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In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up. Martin Niemoeller

A man was arrested on Thursday, April 30. He was charged with carrying a concealed unregistered handgun and possession of firebombs. He posted bail, and was back out on the streets the next day. Patrolling, in his National Guard uniform. His unit had been called up to protect the city from arsonists, looters and rioters.

A black store owner watches, helplessly, as his store is ransacked and looted. The looters are black. One of them was his own employee.

Children return to school in the aftermath of the rioting. They are wearing brand new clothes and sneakers, carrying brand new lunch boxes. They brag about their looting. They are neither questioned nor reprimanded. They got away with it.

A young man is arrested for possession of an unregistered firearm and underage possession of alcoholic beverages. He is released to the custody of his parents. Six months later, he is once again in a police car. Patrolling. In uniform. There is a half pint of Yukon Jack in the glove compartment. He is wearing a gun strapped to his waist. It is almost the end of his shift, and the bottle is almost empty. If he arrests a drug dealer before this month ends he will get a promotion.

I can only watch, helplessly, as bankers and junk bondsmen ransack and loot my country. I can do nothing. The people I have elected to political office can do nothing, they say, but loot and ransack my paycheck to pay for a mess many of them have profited from. They seem to forget that they are my employees.

Many will return to office in the aftermath of this looting. They will be wearing brand new clothes and driving brand new cars and they cannot be given so much as a parking ticket. I imagine that they meet in cloakrooms and mens' clubs to brag and congratulate themselves. They are neither questioned nor reprimanded. They got away with it.

The Los Angeles police chief, famous for his quick-acting SWAT teams, does not respond until white neighborhoods start burning. He cannot be reached. He is busy lobbying. Against police reform.

The President of the United States tours Los Angeles, cloaked in pomp and security, to deliver some brief homilies at a town meeting. Eight days after the riots. He declines to meet with the representative from stricken South Central. The message is clear: our President is a busy man. He has better things to do.

Rodney King appears on television, nervous, restless, on the verge of tears. He makes a brief plea for sanity. His words allay the violence. The young black felon succeeds where our rich white president can not.

I cannot help but wonder: If the power brokers of Washington continue to act like the power brokers in Los Angeles, how long can it be until Washington burns? And who will be left to plead for sanity?

Daryl Gates is gone. George Bush is gone, and I'm proud to say that I worked for his defeat. I offered my professional services to the Clinton campaign. I leafletted. I called registered Democrats. I walked the streets, I knocked on doors, I distributed literature and- when the day came- I voted. But, in spite of all my activity, I did not vote for Bill Clinton.

I voted against George Bush. I pulled the lever for Clinton simply because I believed that every vote not for Bill Clinton was a vote for George Bush.

But please don't believe that your electoral landslide was an automatic mandate, Mr. Clinton. You've renewed my hope, and in return, I'll give you my confidence; I'll give you a chance. But you have made promises and you will be held to them. Do I believe that you have all the information necessary to fulfill those promises? Of course not; you will be shocked at what you did not know when you assume your new position in January. There are stands that you will be forced to modify. I understand, and will give you leeway.

But if you believe that this election was about little but the economy you are both very wrong and missing a very important point. It was also about justice, tolerance, fair play and compassion. Your election was a temporary and resounding rejection of institutionalized bigotry, intolerance and neglect.

Please hear me, Mr. Clinton: you are running out of time. The fires are out in Los Angeles, but the pilot light is still burning in the hearts of poor Americans. There are more of them than there were last week, and there are more layoffs coming tomorrow. You promised us jobs and we put you in office.

I'm not impatient. I have a job and it looks secure. I'm not violent. I won't initiate violence and I will not participate in it. But I'm not blind, either. I see the writing on the wall and it says that you have less time than you think. The people of Eastern Europe are tearing each other apart and they have had so little for so long that they have little left to lose. A lot of Americans are starting to feel that way too. How long will we be immune to troubles that much of the rest of the world is experiencing? There is violence at your doorstep, but the beast that threatens you does not come from the Middle East or Europe. It comes from the other side of the door.

It comes from people who believe that there is no one left to speak up for them any more. From people who have learned that the President is a busy man, with better things to do. From people who have seen Los Angeles, who have not forgotten, and who have very little left to lose. From people who have been listening, and learning: from Daryl Gates, Martin Niemoeller and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

In 1972, Mr. Vonnegut attended the Republican National Convention in Miami, and wrote an article entitled In a Manner That Must Shame God Himself. He said:

The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers.... The single religion of the Winners is a harsh interpretation of Darwinism, which argues that it is the will of the universe that only the fittest should survive. The Winners are rehearsing for Things to Come. You know in your heart what every Winner knows: that one must behave heartlessly towards Losers, if one hopes to survive. I guarantee you that was the monolithic belief that underlay the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1972. All the rest was hokum.

Things have not changed much in twenty years.

I'll give it to you straight, Mr. Clinton: We are becoming a nation of nothing but winners and losers. People are starting to line up and choose sides. The winners are becoming contemptuous, and the losers are getting mighty pissed off.

You have less time than you think. There is a beast at your door and it does threaten you. From the inside.