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The Chaos is the Point
Trump’s plan to “flood the zone” is a move straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
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When Adolf Hitler became Germany’s chancellor in 1933, he didn’t storm the Reichstag with torches and pitchforks.
No, first, he lit the figurative match.
The Reichstag Fire of February 27, 1933, wasn’t just a devastating blaze that gutted Germany’s parliament building; it became a political inferno that consumed the last embers of the Weimar Republic. Hitler blamed the fire on communists, whipping up enough public hysteria and convincing a frightened public that drastic measures were necessary to save the nation. Within hours, President Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending civil liberties across Germany.
It took Hitler only 53 days to overthrow the Weimar Constitution.
Freedom of speech, press, and assembly were dissolved overnight. The streets, once lively with debate and dissent, grew silent under the weight of fear. Political opponents were arrested en masse. Neighbors whispered suspicions about each other. Many Germans, overwhelmed by economic despair and political instability, welcomed this…
