In Eric Kurlander’s 2017 book Hitler’s Monsters he sums up the whole ‘Fuehrer Messiah Complex’ in a nutshell: “In the Nazi version of history and politics, Hitler figured as a redeemer who would save the German nation and lead a godly realm to an ultimate victory over evil, light over darkness. By exploiting the supernatural imaginary, Hitler tied his political mission into something out of the Book of Revelation, as one ‘divinely chosen’ to create the Third Reich.” History shows us where that led.
If we connect together this Q-Anonmovement with the evangelical obsessions about the 2nd Coming, we have the witches brew of outlandish conspiracies mixed with equally outlandish revisionist biblical farce. Such was and IS a part of this MAGA Phenomena. Now, this all comes from a writer who happens to hold value in many conspiracy theories, and my belief in a Universal Love Energy (Christ Spirit?) encompassing all religions. For those reading this column I do believe in the conspiracies about the murders of JFK, Malcolm X, Dr. King Jr., RFK, Senator Paul Wellstone, Dr. David Kelly (UK), and Osama Bin Laden. I do believe that 9/11 was an ‘Inside Job’, the ‘ Pearl Harbor ‘ of our generation, and that the Boston Marathon bombing was not what they told us it was. I also believe that the US presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen. What Q-Anon does (most likely as a Psi Ops scheme by forces within our own government) is to mix in the aforementioned conspiracy theories with the ‘off the wall’ ones about Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings being faked, 9/11 involving Holograms and not real planes, the Democrats running child sexual abuse operations, the pandemic being a big hoax with Bill Gates and an international Cabal orchestrating it… and on and on. Remember that whole ZOG ( Zionist Occupational Government) thing going back decades ago? Or let’s go back to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (well over two centuries old) where it was the Jews who control the world and want the anticipated ‘ World Government’. Once again, what the Psi Ops gang always wants is to throw the light OFF of the Super Rich, who actually DO run things behind the scenes. Then, enter Trump.
Methinks that the far right wing apparatchiks behind Donald Trump seized upon this humongous narcissist/egotist to get him into power and do their bidding. It was made much easier for them (and Him) by mesmerizing the racist white supremacist and obsessed evangelical public into believing, as with the Good Germans in the 1930s, that Trump would ‘Drain the swamp’ of all that is bad. As with the Nazi regime, this new USA Reich gave favors to the Super Rich… the ones who would go along for the ride. It was the Jews and Slavs for 1930s Germany, it was the Muslims and ‘entitlement grabbing Blacks’ under Reagan and Bush Jr., and now those terrible brown skinned illegals.
Remember and study the fate of those other ‘Good Germans’ by the photos of devastated German cities in 1945. The only difference for our fate will be the multitude of broken families and broken dreams when the ‘Less than 1%’ continue their feeding frenzy at our expense! It is time to walk away from both political parties and let our working stiff voices be heard… over and over!!
PA Farruggio
Port Orange, Florida
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
Mr. Farruggio,
Your recent essay “Good Germans Redux” presents a timely and unsettling reflection on collective moral failure, the seduction of authoritarian myths, and the silence of bystanders in the face of atrocity. The themes you raise—particularly the “Fuehrer Messiah Complex” and the moral passivity of populations—resonate powerfully in our current political moment.
And yet, your essay omits a parallel so glaring and relevant that its absence demands acknowledgment: the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The “Good German” analogy applies with striking clarity to this crisis. Mass atrocities are unfolding in real time, and yet much of the Western public—especially in the U.S.—remains silent, indifferent, or distracted. Mythic narratives of security, divine destiny, and national exceptionalism—embodied by figures like Netanyahu and Trump—play the same role as the fascist propaganda you reference: justifying dehumanization and violence under the guise of moral superiority.
What makes this even more damning today is that:
Information is abundant. No one can credibly claim they “didn’t know.”
Protests are suppressed or rendered invisible by media gatekeepers and state machinery.
Language is manipulated, with terms like “self-defense” and “terrorism” deployed to deflect scrutiny and suppress dissent.
Your essay calls for moral awareness and resistance—but in omitting Gaza, it risks becoming an example of the very silence and selective outrage it seeks to condemn. Whether that omission was strategic, subconscious, or simply cautious, it creates a moral gap that weakens your argument in the eyes of those who see in Gaza the clearest case of bystander complicity in our time.
Teaching a moral history lesson implodes in its own vacuum when the teacher lacks the courage to call its present manifestation by name.
Respectfully,
Rhett Micheletti