If Bush is Reelected
by
Melvin C. Hathorn

The five events listed below are not necessarily in order. They may overlap or coincide.

1. AN INCREASE IN CENSORSHIP AND BOOK BANNING

Look for an increase in book banning, burning, and censorship. The right wing encouraged by Bush’s win will attempt to consolidate their gains by condemning books ranging from the Harry Potter series to Plato’s Republic.

From time immemorial, the government or those in power have attempted to control the media. Henry VIII banned imported publications and also licensed printers. John Twyn printed (did not write, merely printed) a book in 1663 that held that the monarch should be held accountable to the people. He was arrested, hung, drawn, and quartered.

In 1996, 26 journalists were murdered in 14 countries, 30 were kidnapped or disappeared; 231 were beaten and tortured; and 147 were harassed.

A photograph hangs on the wall of Dachau prison. It is a picture of a large pile of books on fire. Underneath is a quotation that reads: Those that start burning books end up burning people.


2. RUPERT MURDOCK REPLACES JOSEPH GOEBBELS, HITLER’S PROPAGANDA MINISTER.

Nazi Germany under Joseph Goebbels established guilds to which cultural workers belonged. These guilds or chambers controlled advertising, literature, film, music, the press, radio and the theatre. These chambers denied membership to those whose work did not qualify.

With the increased consolidation and concentration of the media, more and more news will be slanted by vested interests sympathetic to corporate and government views. The media will give short shrift if any attention at all to opposing views.

3. JOHN ASHCROFT (OR THE NEW FBI DIRECTOR SINCE A RUMOR IS AFLOAT THAT ASHCROFT WILL RESIGN AFTER THE ELECTION) REPLACES SS CHIEF HEINRICH HIMMLER AND THE FBI BECOMES THE NEW SS (SCHUTZSTAFFEL)

The paragraphs below are quoted from the following source:

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/police.htm

“In the months after Hitler took power, the SA and Gestapo agents went from door to door looking for Hitler's enemies. Socialists, Communists, trade union leaders, and others who had spoken out against the Nazi party were arrested, and some were killed. By the middle of 1933, the Nazi party was the only political party, and nearly all organized opposition to the regime had been eliminated. Democracy was dead in Germany.

“Some adults clearly supported Hitler - as the March 1933 election showed. But the same election clearly showed that a substantial number of Germans did not support Hitler and the Nazis. These people were likely to be a constant thorn for Hitler unless they were dealt with. For these people, the Nazis developed a policy of intimidation. Fear became a by-word for those who did not support Hitler. The wrong comment overheard by a Nazi official could have very serious consequences.

“Hitler’s police state worked on the rule that if you said nothing, no harm, could come to you. If you had doubts about the way the country was going, you kept them to yourself - or paid the price. As nearly 17 million people had not voted for either the Nazis or the Nationalist in March 1933, a large and visible police force was required to keep this sizeable group under observation and control.

“In Nazi Germany the police were allowed to arrest people on suspicion that they were about to do wrong. This gave the police huge powers. All local police units had to draw up a list of people in their locality who might be suspected of being "Enemies of the State.” This list was given to the Gestapo - the Secret Police. The Gestapo had the power to do as it liked.

Its leader - Reinhard Heydrich - was one of the most feared men in Nazi Germany. His immediate chief was Heinrich Himmler. Both men ran their respective branches with ruthless efficiency.”

This has already begun under the Ashcroft regime. The Patriot Act has already infringed on our constitutional and civil rights.

The paragraphs below are quoted from the following source:

www.aclu.org

“The Patriot Act increases the governments surveillance powers in four areas

a. Records searches. It expands the government's ability to look at records on an individual's activity being held by a third parties. (Section 215)

b. Secret searches. It expands the government's ability to search private property without notice to the owner. (Section 213)

c. Intelligence searches. It expands a narrow exception to the Fourth Amendment that had been created for the collection of foreign intelligence information (Section 218).

d. "Trap and trace" searches. It expands another Fourth Amendment exception for spying that collects "addressing" information about the origin and destination of communications, as opposed to the content (Section 214).”

So much has been written about the Patriot Act that it is not necessary to go into great detail at this point. There are so many ramifications for us currently under this Act, I urge you to check it out for yourself. Look for a push for expanded powers under Patriot Act II.

4. NEW HOUSE HEARINGS REPLACE HUAC, THE HOUSE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES, AND THERE WILL BE A NEW SERIES OF HEARINGS BY A NEW DEMAGOGUE WHO WILL REPLACE JOE MCCARTHY.

What do 1692, the 1920s, 1947, and 1950 have in common? In each of these years, the country underwent a series of witch hunts.

In 1692 the Salem witch trials were held and 19 people falsely accused of witchcraft were hung.

In the 1920s the United States underwent a massive red scare. Hundreds were accused of being communist sympathizers.

