Seventy years ago, on quiet streets throughout Germany, SA paramilitary troops and ordinary German civilians went on a rampage, throwing bricks and stones through the windows of Jewish businesses and synagogues across the nation and in Austria and beyond. On what has become known as Kristallnacht, Jews were pulled out of their places of business and worship and executed by roving gangs of mad, hate-fueled Germans, who had been fed a continuous diet of propaganda and "alternative facts" by their bloodthirsty leaders. In all, over 7000 Jewish businesses were destroyed and thousands of German, Austrian and Sudetenland citizens were transported to concentration camps.
Most Germans did not respond to this carnage because it had been committed against "others," the Jews, whom Germans and Austrians had been assured, were not really Germans and Austrians at all, but rather, "foreigners" who had invaded their pure, Aryan homelands. Most Germans did not respond because, after all, the leaders who were running things, had to know what they were doing; these policies had to be good for the Nation.
Which brings us to the South West border of the United States, June, 2018.
In a sudden departure from policy that has been carried out by Republican and Democratic administrations for decades, President Trump ordered that all children of immigrants, seeking to enter the U.S. at "illegal" entry points, be separated from their parents and housed in makeshift detention centers. The parents are sent in one direction, to face the deportation folks, while the children are sent in another direction to face an uncertain, horrifying journey through a system that is not prepared to handle their needs, physical or psychological. The Press and members of Congress are not allowed to tour the facilities, and only carefully censored pictures (showing strapping, teenage boys) are disseminated. The hundreds and hundreds of infants and adolescents are hidden from view. A few pictures of the cages in which these frightened children are held do seep out to the newspapers and news broadcasts.
And once again, we look at the situation and wonder, Does this really have anything to do with us?
The president and his Attorney General and his Homeland Security rep inform us that this is all being done for the greater good. Just trust them because if they're doing this, it has to be for a good reason.
Does that include the greater good for the thousands of children who are being permanently damaged by this insane and callous policy? Do we care?
The Republicans are starting to get antsy about all of this. Not because the prospect of thousands of psychologically beaten children makes them uncomfortable but because many of their constituents are beginning to question where this country is going. "Is this really who we are as Americans?" is a familiar refrain being heard these days. I guess it is, because these policies are being carried out in our very own names.
You know things are getting scary when the number of Republicans polled who support this policy is ONLY 58%, according to Gallup. Usually the Republican "base" is much more enthusiastic about Trump's misguided policies.
Maybe its time to look at what's happening down in Texas, by the border, and wonder if this is not coming close to our very own Kristallnacht? Is this how it all begins in the nation where Sinclair Lewis once posited, "It Can't Happen Here?"
