Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant minister who became an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler. As a reward, he spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.
He is perhaps best remembered for this quotation:
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.
In related incident, a fellow church member approached me Sunday just before services started in an obvious good frame of mind. Turns out he was still celebrating the election of Donald Trump. “We have us a president!” he practically shouted.
When I told him the time would come when he would regret ever hearing the name Trump, he replied that he was better than the alternative. “Hillary’s not even a Christian,” he said.
“And Trump is?” I replied.
“Doesn’t matter. He’s better than Hillary.”
But…but…but he had just implied that it did matter.
While I am far from calling myself a fan of Hillary Clinton, I was, and remain, terrified of Trump and left my fellow Methodist with the warning that he might be singing a little different tune when Trump starts trying to do away with Social Security and Medicare.
And yes, I do believe he will try that, along with the EPA and OSHA as well as several other regulatory agencies charged with protecting the welfare of American consumers and workers.
Consider this:
- If you like Trump, you’d love children toiling away 12 hours per day in sweat shops.
- If you like Trump, you’d love purchasing diseased meat ripped off the carcasses of sick and injured cattle in the Chicago stockyards.
- If you like Trump, you’d love the idea of 60-hour weeks with no health or retirement benefits and no vacation.
- If you like Trump, you’d love the idea of thugs with guns and clubs attacking union organizers who were attempting to get better pay and decent working conditions.
- If you like Trump, you’d love the idea of unmonitored toxic dumping in our creeks and rivers by oil and chemical plants.
- If you like Trump, you’d love the idea of no minimum wage.
- If you like Trump, you’d love the old Jim Crow laws.
Extreme? Far-fetched? Unrealistic? Scare tactics?
Not so much.
And here’s what David Duke said about Trump’s election.
He’s already making sweeping plans to fire federal employees and to weaken or destroy federal employee unions.
Of course, that was the liberal Washington Post saying that about firing federal employees, so why should you listen to them? Well, it was the conservative Washington Times that chronicled David Duke’s laudatory remarks about our president-elect.
If you and State Treasurer John Kennedy want to align yourselves with Donald Trump and David Duke, go right ahead. I think I’ll pass.
One of the most disappointing developments I’ve witnessed on the state political scene (other than the eight years of Bobby Jindal’s disaster (which goes unchallenged as the high water mark for disappointments), it’s John Kennedy’s current TV ad in which he says he has been “with Donald Trump since the beginning.” Funny he never said that before Trump got the nomination.
(Full disclosure: I have considered Kennedy a friend and he even made a monetary donation to this blog’s fundraiser last year. What I am about to say will probably place a serious strain on that friendship.)
Kennedy, of course, is the former Democrat who supported John Kerry until he held his finger up and detected a strong Republican breeze a-blowin’ and switched parties. Just like that: did a complete 180 on his entire political philosophy. And if you look at the polls, it’s obvious no one was taking notes.
John Kennedy is such a chameleon that if you threw him into a box of crayons, he’d explode from overload. He’d look like he was in an explosion in a paint factory.
Kennedy is the same one who while serving as Secretary of the Department of Revenue, ran for State Treasurer with a TV ad boasting that while revenue secretary he “reduced small business paperwork by 150 percent.”
Think about that for a moment. If you reduce anything by 100 percent, there’s nothing left. So how the hell did he reduce paperwork by another 50 percent? And this is the guy who handles the state’s finances and proclaims we don’t have a revenue problem yada, yada, yada. Unfortunately, he has quickly become a one-trick pony.
And now he’s running on the coattails of a man who most probably doesn’t have the faintest clue who Kennedy is. But then Trump each day validates the rock-solid theory that he knows nothing about political leadership or anything of any real substance other than how to tweet his displeasure at any and everything.
He wants to build a wall along our southern border and make Mexico pay for it. I’m hearing that Canada wants to build a wall along its southern border and they’ll gladly pay for it.
