We Are What We Stand For!

By Rich Kozlovich

Yesterday the movie Judgment at Nuremburg was on television. I’ve always liked that movie because it really explores the actions and arguments of all parties and forces everyone to draw conclusions that may not be popular. The Germans viewed this as revenge – and it was! The Allies viewed this as long overdue justice – and it was! The movie also makes it clear the general population of the Allies didn’t much care any longer and the western governments were far more concerned about the Soviet Union, which is why some of the monsters of the Third Reich spent very little time in prison.

There are a host of politicians wanting to be President of the United States and it never ceases to amaze me how easily they can slip the surly bonds of reality, loyalty, and truthfulness in order to be popular. Those on the left do it with ease because that's what leftism is all about - adopting whatever policy that will get them into power. Leftism has no moral foundation so they're not troubled by conscience and the media is part and parcel of the leftist movement - so they rarely report their leftist “comrades” constantly shifting positions, and when they do it won't be on the air much more than a nanosecond.

As for those on the right – as Daniel Greenfield noted in his article, “Be the Best Saboteur You Can Be”, “There is no conservative party”!  He goes on to say, “There is a Republican Party. The purpose of the party and its politicians, much like that of its Democratic counterpart, is to obtain money and privileges for its major donors.  That doesn't mean that its members don't have other ideals and agendas, but Republican politicians who rise high enough come from an urban and suburban establishment that is more liberal than its base.  Expecting them to care as much about your issues as you do is unrealistic.”  He notes “they will only do the right thing insofar as it helps them t get control of money, advance their careers and become popular!” Can we assume Obamatrade is an evidence of this kind of thinking?

Yet we have an 18 trillion dollar debt that no one has come out and explained how that’s to be fixed.  Why?  With the left the answer is easy. They want to keep spending and act as if it’s not a big deal.  With the right the answer is easy.  They want to keep spending and act is it’s no big deal.  As for what they say in private we can only be speculated, but no one is coming forth with any solutions that will work.  Why!  Because the media will eat them alive.

But no matter how this plays out we have to understand there are tragic consequences for failing to define who we really are, and act accordingly.  The left has destroyed any concept of right and wrong, and our society has accepted that.  We have abandoned any idea the Constitution sets boundaries for any government action – no matter how unconstitutionally egregious, and the courts are now worthless in stopping them.  But since they continue down the road of doom they must somehow all believe disaster won’t be the consequence of all of this!  And when it does occur – and if nothing changes it will - they will plead their motives were good they never thought disaster could occur.

Why is it people can’t learn from history?  That’s easy to explain also.  The left has taken over education and they don’t teach history.  One scene in Judgment at Nuremburg was most important.  During the cross examination of one of the witnesses Nazi judge Ernst Janning, played by Burt Lancaster, became so emotionally filled with disgust over his past actions he stood up and made this statement:

“There was a fever over the land. A fever of disgrace, of indignity, of hunger. We had a democracy, yes, but it was torn by elements within. Above all, there was fear. Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, fear of our neighbors, and fear of ourselves. Only when you understand that - can you understand what Hitler meant to us. Because he said to us: 'Lift your heads! Be proud to be German! There are devils among us. Communists, Liberals, Jews, Gypsies! Once these devils will be destroyed, your misery will be destroyed.'
 

It was the old, old story of the sacrificial lamb. What about those of us who knew better? We who knew the words were lies and worse than lies? Why did we sit silent? Why did we take part? Because we loved our country! What difference does it make if a few political extremists lose their rights? What difference does it make if a few racial minorities lose their rights? It is only a passing phase.
 

It is only a stage we are going through. It will be discarded sooner or later. Hitler himself will be discarded... sooner or later. The country is in danger. We will march out of the shadows. We will go forward. Forward is the great password. And history tells how well we succeeded, your honor. We succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. The very elements of hate and power about Hitler that mesmerized Germany, mesmerized the world! We found ourselves with sudden powerful allies. Things that had been denied to us as a democracy were open to us now. The world said 'go ahead, take it, take it! Take Sudetenland, take the Rhineland - remilitarize it - take all of Austria, take it!
 

