Viewpoints

Adolf Hitler (died by suicide, age 56) – a report prepared during the war (1943) by the US Office of Strategic Services described Hitler’s psychological profile:

“His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.” – OSS report page 51

Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Minister of Propaganda – died by suicide, age 47):

“It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” –Speech, October 1933

“Propaganda has absolutely nothing to do with truth!” Its success rested rather, as he provocatively confessed, on an appeal to the ‘most primitive mass instincts.’ -from Part 2 of ‘The Face Of The Third Reich'(1999)

Hermann Goering (President of the Reichstag – died by suicide, age 53):

“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don’t want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.“ — Attributed April 18, 1946 in Nuremberg Diary, by Gustave Gilbert (an Allied appointed psychologist) who visited daily with Goering and his cronies in their cells, afterwards making notes and ultimately writing the book about these conversations.

Napoleon Bonaparte (died in exile, age 51) and Donald Trump: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” – Trump, Feb 2025

Lord Acton (English historian): “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” – attributed 1887

And now, some wisdom and guidance for our leaders and fellow Americans:

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matthew 25:40   Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

James 4:16-17  But now you boast and brag, and all such boasting is evil. It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it.

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

J K Galbraith (Harvard economist): “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” (from a book review, 1971)