Hitler and other Fascist parties of the early-mid part of the 20th century advocated and actively sought one party without dissent. They stopped at nothing, including murder, torture and incarceration of dissenters in a big way. Hitler organized the "brown shirts" or Stormtroopers, in the late '20's and added the SS in the mid 30's. They occupied the streets of Germany in menacing numbers. When he got into power, he gradually turned up the heat on dissent to the point where simply expressing doubt that Germany was winning the war could land a person in one of Hitler's camps, probably never to return. This was what Hitler said he would do in his book "Mein Kampf" and that's what he did. Including his ordering the extermination of Jews.
I compare Hitler and Fascism to Nixon from my own memories of police dogs sicced on war protesters, mass arrests and beatings of social activists as well as murder of leaders in the Black Power movement by police or by KKK "crazies". I believe that the Hoover and Nixon were behind the murder of Martin Luther King. Nixon had his enemies list, containing names of people who's only transgression was to say things that he felt opposed him. Also there were government sanctioned police lists everywhere of anybody that opposed Nixon's authoritarian rule. He meant to take the country into dictatorship or at least place the Republican Party into a single power status with himself at the top. I don't know if Congress would have had the guts to do it without the protests, but eventually he was pushed out of office over Watergate by dual party action in Congress. That said, Nixon was a shadow of Hitler in terms of his rush to violence and relentless, single minded pursuit of power. Even Nixon was only an echo of Hitler and not a direct comparison.
Hitler and Fascism were evil beyond anything that this country experienced. There were echos of Fascism in Bush's administration and in Obama's government as well but nothing that was as relentless and violent as what the Fascists, under Hitler, Mussolini or Franco did during their day. Bush did say early in his first term that he was going to establish Republican Party dominance in this country for decades to come but he didn't have the same lust for power and willingness to use violence that Hitler did. If Cheney were president the situation I believe may have been closer to Nixon's days but even Cheney didn't have the maniacal obsession with power that Hitler had. Cheney also was a bad shot.
That's also why I said to
@ol skool that comparisons of Obama to Hitler don't make sense.
I am spooked by the "Oath Keepers" -- white guys carrying assault rifles -- that showed up armed and without invitation to Ferguson during protests about 6 mos ago. They may be nothing, but the Oath Keepers are a paramilitary organization with strong membership from the armed forces and police and entirely white male. It echos of Hitler's Stormtroopers but I don't know if somebody in power is supporting them.
