Domestic Terrorists
“Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned.” – U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, ordering the release of a 5-year-old boy kidnapped and jailed by masked federal abductors.
Our republic is under threat from homegrown domestic terrorists whose violence is cynically calculated to make millions of Americans fearful of dissenting too loudly, assembling too regularly, and leaving the tenuous safety of their homes too blithely – acts which can lead to being “detained” (apprehended) whether or not one’s papers are in order.
Although groups as disparate as Iranian protesters and Antifa have been called “domestic terrorists” by mullahs and ideologues, the culprits currently terrorizing the United States of America are elected officials and their enabling minions: Members of Congress, Senators, and cabinet Secretaries, including TV personalities promoted from Fox News to positions of power, where they assume they’re free to disobey the Constitution without penal consequences. These folks like to use the phrase “domestic terrorists” to describe citizens exercising their constitutional rights, but anyone with eyes knows who the real villains are.
We the people are afraid. We’re terrified. We’re terrorized. By our own government. On purpose. 
It’s not only so-called “illegals” who presently live in fear. It’s people like my wife, who happens to be a United States citizen and an immigrant with brown skin. She carries a copy of her passport with her at all times should she be forced by masked kidnappers to legitimize her presence in our exalted homeland. The standard assurance from her terrorists is that if she’s broken no laws she’s got nothing to worry about. But that’s a lie, like so much of what comes out of the White House. We’ve seen enough chilling evidence, including murders by federal thugs, to know that being a law-abiding resident of this land of the free is no guarantee that poorly trained, heavily armed bullies won’t abuse their authority, emboldened by the ridiculous contention that they’re “protecting” America and “making it safe.” You know, by rounding up street vendors and gardeners. And children.
Our domestic terrorists cause massive harm, some of it ephemeral, some of it lasting, and most of it easily measured – such as families and livelihoods destroyed.
On the ever-growing list of people and institutions President Great has harmed are several demographic tranches he’s likely never heard of, and therefore didn’t intend to hurt — at least not as harshly as those he’s consciously targeted. That includes satirists. The profession is now irrelevant. His entire existence, from rich kid to reality clown, is a satire of American Values taken to their grotesque extreme. His entire administration is a satire of Public Service. Kurt Vonnegut would not dare to joke so broadly.
To wit: A career con-man, criminal, and hush-money payer claims he’s devoted to “law and order” shortly after issuing blanket pardons for all January 6 rioters, some of whom attacked police officers.
Same guy grovels for a Nobel Peace Prize while instigating violence against residents of states who didn’t vote for him, employing a shock force originally meant to protect our borders, now dragooned into abetting the President’s vendettas.
Same guy claims he’s a proud Christian standing up for Christian values despite conducting himself like someone who’s utterly unfamiliar with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
The byproducts of his unchecked megalomania make daily fodder for entertainment outlets masquerading as news. Last week he ordered the extra-judicial killing – murder – of civilians in fishing boats. Yesterday he appended his name to the Kennedy Center. Today he “weaponized” the Justice Department to exact revenge on perceived enemies. Tomorrow . . . fill in the blank.
These behaviors, while vile and pitiful, are not unforeseen. Anyone who has trained a dog or raised a child knows the worst way to placate a tantrum is to reward it. Yet the government sycophants who coddle him like a spoiled brat and the millions of aggrieved citizens who granted him power seem to consider his outrages not very outrageous at all, merely a small price to pay for vengeance against trans-sexual athletes, undocumented immigrants, or whatever other minority group they believe has made their life miserable. One sometimes wonder if naked cruelty, meanness, and unkindness is what these voters sought, and how much of the ugliness they actually approve of. Or were they merely too myopic to see where re-election of a pathological liar and bully (i.e. weakling playing tough) would lead? In either case, few of them have admitted to shame or regret. They, like the man they’ve empowered, never apologize – a hallmark of the rare human being who doesn’t ever make a mistake.
Just as everyone who knew Jeffery Epstein was aware of his reputation for procuring girls for the rich and powerful, anyone who has met/known President Great is aware of how deeply insecure, self-loathing, and psychologically damaged he’s always been. (The clinical term is “psychopath.”) I felt it myself the two times I spent one-on-one time with him: for nearly six hours during a round of golf at one of his Florida courses, and for thirty minutes at one of his Atlantic City casino hotels. He talked mostly about how much his 727 airplane cost, and how many “rich guys” were his dear friends, and how many awards and honors and prizes his possessions had obtained. (He did not mention his multiple bankruptcies and divorces, or the numerous legal judgments lodged against him). Having attended a cocktail party and dinner at Mar-a-Lago, I can report that upon entering the main foyer visitors are greeted at the bar by a larger-than-life – like, 8-feet high – oil painting entitled “The Visionary.” It’s Donnie in tennis whites, a la Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons.
Alas, this is not an animated TV show, and it’s not funny. This administration has caused grievous harm. They’ve damaged the climate, American prestige abroad, the White House itself, and millions and millions of people who live here, making their pursuit of healthcare, education, food, a job, and peace of mind demonstrably more difficult. There will be consequences at the ballot box, and many malefactors will have to answer for their high crimes and misdemeanors. But in the meantime, right now, our republic is wounded, teetering on the brink of tipping into an authoritarian dystopia.
Some Americans suckling at the teat of Q-Anon, Fox News, Facebook, and other purveyors of anger-fueled propaganda think such a shift is necessary and righteous. The majority, though, respect and love the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and they’re heartbroken to see our most sacred principles violated in the name of Greatness.
We all wish to make America great. We’re all MAG. The contentious and dangerous word in the acronym is the “again” part. Make America Great Again implies that we’re not working incrementally toward greatness; it suggests our republic really was great at one time. We just need to recapture that moment. But when? When slavery was still legal? When women were not entitled to vote? When black and white people drank from separate (but equal) water fountains? When homosexuals were not permitted to love openly? When electing a person of color to the Presidency was unthinkable? Ask an acolyte for a specific date, a ten-year period even, of the America they wish to return to and you’ll not get a specific answer, only vague yearnings to revisit an era when The Other knew his/her/its place, and Super Bowl half-time performers didn’t have the audacity to sing in Spanish.
The so-called Culture Wars, White Replacement Theory and all the other straw men the radical right have propped up as targets for their rage are strokes of argumentative genius. By constantly insisting this is the problem with the USA, President Great has effectively deflected attention from the real problem with our society: wealth inequality.
As the rich get richer and our republic more and more resembles a corrupted oligarchy in which few have much and many have little, President Great and his ilk have engineered a massive transfer of equity to the billionaire class while assuring people who actually work for a living that their deepest grievances – COVID restrictions, foreign imports, the Clintons and Bidens, brown people – are being addressed aggressively. Instead of having painful yet salutary conversations about class, race, and sex, instead of having a robust national debate on the wasteful bloat of our military spending, instead of addressing the issues that stand in the way of America becoming truly great – we’re treated to a sideshow carnival orchestrated by a very accomplished charlatan.
Obese and unwell, he will die one day soon. So will many old, white men and their stale ideas. The cult of personality will crumble, as they all do. The domestic terrorism will eventually end. But until that eagerly awaited return to something like common decency much misery will continue to be wreaked, and the scars will take decades to heal.
In the interim, let us all aspire to behave like true Christians. Let us be kind and compassionate, forgiving and humble. Let us be accepting of our human imperfections, because we all have them, even the allegedly infallible. Let us love. Let us laugh and sing and dance and hug. Let us meet the terror in our lives with a radiant confidence that we are all God’s children, all of us.
Even undocumented immigrants.