I have a Jewish friend both of whose parents survived Hitler’s Holocaust that people like Trump love to say never happened. My friend is angry and scared—and with good reason.
Trump is loading up his cabinet with some very disturbing appointments. These are men who make Spiro Agnew look like a great civil libertarian.
He is a petty man with petty grievances. He has an ego as big as all outdoors and now he has the reins of power. He would shut down (or at least boycott) the smash Broadway play Hamilton because of a benign statement read to Trump’s vice president by cast members at the close of a performance last week.
He somehow finds the time to watch—and criticize with even more tweets—Saturday Night Live for its parody of him. Every president since Nixon has been victimized by the show and yet he is the only one to lash out.
It’s called Freedom of Speech and it remains, for the time being at least, protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a document he obviously has little passing familiarity with.
But all things are subject to change. It happened in Germany and it happened in Cuba. Don’t think for a moment it can’t happen here.
If you don’t believe there’s much of a chance of his implementing the programs he’s advocating (and some he hasn’t yet revealed), consider this:
He is coming into office with an agenda and a Republican-controlled Senate, a Republican-controlled House and a Republican-controlled Supreme Court.
It’s the perfect political storm, folks.
Louisiana Voice 
You can tell your friend that Hillary Clinton is, and has been, a devoted United Methodist.
And she has had a habit of quoting Scripture:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1349415/Hillary-Clinton-quotes-scripture-speech-Florida-church.html
No TWO Corinthians for her.
You mean trump was not talking about two guys from Mississippi??????
@earthmother: LOL!
If we thought there was danger for dissidents who criticized the jindal regime, where people lost their jobs for the crime of exercising their First Amendment rights of free expression, we’ve seen nothing yet. There is a very real possibility that those of us who dare to criticize the great and famously thin-skinned trump may actually lose our freedom. This authoritarian may very well attempt to jail those who speak out against him. He has already stated that he wants to change the libel laws to keep people from criticizing him; he has no respect for freedom of the press or anyone’s First Amendment rights – demanding apologies from the cast of a Broadway play and a television comedy show that satirizes politicians as well as everyone and everything for….exercising freedom of expression. It’s going to be a rough ride for the next year or so, until trump is impeached or moves on in boredom. He’s not interested in governing, just winning.
I couldn’t help but notice you lower-cased the spelling of both jindal and trump.
Nice touch.
Thank you, Tom. I’ve always lower-cased jindal, and feel that trump deserves the same amount of respect.
earthmother, I’ve liked referring to him as tRump. 😉
Love that, Fredster – he IS an ass. (With apologies to burros everywhere.)
Don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but the Hamilton Theater in Canada has been deluged with hate messages from trump supporters promising to boycott. I bet the Hamilton Theater is really worried.
A further indication of the depth of their ignorance and willingness to blindly follow even if they don’t know where they’re going.
Tom, you are right on about Kennedy. One thing is for sure: John Kennedy’s personal Big Government Gravy Train is pulling into the station. Love all these folks who rail against Big Government despite hanging onto its coat tails by hook or by crook for their entire lives. I hope the day will come (soon) when Kennedy will regret his enthusiastic premature endorsement of the emperor, but I fear a lot of serious irreversible damage to American institutions & Americans’ quality of life will occur before supporters of the emperor realize how they have been duped.
Great piece, Tom and really good reader comments.
Your reported conversation at church perfectly captured why it is impossible to reason with Trump supporters. No matter which of his many negatives one might bring up, their default answer is, “He’s better than Hillary.” No attempts to defend his ridiculous positions, announcements, appointments, tweets, history, etc. – Just Hillary Hatred.
A favorite book from my college days was ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM by Erich Fromm. It’s basic premise is that desperate people really want somebody else to tell them what to think and do so they don’t have to think and, as a bonus, have a scapegoat when things go wrong. As Clyde Vidrine would say, they are “just takin’ orders.”
