Senator, our fathers both fought in World War II on foreign lands — and many of their friends sadly lost their lives far from home. So many fought for so long and so fiercely in order that no dictatorship or police state demanding “papers please” could ever be established in our land.
In 1946 Pastor Martin Niemoller gave a speech in Frankfurt, Germany trying to gain an understanding of how in the hell German intellectuals allowed the Nazis to purge chosen targets, group after group in the German police state.
I know you know the following quote, Senator. I can remember hearing it as I grew up in the 1950’s. Many of us know it as “First they came…”
They came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Senator, this is how it’s feeling to many of us out here:
First they came for my freedoms, and I didn’t speak up because I was afraid of terrorists.
Then they came for the Muslims, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Muslim.
Then they came for the Hispanics, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t Hispanic.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Guess what, Senator McCain — WE’RE READY TO SPEAK UP! Where is your voice?
Amen Diane!!!
Throw in Prop 8 and several other hate based initiatives posed by these small minded lawmakers and the Nazi agenda isn’t quite a thing of the past like most of us had hoped it was. I will never forget standing at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in DC and reading one of the original copies of that speech by Pastor Niemoller. It struck me at the time how true his words were then and how sad it was that you could fill in those blanks today with a limitless number of those without a voice.
President Obama, we NEED you to make a stand and unite our country…before those who choose to divide it have any more say in who is allowed to have rights and who is not. We are Americans and this injustice and hatred goes against the very core of what it means to live here: Freedom for all.