Maniacal Evil - Officially Elected To Office Poem by James B. Earley

Late 1962, living in San Francisco's Fillmore District at the time, I regularly patronized a neighborhood newsstand and sundry store owned by an elderly Jewish gentleman, Mr. Baum, along with his middle-age daughter. Visiting one day, I observed a Black man, perhaps in his late thirties behind the counter along with the two of them. A new employee, I asked of Mr. Baum, 'no not really, ' he said. This is George Bell, a merchant seaman, by trade, who during periodic sabbaticals to the City always finds time to stop in and help out, allowing my daughter and me some free time away from the business.

One afternoon, shortly thereafter, I encountered Bell seated outside the store reading a book. Curious, I inquired, 'What are you reading? ' 'Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, ' he responded. Continuing, he talked about varied aspects of Nazi Germany. I recall saying to him, 'That could never happen here.' He asked, 'What makes you think that it could never happen here? ' I went on and on with my thoughts, and finally he interrupted - 'I've sailed the world many times over, countries I've lost count, I've travelled extensively throughout the United States, and the bigoted mindsets I've found right here at home are far worse than any I found elsewhere, and that revelation suggest to me that you're fundamentally wrong. It happened in Germany energized with three simple components; an ego maniacal figure, an enraged bigoted populace, and a convergence of circumstance - evil ‘officially elected' to office.'

I was a naive 28 year old at the time, but I've long since grown to understand and, certainly during Election Cycle 2016, critically appreciate the ambient significance of Bell's astute observations.