SNIP>
>Whatever the short term outcome, I think this will be viewed as a shameful chapter in our nation's history. The current political climate reminds me uncomfortably of Germany circa 1935. "Deport them", "secure our borders", etc. -- these are code phrases that exhibit the darker side of the American dream.

Let me suggest another possible parallel with Germany circa 1939...

A big part of Hitler's re-vitalizing the economy was the military. He hired lots of soldiers and build lots of equipment/munitions.
There came a time when all those soldiers no longer had much useful to do, and little room left to store all the manufactured equipment. What's a fella to do?

The U.S., as the only remaining super-power, had a big military and gobs of fancy new (largely untested in battle) equipment/munitions. The NEO-CONS saw the "opportunity" but it went nowhere until 9/11. At 9/11 they resurrected their "plan" (the only 'plan' with any "work" behind it) and an aggressive nation was "policied" into being.