Letters to the Editor: Why comparing the U.S. in 2024 to Norway in 1940 doesn’t work
To the editor: Using a personal anecdote woven into stale Nazi-Norwegian history from 1940, Paul Thornton implies that the American people will create an authoritarian state if they elect Donald Trump president in 2024. Not so.
In 1973, historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. published his analysis of the growth of presidential power, especially war-making power, by eroding the lawmaking and advise-and-consent powers of Congress. Schlesinger’s book, “The Imperial Presidency,” traced evolving executive branch dominance throughout American history.
Any individual who sits in the Oval Office enjoys the exceptional power of a near-authoritarian institution, whether that individual is a blustering bully or a confused man licking an ice cream cone.
No partisan pundit can predict how any president will use that awesome authority to address the “emergences” of our times.
James Valentine, Woodland Hills
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To the editor: I was born just before Great Britain’s entry into World War II. As a child I experienced air raid shelters and food and clothing rationing, and I saw the aftermath of the bombing attacks on my hometown, the steel-producing city of Sheffield.
Consequently, the danger of fascism was imprinted on my mind, augmented by the many books I read about that period of history.
I keep asking myself how we get young people today to pay attention. I have tried talking to my children about this, but they don’t want to hear it.
Which brings me to the conclusion that a generation confronted with fascism must experience its horrors firsthand before they can start to deal with the monster.
Zena Thorpe, Chatsworth
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To the editor: I read Thornton’s piece relating the fragile political situation today to what his grandmother experienced when the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940. It is 100% on point.
How can we let our wonderful nation that stands for “freedom and justice for all” fall into authoritarianism? We must not let our government be controlled by those who do not uphold the Constitution our country is supposed to live by.
I was born in Los Angeles during World War II. My father was a transplant from Sweden, and my mother was from Texas. I remember blackouts and all the soldiers passing through Union Station (near where we lived) and the talk about Norway.
We are at a crossroads and must protect our Constitution and country by maintaining democratic government. We should not permit insurrection.
Tilda De Wolfe, Monterey Park
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To the editor: I am not wondering, as Thornton writes, if what I see is actually happening; I know that it is happening. I also know that none of us knows what to do about it.
Recently, I asked a group of friends how they thought the country would respond if Trump were elected and enacted a set of rules, similar to the Nazis’ Nuremberg laws, toward any group, be it Muslims, immigrants or Democrats. No one had an answer.
Would we finally rise up as one voice to denounce such tyranny and oppression? Would people finally see what has happened to our country? I can only hope — and vote.
Barbara Busch, Santa Barbara
