First They Came For ACORN

First Big Business, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Lou Dobbs, the Religious Right, the Wall Street Journal, Mitch McConnell, and Karl Rove came for ACORN, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not ACORN.

Then they came for SEIU, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not SEIU.

Then they came for the Apollo Alliance, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the Apollo Alliance.

Then they came for the Center for American Progress, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the Center for American Program.

Then they came for the Sierra Club, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the Sierra Club.

Then they came for the National Organization for Women, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the National Organization for Women.

Then they came for the other community organizers, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not community organizers

Then they came for AFSCME, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not AFSCME.

Then they came for the National Council of La Raza, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the National Council of La Raza.

Then they came for the NAACP, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the NAACP.

Then they came for the ACLU, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the ACLU.

Then they came for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Then they came for the National Council of Churches, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the National Council of Churches.

Then they came for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Then they came for the AARP, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the AARP.

Then they came for the Teamsters, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not Teamsters.

Then they came for the Catholic Worker, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the Catholic Worker.

Then they came for UNITE HERE, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not UNITE HERE.

Then they came for the Immigrant Solidarity Network, and, the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the Immigrant Solidarity Network.

Then they came for the National Education Association, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the National Education Association.

Then they came for the U.S. Student Association, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the U.S. Student Association.

Then they came for the American Association of University Professors, and the Democrats did not speak out -- because they were not the American Association of University Professors

Then Big Business, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Lou Dobbs, the Religious Right, the Wall Street Journal, Mitch McConnell, and Karl Rove came for the Democrats -- and there was no one left to speak out for the Democrats.

Peter Dreier teaches Politics and directs the Urban & Environmental Policy program at Occidental College. This is based on a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984), written about the Nazi regime in Germany.

For more background about ACORN, read John Atlas' article, "What Is ACORN?" , Harold Meyerson's Washington Post column, "For ACORN, Truth Lost Amid the Din" ,
David Morris' article on Alternet, and Christopher Hayes article, "ACORN and Accountability," in The Nation.

Also, in his interview on the Rachel Maddow show, on Friday, September 25, Jeremy Scahill discusses the many corporations, like Blackwater and Halliburton, with billions in government contracts who are chronic lawbreakers, but who the Republicans are NOT trying to defund, compared with ACORN, which gets very little government funding and has not been convicted of any lawbreaking.