My mother is Jewish. As I am.
She grew up in the 20s and 30s. She knew about Roosevelt’s abandoning the Jews. She is a staunch believer in “never again”.
And yet when I say that we can’t abandon the Iraqi people to the head choppers all I get back is “I hate George Bush” and “America has no interest in Iraq”.
Prompted by FlickMaven‘s discussion of Nazi evil.
While I don’t quibble with the term, I think that many people miss the point when trying to apply the historical significance of the German “Final Solution” to our contemporary lives.
The point here is not that “monsters” perpetrated these acts. The point is that regular, everyday Germans did so, while going about their regular everyday business.
And so it is with the fate of the Iraqi democrats. The people who would abandon them are just ordinary. It is not like they want to see Iraqi democrats dead. It is more like indifference. Which is almost always the face of evil.
Me? I Support Democracy In Iraq.
H/T Instapundit
Cross Posted at Power and Control and at The Astute Bloggers
Comments
6 responses to “Never Again”
You’ve touched on something really important here. So important that I changed the time stamp of my later post to keep yours at the top.
Indifference is the handmaiden to evil.
(I don’t know who said that, but somebody should have.)
That is an excellent quote, and it goes right along with the saying about good men simply doing nothing and allowing evil to triumph.
Some people will spend more time arguing about the definition of evil than they will in examining the consequnces of doing nothing, it’s infuriating.
It’s especially infuriating knowing that many of the people who wnat us to leave Iraq also want us to “do something” in Darfur. How long after we sent troops to Sudan would it take for people to claim we are doing it for Sudan’s resources, not the oppressed? Would they rather our troops stand by and watch Sudanese militias kill civiians? How quick after shots are fired by US troops would they start yelling about US imperialism and atrocities?
Never again? Hah! Always repeating, and few recognize it, learn from it, or care to do anything real to stop it.
I don’t know who said that, but somebody should have.
Not sure, but it reminds me of what Ellie Wiesel said:
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”
The left is indifferent about the fate of Iraq. They couldn’t care less what happens so long as the troops are out and Bush gets a political black eye.
I was gonna make two points, but Otto hit my first one – quite well.
My second point is that I have run across many people who have BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). I’ve begun trying to explain this concept: “The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your ally.” Specifically, just because Ted Kennedy hates W, that doesn’t translate that supporting Kennedy is in a good idea.
It is a shame that so many people in positions of information dispersal have these opinions – to the point that they are conditioning other people to believe the same. “Repeat something often enough and some people will agree with it.
JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I had a dog named Monkey Face once.
That was when I lived at the foot of Monticello.
BTW you got it wrong:
The Proud. The Few. The Jews.