Hey America ... Remember?
By Thomas D. Segel
May 21, 2009

Hey America, do you remember when a single political party took over complete control of the government? It happened because of bitterness about the war and unhappiness among the citizens.

Do you remember when people started believing that the only way to solve what they perceived as problems was to ignore the Constitution? The lack of citizen concern for the way the country should be governed led to multiple constitutional violations.

Do you remember when massive financial support provided the funding for the election campaign? This was particularly evident when wealthy businessmen offered their backing.

Do you remember when the opposition party, religious groups and other interests were blamed for the country's ills? Things were made to sound so bad that only one party and one man were identified as being able to save the nation.

Do you remember when everybody was promised everything? There were so many changes being promised to so many people that support came from everyone who felt personal need for government assistance.

Do you remember the attacks on people of different political beliefs and on opponents? Even the media and the courts closed their eyes to the lies and distortions offered up by the campaign.

Do you remember when the media became a tool of the new government? There was an infiltration of personnel supporting the promises of change into every element of the media and the people seldom heard the complete political message or truth of the times.

Do you remember he came to power during an economic collapse? The number of unemployed grew. There was major crisis in the country and people needed something or someone to blame for their problems.

Do you remember he was a brilliant speaker, his presence had a power over people, he was a good organizer and a smooth politician? Do you remember he was a driven man, who believed he had the destiny to become the leader of his country? Do you remember that his strong ego and self-belief persuaded other people to believe in him?

Well, most of you are really not old enough to remember. It happened 77 years ago in a country called Germany.

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