Lincoln Square - How Democracy Died in Germany -- and the Eerie Parallels to Today

By Brian Daitzman

They said his criminal record would destroy him — but it made him a martyr. Every indictment, every charge of treason, only deepened his bond with the angry and the forgotten. He didn’t promise unity. He promised revenge. And as the crowds cheered louder, as the headlines blared his name in outrage, he didn’t shrink. He soared. Because in their eyes, he wasn’t the threat to democracy — he was its reckoning.

His past was steeped in scandal — a felon, accused of treason and sedition, his actions and rhetoric frequently straddling the line of legality. He was convicted for attempting to overthrow the government, yet this criminal history didn’t disqualify him. It only made him more appealing to those who viewed the establishment as corrupt and broken. Instead of disqualifying him, his criminal record and charges became part of his defiant charm, painting him as an outsider willing to fight the system. Every accusation, every charge of treason, only fueled his rise, showing his supporters that he could not be tamed and was the only one willing to challenge the powers that had held the nation in their grip.

At first, they dismissed him. The elites, the media, the political class — they thought they could control him. They mocked him as a sideshow, a foolish provocateur, destined to be forgotten. But in the wake of high inflation, economic instability, and a country that had lost its bearings, his words struck a chord with those who had been cast aside. In an age of rising populism, economic dislocation, and a shrinking middle class, his rhetoric didn’t promise solutions — it promised retribution. It wasn’t just blame he offered; it was a convenient, scapegoated enemy to rally against. His was a message soaked in anger, dripping with resentment for anyone deemed an outsider. Minorities, immigrants, political rivals — all of them were the root of the nation’s collapse. And in this narrative of vengeance, he found his power.

It wasn’t just the forgotten and the downtrodden who rallied to him. His support was a web of disenfranchised voters, alienated workers, and desperate communities — a rage that turned inward, then outward. People who had once believed in the promise of democracy now saw him as their only hope, their only defender. He was the hammer to crush a system they believed had betrayed them. They didn’t care what he stood for, as long as he was willing to destroy the things they hated. And with every provocation, every scandal, his following grew — spurred on by his audacity and his defiance. The more they despised him, the more they were drawn to him, their loyalty strengthening with every wave of mockery that he deflected effortlessly.

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