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What if it's not about immigration? Not about borders. Or citizenship. Not crime. Or culture.
It certainly doesn't feel that way.
What if it's really about creating a faceless para-military force that follows no law, and is accountable to no one, except one man. Maybe it's about building remote internment camps that exist outside of the law, where anything can happen and does.
What if immigration enforcement is the dry run? To see what the public will accept. And despite a low level hum of outcry, America seems like it will accept a lot. Will tolerate this state of affairs. Allowing people — immigrants now, supposedly, but who knows who later? — to be plucked off the street, for no particular reason, by masked agents of the government, and delivered to an unknown fate. Disappeared. No record of who they were or where they went.
It certainly doesn't feel that way.
What if it's really about creating a faceless para-military force that follows no law, and is accountable to no one, except one man. Maybe it's about building remote internment camps that exist outside of the law, where anything can happen and does.
What if immigration enforcement is the dry run? To see what the public will accept. And despite a low level hum of outcry, America seems like it will accept a lot. Will tolerate this state of affairs. Allowing people — immigrants now, supposedly, but who knows who later? — to be plucked off the street, for no particular reason, by masked agents of the government, and delivered to an unknown fate. Disappeared. No record of who they were or where they went.
What if it's about putting the United States military into American streets and cities, ready to quell the unrest sure to be sparked by undemocratic and illegal policies? Waiting for the next imaginary "emergency" to be declared, where temporary emergency measures can be put in place, laws and rights further suspended, only to become permanent realities.
That feels ... I almost said "right," though it is not right. Not at all. But wrong. Very wrong.
What I mean is that feels ... like a more accurate assessment of what is going on right now, right before or eyes. Or, more precisely, right behind our backs. History will wonder how Americans allowed it. That's what history always wonders. Why didn't we do more to stop it, while we still could? Why didn't we see it coming? The age old question.
That feels ... I almost said "right," though it is not right. Not at all. But wrong. Very wrong.
What I mean is that feels ... like a more accurate assessment of what is going on right now, right before or eyes. Or, more precisely, right behind our backs. History will wonder how Americans allowed it. That's what history always wonders. Why didn't we do more to stop it, while we still could? Why didn't we see it coming? The age old question.
Maybe because seeing what's coming is so terrifying. It's easier to pretend it's not happening. Even though it clearly is.
what if you've lost your motherfucking mind? take a breath. look out the window. any jackbooted thugs? take a break from what you're buying. put down your phone. turn off the computer. take a gummy. things aren't that bad.
ReplyDeleteGosh Bill, you're right. If the bad thing isn't happening right now, that means it'll never happen at all. No need to look at a growing evil and see where it leads. You've really set my mind at ease. Thanks for your valuable input. Though if you want my advice, keep your homeowner's insurance, even if your house is not actually on fire. at the moment.
DeleteBill, might i suggest you read a wonderful piece by Pastor Martin Niemöller.
Deletehttps://hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/
Hopefully you will see before it's too late.
I live in NW Washington DC. There ARE jackbooted thugs outside my window. They're on 14th and W. In Dupont circle. On Wisconsin Avenue.
DeleteYup
ReplyDeleteI remain frightened as all get out.
ReplyDeleteBill seems to ignore the fact that the worst of things often start with incremental steps involving more vulnerable people and then increasing to include many more. Pastor Niemöller's words still ring true.
ReplyDeleteI do want your advice and your perspective that's why I come here every goddamn day.
ReplyDeleteI too am an older fella and I remember my grandmother sitting at home watching television and reading the newspaper in Naperville worried about what was happening in Chicago like it was happening outside of her door it wasn't it isn't and she's been dead 20 years and everything's okay I understand that you're Jewish and it's different having been the object of genocide let's just call it what it is but for the vast majority of people everything is fine I'm headed up to lake Geneva today for my son's birthday we're going to go fishing have a game of catch we've been going up there for 50 years likely to be going up there 50 more.
