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Dear Progressive Reader,

The familiar quote “history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” is usually attributed (although with little evidence ([link removed]) ) to the writer and humorist Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain). Today, however, it appears we are living through an update of that aphorism. It appears that, for many in the Trump Administration, history does not repeat itself, but it often plagiarizes.

In last week’s newsletter, I discussed ([link removed]) the possibility of response to the murder of rightwing influencer Charlie Kirk as being a potential “Reichstag fire” moment that could trigger further repression of free speech in the name of “free speech.” Another historical reference that came to my mind last week, but did make it into the newsletter, was the 1930’s glorification ([link removed]) of Nazi paramilitary activist Horst Wessel. Wessel was member of the violent SA ([link removed]) (Sturmabteilung) a group that helped Hitler gain power in the 1920s and early 1930s. Now it appears that, in his speech ([link removed]) at Kirk’s nearly five-hour-long memorial service in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and
Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miler was looking to (or perhaps lifting from ([link removed]) ) a 1932 speech by Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, titled “The Storm is Coming,” which honored and uplifted Wessel, making him into a symbol and a hero of the new Nazi movement. According to the fact-checking website Snopes.com ([link removed]) , “Miller’s and Goebbels’ speeches have rhetorical similarities, including the use of ‘storm’ imagery, the call to people to ‘rise,’ the exhortations to ‘build,’ and the idea of seeking vengeance for the death of a key figure in their movements. Miller did not plagiarize Goebbels’ speech word for word, but some similarities exist.”

This week, in an unprecedented move ([link removed]) by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, hundreds of generals and other military officials have been called ([link removed]) to a special assembly on September 30 at the Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia. “[In] July 1935 German generals were called to a surprise assembly in Berlin and informed that their previous oath to the Weimar constitution was void and that they would be required to swear a personal oath to the Führer. Most generals took the new oath to keep their positions,” noted retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges (who now serves as senior adviser to the non-profit Human Rights First ([link removed]) ). The statement was so striking that Hegseth himself retweeted ([link removed]) it, unedited, with the words
“Cool story, General”—leaving open the question of whether the Secretary was affirming it or attacking the former general.

It is not the first time that Donald Trump and his acolytes have quoted from that dark period in the first part of the twentieth century. In March 2016, I wrote ([link removed]) about Trump’s retweet of a quote from Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini. When questioned about it, the then-candidate told NBC “What difference does it make?” In February 2024, I pointed out ([link removed]) that the once-again candidate Trump had reportedly ([link removed]) kept a copy of Adolf Hitler’s speeches in a drawer in his bedroom.

Watergate dirty-tricks-and-burglary architect G. Gordon Liddy was famously ([link removed]) a great admirer of the German Third Reich, but Liddy’s fealty pales in comparison to the words and actions of Trump, Miller, Hegseth, and others in the current administration. The question continues to arise as to whether it is useful to continually point out these comparisons to the 1930s—a very different time and a very different place in world history. But if today’s history continues to plagiarize from the past, perhaps there are lessons that we can learn, and future moves that we can predict.
As Pete Seeger sang ([link removed]) in his 1967 anti-war ballad about a military platoon in 1942 (which was initially censored ([link removed]) from broadcast on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by CBS founder and board chair William Paley at the request of then U.S. President Lyndon Johnson): “Well, I'm not going to point any moral, / I'll leave that for yourself / Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking / You'd like to keep your health. / But every time I read the papers / That old feeling comes on; / We're, waist deep in the Big Muddy /And the big fool says to push on.”

This coming week, the country appears to be hurtling toward a government shutdown. In anticipation of their ability to take advantage of this opportunity, the Trump Administration has circulated a memo ([link removed]) telling agencies to prepare for a “reduction-in-force” which could take the form of the permanent firing of a large number of federal workers—a long-desired goal ([link removed]) of the current administration. This comes in the wake of a story that would almost be humorous, were it not so ominous. According to The Daily Beast
([link removed]) , for its Labor Day announcement on September 1, the Trump Administration apparently used AI-generated images, rather than content created by actual graphic arts workers. “For two and a half centuries, American workers have built this country into a shining symbol of freedom and opportunity,” read the post. The question remains, as to whether that sentence was missing its final three words, “but no longer.” As The Beast duly noted, this “comes at a time when a growing number of American jobs are threatened by developing technology, including artificial intelligence.” Other graphic images on the Department of Labor’s official Twitter (X) account appear
to be ([link removed]) continuing this use of AI rather than real artists.

This week on our website, Matt Minton looks at ([link removed]) the issues of AI in relation to Hollywood and the creation and promotion of films and culture in general; and writer and photographer Jason Kerzinski reports on ([link removed]) a recent pro-Palestine rally in the “red state” of Oklahoma. Plus, Anthony Pahnke pens an op-ed ([link removed]) on the ways Trump’s policies are harming U.S. farmers; and Aurelia Glass opines ([link removed]) on how the Trump Administration is taking aim at minimum wage protections.

Finally, Assata Shakur, Black activist, author, and teacher, has passed away ([link removed]) at the age of seventy-eight in her adopted home in Havana, Cuba. In 1979, Shakur escaped from prison and eventually took refuge in the island nation, where she spent the rest of her life in spite of numerous attempts by the United States government to persuade the Cubans to extradite her. As Kassidy Tarala wrote in her March 2022 review ([link removed]) of the book Assata Taught Me: State Violence, Racial Capitalism, and the Movement for Black Lives, by Donna Murch, this volume “drives home the point that we must achieve freedom for everybody in order to truly achieve freedom for any of us. It ends with a quote of Shakur’s that will linger long after readers have put the book down: ‘Any community seriously concerned with its own freedom has to be concerned about other peoples’ freedom as well.’
”

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Also, for readers in the area around Madison, Wisconsin, The Progressive is co-hosting a screening, together with the local union Madison Teachers, Inc., of the new film The Last Class with Robert Reich at The Barrymore Theatre on Sunday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available ([link removed]) online and at the door. Please join us if you can.

Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher

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