Letter to the Editor: ‘The enemy within’

In an interview on Fox News, Trump said “The Enemy Within” meaning citizens of the U.S. as — “radical left lunatics,” including California representative Adam Schiff, are more dangerous than Russia or China and could be very easily handled by the National Guard or the U.S. Military.”

If U.S. citizens believe that Trump has only promised to arrest illegal and legal immigrants, we better think again. He is talking about anyone who disagrees with his policies or perhaps a demonstration against his political policies. No U.S. citizen is safe under a dictatorship. You may not care about the rights of gays or citizens’ rights to protest police brutality, it handicapped individuals’ rights to live a productive life, or those you don’t consider politically correct, but make no mistake, Trump is talking about all of us.

I fear journalists are ignoring the seriousness of the actions being taken by Republican governors and Republican legislators here in Iowa and across the country. They are slowly taking away our rights and freedoms not unlike what occurred in Europe prior to WW II.

Rev. Martin Niemoller, a Holocaust survivor himself, has been credited with the following:

“In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communist, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no. one left to speak for me.”

To protect our rights and freedoms we need to vote Nov. 5 for Harris/Walz for President and Vice President and all Democrats on the Nov. 5 tickets.

Kathy Tipton

Newton