By coincidence I was reading an article by Nicholas O'Shaughnessy when I learned that a QAnon believer is likely headed to Congress. It reminded me that to grasp the nature of politics today we have to revisit the vast literature on propaganda. Thread 1/ https://nyti.ms/2DYHHcq 

"Propaganda is the prism through which to view the Third Reich...Hitler was the universal auteur of the regime he founded and anchored in imagery: propaganda was the governing philosophy, not merely a means to an end but an end in itself." 2/

"Everything, from machinery to documentaries...to art itself, was interrogated with a single question: what is its persuasion value?...The Nazi idea of propaganda covered everything, was in fact the foundation of the regime, a composite of ideology and methodology." 3/

"Military strategy for example was itself an exercise in propaganda, as with the battle of Stalingrad and the decision to hold it to the last because of its symbolic resonances: the propaganda dictated the political and military strategy rather than the other way round." 4/

"The propaganda nexus embraced everything from uniforms to technology, the costuming of policemen and soldiers, the folk festivals and folk dress. It reached saturation levels. There were even groups for spreading graffiti, groups for spreading rumors" 5/

"The dominance of the idea in Nazi Germany knew no bounds...This reliance on propaganda was more than a mere article of faith, it was a voracious addiction." 6/

These quotes are all from O'Shaughnessy (2009), "Selling Hitler: Propaganda and the Nazi Brand." I think they show why comparisons between Trump/Hitler, MAGA/Nazis are apt, but not for reasons that would upset Mike Godwin. 7/

When people compare Trump to Hitler or MAGA to Nazis they mean to draw superficial comparisons to the racism, the xenophobia, and the authoritarianism. But perhaps a more apt comparison is to the mobilization of propaganda as both method and ideology. 8/

If you've read any of QAnons "bread crumbs," you know that the content is as logical as it is relevant. It is not the point. The point is to commune and to identify with an extensive group of believers. And the belief is in Donald Trump. 9/

"A key aim of Nazi propaganda was, of course, the projection bod Hitler's carefully crafted image; the projection of Hitler himself as the central integument of Nazi propaganda. As he himself once said, 'I am the greatest actor in Germany,' and he was." 10/10