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Letters to the Editor: Pay attention to GOP authoritarianism in statehouses too

Supporters of then-President Trump wage an insurrection outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
(AFP/Getty Images)
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To the editor: Historian Benjamin Carter Hett describes the framework of Adolf Hitler’s first attempt at insurrection before he came to power in Germany. In this, the parallels of Hitler’s efforts and those of our last president are chilling.

However, one more subtle political phenomenon needs greater attention: the moving of goal posts.

The most glaring recent example is that of GOP legislators in Texas. When the Democrats in that state flipped the one Senate seat they needed in order to block legislation, Republican senators decided to change the threshold for bringing legislation to the floor so they could continue to ram their policies down the throats of Texans without any concern for non-Republicans.

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Let’s not forget that moving the goal posts gave us Supreme Court Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, and it kept witnesses from testifying in the U.S. Senate’s most recent impeachment trial.

These are the actions of a party interested not in democracy, but only power — just like the Nazis.

Glenda Tamblyn, Palmdale

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To the editor: The op-ed article on the origins of Nazi power brings back memories of my youth and life in Germany until my parents and I fled that country that they had previously served.

I recall the conversations my parents had with their friends and their observations that Hitler wouldn’t last long as chancellor. But he did and in the process stripped my father of his command rank and benefits as he refused to swear loyalty to Hitler.

When I was interviewed in the mid-1990s by the Shoah Foundation as a Holocaust survivor, I stated that I hoped this would not happen in America. Recent events have reinforced that fear.

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Eric David, Long Beach

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To the editor: The last president’s thousands of lies laid the groundwork for his big lie that provoked and crazed thousands of his followers to take actions that weaken our country at home and around the world.

I don’t know how this fascist element in our society will play out, but I appreciate this newspaper and others for printing the truth and supporting a democratic society.

Barbara Snider, Huntington Beach

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