Ermächtigungsgesetz (get a strong drink first)

[lala_rawraw]

How the Patriot Act Compares to Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act)

On March 23, 1933, the newly elected members of the Reichstag met in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin to consider passing Hitler's "Ermächtigungsgesetz". The "Enabling Act" was officially called the 'Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.'

Opponents to the bill argued that if it was passed, it would end democracy in Germany and establish a legal dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. To soften resistance to the passing of the Enabling Act, the Nazis secretly caused confusion in order to create an atmosphere in which the law seem necessary to restore order.

On February 27, 1933, Nazis burned the Reichstag building, and a seat of the German government, causing frenzy and outrage. They successfully blamed the fire on the Communists, and claimed it marked the beginning of a widespread terrorism and unrest threatening the safety of the German "Homeland." On the day of the vote, Nazi storm troopers gathered around the opera house chanting, "Full powers - or else! We want the bill - or fire and murder!"

<snip>

After the fire on February 28, 1933, president Hindenburg and Hitler invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which permitted the suspension of civil liberties during national emergencies. Some examples of this Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of the People and State abrogated the following constitutional protections: Freedom of the press, free expression of opinion, individual property rights, right of assembly and association, right to privacy of postal and electronic communications, states´ rights of self-government, and protection against unlawful searches and seizures.

Before the vote, Hitler made a speech to the Reichstag in which he pledged to use restraint. He also promised to end unemployment and promote multilateral peace with France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union.

Read the rest here....
http://www.furnitureforthepeople.com/actpat.htm

[ArkDem]

1. Sigh.....

[paineinthearse]

2. Nominated!

Your computer may have been down, but your brain has been engaged.

Welcome back!

p.s. DU'ers please wake up. I found this fantastic piece on the GENERAL forum's 3rd page.

[lala_rawraw]

9. nope, brain is not engaged...

Lol. Just usually brain dead but sometimes lucky. Thanks, good to be back. I have spent all day on email (sigh). Now I am too tired to work, blast those email hijacking people!:)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. This guy approves this thread

[Cleita]

4. Yep. This is when Von Hindenburg handed the Reich to Hitler

lock, stock and barrel and ended the Weimar Republic.

[meganmonkey]

5. Wow - bookmarked for later reading - Nominate and KICK!

On edit: I need to wait till I'm at home so I can pour a strong drink :P

[Dirty Hippie]

6. Just had to show off my sig image.

[formerrepuke]

13. That's awesome! I want one....n/t

[da_chimperor]

7. Here's it written correctly: Ermächtigungsgesetz

Just copy and paste. Sorry, but the skewed spelling is bugging me. x(

Edit: Scary read, btw. Nominated.

[lala_rawraw]

10. cannot edit it...

The editing period has expired... it was spelled correctly and it shows correctly when I post a reply, but for some reason it is not showing correctly in the title.

[da_chimperor]

20. Hmmm . . . no problem then.

I'm on a mac anyhow, and they act . . . differently some times. Anyhow, I'm really glad you posted the article. It was both informative and scary. I've got two German roommates who are reading it tomorrow, and it will be very interesting how they view it.

[lala_rawraw]

21. Anyone

feel like doing some research on a non-related topic? i need some help with a story and as you all know I tend to be ill enough of the time that it kind of affects my ability to "hop" on a story as much as I want to. email moi if you can:)

[Jokinomx]

8. One of the most important posts I have ever read.....

Thank you so much for the post and the link. It DID send chills down my spine. We are living in a pivotal time. Americans have to choose which path to take....the one of demanding an OPEN and HONEST government or one that controls all with fear and intimidation.

We must unite as one America against the "Enemy Within". That is the real threat to our country and our people.

Again... Thanks for the information.... hopefully this site will be a catalyst for change.

:toast:

[Avalux]

11. I posted a comparison a few weeks ago -

scary as hell and important for people to understand. Bushco's following the Nazi playbook.

[lala_rawraw]

14. I know and

This is just how "it" happened; when people ask "how did the genocide happen, this is how. What scares me is who the hell is going to liberate us? England? Japan? Who? Drink is required to process fully.

[donheld]

12. The Most populous state in the US is Denial!

Until we face these facts we are headed for great trouble.

[cally]

15. Chilling

and another vote for Greatest page. (Yeah, it's a :kick:)

[bpilgrim]

16. That, in its essence, is fascism...

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes strong than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

peace

[librechik]

17. OMG--we must not notice historic parallels!!

do you want to wind up like others who have made that mistake?

The list grows longer: MoveOn.Org, Robert Byrd, The German minister who was forced to resign, Ward Churchill...

IT IS A CRIME TO NOTICE THE NUMEROUS AND OBVIOUS SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GROWTH OF HITLER AND RISE OF SHRUB!!

watch what you say...

:toast:

[dxstone]

18. I think the Patriot Act is aptly named...

Cuz that's all it is, as far as these neocon morons are concerned, an act... it should be called the Patriot Inaction Act, cuz it ties the hands of anyone sincerely trying to do something good for their country...
But comparisons of Bush to Hitler are strictly a no-no in this society, no matter how apt those comparisons actually are...
Bush is evil. He proves it daily, by doing at least three truly evil things every day, before noon... that's his personal regimen.
Worse, he is a puppet. His head is filled with nothing but packing peanuts.
Nothing scarier than an evil puppet, if you ask me...


http://www.presidentevilonline.com/thegwinch.html

You're a FOUL one, Mr. GWinch...

D X Stone
http://www.presidentevilonline.com
"I LOVE horror movies, man... I just don't want to LIVE in one."

[Ms. Clio]

19. Nazi parallels--not just for tinfoilers anymore

I saw Christina Vella on Book TV yesterday, talking about a book she coauthored with Czech resistance fighter, Radomir Luza, The Hitler Kiss: A Memoir of the Czech Resistance. She drew specific and damning parallels between the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

http://www.lsu.edu/lsupress/catalog/spring2002_books/books/luza.html

Radomir Luza’s father was a revered army general when the Nazis stormed into Czechoslovakia. After his father went underground to avoid arrest and torture, the nineteen-year-old Radomir spent weeks in a Gestapo prison. Eventually released in the hope that he would lead the Nazis to his father, Radomir instead joined him in hiding. General Luza became the military commander of the Czech resistance, while Radomir secretly helped organize the country’s largest resistance network, providing critical intelligence to the Allies and leading bands of resisters and escaped Russian war prisoners in guerrilla attacks.

[Stand and Fight]

22. KICK

[Stand and Fight]

23. Very disturbing...

Unfortunately, having studied Hitler and the rise of the Third Reich extensively, I am not at all surprised. However, even on DU it is taboo to speak of this. People were shut out the same way in Nazi Germany under Hitler by their fellow residents of the opposition party. The cycle continues...

[Sapphire Blue]

24. The descent into fascism continues

.... as the gullible minions vehemently defend their Great Leader.

[lala_rawraw]

25. Well

They do have reality TV to turn to, so they are okay:)