http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2007/09/speak-out.html

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Silence is the Death of Liberty
posted by George Washington


First they tortured a U.S. citizen and gang member ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a criminal

Then they tortured a U.S. citizen, whistleblower and navy veteran ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a whistleblower

Then they locked up an attorney for representing accused criminals ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a defense attorney

Then they arrested a young father walking with his son simply because he told Dick Cheney that he disagreed with his policies ...
I remained silent;
I've never talked to an important politician

Then they said an entertainer should be killed because she questioned 9/11 ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't an entertainer

Then they arrested people for demanding that Congress hold the President to the Constitution ...
I did not speak out;
I've never protested in Washington

Then they arrested a man for holding a sign ...
I did not speak out;
I've never held that kind of sign

Then they broke a minister's leg because he wanted to speak at a public event ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a religious leader

When they came for me,
Everyone was silent;
there was no one left to speak out.

What's this poem saying? That we all have to stand up, speak out and take action NOW while we still can. If we do so, we will win the struggle for liberty. If we do not, freedom will die ... just like it did in Nazi Germany.

Inspired by the poem First They Came... by Martin Niemöller, which was written about the Nazis.

Good stuff! Re-use of Niemoller's concept, with attribution.

However, I have a criticism.


Sheehan's arrest doesn't belong in this list. She did it to make a statement, and she was released the same day. It wasn't a case of government oppression, merely an assertion of Conyers' right to use his office space for the business he decides rather than for what some quasi-supporters who aren't even from his district want him to.