Let's focus on getting out the vote for the midterms and beginning to task of getting these goofs out of office we can do it we're going to do it and things will be a little bit more the way we like them and the other half of the country will be losing their goddamn minds because the lips are in charge again
No argument here. If I were convinced we'll even HAVE fair elections in 2026 I'd be less concerned. But as you can see, they're doing everything in their power to erode that. This isn't just a bad administration, this is a bad administration trying to grant itself a permanent lock on power. Hence my alarm.
DeleteSo there is Bill, almost amazingly, immediately proving your point.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully suggest that Bill, and everyone else, read today's newsletter The Warning, from Steve Schmidt. If you aren't familiar with it, now would be a good time to check it out. Or The Bulwark. Or Zeito.
ReplyDeleteBill is a Putz. By diminishing what is happening and merely offering that we should “chill” until we flip the Congress is either naive about the Project 2025 (aka Nazi playbook) or willfully trying to normalize the situation.
ReplyDeleteNo need to "name call" when someone offers a different opinion. That's the current administrations game...this is an open forum. Let people express themselves without being subjected to the name blame game.
DeleteHistory won't wonder why we didn't do anything. There won't be history in the world you describe. History is already being stolen from us. Yesterday never happened. Today is an illusion. Tomorrow? Forget about it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that world could happen. I don't think Trump is smart enough to understand what he's potentially creating, but if he inadvertently puts the puzzle together, we're all fucked.
If worrying and complaining was the solution to this situation it would already be solved so much bitching and moaning and clutching of pearls
ReplyDeleteLook at the presidencies we've had in the horrible things that they've done. All the presidents and each one of them enriches themselves through their office though most wait until they're out of office to get their millions
We will have elections the complaints about them being free and fair started with Al Gore and the hanging chads in the supreme Court intervention
We've had several elections since you might not like who gets elected but voting has not been compromised even if it has been suppressed.
Go to Stacey Abrams website she's doing a lot she's working hard you almost never hear from her or about her because she doesn't b**** she acts and we should join her and make sure that people are able to vote all people not just the ones that agree with us.
Gerrymandering has been going on forever the Republicans are better at it than the Democrats well it's time for that to change
Contact the DNC right out postcards encourage people to vote..
Run for local office work for somebody's campaign donate money do something actually do something.
Every administration does what they can to make sure that they stay in power they're just not as vocal about it.
Most of the things that Trump is doing turn out to be legal and constitutional and when they're not the courts stop it.
When we don't agree with the court decision we have to work to get a new case in front of them so that it can be overturned that's what the Republicans did with roe versus Wade nobody likes it but that's how it works in this country
I think the sweet spot lies in the middle. Far Left is too Far Left, Far Right is too Far Right. Bill Clinton managed consensus and balanced the budget by working all towards the middle.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Bill/bill and despise Dump and most Repubs. But the Mayor of DC and the cops there, haven't done enough about the homeless problem. They are given a choice of rehab but some don't want that. Then they give have to give up the drugs, etc. So I'm not crying in my soup cause a druggie got arrested. They made bad choices. Even a broken clock is right 2x a day.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more common things i've seen online in the last six months has been some form of "The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting." Most recently it's been Governor Walz, but he is not the first, nor will he be the last.
ReplyDeleteI ask you all, until i become the dissapeared, what is your red line? what are you willing to do?
Anonymous 8:17 so we shouldn't chill what should we do? What we are doing which is very little accomplishes nothing we have no power we have to work to regain at least some power and then maybe more power and then maybe all the power but it takes work complaining is not the answer fear is not the answer courage and action is the answer sadly there are no guarantees democracy is what we make of it this is democracy the people of this country voted these doofuses in now we got to vote them out
ReplyDeleteGosh, actually Bill sounds like he needs to pop one of those magic gummies. I ran out of breath just trying to read his last post; he still sounds kind of angry at his grandmother. And his theory that you're worried because you're Jewish! That should put the rest of us at ease
ReplyDeleteWhen do we start to call out ALL republicans?
