Germans and Pride

When I was stationed in Germany, there was no positive memories of World War II emanating from the locals.  Some bombed out buildings in Nuremberg still stood, like in many towns, silent reminders of the tragedy which their own country was responsible for.  Germans don't long for the days of Hitler and the Third Reich.  They're embarrassed and ashamed of their parent's/grandparent's poor choices.  In many cases, they're the strongest critics of themselves, preventing anyone from thinking they look upon what happened in any positive light.

One of the reasons for this somber mentality was what happened after the concentration camps were liberated.  In many cases, the allies would round up every German from miles around the camp and march them past the piles of the dead and the emaciated living.  They wanted no deniers.  They wanted no excuses.  They wanted these people to have what happened scorched into their memories forever.  This stopped any distorted narratives from being conceived.  Before any false history was allowed to germinate, the ally forces nipped it in the bud.  The shame of what happened is now part of the German DNA.

There are a few people in Germany who still worship Hitler.  In the old West Germany, they kept hidden, undeniably shunned if their true feelings were ever made public.  When the wall came down, West German officials were surprised to see a much larger, more vocal pro-Nazi element in the former East Germany.  It seems, when the Germans were presented with the East German hyper paranoid version of Communism, some yearned for the old system.  With 1 out of every 3 spying on the other 2 in East Germany, and with the Stasi rounding people up left and right, some longed for the days of yore.  The unified Germany has worked hard to quell the Nazi sympathizers, but there are still a few left.

Because of this unique experience, the Germans can help us learn from the mistakes we made in regards to the post-Civil War era South, and they can help us understand one of the foundations for our current political situation.

In my opinion, some major mistakes were made by the North in regards to dealing with the post Confederacy South.  The election of 1876, where the South shifted their electoral college votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, in return for the removal of northern troops from the South, not only set a precedent for withdraw, it set the stage for the South to stop vilifying their racist and discriminatory past. If they flexed their political muscle, they could stop northern demands.  Soon afterwards, Jim Crow laws started an official discrimination strategy, while controlling the African American population through racist vigilante organizations, like the KKK, became the 'unofficial' doctrine.

The US Federal Government should've NEVER tolerated the display of Rebel statues in town squares.  This allowed an 'honoring' of leaders from the anti-American, pro-slavery Confederacy, with undeniable intimidation of the African American population as a purposeful ulterior motive; a constant specter hanging over the black population's heads of the men who wanted them enslaved.  With both major political parties choosing political gains over the well being of southern minorities, they jettisoned the legacy and dignity of the Union soldiers who died fighting the southern scourge, and the South was able to reinvent the war, not as one whose primary goal was the continued enslaving of African Americans, but one disguised behind 'pride' and 'traditions.'  The South re-labeled traitors to the United States as American heroes.

When you look at the issues the Germans had with Nazi's after the East German border opened up, it became apparent individuals who feel their system of government is broken will choose to believe in a worse option, out of hope it might be better.  Think about this when you look at how the Republicans have disparaged our government since the 1980's.  The GOP has done everything in their power to convince their voters the US Government is broken to the core, needing to be scrapped.  What they really were trying to do was make their voters always hate Democrats, while unwaveringly worshipping the Republicans.  Unfortunately, they ladled it on too thick.  Republican voters have been convinced all government is bad, even opting for an unqualified, narcissistic, incompetent buffoon as their President, gleefully embraced to fix their made up or grossly exaggerated problems.  Clinton was the undeniable better choice, but because Republicans convinced their voters 1) she was some sort of demon, and 2) life under President Obama was far worse than it really was, an idiot like Trump seemed like a better option.

This is why the Democrats need to stop being so nice to the modern Republicans; so we can avoid another relabeling of history, like what happened in the post Confederacy South.  For God's sake, stop worrying about Righto's feelings.  For lack of a better way to say it, we need to rub their faces in the Trump mess they've made.  We need to burn into their memories the insanity of putting him in the White House.  We need to begin to rebuild faith in the Government, which (prior to January of 2017) was relatively reliable and cost effective, regardless of what the naysayers scream.

Let's start here.  Every Republican needs to be forced to answer the following question:  How in the hell was this not the end of him?

Russia, his Nazi worship, his incompetency, his sexual deviances, his financial shenanigans and all the rest of it can be brought up afterwards, but this indefensible moment was before the election, meaning all Republican voters, INCLUDING THE CHRISTIAN ONES, had to overlook this unforgivable act to validate their vote for him. We have to force them to acknowledge they made a indefensible, massive mistake in November of 2016! This is where you start.

Then ask them why the hell they sat by quietly while the President talked positively about Nazis, something not even the Germans do.