"Real Americans" Are NOT Nazis

Updated somewhat 10-8-20

We hear or see statements claiming, "Real Americans ...," and then comes an action or thought that the person seems to believe are "un-American." What is a "real American?" I can't define it, but I can tell you, it indeed isn't a Nazi, or any fascist for that matter, as many thousands of American soldiers fought and died to help defeat the Nazi Nutcase In Chief, Adolf Hitler, and his strutting Fascist ally, Benito Mussolini, as well as a string of other fascist, or right wing authoritarian and militarist regimes also allied to the Nutty Nazi, most notably, in Japan. Many thousands of other Americans were wounded, and none came home without some physical or mental scar from having fought to help roll back fascism.

More than 400,000 Americans died during World War Two, and more than 600,000 were wounded.   

We aren't a perfect country, and we never have been. "Some" Americans are so insecure, they can't ever admit that there are or were injustices and flaws in the nation from its very birth. The American Civil War showed the terrible divide in just such attitudes over the major injustice of slavery in the United States, as the northern states and the southern states didn't just decide to have a war out of boredom. That war cost somewhere between 600,000 and 750,000 military deaths, and an unknown number of civilian deaths, most which would have been in the Confederacy. No, the United States isn't perfect, but Americans have worked, and continue to work, to correct our flaws, no matter how painful it may be. Fascists, while trying to portray themselves as strong, only show themselves as weak, as they can't even admit to problems in the nation, let alone join with others to fix those problems. Such weakness and insecurity brought about Hitler's Gestapo and Mussolini's OVRA, both organizations of secret police used to subdue critics.* The United States now has a president who wants to use the Justice Department and that department's FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) to go after his critics and political opponents. Will Americans let this happen? Did so many Americans die to let fascism "trump" us? (Pun intended!) No..... "real Americans" are not Nazis! FIGHT FASCISM! VOTE to defeat Trump AND his Republican accomplices who have sat by and watched this nearly four year anti-democracy spectacle take place.

 * "Gestapo" was an abbreviation for "Geheime Staatspolizei" (Secret State Police), and "OVRA" was an abbreviation for "Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo" (Organization for Vigilance and the Repression of Anti Fascism).   

WORD HISTORY: 

Err-This word goes back to Indo European "ers/ars," which had the notion, "move around, wander about." This gave Latin the verb, "errare," meaning, "to wander around;" thus also, "to lose one's way;" thus also the figurative, "to make a mistake, to err." This was passed to Latin-based Old French as "errer," with the same meanings, and this was borrowed into English in the very early 1300s as "erren," meaning, "to wander off, to stray, to make a mistake (thus also, "to commit a sin"). In those times, many English infinitive verbs were formed with an ending of "en," which didn't require "to" to be added to the infinitive, but English verb conjugations later changed, and this then produced infinitive forms like, "to err," "to go," "to say," as the "-en" was dropped. Close relative German still uses "-en" to form infinitive forms (to match the above English forms: "irren," "gehen," "sagen"). "Err" is related through Indo European to former English words, "ierre," a noun meaning, "wrath" (from the idea of "going astray from normal"), and an adjective of that same spelling meaning, "confused, gone astray, wrathful," and the verb, "iersian," meaning, "to be angry," but also, "to provoke to anger." German "irren," mentioned above, is a close relative through Germanic, and there are more relatives in other Germanic languages.   

Trump & The United States Are NOT One And The Same

Way back in 1934, in Nuremberg, Germany, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party held their annual party rally, a series of special events and speeches that took place in September of that year. Hitler had been chancellor of Germany only since January 30, 1933, and he had only been total ruler for about a month, as President Paul von Hindenburg had died in early August, bringing Hitler to combine the presidency with the chancellorship, as "Führer." During one event, Rudolf Hess, a major Nazi official, declared: "The party is Hitler, Hitler however is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler" ("Die Partei ist Hitler, Hitler aber ist Deutschland, wie Deutschland Hitler ist.").

