Where Is a Martin Niemöller…
When We Need an Honest Person?

This essay is about the chaos in the White House. We have a president who is a loser in about everything that he has touched including his re-election bid. He tweets insanity and rejects the mess that he has created like COVID-19 and his notion of a rigged election. However, I can only name a small number of Republicans who have called him out on either account.

Nevertheless, Trump is still acting like the village idiot. He has had several dozen appeals filed in State and Federal courts over the recent election. The Supreme Court has written him off twice without even discussing his appeal even though a third of the Court was appointed by him. There are no facts that support that there was any widespread voting fraud.

In fact, this recent election was the cleanest election according to Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of DHS. Krebs was appointed to his position at the DHS by Trump. Even Attorney General William Barr concurs that the Justice Department did not find any widespread fraud during the election. Trump also appointed Barr to head the Justice Department.

But first, let’s start with a backstory. Most Americans probably have no idea who Martin Niemöller was. He was born in Germany in 1892. He joined the Imperial German Navy as a cadet four years prior to WWI.

Martin Niemöller as a young cadet

Niemöller was a German true believer. During the war, he was a commander of a U-Boat. When the Allies won the war, all U-Boats were to be turned over to the Allies. Niemöller decided not to give his enemy his U-Boat. He and several other U-Boat commanders didn’t want to lose the war. Without the U-Boats, the German war effort would fail, which makes no sense. They had just surrendered. At any rate, Niemöller was a true believer.

Nevertheless, Niemöller decided to become a Protestant pastor in the early 1920s. When Hitler took over Germany, Niemöller saw the Third Reich as the resurrected Imperial Germany. He was delighted that Hitler was their leader. However, in January 1934, he met Hitler. He and two other Protestant bishops wanted to discuss some issues regarding the Nazis interfering with various churches.

It became obvious to Niemöller that the Gestapo was tapping his phone and were watching what he and a group of pastors were doing. It didn’t take him long to see the light, and his Weltanschauung changed rapidly. He began his opposition to Hitler and the Nazis, which resulted in him being imprisoned.

Martin Niemöller as an older man

After WWII, Niemöller wrote an interesting statement in which he personalized his reflection about all Germans. He merely wanted Germans to see the light as he had.

In Germany 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 the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

That is the backstory. The question is how would Niemöller amend his statement today for Americans? I have talked with some friends about the immorality and the unethically behavior of our fake president and most of his Republican ditto heads. Many Americans are in lockstep with our Führer. There are all too few Republicans that have told Trump to stop. Therefore, what should our response be?

A friend of mine said that she didn’t want to judge others including Trump. I replied that I was freely judging Trump. Her retort was that I had the right to judge the conduct of Trump, but she wouldn’t.

Does anyone see the parallels between Germany in the 30s and America today? As I listened to my friend’s not judging, which is her modus operandi, my mind drifted back to Niemöller’s comment about Germany. His statement would have been edited today to include groups like blacks, Mexicans, minorities, Muslims, women, the poor, and anyone that doesn’t agree with Donald the Dumb.

Trump is the posterchild for a loser not for a leader. Before being elected, he failed in business. This is some of his failed businesses: Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump beverages, Trump University, Trump: The Game, Trump casinos, Trump Mortgage, Trump magazines, Trump travel sites, Trumpnet, a telephone company, Trump Vodka, Trump Tower Tampa, etc.

Trump lost his first presidential election to Clinton. She received 65,853,625 votes (48.0%) to Trump’s 62,985,106 votes (45.9%). The Electoral College allowed him to become president even though Trump lost by 3 million votes.

Additionally, Trump lost his second presidential election in 2020 to Biden. Biden received 81,283,485 (51.4%) to Trump’s 74,223,744 (46.9%). Regardless of Trump’s claims of a rigged election, Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of DHS, stated, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

You mean that I lost the rigged election?

Attorney General Barr stated that the “Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election.” Krebs was fired, and Barr has resigned.

All filings to support Trump’s cases against voter fraud have been dismissed, denied, or withdrawn in all Federal and State cases. He went to the Supreme Court on two separate cases. However, the Supreme didn’t even hear his cases.

Trump, the prototype of a loser, is mulling over declaring martial law or declaring a coup d'état. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated, “We do not take an oath to a king or a queen, a tyrant or a dictator. We do not take an oath to an individual. No, we do not take an oath to a country, a tribe or a religion. We take an oath to the Constitution.”

And yet, with all his inane rhetoric, Trump still is looking for some way not to be a loser again.