A couple of my favorite excerpts from Fromm’s book:
“When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano preceding the outbreak.”
“Rationalizing is not a tool for penetration of reality but a post-factum attempt to harmonize one’s own wishes with existing reality.”
Keep in mind, Fromm wrote this book in 1941. Fifty-seven years later philosopher Richard Rorty wrote this in his 1998 book, ACHIEVING OUR COUNTRY:
“[M]embers of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers — themselves desperately afraid of being downsized — are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else.
At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for — someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots.…
One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past 40 years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion.… All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet.”
That was eighteen years ago (ironically??? during the Clinton administration).
Today we are reading the same things in Tom’s excellent piece and elsewhere.
Are those who support Trump listening? Obviously not.
Sorry for the long post. As they say on the 9GAG site, have a potato as a reward for your patience.
Wow, it seems as though Mr. Rorty was having a premonition.
I have to say that I feel so much better having read this post and the elegant responses from sane people.
P. S. I, too, considered John Kennedy a friend when I worked with him a quarter of a century ago and before he apparently came to believe it matters not how one plays the game – winning is everything. The main trait he shares with the guy he was “with from the beginning.”
Tom, it has been somewhat comforting to read your article and the comments. However, I still remain very afraid. I know these people like your “church friend”. I live among them daily. They are what really, rally scares me. There has always been this just under the surface Southern racism. They seethed when we elected a Black President. They flocked to the Tea Party and even started their own churches…local, rural Southern Baptists tried to compete by telling their flocks to only watch FOX news for the facts (I know this first hand). They fancy themselves put upon because “Obama is giving all of their tax money to those D—n Ni—-rs!” That is a direct quote. I have listened to this insanity and selfishness for at least 10 years. But, for some reason, they have become quiet. They are happy, but not sure now why they are happy. When i asked one, they replied, “Trump isn’t going to take sh– (yes, church goers cuss a lot around here) off of Iran and, “Trump is going to stop giving all of our tax money to those—–.” . He is going to bomb all of those ISIS to hell.” I asked what about their Social Security (which they draw) and all I got was a hesitant, “well….”, as if bombing ISIS will make up for loosing SS. Almost like Trump is better than Hillary. Such disconnected thoughts are impossible to converse with. My husband and I are probably the only Democrats in my small town that actually vote Democrat….words cannot describe how terrified I am of these people and their willful ignorance. The deck is stacked now and even if they realize what they have done (which I really don’t think they will), it is too late. Republicans control our government and Louisiana is probably going to send a resident Swamp Dweller to Washington! Sorry for the rant – but, it sure felt good!
I read all these frightening posts and I am trying to figure out what happened the past 8 years compared to this post election. My guess is, we have NO respect from other countries, a person who worked all their capable life watches their hard earned money go wasted on ILLEGAL aliens, a mother’s daughter has to share a bathroom with a male (who considers him/herself transgender), someone who doesn’t agree with DEMOCRATIC PARTY principles are “deplorable” or some one who doesn’t agree with African Americans or any other minority is a RACIST, or someone who fears Middle Eastern people because they like to blow up “Americans” are xenophobic. I hate to tell you all but I voted for Trump not because of his knowledge or experience or mean personality. I voted for Trump because I am tired being called something I am not. Hillary would have been another Bill Clinton eroding the country even further into debt taxing us even more to pay for the biggest government failure ever; known as Obamacare. I do not have anything personally against anyone who voted for Hillary because it is one of the only rights we have left.
Since you insist on cherry-picking your gripes, I’ll play along.
First of all, check your history. Bill Clinton actually REDUCED the national debt—substantially.
Second, it’s not illegal immigrants who are siphoning off your hard-earned tax dollars; that would be the Wall Street bankers with their huge bailouts (under Bush, you may recall) and corporations sending your former job overseas where they can buy labor for pennies a day with no concerns for worker safety, health insurance, vacations, retirements, minimum wages, or age restrictions on employees (see: child labor).
