Sturmabteilung first, Gestapo later.
"The civilized men in the country did not know what to do. In the words of one historian, the moderates voiced desperate "appeals to reason [But] their techniques were distinctly out of tune with the wild emotionalism that seemed to have gripped a large part of the nation" The civility cherished by the civilized men had finally been defeated by their ideas, although they did not know that this was the cause."
"After years of preaching contradictions and of evading principles with an anti-ideological shrug, these men were astonished to see the nation conclude that man cannot live by principles, that reason is no guide to action, and that anything goes. After years of institutionalizing interest-group warfare, which they had justified as sacrifice or collective service, these men were astonished to see hostile gangs take to the streets and demand one anothers sacrifice. After years of undercutting the mind by preaching the primacy of gentle feeling (whether progressive, religious, or skeptical), these men were astonished to find that they had nothing more to say, and that there was no one left to listen. The moderates were helpless. The authorities were helpless. The killers were taking over."
"On January 30, 1933, after due attention to every requirement of German law and of the Weimar Constitution, Nazi rule was made official
It took six months for the Chancellor to transform the country into a totalitarian state."
Leonard Peikoff - The Ominous Parallels
As Mark Twain once said, "History may not repeat itself, but it surely does rhyme."
“Sturmabteilung first, Gestapo later”
Verrry interezzting..... the S.A. were organized street enforcers. Is Obama’s `Civilian Defense Corps’ going to follow the same model? Identify, isolate, & surround the class enemy. Then, it was the Jews.
BTW, ever notice how advocacy for milspec rifle ownership is now media-attributed to `middle-aged white males’ and that this represents a shrinking demographic? Curious.