After They've Come for the Person Next Door, Who’s Next?
And who they've already come for.
A Partial List of Objects of Willful Scorn and Hostile Attack by the Trump Regime
Constitutional rights guaranteeing freedom of assembly, speech, the press, and due process
The Judiciary as an equal branch of government
The Congress as an equal branch of government
Federal judges who rule against the President’s executive orders and abuses of power
Members of Congress who criticize the President’s self-aggrandizing exploits and acts of cruelty
Houses of worship previously deemed safe spaces and off limits to ICE
Migrants, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, green card holders, and persons with temporary protected status, including women, men, and children (hunted, arrested, and deported without due process)
U.S. federal government agencies and civil servants subjected to mass firings and defunding without congressional due process, including the Social Security Administration, Department of State, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the National Weather Service, and the Food and Drug Administration, among others
USAID’s emergency food, humanitarian aid, and public health services in multiple countries
The World Health Organization (withdrawal)
The Paris Climate Accords (withdrawal)
Poor, working-class, and middle-class Americans (taxation without representation due to tariffs)
Millions of Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance (SNAP), and Meals on Wheels recipients
Law firms and attorneys representing lawsuits and cases against the Trump administration
Former FBI prosecutors and lawyers involved with charging the January 6 defendants
Staff members of the Library of Congress
The U.S. Naval Academy Library (books banned)
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration (defunding and expulsion of crucial personnel)
Democratic lawmakers (and Republican lawmakers aligned with them)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, organizations, and corporations
Cultural organizations, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Museum, Phipps Conservatory, and the National Endowment for the Arts
Academic institutions, including Harvard, Columbia, and Northwestern (defunding and threats to tax-exempt status)
Researchers and recipients of scientific, medical, and public health grants (cancelled)
Mainstream legacy media, including CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS and NPR)
Nonprofits, including AmeriCorps, NeighborWorks, the Vera Institute of Justice, the Center for Children & Youth Justice
Transgender Americans in the military (forbidden to serve)
High-ranking military officers (summarily removed from office without due process)
Personnel and spies from multiple intelligence agencies (fired)
LGBTQ+ persons and organizations (targets of blatant discrimination)
Minorities and persons of color (targets of egregious racism)
State of California for policies related to abortion access, climate change, and immigrant protections
State of Maine for refusal to recognize executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”
Protestors on campuses across the nation
Persons on the President’s, the FBI’s, and the DOJ’s enemies lists
Who’s Next?
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I kept quiet; I wasn’t a communist.
When they came for the trade unionists, I kept quiet;
I wasn’t a trade unionist.
When they locked up the social democrats, I kept quiet;
I wasn’t a social democrat.
When they locked up the Jews, I kept quiet;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me, there was no one left to protest.
Those words of the late Martin Niemöller are ensconced not only within the memory of countless Jews, Germans, Poles, and others (and their descendants) who survived the Nazi atrocities of the 1930s and World War II. They also weigh heavily upon the consciences of Americans who understand the pernicious nature of the Trump regime’s dictates that daily desecrate the very soul of American democracy.
On this year’s Memorial Day, as we remember those who in the past valiantly fought the forces of tyranny and oppression, it is only appropriate to ask:
What will future generations say of those among us who, in whatever ways possible, failed to protest and resist the tyranny of the Trump regime? Of what memorial will they be deserving?
