Thread by @gorskon

I keep looking at this quote by Dr. Prasad and wondering: What history books on Nazi Germany has he read? Because the ignorance there is astounding. Hitler worked to turn himself into a dictator beginning the day he assumed the office of Chancellor or Germany. 1/

https://twitter.com/DrJenGunter/status/1444488939146936324

Also, President Hindenberg died in August 1934, a year and a half after Hitler had become Chancellor. (He was very old and in ill health.) The quote above makes it sound as though Hindenberg hung around until 1939, which is ludicrous. 2/

Hindenburg was complicit in Hitler's becoming dictator, too. For example, besides having appointed Hitler as Chancellor after the Nazis won a plurality, he approved the Reichstag Fire Decree, which suspended various civil liberties. 3/

Soon after, Hindenburg signed the Enabling Act of 1933 which gave Hitler's regime emergency powers. Long before Hindenburg's death, Hitler was de facto dictator, with Hindenburg the only check on his power because of the President's power to fire the Chancellor. 4/

Prasad is correct that the death of President Hindenburg removed the final check on Hitler's power, but it happened very quickly, in 1934 not 1939. Five years after Hindenburg's death, Hitler was on the verge of invading Poland. 🤦🏻‍♂️ 5/

Dr. Prasad's risibly historically ignorant "analysis" is nothing less than a massive Godwin directed at public health responses. Of course, it's long been obvious that he was heading down this path, but damn if he didn't get here faster than I'd expected. 6/

Back in the early days of my blog, I had a recurring shtick that I did about putting a paper bag over my head whenever a fellow physician (or especially a fellow surgeon!) spewed pseudoscience or conspiracy theories (usually creationism). 7/

I retired the shtick something like a decade ago because it had come to feel silly. Dr. Prasad is making me think that maybe I should resurrect it just for him. 8/

I'll conclude by reminding Dr. Prasad that the misappropriation of the Holocaust for purposes such as attacking the public health response to #COVID19 is a form of Holocaust denial. 9/9 respectfulinsolence.com/2021/06/02/hol…

One last thing. The biggest danger to democracy isn't from the response to #COVID19. It's from decades-long partisan gerrymandering, the assault on voting rights, and the undermining of faith in the legitimacy of democratic elections. Prasad doesn't mention this. I wonder why.9/9

Oh, and I should have said that Hitler had been working to become the absolute ruler of Germany dating back to the early 1920s before even the Beer Hall Putsch. 10/10