'It Can't Happen Here' Might be Happening all Over Again

   Donald Trump prefigured in a novel 85 years ago? Read the blurb advertising the book on the back cover of  It Can't Happen Here:
   "Vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected . . . He was an actor of genius.
   "A vain, outlandish, anti-immigrant, fear-mongering demagogue runs for president of the United States -- and wins. Sinclair Lewis's 1935 bestseller is the story of Buzz Windrip, who promises voters that he will make America proud and prosperous once more, but takes the country down a far darker path. As the new regime slides into authoritarianism, newspaper editor Doremus Jessup can't believe it will last -- but is he right? This cautionary tale of liberal complacency in the face of populist tyranny shows it really can happen."
   The book's plot obviously is going to differ from the history of what has happened with Trump, and there are certainly differences. Windrip is a quasi socialist, for one. But, go ahead and gulp at the similarities. A populist runs for office, billing himself as an anti-politician promising to return America To greatness. He gets elected, reduces the influence of the other two branches of government, throws in jail those in the government who stand in his way, holds big, passionate rallies, and whips up opposition to the "lies" of the mainstream press.
   He declares Americans,"the greatest Race on the face of this old Earth." When he decries the mainstream press, his supporters embrace the message and also turn against and join in the hatred of the media. Those accused of crimes against government appear before kangaroo courts. And, despite the incursions the charismatic Windrip takes against the other branches of government, the majority of people approve of these measures, seeing them as necessary to put the nation back on the right path.
   When someone expresses concern that the nation is sliding toward fascism, the reply is that that simply can't happen here, not in America. Thus the title of the book.
    Donald Trump, meet Buzz Windrip; Buzz Windrip, meet Donald Trump.
    The book sold out on Amazon and other places at the time of Trump's election in 2016.