My German friend shared this proverb from his homeland: "Fight the beginning."

[lagomorph777]

"Don't let it reach critical mass," he said.

[Anon-C]

1. Dies!

[Turbineguy]

2. The Germans know a thing or two about this!

[Wounded Bear]

3. Yep. It's an age old playbook...

that Hitler used to great affect, and that Trump and the Repubs are using now, on us.

It's too late to fight the 'beginning.' We're way past that now.

[lunatica]

9. This is only the beginning

Trump does not have control of the government, the military or the media yet. Once that happens is when we plunge into information darkness, where they can do anything they want and we won’t ever hear about it, unless it’s our door that gets broken down by the secret police.

[FiveGoodMen]

32. Not just the Rs. THIS SITE has been full of that sentiment

"Don't overreact, don't call them Nazis, it's not as bad as WWII yet"

"Don't say that; someone will quote mine you"

"We look petty and stupid when we turn it around on them"

"When they go low, we go high"

All of which are the exact opposite of fighting the beginning.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Don't be a boiled frog. . . . nt

[DetlefK]

5. A more accurate translation would be "Prevent the beginnings."

"Wehret den Anfängen."

It's an old-fashioned, poetic expression, so it's hard to translate properly.

[lagomorph777]

6. Awesome thanks!

Nice to see it in the original language.

[lunatica]

11. Your translation is perfectly understandable

Akin the saying “Nip it in the bud”.

I imagine translating that might get some confused looks.

[catbyte]

23. I know it's serious, but this is all I can think of when I hear that saying.

[IMG][/IMG]

[lunatica]

25. LOL!

It makes me wonder what non-English speaking people would make of it.

[GetRidOfThem]

19. Also not the way I read it...

"Wehret" means "fight", like Whermacht, or "defend". What this really means is "fight the beginning", or "defend yourself at the beginning", or "defend against the beginning".

[DetlefK]

31. You are right. "Fend off the beginnings" would be better.

[GetRidOfThem]

33. good translation

[The Liberal Lion]

7. Sorry to be the Debbie Downer

Last edited Tue Sep 4, 2018, 12:42 PM - Edit history (1)

But it's too late to prevent the beginning. We allowed Mitch McConnell to deny President Obama his right to appoint a justice to replace Scalia. We should have been out in the streets and should have shut down this country as a result. We remained passive. We only made snark when that Orange motherfucker first brought his conning ass down that escalator and began to spread his disease of hate. We remained passive, and we treated that fuck face like a joke instead of a serious threat. All of us, even the morons who supported his candidacy knew in our heart of hearts that something was false about his supposed win, but we sat back passively and allowed ourselves to say "let's give him a chance". Today, we know, for even those who can't accept the idea that actual vote totals were altered and that in fact Hillary Clinton is the true President of the United States, that that orange gangster commits obstruction of justice every fucking moment he sits illegally in the White House, we still place a false hope in an election system that has already shown itself now at least twice in recent history to be corrupt. In light of all this we sit back passive worried more about our comfort than our freedom. America isn't dying, it's already dead. It died not because of the actions of that orange fuck and the new nazi party of America, but rather because of the inaction of those who state they care. It is too late the beginning has past, we have reached critical mass, and now the fight will require far more now than had we done the right thing not so long ago. Hindsight is for sure 20/20.

[lagomorph777]

8. Geez Debbie, I guess you haven't been seeing the video of MILLIONS in the streets, time after time.

We have been active, and will continue to be, until this plague is exterminated.

[mountain grammy]

12. I attended a few protests for Garland hearings

maybe 50 people at each. Had around 100 to protest the nomination of Gorsuch. These were in Denver, a very Democratic city in a purple state. Where is everyone?

Now, the Women's March, that was something.. one a week would be a good thing. The world is waiting for us to stand up!

[The Liberal Lion]

13. When the times required a spine

history will show most of us were composed of jello.

I see the protest, and while admirable they are doing nothing. Republicans don't give a great two shits about your orderly protest. You know who they do care about? They care about Antifa factions, because the Antifa is willing to engage them. These protest are meaningless if they don't strike at the core of their power. It's all well and good that some protest are organized on the weekend when a bunch of malcontents can hang out singing songs, holding hands in an orderly fashion and then go home to make it to their jobs on time. As you can see, the forces of evil are just laughing. And those who should have our back, those who are elected to defend our republic from the type of evil that is manifest now, they try to negotiate and find middle ground. That's a bunch of shit.

[murielm99]

27. I think we can walk and chew gum.

We can protest, GOTV, canvass, register voters, phone bank, etc.

