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First They Came for the Socialists

9 years ago

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:

First 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 for me.

The quotation stems from Niemöller's lectures during the early postwar period. Different versions of the quotation exist. These can be attributed to the fact that Niemöller spoke extemporaneously and in a number of settings. Much controversy surrounds the content of the poem as it has been printed in varying forms, referring to diverse groups such as Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, Trade Unionists, or Communists depending upon the version. Nonetheless his point was that Germans—in particular, he believed, the leaders of the Protestant churches—had been complicit through their silence in the Nazi imprisonment, persecution, and murder of millions of people


For those who say they choose to remain silent, rather than infringe another's rights to free speech. History teaches us that silence is not golden. It is deadly. The Republican Party could easily get a handle on the types of situations we are now experiencing. Why just the Republicans?

Because leadership starts at the top!

Trump can request 20 minutes of network time. Every station can and does honor this request. Without his usual bluster, but with the force that he mustered to address North Korea, he faces to camera head on. His statement goes something like:

We, as a party and a nation, condemn these acts of violence being perpetrated in the name of nationalism. Let me make it perfectly clear. You Do NOT speak for the Republican Party, and you Do NOT speak for the majority of decent, loving Americans.

There is no room for you in our Party. There is no tolerance or acceptance of you in America!

Then Trump has to rid the White House of Bannon, the resident White Supremist. Next, McConnell has to stand before Congress and state clearly and without equivocation that there is no room, nor any acceptance for the ideology that white nationalists are infecting the society with. Next, Paul Ryan stands up and says that the Republican Party has no room for hatred and condemns the Charlottesville rally.

That lets the rest of the citizens who are content to sit quietly on the sidelines continue to convince yourselves that you don't condone

, but do support their rights.








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