"When they betrayed Katrina NOLA, I did not speak out because..."

[omega minimo]

The Bushco. non-response to Hurricane Katrina/NOLA was a national wake up call -- an American genocide against our most vulnerable. We are all vulnerable to those same forces. May all those lost in the storm and those who survive them find peace; and forgive us for tolerating the inhumanity delivered upon them by a government charged with protecting them.


First they betrayed the truth, to make war
I did not speak out
because I was not responsible.

When they betrayed the Gulf War survivors,
I did not speak out
because I was not an Iraqi.

When they betrayed the Gulf War military,
I did not speak out
because I was not a soldier.

When they betrayed the Gulf Hurricane survivors
I did not speak out
because I was not poor or black;

And when they betrayed me,
there was only a gulf of silence,
there was no one left to speak out.

With gratitude to the original:
Martin Niemöller





First They Came... is a poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) about the quiescence of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. In Spanish-speaking countries the poem has been often erroneously attributed to Bertolt Brecht since the 1970s.

An early supporter of Hitler, by 1934 Niemöller had come to oppose the Nazis, and it was largely his high connections to influential and wealthy businessmen that saved him until 1939, after which he was imprisoned, eventually at Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. He survived to be a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War II. His poem is well-known, frequently quoted, and is a popular model for describing the phenomenon of social chaos, as it often begins with specific and targeted fear and hatred which soon escalates out of control.


First they came for the communists,
I did not speak out
because I was not a communist.

When they came for the social democrats,
I did not speak out
because I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists
I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews
I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;

And when they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

--Martin Niemöller

[readmoreoften]

1. great post /nt

[omega minimo]

8. iwouldliketo readyoumoreoften

:peace:

[skids]

2. Problem there.

America betrayed me a long time ago.

[omega minimo]

7. I'm sorry skids--- good point

[Hekate]

3. That's exactly what I've meant by "New Orleans is all of us"

I watched the scenes on tv with unmitigated horror, and I knew that those people could be me and my neighbors if our city is cut off by the next big fire or earthquake. It *will* be us if it happens before Bush and his cronies leave office.

I could not believe this was happening in my own country, and it feels like a very personal insult, if you know what I mean.

You put it very well. Thanks.

Hekate

[omega minimo]

5. That's it. And we won't have to wait that long............

"It *will* be us if it happens before Bush and his cronies leave office."

...in a metaphorical sense, given the devastation being delivered on the nation right now.

[Swamp Rat]

4. k&r

[omega minimo]

6. Thinking of you and yours, Mon Cher

:grouphug:

[omega minimo]

9. Kick for the outrage & shame of flippant "race/class/deserve to live" OPs

on DU -- could we at least respect the memory long enough to show it? I don't appreciate more threads that prove how clueless and selfish white/privileged people can be.

Maybe it's fear, whistling in the dark-- maybe they do understand that ANY of us could be treated like this.

Even so.

[Catherine Vincent]

10. What do you mean?

I was watching Scarborough last night and he had Gov. Barbour of Mississippi and others on and he said how they didn't wait around for the government's help. They practically helped themselves .. blah blah. Of course, Douglas Brinkley finally said that the casinos were a big help in all that. They were really pumping up the Bush cabal by repeating "leadership" about a hundred times. It was really sickening to hear.

[omega minimo]

11. Denial is not just a river in Egypt

The fact that anyone can justify what was/is done to New Orleans and its people is beyond belief.

[omega minimo]

12. Kick for Malloy, Kathy, Molly and all Truthseekers

:toast: :yourock: