Resist the beginnings. Consider the end.

[NightWatcher]

complete post at
http://watchingthemonkeys.blogspot.com/2007/08/they-thought-they-were-free-excerpt.html

An excerpt from
They Thought They Were Free
The Germans, 1933-45
Milton Mayer

This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.
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Principiis obsta and Finem respice—‘Resist the beginnings’ and ‘Consider the end.’- How were the 'good German citizens supposed to consider the end? They had no road map of where the growing powers of the Nazi government were leading to, but we have a road map today. The road map is our history book that shows us exactly what the Nazi's did, what enemies they created and blamed, how they took the rights away from the citizenry, how they amassed power, and what they did to the German citizens, the Jews, the people of Europe and the world.

"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

We have seen the same small steps and just like the German citizens, we have done nothing as we wait for the first and last steps that will shock us. After September 11, 2001 the Patriot Act was passed on October 26, 2001, just like Hitler passed the "Enabling Act" (March 23, 1933 ) after he had the Reichstag burned (February 27, 1933). Bush waited 45 days to pass his legislation when Hilter only waited a month. During that 45 day wait the Democratic leadership in the Senate, the Democratic chair of the Judiciary Committee, and leaders of the mass media were all sent mysterious packages containing weapons grade anthrax.

Since the Patriot Act was 'passed' we have had numerous 'steps' towards totalitarian control. We have found out about warrantless wiretapping, FISA laws have been rewritten to give just a little and just a little and just a little more power to the Executive Branch and taking just a few more and just a few more and just a few more rights from us, the citizens. When we go the airport, we have all become accustomed to taking off our shoes- not because shoes are weapons, but so that we would not question the authority of the "HOMELAND Security Agency". HOMELAND- for goodness sakes, even Hitler referred to Germany as the 'homeland' and 'fatherland'. This criminal administration is even using the terms that the Nazis did and we still see and do nothing. "Resist the beginnings and consider the end". We do not need to consider the end we have seen what the end will be. It is too late to resist the beginnings, but we can resist the middle. We have already launched one illegal war and the time is drawing near for the second and possibly third and fourth. We are not going to invade Poland, but we did invade Iraq and are looking into Iran.

Remember the beginnings and resist the end.

[reprobate]

1. Don't tell us, we know. Tell Pelosi and Reid! God help America.

[tom_paine]

2. Our German Social Democrats? Pelsoi and Reid? I expect little from them

in the realm of concrete actions taken to stem the time of unConstitutional lawlessness and corruption that pervades the Bushified Government.