From the August 2004 Idaho Observer:

Editor's Desk

Will the real murderers please hang their heads in shame?

Last night I watched with shame as Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) recounted a chronology of genocidal events of the last 100 years in its DVD “Innocents Betrayed.” JPFO estimated that governments have killed 170,000,000 of their own people since the Turks began exterminating Armenians in the early 1900s. The message JPFO was attempting to deliver was that the victims of murderous regimes in the past had been disarmed and were, therefore, defenseless against armed oppressors.

The message I received from the DVD was a little different. Though it is impossible to ignore that genocidal events are traditionally preceded by disarmament, I believe the JPFO failed to identify the real murderers. I also believe that legions of mass murderers are being raised up right now in the land of the free. As painful as it may be, we must remember history identify them now -- before it is too late.

They are us.

We are quick to say “Hitler did it,” or “Stalin (Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Idi Amin et. al) did it.” But let me ask you, did Hitler personally pull the trigger on all those people he is accused of mass murdering? Did Stalin? Did Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot or Idi Amin kill all the defenseless people they are accused of killing? Of course not. We did it for them.

Innocents Betrayed noted that a period of demonizing certain groups of people and passing special prohibitions against them are also part of the process leading up to a coordinated and concentrated effort to exterminate them. But the logistics of killing thousands or even millions of people are such that the masses must either support or actively participate in the bloodbath for it to take place. With this understanding, the Hitlers and Stalins of history are merely leaders with sick fantasies and we are the dupes who can be counted on to make their murderous fantasies come to life.

Who's next on the list to be mass murdered by people following the lead of their own government? Who do you resent right now -- blacks, whites, Mexicans, Asians, Muslims, Jews, gays, lesbians, drug addicts, drunks, convicted felons, Protestants, Catholics, Republicans, Democrats, Arabs, rich people, poor people, attorneys, judges, drug-dealing doctors, government employees, government contractors, corporate executives? At this moment, by governmental decree and in the press we are all being encouraged to be distrustful of other groups and view each other as adversaries.

Based upon the history as I have come to relearn it and as it was so concisely reported in Innocents Betrayed, I believe we are being set up in this country to justify a program of mass-murdering certain groups of people -- we just don't know which ones, yet. Will it be a group we are in? Will it be groups for which we decidedly dislike? Will I (or you) be so relieved it is not ourselves singled out for destruction that we will happily participate in the wanton destruction and mass murder of others?

As horrible as it may be to look at ourselves in a historical mirror, we must. It takes millions to kill millions and, if history is our guide, then we can see the next genocidal event is coming. 21st century America is as likely a place for it to occur as any.

The question then becomes, “If your leader tells you to hate groups of innocent people to death, will you actively help round them up for extermination, silently allow the crimes to be committed, or resist as a matter of principle?” (DWH)