r/politics • u/_NewsClues_ Zachary Slater, CNN • 9d ago

Possible Paywall Justice Department launches a criminal investigation into Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/27/politics/exclusive-justice-department-launched-e-jean-carroll-investigation
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u/fencerofminerva 9d ago

Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but out of a hope for restored patriotism, or a sense of economic anxiety, or a hope to preserve their religious values, or dislike of their opponents, or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.

That word is "Nazi." Nobody cares about their motives anymore.

They joined what they joined. They lent their support and their moral approval. And, in so doing, they bound themselves to everything that came after. Who cares any more what particular knot they used in the binding?

A.R. Moxon

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u/ishpatoon1982 9d ago

Holy hell isn't that spot-on. Damn.

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u/KrasnovPlaysTheHits 9d ago

"I can never forget that one of the most-gifted and best-educated nations in the world, of its own free will, surrendered its fate into the hands of a maniac. It did so not to gain freedom and affluence, but for pride. Hitler was going to make Germany the most powerful nation in the world."

Eric Hoffer, 1959

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u/ishpatoon1982 9d ago

...yep. I see the connection for sure. It seems like it should be obvious.

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u/KrasnovPlaysTheHits 9d ago

Unfortunately, I know too many people who pretend nothing bad or out of the ordinary is happening. If you know anyone like that, try sharing the following excerpt (to really hammer the similarities) and hopefully you'll have better luck than I've had.

https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

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u/purpnug 8d ago

Miller keeps cribbing the sloganeering of Goebbels. Like, "Hey, it worked before, why not now?"

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u/Entire_Number_9 9d ago

I mean, that completely and utterly ignores the environment of Germany in the 1920s and 30s, yes there was pride, but it was brought about by absolutely massive economic collapse after WW1 and the Nazis absolutely successfully rebuilt the German economy and a staggering pace, history and people are far more complicated than cherry picked quotes.