Third, to paraphrase you, If you are Trump, you are thin-skinned and quick to condemn anyone who disagrees with you. In short, if you disagree with him, you’re a LOSER.
You choose to paint everyone with one broad brush and that in itself is patently unfair but you know what? That also is your right.
Evelyn Beatrice Hall (you probably never heard of her) once wrote, “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
YOU CAN: Help elect Foster Campbell to the Senate as he will be the 49th Democrat who will help block tRump’s (LOVE IT) agenda. We have a great chance to put a straight talking man of principals and faith in this most important seat. Unlike Kennedy and the bobble-head ideologues who follow tRump and the radical right, Campbell is for raising the minimum wage, equal pay for women, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social nets our country provides for “the least of us”. He is for amending ACAs flaws rather than deny 20 million health insurance. He is endorsed by the Sierra Club because of his environmental positions favoring alternative energy resources. He has supported public education by creating a billion dollar endowment fund. He has a 40-year history of working for the people. When Mary Landrieu was defeated statewide Campbell (D) was elected to his third term as LA Public Service Commissioner in N. LA, the reddest part of our state, by a 65% margin. Millions in questionable PAC money has flowed into LA to elect Kennedy. Foster Campbell needs money and grassroots support but he can win given both. Volunteer at: fostercampbell2016.com .
ALSO: You can help organize. Many of us have been so cowed by the wing nut tea party and now the aggressive radical right wingers who have been emboldened by tRump’s “win”. Democrats, the party of and for the people, reside in LA in numbers greater than you may imagine. Join with your like-minded friends. Go to lademo.org, click on ABOUT, then PARTY LEADERSHIP and you can access lists of both parish and state elected leaders with names and phone numbers. Call them and ask what you can do to help build the opposition to the Neo-Nazis overtaking our government and country. Then get out the VOTE. Early voting in this crucial Senate race begins this Saturday 11/26 and runs through Saturday12/3, excluding Sunday. Take your friends and families and vote for the not-a-prostitute in the Senate race.
These are the stories that make me cringe. Trump is and has been a democrat his entire life. If he would have run as a democrat, all would be ok. Instead, we all ignore the criminal enterprise the Clinton’s were running and make up far-fetched scenarios about Trump. It’s disingenuous at best.
trump is an opportunist – never a true Democrat. There was no “criminal enterprise the Clintons were running.” The book Clinton Cash that accused the Clinton Foundation of criminal activity has been completely debunked as a huge pack of lies by a disaffected FBI agent.
According to Buzzfeed News, the top 20 FAKE news stories of the 2016 election (many featuring hoaxes or conspiracies about Hillary Clinton) were shared 8.7 million times between August and Election Day alone.
And here is a bit of TODAY’S NEWS:
Washington Post
Trump Foundation admits to violating ban on ‘self-dealing,’ new filing to IRS shows
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-apparently-admits-to-violating-ban-on-self-dealing-new-filing-to-irs-shows/2016/11/22/893f6508-b0a9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation
Newsmax, a conservative news site:
GOP Rep. Amash Calls Out Trump on Twitter Over Foreign Government Ties
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/justin-amash-calls-trump-twitter/2016/11/22/id/760149/?ns_mail_uid=97278979&ns_mail_job=1697263_11222016&s=al&dkt_nbr=bgjjkqfw
The Hill
TRUMP WON’T PURSUE CLINTON INVESTIGATION
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/307153-top-aide-trump-wont-pursue-clinton-investigation
I love folks who have a link to a blog in their screen name (some stuff with dental boards) but then lock down the blog as private. No courage of your convictions sir or madam?
I have to stand by what I said above and which you are proving:
“…it is impossible to reason with Trump supporters. No matter which of his many negatives one might bring up, their default answer is, “He’s better than Hillary.” No attempts to defend his ridiculous positions, announcements, appointments, tweets, history, etc. – Just Hillary Hatred.”
