First They Came For….
To the Editor:
Recently I read something written by Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor in Germany during WWII. Because he protested Hitler’s regime of restrictive laws, suspension of rights and the targeting for elimination of millions of Jews and other scapegoats, Pastor Niemoller was sent to a concentration camp. He wrote “First they came for...and I did not speak out...and then they came for me but there was no one left to speak for me.” I think we are facing the same erosion of our Constitutional rights with the same complacency and head-in-the-sand attitude. “It probably isn’t so bad and it won’t effect me. And anyway what can I do about it?”
First they came for the right of due process. But at least some of those are criminals anyway and why should they have any rights? That wouldn’t affect me.
..so I didn’t protest. Then they came for the lawyers and judges who were enforcing the laws. But they are all just trying to impose unnecessary restrictions on lawabiding citizens like me.
...so I didn’t protest. Then they came for protections of our food, our medicines, our health, our environment. But those agencies were probably staffed by too many people and they want to impose too many restrictions on what we can do anyway.
...so I didn’t protest. Then they came for the social safety nets. But Medicaid is for people who don’t want to work and Medicare and Social Security cost too much. And there are too many old people anyway.
...so I didn’t protest. Then they came for our education, free from government interference. But I am out of school and anyway how much damage can they do? And when they took lots of books from the library, I was busy playing video games.
...so I didn’t protest. Then they eliminated equal rights for women and minorities. But I think white males are in danger.
...so I didn’t protest. Then they came for the free press, our right to know the truth. But we all know that media is controlled by the “liberal elites.”
...so I didn’t protest. Then they came for the right to free and fair elections for everyone. But I’m sure there are a lot of fake voters and we need all those difficult proofs of citizenship.
...so I didn’t protest. Then they came for the Constitution...
But it was already destroyed.
“I was quite happy until I found out that under the new system, if I were accused of a crime, I was not entitled to due process and could be thrown into jail without a trial, even though I am a citizen born in this country.
If there were another pandemic, there would not be any health authority to help people get information or vaccines and many more people would die.
Our water would not be tested for safety which would make people sick. If there were an outbreak of salmonella, no one would test and quarantine.
I found out that my mother- in-law who was in a nursing home would no longer get Medicaid and would have to live with us. And my father who had lived on Social Security would now also have to live with us. But he wouldn’t live long because the cancer trial that he was on was discontinued.
My wife would make less money but they say she has no right to equal pay.
My children would no longer get a good education at school. There wouldn’t be enough teachers so there would be 60 children in a class (no laws to limit class size). My son has special needs but he wouldn’t be able to get exrta help.
I couldn’t vote because my name has changed from two marriages and doesn’t match my birth certificate. I would have to locate marriage, divorce and death documents from different states.
Hurricanes and tornadoes would become enormous killers because there are no weather testing or reporting agencies and we wouldn’t know what is coming. And there will be no help after a disaster. We would be on our own.
All of the problems we encounter are not published or reported because there is no uncensored media.” Do you want to rethink what are the safeguards and advantages given to us by our laws under the Constitution and how valuable they are to every person in this country?
Do you want to protect them?
Then now’s the time to protest. Judy Balch La Grange