@RosaCtrl niemöller was not a radical and the poem makes it clear. you are absolutely correct that it's too clever for its own good. of course fascism always turns upon anyone at all who does not agree wholeheartedly with its desire to centralize power through overwhelming force. but your morality response should trigger far earlier than that. niemöller being a member of the clergy makes it sting more. the church loses its claim to morality when it can't identify fascism as such. the reverend dr. martin luther king jr. said as much in his letter from a birmingham jail