> I can't believe this is the first time I've seen someone NOT compare Trump to Hitler.

What those two have in common is they fit the definition of the word 'demagogue' 100%, point by point. Along with many, many others (numerous political figures in Europe in the '30s, Huey Long, senator McCarthy, etc).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demagogue

Hitler, however, was far more effective than everyone on that list.

Well, at least so far. But even so, Hitler's charisma and ability to emotionally be a puppet master to enormous masses while spewing bullshit appears to be unparalleled in history.

Based on what we've seen so far, the Berlusconi comparison seems best. Knock on wood.

Well, the metric I was using was the effects on the whole world. Perhaps there are better metrics than that, I don't know.

I have always felt that Mussolini was a more apt comparison. For one thing, nobody's ever heard of Trump shout himself hoarse about Lebensraum. (And without Hitler's aggression, it's highly doubtful that Mussolini would have gotten himself involved in a European war.)

“Yes, he rejects modernism, appeals to a selective populism, and espouses a cult of machismo.”

http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/the-important-thing

For what it's worth I find the Mussolinian architecture extremely modernist and quite interesting (https://www.google.ro/search?q=architettura+fascista+italia&...). Whenever I visit Italy I always find some interesting building or public-works structure from the Mussolini era which I photograph.