Day 1228: 1933?
Recalling 1933,
The Reichstag, Berlin, Germany,
A Dutchman set the Reichstag fire,
Which led to Nazi tyranny.
The Dutchman was a Communist.
The usual suspects on the list
Were active Communists as well,
A calumny that would persist.
Since Hitler was the Chancellor,
He thought that he just might secure
His Nazi party’s dominance
And use the leftist saboteur.
So Hitler cried, “Conspiracy!”
Which led to Hindenburg’s decree
To use against the Communists,
Restricting civil liberty.
And that would lead to mass arrest
Of Communists from east to west
And Communists in Parliament,
Detention no one could contest.
And, presto! This authority
Gave Nazis a majority
And six years later, World War II
And Holocaust depravity.
2020
A black man murdered, protests swell;
By now you know the story well;
Provocateurs are setting fires,
Destruction, looting, tear gas, hell.
Bill Barr calls those who set a fire,
“Left wing extremists,” who conspire
To overthrow the government.
Will this be freedom’s funeral pyre?
Then comes, the presidential tweet:
The army will come clear the street
And quell dissent throughout the land.
Now ask, “Will history repeat?
In ’33, in Germany,
The Reichstag fire brought tyranny.
The spark ignited Nazi rule,
War, Holocaust, and infamy.
Will we retain democracy?
Is history a prophecy?
Will those who long to stay in power
Solidify supremacy?