The most important aspect of Hitler's assumption of the presidential powers was that he became the supreme commander of the armed forces, a situation that worked out so well for the world (written, of course, with GREAT SARCASM, for those in need of clarification). With this power now vested in Hitler, he had the military forces swear loyalty to HIM, not to Germany: "I swear to God this sacred oath, that I shall give unconditional obedience to the Führer of the German Reich and people (and) supreme commander of the armed forces, Adolf Hitler, and, that as a brave soldier, I shall, at any time, be prepared to lay down my life for this oath." (German: "Ich schwöre bei Gott diesen heiligen Eid, daß ich dem Führer des Deutschen Reiches und Volkes, Adolf Hitler, dem Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht, unbedingten Gehorsam leisten und als tapferer Soldat bereit sein will, jederzeit für diesen Eid mein Leben einzusetzen.")

So, one can see the entwining of Hitler and the German nation with the idea that an attack on, or criticism of, Hitler, being seen as an attack on, or criticism of, Germany itself. It had stunning affect, as German officers (including Austrians), long associated with respect for powerful, and even autocratic rulers, but with otherwise a general lack of political involvement, could not easily bring themselves to oppose this little man with the toothbrush mustache, because of this oath, even though they could see the terrible destruction he was bringing to others and to Germany. A few independent thinkers in the military opposed many aspects of Nazism from early on, but most German officers remained in denial right up to the very end, cowering behind the above oath. A few military officers, with the knowledge they had of Nazi crimes and the downward spiral of the war, did act, risking their own lives FOR Germany, but AGAINST Hitler. They finally admitted the truth to themselves, that Hitler and Germany were TWO different things, not one and the same. While their attempt against Hitler and the Nazis failed, there is a memorial plaque in Berlin where some of the anti-Hitler participants were executed. The plaque reads: "Here died for Germany," followed by the names of those executed on that spot, but it represents ALL who tried to overthrow the evil they saw. And note, it says, "died for Germany," not a word linking Germany and that son-of-a-bitch Hitler.

Any president of the United States, including Donald Trump, is chosen by Americans as their temporary national and international representative and head of the executive branch of a three part system of government, along with the legislative and judicial branches. Criticism of our presidents, including Donald Trump, does not mean Americans hate their country, as the president and the nation are separate, not linked in any way as the Nazis did with Hitler and Germany. Presidents of the United States are asked direct questions by the media, and sometimes even by every day citizens. Presidents also receive criticism, fairly, unfairly, or somewhere in between, by the media and every day citizens. It is not only permitted, it is expected. We are not a nation of lockstep zombies, although some Americans seem to be doing a great imitation of such. Americans also can, and should, question military leaders, including four star Marine generals, an act we recently were told was "highly inappropriate," by the spokesperson for the current Trump administration. In our system, no one in a position of authority is immune from being questioned or criticized, it goes with the territory, and those who assumed those positions of authority "knew what they were getting themselves into," as Trump told the widow of Army Sergeant La David Johnson, a man who was killed in operations in Niger, along with three other Green Berets, in October 2017.   
     
WORD HISTORY:
Cower-This word, unrelated to "coward," in spite of the modern similarity in spelling and meaning, has a cloudy history, but it goes back to Indo European "guh/geu," with the notion, "to bend, to curve, to arch." The problem comes as to how some Germanic languages got their forms of the Indo European word; that is, was it by a direct offshoot from the parent Indo European? Or an indirect borrowing by way of another language? I can find no form in Old Germanic, and "perhaps" a form entered Germanic by way of its North Germanic branch, where it then spread southward to Low German, which eventually passed it to High German and to English. Its basic meaning in the long distant past seems to have been, "to sit or kneel down in a hunched (arched, bent) position." Lithuanian, a Baltic language in northeastern Europe, had "gurnas," from the Indo European form, and meant, "hip, hipjoint;" that is, "the bone or joint that permits crouching down." The word first appears in English circa 1300 as "curen," although there could have been an earlier unrecorded form, but it seems to have been borrowed from Low German "kuren" ("watch or peek out from a hiding place in the woods"). Some relatives are Old Norse "karr," more directly tied in meaning to the Indo European, meant "curly, wavy" ("bent, curved"), while Swedish "kura" means "huddle." German has "kauern," which means "to crouch in an arched position, to cower." The Brothers Grimm, who not only assembled fairy tales, but who also did extensive work on word histories, wondered if "cower" might be related to the English verb "cow," meaning, "to intimidate;" thus with the possible original meaning, "to cause someone to crouch in fear." I must admit the two words likely come from the same Indo European base (Old Norse had "kuga," meaning, "to oppress;" so, a likely relative of "cow." It has nothing to do with the noun for the name of the animal, "cow.")

