A bit of a click-baity title, but it's true.
The other day a Dinesh D'Souza video popped up in my YT feed the other day. I was half-listening, until two words he said jolted me: Reichstag Fire. I had learned about that in High School (back when history was actually taught) and I looked it up again. Here's the synopsis:
Germany had a national election in November 1932. The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, we know them as Nazi's) had the largest number of seats in the German Reichstag (one-house Congress), but wasn't enough to have a majority. The Nazi's formed a coalition with the Communist Party to place Hitler in the Chancellor's position (think Speaker of the House or Prime Minister) on January 30th, 1933.
The evening of February 27th, a fire was started and destroyed most of the Reichstag building (Capitol). Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch council communist, was accused and admitted he acted alone. There is also some evidence that the Nazi's themselves may have set the fire.
No matter who set it, the day after the fire, at Hitler's request, President Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree into law by using Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended most civil liberties in Germany, including habeas corpus, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right of free association and public assembly, and the secrecy of the post and telephone.
This was a very lucky event for Hitler and his pals. Hitler was already planning on trying to get the Enabling Act passed, which would have allowed the Chancellor (Hitler) to pass laws by decree without the Reichstag. President Hindenburg already had that power, but only in times of emergency. The Enabling Act could be used by Hitler at any time and for any reason.
Here is where I say, "History may not repeat itself, but it sings the same tune."
Just in case you forgot, on January 6th 2021, while the Senate was counting the Electoral College votes, the process was disrupted by a couple dozen active rioters and several hundred curious people who wandered in behind them, who entered the Capitol and windows were smashed, things were taken and Lawmakers were scared.
The result was miles of 10 foot high fencing, topped with concertina wire, concrete barriers and thousands of National Guard troops. The logic of why this works in Washington DC and not at the border escapes me. But I digress.
Earlier this month, a report was published to update the Capitol security posture. Here are two high points:
-The commander of the National Guard for DC can deploy troops at a moment's notice, without being ordered by the President.
-There will be a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) on standby at all times.
If the military can deploy without civilian authorization, this pretty much shreds the concept of Posse Comitatus Act.
The concept and use of QRF was developed in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are soldiers in vehicles at the base, engines running, ready to be out the gate in seconds if the conditions warranted it. Usually the troops were nearby their vehicles and could be out of the base in 1-2 minutes. The QRF was the overwhelming rescue force if a convoy or patrol came under fire.
Now I have to ask: Are we not seeing the same grab for power, the same stripping of Liberty from us? Many of us can't speak our minds for fear of our lives being ruined. There are multiple attempts to squelch the right of the citizen to protect themselves, from criminals and especially our government. Our lawmakers, restrained by the Constitution, lament about "this person" or "that person" having too much latitude in what they say. The sympathetic Lords of Social Media then restrict that person's access Our Capitol is now a Police State Zone.