# How We Get From Here To Internment Camps **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 16, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186 "2016-11-16T18:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/41 "2016-11-17T06:14:48Z")
One major point: America in the 2010s is a HELL of a lot different than Germany was in the 1930s. Germany had only been a democracy for a little over ten years, and it wasn’t a very stable one at that. And prior to THAT, they had only been a _unified_ nation (a limited constitutional monarchy) since 1871. Much, much different from the U.S. Germany was a fucking hell hole when Hitler took over. They were still barely recovering from WWI and the Treaty of Versailles. This was also during the Great Depression (which yes, affected parts of Europe as well) Historical context, people. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/42 "2016-11-17T06:20:42Z")
I mean, they’re not gonna do that, but it makes great Constitutional precedent! Also, this guy doesn’t agree with this stuff, except it’s a great idea. > ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/43 "2016-11-17T06:45:29Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > So, then , it’s a simplistic shock piece; Trump-talk. > You don’t write an article like that if you don’t believe it; he’s using a cop out. > It’s like writing an article “4 Reason Mike’s Wife Might be a Two-bit Whore” and then say “I don’t believe Mike’s wife is a two-bit or that she will become one, I’m just sayin’ pay attention”. Wow; that certainly sealed the deal for me. You clearly know much, much more than he does about this. Your righteous indignation and myopic certainty have me convinced! Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/44 "2016-11-17T06:58:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > No, they won’t. Funny, that was the only part of the fanciful OP that made sense to me. Not because of ratings necessarily, but more because American corporate news media consists of state worshiping boot lickers. On the other hand, Trump has had a peculiar effect of causing some actual investigative journalism to break out. They sometimes even called him out on his lies. Curious to see if this carries over once he’s on the throne. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/45 "2016-11-17T07:01:31Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Only about 18% of Americans voted for Trump, to be precise. ~60M/~330M = 0.1818… Roughly 25%. Approximately 242.5 million Americans are 18 and older, or voting age. So half of all Americans eligible to vote, didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/46 "2016-11-17T09:54:51Z")
Well, [step one](https://www.yahoo.com/news/immigration-hardliner-says-trump-team-preparing-plans-wall-015354176.html) has already started. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/47 "2016-11-17T10:51:33Z")
The US doesn’t have a permanent census, and when the census is taken it asks about religion. Institute the permanent census and then you just got a registry of Muslims. And of Catholics, of those heathen Atheists… ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/48 "2016-11-17T10:52:57Z")
I think the Trump supporter made a mistake invoking internment, and Megyn Kelly called him on it. However, this is what Trump’s [actually looking at](http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/16/13649764/trump-muslim-register-database): > [@](#): > > The Kobach proposal isn’t the same thing as the database of Muslim US citizens that Trump briefly floated (and then walked back) last year. It’s subtler — and that makes it a lot more plausible. > > The difference between a “Muslim database” and a “database of particular people in the US from particular countries, which happen to be majority Muslim” might seem like a meaningless distinction, something to give a gloss of neutrality to something clearly discriminatory. But that gloss of neutrality matters a lot. It’s the reason the federal government was able to keep a database for a decade. And it’s probably the reason you might not have known that database existed at all. > > The Bush-era registry that just happened to target majority-Muslim countries > Kobach knows exactly what he’s talking about. As a staffer in George W. Bush’s Justice Department after 9/11, he led the effort to put together the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERS. > > Under NSEERS, certain “foreign citizens and nationals” in the US had to come into immigration offices for fingerprinting, photos, and interviews — and then had to check in again at designated intervals. > > But this “special registration” system was selective. It only applied to people on non-immigrant visas (including tourism and work visas). It only applied to men over the age of 16. And it only applied to people from a list of countries the Bush administration considered “havens for terrorists.” > > There were 25 countries on the “special registration” list. Twenty-four were majority-Muslim countries. The 25th was North Korea. I think Democrats would be effin retarded to oppose this; most Americans are gonna go for it. Honestly, since it only applies to non-citizens, what would be the fuss. I do think tho that this kind of thing is better done under wraps. So no, liberals, stop saying Trump’s gonna make Muslims wear stars (and that comparison is insulting to The Holocaust), or he’s Hitler, etc. He’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/49 "2016-11-17T11:07:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The US doesn’t have a permanent census, and when the census is taken it asks about religion. [There were ten questions on the 2010 Census,](http://www.census.gov/2010census/about/interactive-form.php) the latest edition of [the Constitutionally-mandated census that has been conducted every ten years since this country was established](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census). None of them were about religion. Pretty much every part of what you just said is factually incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/50 "2016-11-17T11:29:26Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > I think the Trump supporter made a mistake invoking internment, and Megyn Kelly called him on it. > > However, this is what Trump’s [actually looking at](http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/16/13649764/trump-muslim-register-database): > I think Democrats would be effin retarded to oppose this; most Americans are gonna go for it. Honestly, since it only applies to non-citizens, what would be the fuss. I do think tho that this kind of thing is better done under wraps. > > So no, liberals, stop saying Trump’s gonna make Muslims wear stars (and that comparison is insulting to The Holocaust), or he’s Hitler, etc. He’s not. Are you seriously defending violation of the constitution with “most Americans will go for it”? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/51 "2016-11-17T14:27:01Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > …I do think tho that this kind of thing is better done under wraps… I’m sure you do. What would be your plan for that? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/52 "2016-11-17T14:35:35Z")