Amen Brother Winham.
I have always been very private at work and avoided conversations there about politics, religion, science, evolution and diversity. It was just a general awareness of my not fitting in and seeing others get ganged up on if they disagreed with others, which rarely happened. Prior to getting hired, I’m from out west, I never thought I would ever experience living somewhere where I feel afraid for my job because I do not agree with the homophobic view points, the entrenched racism, the anti-union sentiment and the fear of anyone of color. I have stood up to this many times for our patients because I had no idea free speech is only allowed if I agree with them. During the campaign I was asked over and over about who I was voting for, told lies about the facts of both candidates, told racist and sexist jokes and heard people proudly boast of being white. I found ways to walk away or change the subject, as people have noted on here, arguing is futile. Now I am terrified. I need my job. I can’t afford to move, but thinking of 4 years of living like this makes me ill. And knowing there is no guarantee it will end in 4 years! I am white, but as terrified as i feel, i cant even begin to understand how helpless this whole election has felt to those who Trump has attacked verbally and emotionally and now has the power to attack them physically and destroy their lives.
How many who are so proud and vocal about their support of trump’s election would have been willing to have him as a local Boy Scout leader, chairman of a hospital board, president of their local school board, the mayor of their community, a city manager, head of the chamber of commerce, a teacher, the chancellor of a college, the owner of a sporting league, the commanding officer of a nuclear submarine…
There is one big difference between the hitler regime atrocities and trump. We still have 50% of our citizens who voted against trump and many who decided to not vote, all who did not and never will support trump.
trump is actually in a trap of his own making. The president elect, in past times, has been politically experienced and totally focused on the big picture and new policy. trump doesn’t know where the door to the tunnels are allowing him to ride a golf cart between the White House and the Capitol. A leader at this stage in any large endeavor would not be tweeting about his VP being challenged by a play’s cast member. If he continues with the minutiae he will succeed at nothing. His achilles heel is his global business ties and I really don’t think that his family, however educated, bright and dedicated, will be able to run the show without dad. Once he takes office he can’t travel on his own plane and there will be an uproar if he tries to abuse Air Force 1.
If anyone really believes that trump is a charitable giver take a few minutes and study this detailed Washington Post article on those 400+ charities he supposedly donated to. Look at information below the reporter’s written notes.
http://wapo.st/2b9UrKV
I wish that all trump supporters could listen in on what is being said within the walls of other world powers.
Spot on, Mr. Mhoon. Decent people would never allow trump or someone like him in their homes. In fact, if I were a betting woman, I’d bet a bunch that most trump supporters – male and female – would exercise their Second Amendment rights if he came within ten feet of their daughters.
If anyone thinks John Kennedy doesn’t know who and what Trump is, think again. Like the man he supports, Kennedy is a consummate opportunist. He saw Trump win and jumped aboard the Trump train. If you thought Jindal was bad, just wait.
Remember, one and a half million (and still counting) voters chose Clinton over Trump, so he’s not the favorite of the people in the country. One might even say he’s a loser. Hang on for a bumpy ride. I keep hoping the election is a nightmare, and I’ll wake up.
You start with a false premise that Donald Trump is not a Christian. You are very deceptive. You also stated that various hateful actions on Trump! You are dishonest and a menace to spew untruths in the post of Louisianavoice.com! You don’t even have the decency to state your references. You are making things up! You are not credible! I’m very surprised the Louisianavoive.com posted your comments!
You, in turn, are obviously unfamiliar with my posts or you would realize the underlined words in green are links to my source of information. You need only left click on those links to see each of my sources.
As to my “false premise,” I did no such thing, but I will now; I seriously doubt Trump has ANY serious convictions of faith.
As for your statement, “You also stated that various hateful actions on Trump”; that is not even a sentence so I cannot respond.
