Pastor Martin Niemöller at his desk in his home. Berlin, Germany, ca. 1936. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Sibylle Niemoeller As I watch in muffled horror what is happening to our beloved Republic, especially in the past three years, I remembered this quote from a Lutheran pastor in Germany after it was too late to stop Hitler’s Nazi party march to obliterate the German Republic: First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me Pastor Martin Niemöller Niemoller was at first a supporter of Hitler and his policies, but as the revelations moved on to what the Nazi machine’s propaganda campaign was doing to eliminate any opposition by systematically silencing the free press, removing “sick” elements of the population, the gypsies, the handicapped, the “undesirables,” the “non-Aryans” (non-white), the Jews, and any others deemed “enemies of the State” by the Nazi party. We now know how that turned out. I am discerning some parallels to what happened there, in terms of the way a democratic republic can be chipped away at and ultimately destroyed, in our good old U.S. of A. “First he went after the Mexican immigrants by calling them rapists and murderers and the Republicans did not speak out because they were not Mexicans. “Then he went after the Muslims by calling them terrorists and the Republicans did not speak out because they were not Muslims. “Then he went after the free press by calling them “fake news” reporters and the Republicans did not speak out because they were not journalists. “Then he went after the Democrats by calling them socialists and the Republicans did not speak out because they were not Democrats. “Then he went after the Judges by calling them supporters of Democrats and the Republicans did not speak out because they were not supporters of Democrats. “Then he went after African American and Muslim and Puerto Rican American citizens who were also members of Congress telling them to “go back where they came from” and the Republicans did not speak out because they were afraid of him.” I do not know how this will turn out but I am sure of one thing. When he goes after the “fake and disloyal” Republicans, there won’t be anyone left to speak for them. Wake up America! Wake up Democrats! Wake up you sleeping Republicans who still have a sense of what is happening! Before it is too late! Save our democratic Republic! Sent from my iPad