Well, got a panic room in the basement that would reasonably hold a family or about 6 random people … so I guess I would be hiding people. Thanks to Mom’s farm girl food hording ways we have enough food stocked up that we wouldn’t be increasing the amount of food we were buying at the local small town IGA so that would eliminate one way of figuring out where there are too many people for the normal household. With the momvan we could also smuggle people around, the house is on the outskirts of the town so it is a short scurry through the cemetery and a field to where we could pick them up and transport them. The places for a roadblock are awkward. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/53 "2016-11-17T14:38:24Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Well, [step one](https://www.yahoo.com/news/immigration-hardliner-says-trump-team-preparing-plans-wall-015354176.html) has already started. Awwww. So cute. “Already started”. Have you been asleep for 4 years? In the post Snowden era don’t you think the USG does not already have lists of Muslims, Buddhist, BDSM practitioners, Real Madrid supporters? The worlds most extensive and sophisticated surrvelliance apparatus. Soon to be in Trumps hands. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/54 "2016-11-17T15:57:05Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Awwww. So cute. “Already started”. Have you been asleep for 4 years? In the post Snowden era don’t you think the USG does not already have lists of Muslims, Buddhist, BDSM practitioners, Real Madrid supporters? > > The worlds most extensive and sophisticated surrvelliance apparatus. Soon to be in Trumps hands. No, I have not been asleep for those years, nor do I think the US government has such lists. Trump will soon discover that presidential control isn’t what he apparently thinks it entails. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/55 "2016-11-17T16:13:05Z")
Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/56 "2016-11-17T17:29:05Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Awwww. So cute. “Already started”. Have you been asleep for 4 years? In the post Snowden era don’t you think the USG does not already have lists of Muslims, Buddhist, BDSM practitioners, **Real Madrid supporters?** The US government is concerned enough to keep track of sports team supporters? Come on now. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/57 "2016-11-17T17:43:47Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > There’s another example though. In Rwanda, vast numbers of ordinary people were incited to take up weapons (machetes and clubs, mainly) and kill their neighbors. They didn’t even need an industrial killing operation, just men on the radio telling them where the enemy was and encouraging them to “cut the tall trees!” IIRC, close to a million were killed in 90 days. Not even the Nazis matched that rate. And we in 2017 America wouldn’t have to rely solely on radio and machetes. We have the internet, smart phones, and lots and lots of guns. > > Do I think it will happen? No. But last summer I didn’t think we’d elect Trump either. Turns out we’re not the people I thought we were. I don’t know if I’d call people who were willing to beat their neighbors to death with clubs at the drop of a hat “ordinary”. There are very few people willing to do such a thing here in America. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/58 "2016-11-17T17:49:05Z")
Looks like some people are wasting no time on trying to get started on the last step: [ > [@](#): > > Sen. Doug Ericksen of Ferndale said in a news release his bill would create a new crime of “economic terrorism” and would allow felony prosecution of people involved in protests that block transportation and commerce, damage property, threaten jobs and put public safety at risk, he said. > > “I respect the right to protest, but when it endangers people’s lives and property, it goes too far,” Ericksen said. “Fear, intimidation and vandalism are not a legitimate form of political expression. Those who employ it must be called to account.” > [@](#): > > Erickson said his bill also would apply to people who fund and organize such protests. > > “We are not just going after the people who commit these acts of terrorism,” Ericksen said. “We are going after the people who fund them.” ]([http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/16/gop-senator-to-propose-bill-criminalizing-illegal-/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/16/gop-senator-to-propose-bill-criminalizing-illegal-/)) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/59 "2016-11-17T17:49:50Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Awwww. So cute. “Already started”. Have you been asleep for 4 years? In the post Snowden era don’t you think the USG does not already have lists of Muslims, Buddhist, BDSM practitioners, **Real Madrid supporters?** > > The worlds most extensive and sophisticated surrvelliance apparatus. Soon to be in Trumps hands. > [@Velocity](#): > > The US government is concerned enough to keep track of sports team supporters? Come on now. Well, to be fair, it’s not a very big list. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186/60 "2016-11-17T17:55:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Looks like some people are wasting no time on trying to get started on the last step: [url=[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/16/gop-senator-to-propose-bill-criminalizing-illegal-/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/16/gop-senator-to-propose-bill-criminalizing-illegal-/)] Maybe now would be a good time to stop smashing windows, burning things, and blocking traffic? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-we-get-from-here-to-internment-camps/772186.md?page=4)