Some warnings from history

General (later President) Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican. He was instrumental in defeating the Nazis and also in constructing our system of Interstate Highways. As he left office in 1961, he issued a warning to us, which can be read in its entirety at

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/speeches/eisenhower001.htm

or

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

Some noticeable aspects of these words, lately referred to as the "Military-Industrial Complex Speech", warn of the development of a "permanent armaments industry of vast proportions" that had not existed prior to World War II. He said that "We must never let the weight of [the] combination [of defense and industry] endanger our liberties or democratic processes", and that "Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

He also warned that "you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.", and that "We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage."

He noted the migration of much of our intelligent, educated population into the businesses of security and defense thus: "The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present [..]"

"and is gravely to be regarded."

and that "public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite."

This guy knew what he was talking about.

Register to vote, please.

Earlier in the past century, another guy, Martin Niemoeller, who was a German submarine commander in World War I, when Adolf Hitler was a corporal, remarked years later with regard to the Nazis:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Don't be a Lemming! Vote ! And read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights while we still have them!

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html