How Marriage Equality Changed Americans' Lives

Before marriage equality Americans:

woke up, checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
drank coffee or tea while they checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
went to work
before starting work, checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
during work, checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
ate lunch and checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
went back to work
checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
finished work
checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
headed home or stopped for an after work drink
checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
ate dinner
checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
watched television while they checked their email, Facebook and Twitter
got interrupted during sex by a private message on Facebook
got interrupted during sex again by a text message from a friend
went to sleep, dreamed about checking their email, Facebook and Twitter

After marriage equality Americans:

woke up ...... oh the hell with listing all of that again, they did everything they did before marriage equality! Hey, I've got to check my email, Facebook and Twitter, excuse me!

WORD HISTORY:
Equal-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown. It goes back to Latin "aequus," which meant "even, level;" thus also, "impartial." This then gave Latin "aequalis," meaning "the same, like, without variation, on the same level." English borrowed the word as "equal" in the second half of the 1300s, likely reinforced by French "egal," which was the French form of Latin "aequalis." English is the only Germanic language to use a form of the Latin as a primary word, although German borrowed the French form, "egal," but it is not their primary word with that meaning, as they use their own word "gleich," which is really the same word as English "like," which was once spelled "gelic." In German it is part of a fairly common expression, "Es ist mir egal," which literally means, "to me it is equal," but the real meaning of which is, "it is all the same to me," or, "it doesn't matter to me."

Maligning Americans

This was first published May 1, 2013

The mother of the two Boston bombers has blamed the United States for everything about her sons. She has said the events were staged to frame her boys. Now I know mothers can be in denial about the actions of their kids, but the Tsarnaev family was taken into this country from Russia a decade ago and according to the latest reports, they received housing, food and educational assistance, seemingly totaling into the tens of thousands of dollars. The youngest son became an American citizen just last year and initial reports indicated he was given a hefty college scholarship amount. Now I'll admit, all of this is pretty hostile treatment at the hands of us Americans and many people, I'm sure, would love to be treated so harshly. In the last couple of years the mother seems to have gone from a westernized lifestyle, including clothing, to more traditional Muslim apparel, an act that is certainly not against the law, but which "might" suggest a turn toward fundamentalist religion, especially if reports about telephone conversations recorded by the Russian government between the older son and his mother are correct. The reports say there was much talk about religion and even jihad, a term used by extremist elements for "holy war." Again, discussing religion is not against the law, but all of this will have to be put into context over time, as more and more information comes to light. 
    
WORD HISTORY:
Should- This word, the past form of "shall," goes back to Indo European "skel," which had the notion of "be obliged to do something, owe." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skulan," which meant "to owe, be obligated;" thus also, "have guilt;" that is, "owe a debt for an illegal act." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sellan/sculan" (the "sc" pronounced like "sh"), with many of the same meanings, the present tense of which became "shall." The past tense was "scolde," which then later became "should." While "shall" lost much of its connection to the meanings "owe" and "obligation," as it came to be used for future tense, "should" has retained the notion of  "ought to, obliged to do." The meaning of "owe, guilty;" that is, "be indebted for a crime," was once prominent English, as the closely related English word "scyld" meant "guilt, debt, liability" and German still has the closely related "Schuld" for "debt, guilt."