And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that there was another in a long series of fancy cards with political pitches in my mailbox this afternoon. I would have tossed it without a second thought, as I have the others, except the header caught my eye and triggered a contorted connection.
I read one of those “you just can’t put it down” books late last week, the fourth book in recent months which dealt with Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. One dealt with the German people only. One with the pope’s relationship with the Third Reich. One dealt with one German and one French citizen. This last one was all about the French people who cooperated with the Nazis in the roundup of French Jews for their trip to the gas chambers. The moral of this last novel was that the French felt guilt for that action into second and third generations.
This latest card read “Obama’s coming for your guns.”
First caveat: In no way do I think the president and his administration would come for what few guns I have left. But I can hear others thinking, what do I care? I don’t own any guns.
There were stories on television over the weekend about the bus loads of Dubuque area residents who got caught by that eastern snowstorm after attending a pro-life rally. Anti-abortionists recently won battles for their cause in Congress after the administration sued The Little Sisters of the Poor for their refusal to provide and pay for birth control options, but the president vetoed that action. A map in the Des Moines Sunday Register showed Dubuque County as one of the most heavily Democrat counties in the state. I believe it is also one of the most heavily Catholic.
Administration spokesmen continue to promote the deal to make Iran less of a pariah nation, while generally holding an anti-Israel, pro-Arab stance in the region.
Liberal candidates for president continue to tout their aims to impose an income tax surcharge on rich filers and to more heavily tax businesses and corporations to bring about income equalization.
At least one conservative candidate has indicated he would deport all illegal aliens.
These and other things reminded me of the famous quote attributed to German theologian Martin Niemöller about World War II conditions in Germany. I refer you to the original, which I am sure you find on the Internet. My paraphrase would go something like:
First they came for the guns, but because I did not own any, I did not care. Then they came for the Catholic religion, but I was not Catholic, so I didn’t care. Then they came for the Jews, but I am not Jewish, so I didn’t care. Then they came for the rich folks, but I was not rich, so I did not care. Then they came for the businesses, but I don’t own a business, so I did not care. Then they came for the aliens, but I am not one, so I didn’t care.
Then, they came for me, and by that time, there were no groups left to care!