind." That excerpt is from their report describing Adolf Hitler's psychological profile during the late 1930s.
Jim Pumphrey
Garland County
Editorial on 07/30/2016