In 1947, the first wave of hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) occurred. It is in these hearings that the "Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted and sentenced to prison terms for contempt of Congress.

In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy announced the possession of a list of 205 communists in the State Department. He later went on to head the infamous McCarthy Hearings. That same year, the McCarran Act was passed (the fifties version of the Patriot Act) authorizing the use of concentration camps among other things.

Look for new House hearings on un-American activities investigating terrorism. Although this has not yet happened, under a Bush administration the chances for such a series of hearing increases.

5. NEW CONCENTRATION CAMPS REPLACE THOSE USED FOR JAPANESE IN WWII.

We all know of the Japanese concentration camps in California during the Second World War. Did you know that there were also concentration camps for Italian-Americans? 600,000 Italian-Americans were registered as enemy aliens during the Second World War. They were held in camps located in Montana, Utah, and other Western states.

This has already happened in Cuba where we are imprisoning people of mideastern origin. Look for more camps to be built and hidden in out of the way places in remote areas.

They will begin with holding foreigners, especially those who are of dark or swarthy skin or of Middle East origin. Later these camps will also hold political dissidents.

The paragraphs below are quoted from the following source:

http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/police.htm

“Those arrested by either the police or the Gestapo had less than three minutes to pack clothing and say their good-byes. Once arrested, they were sent to the nearest police cell. Those in custody were told to sign Form D-11; this was an "Order For Protective Custody.” By signing this, you agreed to go to prison. Those who did not sign it were beaten until they did or officers simply forged their signature.

Once a D-11 was signed, you were sent to a concentration camp. How long you stayed here depended on the authorities. The usual rule of thumb was whether it was felt that you had learned your lesson (even if there had not been one to learn) and would behave in an acceptable manner once outside of prison.

“The concentration camps were deliberately barbaric. Before 1939, deaths in them occurred but they were not common. The idea was that anybody who had been in one, once released, would ‘advertise’ the fact that they were not places where people wanted to go. This was another way of ensuring that people kept their ideas to themselves.

“The concentration camps were run by men who could disguise their violent nature simply because they wore a uniform. The flogging of inmates was common -25 strokes was common practice - and the amenities were very basic and sparse. At Buchenwald, 480 men had one water tap between them which could only be used for 15 minutes on getting up. Any abuse of this rule would lead to 25 lashes.

Any arrested Jew would get 60 lashes - a personal order from Hitler. Soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc were unheard of in camps such as Buchenwald (which held 8000 prisoners) and Dachau. Food and drink were minimal and the Jews had half the rations of other prisoners

“Who would get arrested? The list was intentionally expansive. Anybody considered to be a political threat was arrested; those who made jokes about the Nazi Party were also arrested (jokes about Hitler were punished with death);

“The "work shy" were also arrested (this fitted in exactly with Hitler’s plan to reduce unemployment as an unemployed person would be offered work at a Labor Exchange and if they refused it as too menial for them, they would be arrested as work shy.) As no-one in concentration camps counted as unemployed, the figures for unemployment had to come down;

"Bibelforscher’s" were also arrested (these were people who would only seek guidance from the Bible and rejected all Nazi ideas and they also refused to do military service);

“Homosexuals were also arrested and the SS used this as a common tactic to discredit someone. Habitual criminals were also arrested.

“In 1936, the Gestapo Law meant that the activities of the Gestapo were free from any review by courts of law. This law effectively meant that the Gestapo became a law unto themselves. This non-uniformed branch of the SS became justifiably feared just as the visible presence of the black uniformed SS men did.

“In 1943 Himmler said: "We have always selected the highest and abandoned the lowest. As long as we maintain this principle, the Order (the SS) will remain healthy. After the war, we shall really build up our Order...it will provide Germany with an elite. This elite will provide leaders to industry, agriculture and politics and the activities of the mind."

CONCLUSION:

Although Americans eventually came to their senses after the various witch hunts, fishing expeditions and un-Constitutional searches and seizures, and they probably will do the same in this case, the difference now is the use of technology unavailable to the SS and McCarthy to track and monitor discontent. This technology in the wrong hands can be used for evil ends.

In the long run, I believe that the human spirit for freedom will overcome the above oppression, but as the saying goes: In the long run, we’ll all be dead.

I have written what I believe to be a warning. It is not too late to turn the tide from oppressive government agencies and technology if we take action to guard our freedom and liberty. As Santanya says: THOSE THAT DO NOT LEARN FROM HISTORY WILL REPEAT IT.

When they came for the communists, I said nothing for I was not a communist;

When they came for the political dissidents, I said nothing for I was not a political dissident;

When they came for trade unionists, I said nothing for I was not a trade unionist;

When they came for the Jews, I said nothing for I was not a Jew;

And when they came for me, there was no one left to say anything.