Holocaust museum changes content after Trump's second term started

[kan...@aol.com]

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/05/trump-holocaust-museum-00859274

So, first of all, Trump did NOT ask for changes in the Museum's content. But they did a self-censorship in line with what the admin had been demanding for other gov't supported entities. The content that was changed had to do with the fragility of democracy and the potential for the rise of an autocracy. The museum directors did this to avoid a confrontation with the admin. 

Sad outcome; not sure who's to blame. I'd want such an institution to stand up to threats, spoken or implied. OTOH, they receive money from the gov't; and they already saw what was happening to the Smithsonian. 

So I'll blame the admin; I assume that they would have gotten around to making  demands here. They did on everyone else. 

[Brian Kegerreis]

The great example of a democracy turning into an autocracy is of course Germany. The dirty little secret of the Weimar Republic is that it was a Republic without Republicans.

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[kan...@aol.com]

What does this pixel waste have to do with this thread?
And explain how we know that Germany didn't have Republicans? 

And since "Republican" has meant anyone from Lincoln to Trump to Lindsey Graham to David Duke, the term doesn't mean much. 

In fact, YOU"RE the one who has pointed out to us unwashed ignorants the fungible terms Democrat/Republican. 

Looks like sone explanation is due. 

[kan...@aol.com]

And here's the Google comment here:

  Before Hitler's rise in 1933, Germany's Weimar Republic (1918–1933) was characterized by a multi-party system with intense political fragmentation. Key parties included the moderate-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Catholic Centre Party (ZP), the liberal German Democratic Party (DDP), the conservative German National People’s Party (DNVP), and the Communist Party (KPD). 

I suggest that at least ONE of these must have sort of "Republican". Maybe the "conservative German National People's Party". 

Heck, if we invoke Lincoln, we could also suggest the "moderate-left SPD". 

[Brian Kegerreis]

Gee I'm glad you asked Bill. Please don't conflate American political repu kicans with republicans in Weimer. It turns out that not many Weimarian Germans liked the republican form of government that had been created by the mostly social democrats after WW1. Almost immediately after creatuon Weimear Germany was embroiled in a communist revolution that was only defeated by a coalition pf enemies who only agreed one thing. That was their hatred of communists was more than their hate for each other. Both Prussia and Barvaria had strong secessionist movements. The communists never gave up trying to use the democratic process to destroy the republic. The Social Democrats tried to keep it together but many if the rank and file weren't really committed to the idea of a republic. That's what I mean by republicans in this case. The middle class fearing the communists moved to the right. Even the Catholic center made a deal with Hitler rather than stand with the SDP with whom they had many political disagreements. The political landscape in the Weimar Republic was balkanized into many competing factions without a shared acceptance of a republican form of government. 

Republic without republicans - Wikipedia https://share.google/vbDkDGgoXNWoG5HBb

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[kan...@aol.com]

Lots of nations have multiple parties that bicker among themselves. Israel comes to mind. But they still have a gov't that ISN'T an autocracy. 

Some of today's European countries have multiple parties. In fact I'd wager that the two party system like ours it the outlier. But somehow a democratic form of gov't persists. Certainly Germany back then had a LOT of problems that drove it toward an autocrat that espoused serious nationalism. 

But the big "whatever" is that this has nothing to do with the Holocaust Museum rolling over for Trump. 

[B Keg]

Yes, its not the bickering that's necessarily the problem. 

It's the lack of conviction that a republican form of government is worth preserving in spite of the bickering.

Be nice, even when you don't want to!

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[kan...@aol.com]

Is there some literature that supports the notion that Germany was inherently anti-democratic at the time? It sure seemed that Hitler was initially VERY unpopular. His Nazi party was very much a minor player, until it wasn't. And he spent some time in prison. Doesn't that imply some amount of resistance to an aspiring autocrat?