HE HAS ALL THE VIRTUES I DISLIKE AND NONE OF THE VICES I ADMIRE (WINSTON CHURCHILL)

Ian Kershaw wrote a unique book about the events that led to the Second World War and the role of Hitler therein.

Many of his observations regarding the impulses then can apply to situations now. The sheer amount of bluff and impulsive behavior then sound all too familiar now. 

Many look for parallels between the mood in the late 1930s and now. It will probably not be repeated in yesterday's Gotterdammerung finale. Another major difference is that the Fuhrer had an intellectual and cultural DNA which is totally absent in the American president today.

The step by step advancing rot in Nazi Germany's projection is not unlike the MAGA mass hysteria today. Even Trump's more creative impuses head to the same result, a decor made to destroy the individaul rather than to lift him up. Hitler found in the talented Albert Speer an architect who was willing to forego his own choices for the appeasement of his master's taste.  While the entourage of Hitler--diplomats, military--was not devoid of talent it fell for the charima of the leader. Early on many in Europe left Berlin under the spell of the man. 

The United States have no Hitler. Nor are many amused by the abyssimal taste and doings if their chosen individual. The latter's entourage is mostly a reality show, an update of Dante's hell, on the cheap. The ersatz Tate influencers and the crazy housewives chosen from a MAGA Tupperware nightmarish show are the backbone of this Christian "new look".

Some infatuations of this president don't fare that well. His Elon Musk idyll is becoming a bad joke. His Russian and Chinese pen palls keep their distance. Europeans, who are mostly unloved, are left with "unanswered prayers".  Only the UK gets a free pass because Trump set his mind on an official visit and pomp that only the British master.

Important issues simmer with deadly consequences: Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan. The EU and NATO are catching a bad cold. The rest of the world hides or kneels. The ones that get in the Oval Office end up looking like accused felons waiting to be executed.

The EU had better live by its own rules rather than turning a deaf hear to the noise that comes out of Budapest or Belgrade. It must return to its own basic values. The "willing" should not wait for the procrastinaters. The tour must go on but the peleton should not stand in the way of the leading.