ReplyDeleteAmazing that you wrote this today as it’s the 90th anniversary of Social Security. Here’s the first two paragraphs of Heather Cox Richardson’s article on its beginning:
ReplyDelete“ On August 14, 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. While he had already put in place new measures to regulate business and banking and had provided temporary work relief to combat the Depression, this law permanently changed the nature of the American government.
The Social Security Act established a federal system of old-age benefits; unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship between the government and its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net.”
Trump doesn’t seem to have the same ideas.
Bill needs to go onto the interwebs and find "A Technical State of Civil War", by Peter Hawk. It's a long read (3,400 words), but it's as chilling as prognostication I've ever read, and it scares me shitless.
ReplyDeleteHe predicts a complete disintegration of the Untied Snakes, when one side refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the other, and does not recognize election results. Somewhat like 1860, only a lot more complex this time around.
He foresees the Untied Snakes not devolving into two "nations", but a dozen. Or twenty. And that life will become like the nightmares in Syria. Or Ukraine. Or the former Yugoslavia. With Russia and China waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces,. uh-huh. And it doesn't read like a dystopian novel. It all makes total sense. And it's beginning to happen now, in the state-houses of Texas, Illinois, and California.
What Mister S. posted today was short and to the point and right on the money. Whether or not a reader still chooses to hide his head in the sand, after reading it, is totally up to them. To me, it sounded too much like Germany in 1938. That did not go well. Either for them, or for most of the rest of the world.
Have been a student of history all my life--the Civil War, the Depression years, and especially WWII. But that doesn't mean I want to experience those terrible times..and all at the same time.
OOPS...it's Robert Hawks, not peter. Sorry for the mistake.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's "Technical State of Civil War". My apologies. Have a very sick old kitty on my hands at the moment.
ReplyDeleteif I'm reading this thread correctly, Bill dislikes Trump but feels the only power citizens have is on election day. Bill plans to enjoy life in the meantime, because complaining and fear make absolutely no difference, and besides, he has the good fortune to not yet be affected by Project 2025/the first 6 months of Trump 2.0.
ReplyDeleteOthers have a problem with this stance and point to history as a guide. These folks regard what is happening right now as horrifying, at a level far beyond the racial unrest in Chicago in the 1960s, to which Bill compares our current situation.
We're not upset we lost an election, we're upset we've lost our humanity and are well on the way to losing our democracy.
I disagree with Bill because I do not feel American citizens are powerless except at election-time. We may be grains of sand in the grand scheme of things, but we can also be grains of sand in the wheels of the machinery. As citizens we must speak out against what is happening. At the same time, we must engage in self-care, whether it be a vacation in Geneva, or taking a break from the news, lest we lose our minds. But we are past the point where folks can pretend they don't see what is happening. The world sees America more clearly than Americans right now, but enough has changed or been lost in 6 months that every American is aware of the direction we are headed. Perhaps as Mr S said, it is too terrifying to acknowledge, and some would rather extend their range of tolerance for the short-term than admit it. Yet there is another group who sees the situation clearly, yet they just don't care. Perhaps they plan to ride the coat-tails of the administration so they can rule over the ashes that remain, perhaps they consider themselves too old to have to live with the long-term consequences, or perhaps they are so consumed with anger and nihilistic ideology that the destruction of US democracy is their goal. We certainly have lone shooters who fit in that latter category, and the number of nihilistic incidents is growing.
Still, I optimistically believe there are more Americans who reject fascism than otherwise.
What Jill said.
DeleteWhen the tanks roll down Cicero Avenue, it will be too late. Our last line of defense is South Park? Trump's private army of masked fat ass goons, led by gruesome Noems, just got $50 billion in funds to come after whomever? We live in dangerous times.
ReplyDelete