They Came First for the Muslims …

Post WWII, Pastor Martin Niemoeller wrote, “(i)n 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.” So far President Trump has only come for the Muslims, and I am not a Muslim …

Sheri Bumby [letter to the editor Feb. 10: “Too Much Trump Bashing”] is “tired of all the negativity towards our President” coming from the media, the Judiciary, the American people. I would remind her about American freedoms: of the press, of assembly, of speech. I would lay out for her the delegation of powers, under the Constitution, creating the three independent branches of government: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. None of their powers is absolute, but subject to checks and balances by the others. President Donald Trump is not Caesar: he can do wrong. His edicts are in the public record. The media will publish and comment on those edicts — that is their role. The Judiciary will weigh in on their lawfulness under our Constitution. The American people will assemble and speak, having learned at least one lesson from WWII. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

So, they came first for the Muslims, and America spoke up.

Steven Zimmierman,
Topsham