And then one day we looked around and found that we were in an even more terrible danger. The ritual began in this courtroom swept over the land like a raging, roaring disease. What was going to be a passing phase had become the way of life. Your honor, I was content to sit silent during this trial. I was content to tend my roses. I was even content to let counsel try to save my name, until I realized that in order to save it, he would have to raise the specter again.
 

You have seen him do it - he has done it here in this courtroom. He has suggested that the Third Reich worked for the benefit of people. He has suggested that we sterilized men for the welfare of the country. He has suggested that perhaps the old Jew did sleep with the sixteen year old girl, after all. Once more it is being done for love of country. It is not easy to tell the truth; but if there is to be any salvation for Germany, we who know our guilt must admit it... whatever the pain and humiliation.”
 

What philosophical group was he talking about?  What was the name of the party that imposed these atrocities?   The National Socialist Party – the Nazis!  Fascism is the right wing of socialism and communism is the left wing, but they’re merely two sides of the same coin.  Socialism has no moral foundation and will adopt anything that helps them to get control of your money, advance their careers and become popular!  All in the name of helping the people - or in the case of the environmentalists - saving the planet!
 

At the end of the trial Judge Haywood, played by Spencer Tracy, made this statement;
 

“Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he *loathed* the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and death of millions by the government of which he was a part. Janning's record and his fate illuminate the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial. If he and the other defendants were all depraved perverts - if the leaders of the Third Reich were sadistic monsters and maniacs - these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake or other natural catastrophes. But this trial has shown that under the stress of a national crisis, men - even able and extraordinary men -can delude themselves into the commission of crimes and atrocities so vast and heinous as to stagger the imagination.

No one who has sat through this trial can ever forget. The sterilization of men because of their political beliefs... The murder of children... How *easily* that can happen! There are those in our country today, too, who speak of the "protection" of the country. Of "survival". The answer to that is: survival as what? A country isn't a rock. And it isn't an extension of one's self. *It's what it stands for, when standing for something is the most difficult!* Before the people of the world - let it now be noted in our decision here that this is what we stand for: justice, truth... and the value of a single human being!”
 

The movie ends in a quietly spectacular way.  Ernst Janning asks for Judge Haywood to come to his cell before going home.  He gives his a record of his cases over the years because he clearly wants to have this one man’s respect, irrespective of all that he did.  Even though he publically recognized his guilt he’s still trying to find justification for his moral failure, and acceptance from this one unassuming and humble man.  He says;
 

Judge Haywood... the reason I asked you to come: Those people, those millions of people... I never knew it would come to that. You must believe it, You must believe it!

Judge Haywood, a simple man with a clear and simple morality that typified this nation at one time says: 

Herr Janning, it came to that the first time you sentenced a man to death you knew to be innocent.

That simple statement of what should be foundational morality is almost alien today.  We are what we believe and what we practice.  Playing the role of a tragic figure hoping for "compassion for the torture of their souls" will not ease the pain and suffering leaders have caused in the past and will not ease the pain of all those millions who the left cause to be tortured and die in the future.  We know the socialist monsters of the 20th century killed over 100 million people.  We also know the green movement - the spear point for socialist policies - has been responsible for at least that many deaths and caused billions of cases of sickness and disease that would have not occurred except for their schemes.  All in the name of “saving the planet”!  Yet we have over 200 years of history since the French Revolution that shows every one of the left’s schemes and policies are disastrous. 

These failed policies are not being carried out by “depraved perverts,…..sadistic monsters and maniacs”.  These failed policies continue to be carried out by “men - even able and extraordinary men –[who] delude themselves into the commission of crimes and atrocities so vast and heinous as to stagger the imagination. 

And who’s the sacrificial lamb of the left today?  Humanity!  And they have to know that!