A number of Democratic officials and political commentators have taken to calling ICE out as Trump’s Gestapo. Even Joe Rogan, not exactly a bleeding-heart liberal, did so the other day. And there are some superficial similarities (see here, for example). But I think it’s a mistake.
Hitler’s Gestapo was staffed by coldly efficient, highly selected, and highly trained men. Yes, they were sadists (it was practically a job requirement), but they were disciplined sadists. They carefully selected their targets and moved in on them with a calculated efficiency that was designed to terrorize the general population while not impeding the functioning of society at large. In other words, if you were the right race and religion, and if you kept your head down and said the right words, you were probably safe.
Not so with ICE. They are poorly trained, loosely selected (Anti-Trump journalist claims ICE offered her a job after six-minute interview and ‘sloppy’ vetting), lack any semblance of discipline, pick their targets at random and go after them with far more force than needed, even to the point of interfering with each other. Even the most rabid Trump MAGAie is not safe from them if they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. ICE isn’t just disrupting Trump’s intended targets (immigrants and any who questions him); it is making our entire society non-functional.
Now, I have little doubt that this is Trump’s intention. He thrives on chaos, he feeds on random terror, he has no thought for the long-term (or even short-term) consequences. He staffed ICE with the Proud Boys and the J6ers because they think like him. He is both incompetent and impatient, and being also a sociopathic narcissist, wants only to be surrounded by impatient incompetents.
(This is also not something Hitler did. He elevated mediocre men (and some women) beyond their merits, but he did not accept incompetence. Adolf Eichmann was mediocre but — unfortunately — he was far from incompetent.)
By selectively applying terror, the Gestapo succeeded in making all Germans submit to their rule. By randomly applying terror, ICE has succeeded in stirring up the people, even the likes of Joe Rogan. More Americans Now Want ICE Abolished—A Stark Change Since Trump Took Office is a headline you would never have seen in Hitler’s Germany — and it was published in Forbes, that capitalist tool. We need to keep this in mind, as it is one of Trump’s weaknesses that we can use against him.
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In response to various comments: I think the comparison to 1930’s Germany is a very valid one. My problem with using “Gestapo” is that the Gestapo successfully created a terrifying image of themselves as invincible, unstoppable, and all-powerful. Resistance, as Star Trek would say, was futile. That’s what comes to mind when I hear “Gestapo.”
ICE is nowhere near that, and we cannot surrender to them in advance. Call them Brownshirts, call them KuKluxKlan or KuKlutzKant, call them Trump’s Gazpacho. Make them ridiculous, not terrifying.