Finally, as to my being “dishonest and a menace to spew untruths,” making things up and not being “credible,” I can only suggest we all wait and see what policies trump tries to put in place in the future that affect us in education, healthcare and in our financial well being. If I am wrong, I will be the first to admit I was wrong. Will you do the same?
K hood, I’ll step in here to defend Tom. When he states facts, his facts are always well-sourced. Though I may not agree with his opinions 100% of the time, I do perhaps somewhere in the 90th percentile.
I’ve read that the Trump family attended a Presbyterian church, when Donald was young. If there any reliably-sourced evidence of religious observance by the adult Trump before he ran for president, please give us a link.
Tom, I’m not sure where you’re going with this position on Trump. I along with numerous other voters, have elected to give this man a chance and yet you team him up with David Duke and the Nazis. Unless you can provide viable evidence on this position, I will not stand with you on this. You sound like those demo demonstrators protesting against the President-Elect before he even has a chance to prove himself.
Ltc (Ret) William Parson, USA
I’ll give Trump a chance when he shows me by his actions that he cares about anyone but himself and his family. He’s still mouthing off on Twitter about the millions of non-citizens who voted and rigged the election that he WON. What kind of person does that? Our president-elect does that. Trump won the Electoral College, but he lost the popular vote by nearly two and a half million and still counting, the largest margin in history. That’s gotta hurt, so he explains it away by lying about a rigged election. He has no mandate from the people who voted.
Tell me why I should give a man who brags about sexually assaulting women a chance. I could go on, but I’ll wait to see Trump prove himself by his actions. His choices of people to appoint to high offices are not encouraging.
William, as a retired Ltc, give this some logical thought.
First, reflect on the UCMJ Article 133 – Conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. Though not applicable to Commander in Chief-elect trump, any sane normal person would exhibit decorum that reflects an even higher standard of conduct?
If you were on a selection board, would you vote to promote a military version of trump?
If you had a subordinate who had similar character flaws, would you give him/her a glowing evaluation reflecting that he/she is more than suited for promotion and continuation of a military career?
If trump was Chairman of the JCS, how likely would the Commander in Chief be to fire him on the spot for tweets, lies, false claims and bad manners.
Would trump even make it through OCS or any service academy?
If you were being court martialed and trump was the JAG judge do you really think he would be fair?
If trump was conversing with a small group of colleagues at a military ball and a benign topic triggered a comment that it was OK to call his daughter a nice POA; what would be the reaction? At best, he would be standing alone in five seconds. At worst, he would be on the floor; either outcome begetting an invitation to appear before a Flag Officer the next day.
Simply my opinion,
Bob Mhoon
ETCS(SS) (CSC) (COB)
Submarine Service – USN Retired
“Impossible for Trump to Harm America More Than Pulpit Orators, Their Allies, Certain Politicians” @ http://newsblaze.com/thoughts/opinions/impossible-for-trump-to-harm-america-more-than-pulpit-orators-their-allies-certain-politicians_73259/
Open Letter Request to President Trump
“. . .Years of research, commentaries, reports, articles, and blogs have called attention to unbridled harm being done to America because of illicit political-religion activities This is demonstrated by the sample links of news stories and reports (including the link included from louisianavoice) shown below. To no avail, I too, repeatedly raise my voice. But I feel certain that things will change if you, Mr. President call attention, as well as address the Behemoth existent within Shell and Anonymous Corporation Faith-Based Fraud that’s destroying tens of thousands of lives and business.
I’m not at all suggesting that your Administration is without awareness of these decades-old appalling matters. It’s just that – especially in light of continually being pointing fingers at you – far too many people in my African American race refuse to recognize and confront the fact that, primarily via religion (genuine or fake), much of social rage, addictions, poverty, violence, crime, and mental distress is sustained by fraud. . . I believe that consideration of different approaches could prove worthwhile. While I humbly await your response to my request. . .”
http://newsblaze.com/thoughts/opinions/impossible-for-trump-to-harm-america-more-than-pulpit-orators-their-allies-certain-politicians_73259/