Pastor Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran minister wrote of the rise of the Nazi Regime: (shortened here because the poem is still under copyright)
“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out, … When they came for me there was no one left speak out.”
Marty Two bulls Senior, a Lakota Artist and writer of a weekly political cartoon brought this poem to my mind with his Friday January 23rd picture, you can view it at https://www.gocomics.com/m2bulls (Please support his work, it is good to have an alternative view). We should never be silent whenever a single person in this country is used as bait, or attacked because they dare to speak out. The days of ICE having a NAZI slogan on their public podium are over.
The Resistance to the Trump Regime and Project 2025 needs to come together around the base tenets of non violent protests, standing for justice for all, speaking out at town hall meetings, holding our elected representatives feet to the fire by letting them know that we will no longer be silent. We will not stand for government agencies that are allowed to run wild in our streets killing, abducting people without cause or proper judicial warrants, and holding those people without proper care just because they are the scapegoats for this regime.
We the people need to let our military personnel know that they are part of us and they can defy orders they know are illegal. If you have a family member in the military let them know that the persons that they will be told kill could include Veterans, Police, Fire Fighters, the civilians who help them maintain their readiness to defend the country from foreign attack, the people who pay the taxes that pay them, as well as members of their or another soldier’s family. We are not their enemy the Trump Regime is the enemy who is refusing their sworn oaths to protect and defend the Constitution.
If you are one of the apologists for the Trump regime open your wallet and ask yourself , Am I better off now or is the fact that I can no longer afford a new car, groceries, health insurance, or utilities worth me buying more Trump merchandise and slogans? What would I do if I have to go to the Emergency Room when the closest Hospital is now two to four hours drive away? How do I protect my child from dying from Measles? And if you cannot force yourself to vote for a Democrat or Independent then don’t vote for a Trump blessed candidate. And then get involved with the Republican Party and take it back from the people like Trump and the oligarchs and Epstein clients that support him.
If you are a Democrat make sure you support those who want the party to change from being half-assed opposition to be forcing the to change the regime completely. It is never been enough to just impeach Trump. J.D. Vance is more in the hands of the oligarchs and is the one they want in charge because they knew Trump would never last four years. Along with the two them, his entire cabinet and appointee since January 6, 2025 need to be arrested and tried for crimes against the people of the United States of America.
And let us not forget the ones in the background, whenever you can boycott companies like Walmart-Mart, Amazon, Tesla, Ford, GMC, Stellis, ATT, just about every big Bank /Fund Manager and of any company supporting the actions of ICE, the Justice Department, FBI, or any other Federal agency with a Trump appointed head and hierarchy. If we can can cut the sales and profits of these companies by a modest 10% they will notice.
Let us not go silently into the dark. We will raise our voices in common cause that will rise to the heavens and be heard around the world. We will be heard as those who stood against the authoritarians, as the ones who caused fear in the other authoritarian regimes around the world. We will be the beacon that shines as the best example of GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE.