I don't know about you, but I can't sleep at night

Billionaire investor looking to make a difference by investing in local journalism

Please consider supporting The Front Page with a paid subscription: HERE

I woke up early.

It was before 5 a.m.

It happens sometimes when something bothers me, when there is an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach.

Perhaps, it was too much late-night political coverage.

Too much discussion about Donald Trump saying it was the "enemy within" that was the danger and not the enemy overseas.

About the millions of people Trump said were a danger because of their criticism and wrong political affiliation.

Then he mentioned Rep. Adam Schiff and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - both prominent Democrats - and we were reminded how he attempted to prosecute many of his political enemies - Hillary Clinton, James Comey - only to be thwarted by his own Justice Department because there was no evidence of crimes.

But Trump proposed it again this week with virtually no pushback from Republican colleagues.

"I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen," Trump said this week.

It comes after repeatedly proposing concentration camps to deport millions of immigrants.

Not illegal immigrants, immigrants.

It is chilling and it is a wonder any of us sleeps anymore.

So there I was before daybreak back at Dachau, remembering what I saw there, but more importantly remembering the story of how it happened.

The visit was five years ago. I chronicled it in a Post-Star column called "It should always be raining in Dachau." It's reprinted in my first book The Last American Editor because it is a valuable history lesson. But more importantly, two weeks before a presidential election half of us believe Donald Trump will be "better" for the economy.

It appears half of us value our bank accounts more than our freedoms, because here is what those folks need to know.

Adolph Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in early 1933 and four weeks later the German parliament - the Reichstag - was set on fire. The Nazis insisted the fire was part of a plot by communist agitators against the German government. At the urging of Hitler, the "Reichstag Fire Decree" was instituted. It eliminated key civil liberties of German citizens and made it legal to imprison anyone considered to be opponents of the Nazi Party - the enemy within - and suppress publication of any criticism of the Nazis.

It is exactly what Donald Trump has been proposing.

Which brings us back to Dachau.

One month after the Reichstag fire, Dachau was opened at a former munitions factory by Heinrich Himmler to house political prisoners, communists and anyone opposed to the Nazi rule while also acting as a training center for Hitler's private security force called the SS.

One month after opening, a number of suspicious deaths were reported at the camp and investigated by a young lawyer from the Bavarian Justice Ministry named Josef Hartinger and a part-time medical examiner, Mortiz Flamm. They found inconsistencies between the injuries and the guard's accounts. Their investigation led to clear evidence of murder and they sought to indict the SS commandant, the camp doctor and the camp's chief administrator.

In June, Hartinger presented the case to the Bavarian State Prosecutor, but as the SS gained more power, the prosecutor was reluctant to prosecute the case.

Hartinger reduced the charges to the four cases with the most overwhelming evidence and the regional prosecutor finally signed off after notifying Himmler, the SS commander.

The SS commandant was replaced by another commandant and the  deaths abruptly stopped.

But the case never prosecuted.

No one was ever punished for the murders.

Ovens were built instead.

Hartinger and the regional prosecutor were transferred to provincial positions and Flamm, the medical examiner, lost his job. He later survived two attempts on his life before dying under suspicious circumstances.

After the war, Flamm's meticulous documentation of the deaths at Dachau was discovered in a locked desk drawer by the U.S. Army and used at the Nuremberg trials to convict senior Nazi officials.

The camp was liberated by the allies on April 29, 1945. It is estimated that more than 25,000 were murdered there.

Those murdered were "the enemy within."

In 1984, Hartinger wrote two extensive letters chronicling the Dachau investigations and failed indictments of 1933-1934. He died six months later. He was 91.

It all happened in Germany when there was rule of law.

Where some good people tried to stop it.

The "enemy within" are your friends and neighbors right now with a lawn sign supporting Donald Trump and Elise Stefanik.

I have not heard Rep. Elise Stefanik denounced this rhetoric.

I have not heard or denounce prosecuting "the enemy within" either.

I have not heard Dan Stec or Matt Simpson denounce it.

I have not heard any local Republican official speak publicly about the future of the country.

This spring a reader sent me a copy of Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel "It can't happen here."

It scared the hell out of me.

When I finished reading, I had so much to say about America's descent into authoritarian rule, that I wrote about it two parts.

And here we are two weeks from the election and half of us are OK with losing our freedoms.

So you wake up in the middle of the night and wonder.

This past week Trump said free speech should only be granted to people he likes.

Go ahead, try to sleep now.

I know I can't.

---

Hope in journalism?

There was good news and bad news about the state of local journalism this week.

The third annual State of Local News Report was released and showed things got worse for newspapers.

Fewer than 5,600 print newspapers remain and 80 percent of them are weeklies. Since 2005, 3,200 print newspapers have disappeared.

But there was some good news.

The New York Times reported that billionaire investor David Hoffmann has bought up nearly 5 percent of Lee Enterprises stock and recently purchased the Napa Valley Register and other newspapers from Lee in hopes of making them better.

Lee Enterprises has owned The Post-Star since 2002. Hoffmann, who said local newsapers are "a key part of the American fabric" wants to purchase a controlling interest in Lee.

“These local newspapers are really important to these communities,” Hoffmann said. “With the digital age and technology, it’s changing rapidly. But I think there’s room for both, and we’d like to be a part of that.”

Lee Enterprises is still nearly $500 million in debt after buying the Pulitzer newspaper chain years ago and lost approximately $3.7 million last quarter.

Hoffmann now owns 12 newspapers that are run by J. Pason Gaddis.

“You put journalists back into City Council meetings, you put journalists back out at sports games for the local communities,” Gaddis told the New York Times. “You have local management again in these newspapers, which has all been stripped out.”

As someone who worked in newspapers for over 40 years, it has been a long time since I've heard anything so encouraging.

---

The fall colors have been just vibrant this past week.

Changing seasons

My own observations about this beautiful late fall is that I don't ever recall mowing my lawn this late in the season. I did it on Tuesday this week.

While Columbus Day weekend used to be the standard for peak viewing of foliage, it seemed to me it was this past weekend here in the Glens Falls region.

I also noticed that my two tomato plants continue to thrive and no frost to speak of at my house in Queensbury, although I see there is a possibility in the coming days.

---

Proposition 1

The latest Siena College polling reveals that 69 percent of voters surveyed said they supported the attempt to confirm protections in the state constitution while just 22 percent opposed it.

The nonpartisan New York City Bar Association also reminded voters that the claims that Proposition 1 would undermine parents rights and allow transgender kids to participate in girls sports - by Republicans of course - are not true.

Queensbury councilman Tim McNulty, who was one of three Town of Queensbury Republicans to vote against a resolution to support Proposition 1, followed up with a letter to the editor in The Post-Star where he asserted  his opposition to  Proposition 1. What was interesting is that McNulty said the proposition was unnecessary because all those rights are already protected. He also left out any concerns about girls sports or parental rights being affected.

---

Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.