"The Anschluss was Peaceful..."

My kids have had "The Sound of Music" on the brain since seeing a performance of it on Saturday by the local homeschool community, so they decided to watch the movie version yesterday. I happened to plunk down with them about the time that Capt. Von Trapp was on his honeymoon, and Herr Zoeller was getting antsy about carrying out his orders to whisk the Captain away to Bremerhaven. Upon returning from his honeymoon, Capt. Von Trapp is confronted by the reality of the Anschluss - the political union of Austria and Germany, and "Uncle Max" Detweiler's go along to get along attitude, encompassed by his observation that "...the Anschluss was peaceful."

As I watched, I was struck by the thought that we in the modern United States have also had our own Anschluss. It was voted in by the people (though admittedly, not the 97% the Nazi's garnered in the Austrian Anschluss), and the Government is changing into something resembling the National Socialists of those days, constitutional strictures notwithstanding.

The question is, will we who still love our country stand and fight for it, or will we passively let it be taken over by the National Socialists? It is a daunting task, and I must admit to a large dose of trepidation as I ponder my own place in it, and how it will affect my life and my family. But how can I (we) turn away? How can we just let the National Socialists have their way, and destroy the last bastion of liberty on the planet? It has already begun - the nationalization of the banking and financial systems, and the auto industry. Soon it will be the healthcare system, the transportation systems, and then infrastructure. The currency is being debased at a rate unprecedented outside the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe, and the entire nation will soon be reduced to either abject poverty or total dependence on the fedgov. That will be the only choice left to us.

And so, as weak and disorganized as we are now, we must fight them. We must somehow find it in ourselves to be free men again, and not accept the rise of National Socialism, and the destruction of all we hold dear. We must understand the motto of New Hamphire: "Live Free or Die" once again, or we will descend into comfortable slavery. Or maybe not so comfortable.