Derideo_Te
Je Suis Charlie
- Mar 2, 2013
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iAgain I appeal to the troops here and ask that we treat each other nicely. The purpose of the OP is not to go after each other but offers an opportunity to discuss a concept.
The OP does not suggest that Austria is America. They are different countries, different cultures, and these are different times. The OP does not compare Hitler with Obama. They are different men in different times with, in my opinion, different motives.
I do not vouch for the accuracy of the history as related by Ms. Werthmann. The article appears to relate what she remembers it from her own experience, and, as I have already posted, there is no way to verify that she actually wrote it. Snopes says they are working on it and can neither affirm nor deny it.
What the article does suggest is that things are not always as they seem, and liberties can be lost by seemingly noble and good things.
It is interesting that it is mostly our leftists here who hate the article and object to it strongly. And it seems to resonate with those on the right.
I'll ask those on the left why they find it so offensive? And those on the right why it resonates with them?
I'm off to church and brunch now but will return by mid morning mountain time.
It wasn't offensive, just a little naive. As if it was aimed at being a primer for children rather than a serious historical examination of the events and consequences. But if it is a first hand account then I am not going to criticize if that is how she perceived those events.
What is interesting is that even after I made my original comments about the threat of losses of rights coming from both the extreme left and extreme right there are many partisan posts accusing the left of taking away "rights". The single biggest attack on our rights occurred with the passage of the Patriot Act. It stripped away Habeas Corpus and Privacy rights in one stroke. The right applauded that because they feared that terrorists would be crawling out from under their beds to murder them. It took the ACLU to fight to restore those rights.
So the threats to our rights come from both extremes. It is disingenuous to accuse only one side of doing it. We the People must defend the rights of others in order to preserve our own. If that means that I must uphold the rights of those who spew hateful things against gays, blacks and Muslims then sobeit. Upholding their rights doesn't mean that I agree with them, it just means that I uphold their right to be hate filled bigots.
We are all equal under the law and that means that we need to be vigilant about the rights of those who are not in a position to defend their rights. Healthcare is not a threat to our rights under the current ACA. It is really very little different than it was before the ACA. It is still in the hands of private enterprise and it still costs way too much but that is how it was designed by the right wing Heritage Foundation in the first place.
Allowing corporations to buy the outcome of elections is a threat to our rights. If you are worried about the things mentioned in the OP then replace the Germans with corporations and you will see a similar creeping erosion. Corporations do not have the best interests of We the People at heart. They have the power to convince you that everything will be better but the reality is that life under corporations has actually gotten worse rather than better. Americans are working harder than ever before and yet they are receiving less for their work. The American Dream has been stolen and what was supposed to be a retirement is now going to mean poverty for those who can no longer work.
That is the reality of the message in the OP. The deception is coming from those who are pretending to be on your side. They are dividing the American people because that makes is easier for them to conquer us. When we blame each other instead of those who are actually stripping away our rights then we are just doing their bidding.