I agree with those who say the comparison of Trump to Hitler is way overblown. Trump has an air of nationalism about him that appeals to those who are fearful, but a far better comparison with Trump is Silvio Berlusconi. Both are compulsive liars and exaggerators, and love to talk about their wealth --Berlusconi is probably ~3 times richer-- both thumb their noses at critics and the law, both have been caught breaking laws, both strike out viciously against any accusers, but only Berlusconi, so far, has actually come perilously close to doing prison time. Among his numerous convictions, Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud in 2013, "...sending Italy’s fragile government on the road to crisis." Trumps current conviction is for running an unlicensed University in New York. He has multiple, additional convictions for fraud coming up. After that, who knows?
From a
2013 NYT article:
Italian Court Upholds Berlusconi Sentence, Setting Stage for Crisis
By
RACHEL DONADIOAUG. 1, 2013
ROME — For years, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi deftly navigated the labyrinth of Italian justice, always finding an exit — until Thursday, when Italy’s highest court handed him his first definitive sentence, upholding a prison term for tax fraud and sending Italy’s fragile government on the road to crisis.
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The court called for a re-examination of a ban on Mr. Berlusconi’s holding public office, but did not reject the ban. This staved off the imminent collapse of the right-left coalition of Prime Minister Enrico Letta, which was formed to tackle Italy’s dire economy — but probably only bought it more time.
Parts of Mr. Letta’s center-left Democratic Party are reluctant to share power with a now-convicted criminal. Meanwhile, the center-right People of Liberty party looked poised to split between Berlusconi loyalists and those seeking more independence from the former prime minister in a future bloc.
“The barometer signals a very strong storm,” said Giovanni Orsina, professor of contemporary history at LUISS Guido Carli and author of “Understanding Berlusconi.” “I expect a lot of quake tremors in the next few days, but I think that the government will survive.”
Protesters demanding prison for former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gathered on Thursday in front of Italy’s high court in Rome. The court’s decision upheld a prison term for tax fraud. Credit Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
The Court of Cassation confirmed Mr. Berlusconi’s four-year prison sentence, which had already been reduced to one year under a law aimed at combating prison overcrowding.
Two lower courts had convicted Mr. Berlusconi and other defendants on charges of buying the rights to broadcast American movies on his Mediaset networks through a series of offshore companies and falsely declaring how much they paid to avoid taxes.
In other cases over the past 20 years, Mr. Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister, has been convicted of tax evasion, buying judges and embezzlement, but was either acquitted on appeal or the statute of limitations had run out. (A trial in which Mr. Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with a minor is continuing.)
Thursday’s ruling, like everything about Mr. Berlusconi, polarized Italy. Some of the former prime minister’s loyalists called it the equivalent of a judicial coup d’état, while his critics called it tantamount to Al Capone being convicted of tax evasion.
After the ruling, a furious, saddened and uncharacteristically unsmiling Mr. Berlusconi took to the airwaves of Rete4, one of the channels in his Mediaset empire, and declared his innocence, attacking the magistrates who he said had tormented him for 20 years and become an antidemocratic force within Italy.
“The sentence is absolutely groundless and violates my personal liberty and my rights,” Mr. Berlusconi said.
The man who once called himself “the politician most persecuted by prosecutors in the entire history of the world throughout the ages,” added that he would once again create Forza Italia, the party he founded in 1994. He had dissolved that party to form People of Liberty with another right-wing party. “Long live Italy, long live Forza Italia,” he concluded.
Mr. Berlusconi is widely seen as wanting to stay in public office in the hope of wielding the political influence he needs to protect his business interests.
Thursday’s ruling did not automatically send Mr. Berlusconi to prison or house arrest. It is up to the same appeals court in Milan that convicted him to formally request his arrest. Mr. Berlusconi’s lawyers can also request a suspended sentence.
Experts said that considering his age, 76, Mr. Berlusconi would more likely face house arrest or community service than prison.
[please note the photo of Berlusconi above did not accompany the original article in the NYT thatI have reproduced above. I was unable to determine the original source of this photo and hence was not able to give proper credit to the photographer, for which I apologize, apparently it was uploaded to the net without proper attribution.]
