Adolf Hitler applied for and was rejected from art school twice, after the 2nd rejection, his mother died and he entered into a period of homelessness. If Hitler’s mother taught him that if he worked hard he could become anything he wanted, then he learned the hard way that she was lying, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t refocus his ambition. Over the next few decades, he rose to power and started the world on a warpath that would leave tens of millions dead. Hitler’s life was full of what ifs, what might have been, scenarios. What if he had been accepted to The Academy of Fine Arts. What if his mother hadn’t died and left him homeless? What if he had died from exposure before he found a homeless shelter? What if the charity group that took him in wasn’t religiously prejudiced or antisemitic? What happened to him when his dreams were dashed and reality was much bleaker than he thought it could be? Hitler’s life shows us that not all of the most evil and destructive people who have ever lived were born that way, they changed at some point. We don’t know exactly why he changed, but we do look for insights into his world so we can try to prevent history from repeating itself. Is there anyone out there, hiding in plain sight, that sets off warning bells, signaling that they could turn into Hitler #2? I present to you: the curious case of Douglas Ernst.

Douglas Ernst reveals to us, in his own words, that when he was younger, he had no interest in politic blogging at all he “just wanted to move out to California and write screenplays.” According to Douglas Ernst, it was unethical liberal professors at the college he attended that swayed him from screenplays to becoming the super-credible blogger he is today (if he is telling the truth, that he was outraged by partisan hacks enough to change careers goals, he has somehow become that which he despised without realizing it, more on that later). On the surface, that makes sense, writing a blog has got to be more fulfilling and pay better than writing a Hollywood blockbuster. Wait, I got that backwards, but even if I had written it correctly it wouldn’t change the fact that trolling away at partisan bullshit on a daily basis is super fun. It’s also easier than writing a Hollywood blockbuster (maybe, some movies make me wonder) because you can be like Douglas Ernst and make your blog so partisan that no one needs to actually read it when important news happens, they’ll already know what you think. But, what if Douglas Ernst is lying about changing his mind in college? What if he actually put effort into becoming a screenwriter, but was rejected by the liberal elitists in Hollywood? If that happened, wouldn’t his hatred of liberals make a lot more sense? Since we can’t find out for sure if he is lying about the reasons he isn’t a screenwriter, what would we learn if we assumed he was lying and started looking for warning signs that not only did he fail as a screenwriter, he also seeks vengeance against liberals? Would it reveal that Douglas Ernst fell into Hitler’s footsteps?

I’m going to list some attributes of one specific person and I would like you try to picture who I am describing: Personal failure in the creative arts, right-wing political ideology, unreasonably opposed to political compromise, known to voice his personal beliefs through writing, loyalty to his country’s current democratically elected leader is nonexistent, unreasonably obsessed with illegal immigration, race is always an issue for him, unreasonably strong belief in national solidarity/isolationism, denounces any religion that isn’t Christianity, denounces pacifists as unpatriotic, denounces any differing political ideology as destructive forces to national security, strong proponent of military action for unprovable/irrational claims, proclaims to have answers for every problem, those answers involve the elimination of civil rights for minorities. Who are you picturing in your head: Hitler in 1925, or Douglas Ernst today?

Of course, Douglas Ernst would denounce the idea that there are similarities between him and Hitler. He would probably say that he isn’t going to answer any questions about being the second Hitler because it’s too preposterous to acknowledge. He would probably say that he isn’t failed screenwriter and was never rejected by Hollywood’s liberal elitists because he never actually attempted to be a screenwriter. He would probably try to argue that he was successfully accepted into college and therefore couldn’t be considered on the same path as Hitler, but doesn’t refusing to answer questions, and pointing out minor differences to deflect suspicion, sound like something Hitler #2 would do?

The parallels between Hitler and Douglas Ernst are chilling, what will happen if he somehow becomes a powerful politician? I don’t know, and neither do you! My main question is still unresolved, and we need more information to find out if he’s interested in helping America or wanting to fashion it as he thinks it should be. That is exactly what I’m gong to do, and I hope you’ll stay with me so that together we can determine if Douglas Ernst hates America.

Smurfalot