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This is my own little editorial and purging of bad feelings. Feel free to comment. :)
Election 2004, in my opinion, has become one of the most important elections in the history of the United States. Our country is in dire straights and the stakes are very high. We have two candidates, for the most part, are as different as night and day. Although I am looking toward the day (Kerry), we have to think what if the night (Bush) prevails. What will we do if another election is stolen or corrupted? Will we “go silently into that good night?”
With the election less than a week away, tensions and apprehension are very high, especially among Democrats. We have seen, and continue to see the dastardly lengths the right-wing, war-machinist Republican Party will go. They scare me! The propaganda is frightening and relentless. It has become so bad that they do not even care when they get caught or how blatant they are! They have created an aura of fear within their own party, but that fear has dripped into our ranks. The fears are different though. The right-wing fear “liberal” values, such as free speech for all and civil rights. We fear the loss of free speech and civil rights. They fear another attack by “crazy A-rabs.” We fear another attack by terrorists who are inflamed by our aggressiveness. They fear a “global test.” We fear “no allies” left to help us.
All of these feeling and fears made me think of events that led to the horrors of The Holocaust. The rise in unquestioning patriotism, the curtailing of civil liberties, the constant fear of “foreigners” attacking us, the scapegoating of certain groups of people, and the loss of respect worldwide for the United States. History often repeats itself because people fail to see patterns right in front of their face. Could there ever be an American “Holocaust?” Could we really see groups of citizens being rounded up and imprisoned, possibly killed? It happened here with the Native Americans of this country, but could it happen in a “modern” America? Most people say, “No! That could never happen here!” Many say making a statement like that is ludicrous and paranoid. Maybe, but maybe not.
In Nazi Germany, Pastor Martin Niemoeller wrote a famous poem. It has seen many versions, but the pastor wrote it to reflect the culmination of the Nazi advancement. The following is most widely accepted as the poem he wrote:
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.
He wrote this to reflect that his inactions, and the inactions of others, led to their own “undoing.” Many people saw what was happening, but never thought it would lead to mass extermination.
How does any of this apply to the current election? From my viewpoint, I have already seen the current administration start stripping basic civil liberties in the name of national security. I have seen shameless propaganda. I have seen the deliberate demonization of people and groups of people. And, I have the word of the current president that he will “hold the course!” What can we do to prevent the further erosion of our civil liberties? We can vote! We can vote like our lives depend on it! John Kerry is not perfect, nor should he be. However, I believe he will lead our country out of fear, protect us, and allow us to have our civil liberties intact!
If Bush were to remain in power, we could see a new version of Pastor Niemoeller’s poem. It may go something like this:
First they came for the “liberals,” by eliminating the right of dissent through “free-speech” zones that continued to get further and further from the administration and grew smaller and smaller.
But I am no liberal! So, I grumble at the TV and on the Internet.
Then they came for the media, by allowing the “Fairness Doctrine” to continue to be non-existent and creating a propaganda machine run by the ruling party.
But I am not a member of the media! So, I grumble at the TV and swear off the “news.”
Then, they get brazen, and come for the gays, by appointing right-wing judges that reinstate the “crimes against nature” and “sodomy” laws; thereby, turning consenting adult relationships into criminal acts, costing people their jobs, homes, and lives.
But I am not gay! So, I grumble at the TV and vow to send money to gay rights groups.
Then they come for immigrants, by making asylum impossible and closing off our borders through legislation.
But, I am no immigrant (at least not a first-generation one)! So, I grumble at the TV and vow to join Amnesty International.
Then they come for me and I can’t speak up for myself because I am not in a “free speech” zone. I can’t get the news to cover my arrest except as a dissident. I find the laws that the right-wing judges have created, now apply to me through vague and unconstitutional language. I can’t even flee the country because the borders are closed!
Leaving me wondering…how did this happen? I didn’t see any “signs!”
It may not be as poetic as the pastor’s writing, and it may even seem a little “conspiracy” oriented, but I believe the “signs” are already here! The Bush Administration and the right-wing controlled Republican Party have shown their true colors and have even warned us that they “will stay the course!” They will never be happy until they have complete control. So, before “they come for you,” VOTE on November 2nd for the one man who will lead us back to the America we once loved, John Kerry!
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