The Nazi Martin Niemöller

Martin Niemöller is famous for his confessional prose-poem about the Nazis:

First 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 for me.

What most people don’t know is that Niemöller was not writing in abstract.  

Niemöller started off a Nazi-enthusiast, but came to change his mind.

Which begs the question:  What does it take to change a Nazi-enthusiasts mind?

And the answer, it turns out, is when the Nazis came for them.

That’s happening now to farmers, auto workers, car buyers, and veterans, whether they are Nazi-adjacent or not.

They’re coming for weapons makers and aircraft companies.

Going forward, no one will buy US weapons or airplanes, as the US is no longer a reliable partner in trade or defense.

They’re coming for everyone who has cancer, who is immune-compromised, who are not multi-millionaires who can survive without Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

And who is cheering?

Vladimir Putin.

I ended a 20-year friendship today because this person, when asked, could not or would not answer 3 simple questions:

▪️Are Nazis bad?

▪️Is the KKK bad?

▪️Is Vladimir Putin our friend? 

These are not trick questions.  

They are basic questions about shared (or unshared) values.

Look around.  

Who do you know who would turn Anne Frank over to the Nazis because “that’s the law”?

Who do you know who would say “I don’t care about politics” during the Blitz?

Who do you know who cheers for rapists?

Who do you know who cheers when the richest man in  the world suits up to harm the poorest, oldest, and sickest?

I, for one, am cutting these malignancies out of my life.  

Life is too short, and too hard, to waste time on apologists for hate.