We can run for office. We can write letters. Over the last two years, people have gotten angry. I haven't seen this much activism since the Vietnam War.

[Moostache]

29. They care about Antifa because it is a convenient Boogie Man to use in campaigns...

Just like the "welfare queen" or "illegal aliens" or "lazy people getting YOUR stuff"...

The right-wing has their necessary support under general anesthesia via radio and TV mind control. They have already installed their "alternative reality" and they keep the juice flowing 24/7/365. We cannot even hope to sway these lost souls because they will not help fix a problem they cannot even see as troubling...

Where did this all really go wrong?
Not with Garland nomination or Trump's election or even post-9/11 wars of choice....no, none of them were anything more than spreading the fire already started with the death of the fairness doctrine and the rise of right wing media in the late 1980's...perfectly timed to coincide with the generally disastrous impacts of Reaganomics and trickle down. The GOP coordinated their efforts to destroy the safety net programs and tax codes of the New Deal and Great Society and did so through tax cuts and building an effective propaganda machine to reinforce it. What started with whining about "media bias" was pretty much done in by an IV line of talking points and outright lying to support their agenda without defining its real aims - concentration of wealth and power into the hands of very few at the expense of the very many.

It gained speed when the GOP got away with hijacking the Clinton Presidency with non-stop, non-reality based investigations of White Water until they got to ONE FUCKING BS charge they could run with....and they did...all the way to impeachment for essentially 1/1000th of the seriousness of just Trump's give away of Israeli intel to the fucking Russians. It continued in force as the GOP torpedoed Obama at every step of the way, culminating in the Merrick Garland travesty.

The United States of America as it was founded and intended is a now dormant idea. This country was never worth a damn for most of our sorry existence, and if you get your undies in a bunch over that statement, I invite you to go take it up with anyone stuck in Reservations to this day or break open some actual history books of the genocide that created the country of America in the first place... Our value to the world and to human history was the IDEA of America...a secular government of the people, by the people and for the people.

That idea is currently being tortured like a medieval "purification" before the inevitable execution. When no one organized or even seriously considered a general strike to prevent the Iraq and Afghan wars from continuing (after the MILLIONS marched against the wars BEFORE they started), the die was cast and the outcome inevitable.

Welcome to the new age...but you will not enjoy your stay.

[The Liberal Lion]

30. My friend, we are essentially in agreement

[lunatica]

14. Geez! That sounds like you're giving up in despair.

Anyone who thinks a few setbacks has destroyed our Democracy must not think Democracy can survive those setbacks. It isn’t dead. Not by a long shot. It requires a fight and constant vigilance. But I think you know that.

[The Liberal Lion]

16. Please don't read my words as surrender

No way. I'm ready for the fight. I'm just sick of it being contained.

[lunatica]

17. I apologize if I misread you post

And judging from your moniker and the avatar you have I believe you are a fighter. Welcome to DU! We all need each other, now more than ever.

[The Liberal Lion]

18. Thank you, but no apology needed, although I appreciate it.

And you are absolutely right. We all need each other. My view is only one view of how to handle what we are dealing with. I don't discount other views. Myself, however, I tried to be passive and do things the more traditional way. I just don't see it working. I'm not for violence, and can't see how I could get there. But I'm sure there are ways to be more aggressive with this monster and the GOP that are both legal and effective.

[lunatica]

22. I don't think we need violence

as long as we have the vote it’s much more powerful than violence.

Not only do we have the Federal government which is composed of people we vote for, but we have each State as well. Elections mean everything, and come November we will see if we truly are asleep or not. If this country doesn’t put a resounding stop to everything Trump (that includes stopping a compliant Congress) then I will despair.

This country is rapidly becoming brown and it is changing and will change the power dynamics forever. Trump and his followers are already in the minority and their numbers are going to shrink even faster now. Even if they were to win one more election their ultimate fate is set. Now add to that dynamic the growth of women who are also seeking equal power in government and you don’t have to be a psychic to see what’s coming.

It helps to try to see the long view.

[GetRidOfThem]

20. I essentially agree, and my view is...

...that his man should never have been inaugurated. That this inauguration ever happened is a massive systemic failure in our democracy.

[mountain grammy]

10. K & R

but this is also a story of missed opportunities.. should have been massive protests when McConnell blocked Obama's SC pick.. we went to sleep and this happens. We've been asleep.

[The Liberal Lion]

15. Amen

[GetRidOfThem]

21. Which begs the question...

How do we now block Kavanagh's confirmation?

[UTUSN]

24. Too late!1

[ck4829]

26. K&R

[ehrnst]

28. That works only if you are there at the beginning.

We have no time machine. We have to fight now.