"When they came for me . . . "
I try to limit my posts to house related topics, but this makes me mad and scares me more than a little. And, since this is a houseblog, there is a tenuous link. I'd like to thank the folks over at Renovation Rants for their post on this:
"A last-minute addition to a federal spending bill at the end of the last U.S. Congress now makes civilians eligible for military courts-martial."
I just don't see why this is necessary or how they can think this is a good idea. I'll spare you my bile, but here is a quote from Thomas Jefferson and a poem by Martin Niemoeller. They should make my views on the matter reasonably clear.
"A government afraid of its citizens is a Democracy. Citizens afraid of government is tyranny!"
- Thomas Jefferson
Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren
konnte.
Translation
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
"A last-minute addition to a federal spending bill at the end of the last U.S. Congress now makes civilians eligible for military courts-martial."
I just don't see why this is necessary or how they can think this is a good idea. I'll spare you my bile, but here is a quote from Thomas Jefferson and a poem by Martin Niemoeller. They should make my views on the matter reasonably clear.
"A government afraid of its citizens is a Democracy. Citizens afraid of government is tyranny!"
- Thomas Jefferson
Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren
konnte.
Translation
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
posted by John | 3:54 AM
2 Comments:
When I was a kid, my father told me that in the Army you could have been court-martialed for not wearing the right kind of hiking socks. Or maybe it was not making your bed tight enough to bounce a quarter off it. Anyway, I figured this applied to everybody and lived in dread of sock- or bed-related offenses that would lead to court martial; whatever it was, it sounded bad. Now it appears my fears may come true!
But seriously, folks...I am reminded of that line in "I, Claudius": "Let all the poisons that are lurking in the mud--hatch out!"
P.S. The bathroom rocks. Although I understand the nonofficial use of orange, a Homeland Security code color, may constitute a court-martial-worthy offense.
Thanks Brenda. I'm rather pleased with how the bath has turned out. Compared to our efforts at our first house (really, really bad), this is a master piece.
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