This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I say Castro:

– Trump takes some pages from the Castro playbook — George Pyle | The Salt Lake Tribune

" ... Trump mimics Castro by threatening to jail, or expel, people who burn flags. He says that anything critical you may hear about him is a lie perpetrated by the evil media.

"He drags former critic Mitt Romney before him in a ugly display of groveling.

"Aside from the conspicuous absence of firing squads, it's all out of the Castro playbook. Us against them. And if you don't want to be them, you have to follow him, because, warts and all, he's us. ..."

He says Hitler:

— Ken Burns: Trump Camp's Playbook 'Is Out of the National Socialist Party in Germany' — Josh Feldman |Mediaite

" ... Historical filmmaker Ken Burns had a pretty blunt assessment of Donald Trump's campaign tactics in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour this week.

'I don't recognize me country anymore,' he said. 'This is so terrifying.' ...

" ... 'The Trump campaign is — their playbook is out of the National Socialist Party in Germany in every regard. The dog whistles of race and immigration.' ..."

He goes generic:

— Trump's Threat to the Constitution — Evan McMullin | For The New York Times

" ... Mr. Trump also recently inflated his election performance, claiming — without evidence — that he "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally." This, too, is nothing new. Authoritarians often exaggerate their popular support to increase the perception of their legitimacy. But the deeper objective is to weaken the democratic institutions that limit their power. Eroding confidence in voting, elections and representative bodies gives them a freer hand to wield more power.

"As a C.I.A. officer, I saw firsthand authoritarians' use of these tactics around the world. Their profound appetite for absolute power drives their intolerance for any restraint — whether by people, organizations, the law, cultural norms, principles or even the expectation of consistency. For a despot, all of these checks on power must be ignored, undermined or destroyed so that he is all that matters. ..."

And he hopes for Merkel:

— These days, the voice of reason speaks German — Leonid Bershidsky | Bloomberg View

"Sunday's presidential election in Austria, in which the far-right candidate suffered a convincing defeat, makes one thing clear: European nations must find their place between two poles, the English-speaking one where nationalist populism is the new normal and the German-speaking one, where a majority considers it scary. ..."