I DIDN’T CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY THIS YEAR – IT JUST RANG HOLLOW
I saw the parades and all the flags, and though we are trying to take back that symbol, it reminded me of MAGA, Selfish and Hateful. I heard beautiful renditions of the song America, and “Crown thy good with Brotherhood” just fell flat. I reread the Declaration of Independence for the first time since High School (Yes, we had Civics in the Curriculum back then), and I realized that of the 27 grievances the Colonists listed as reasons for declaring their independence from England, almost all of them are again being violated just as grievously right now, but by the Trump administration.
Judge Michael Luddig, a very conservative but well-respected Judge, authored an article for Telos detailing the current state of our nation relative to our Declaration of Independence. It is well worth the read.
The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny, by Michael Luttig,
On the day that we are supposed to celebrate our nation declaring our independence from tyranny, our Tyrant in Chief gleefully signs the Big Bad Betrayal Bill, destroying most of what was left of our Democracy. And what he didn’t get as law, he just does anyway and dares the courts to stop him.
One of the scariest provisions of this Betrayal Bill is that it turns ICE into an internal police force larger than most nations' militaries. Imagine if Trump invited the Russian Army into the United States to capture and remove anyone he didn’t like, ethnic groups or political enemies. That would be traitorous. Instead, he is building his own private police force, virtually unaccountable to anyone other than him, to carry out his purges. The question is: will it be more like the Schutzstaffel (SS, originally Hitler’s private guard, later the Nazi’s Elite Guard and Security forces), or more like the Gestapo, the Secret Police operating against his own people. My guess is that the new ICE will incorporate the worst characteristics of both, and with modern technology to make it even easier to find us dissidents. ICE has already backdoored into License Plate readers in Colorado to track “Illegals” for arrest. While there are some legitimate uses such as carjacks, kidnapping, and tracking violent criminals after say a bank robbery, Denver is not continuing their contract and shutting off their cameras due to the abuses already committed by ICE. The abuse is worse than the benefit.
How did we get here? Psychiatrist Dr. Bandy X Lee has been sounding the warning for a Decade. Malignant Narcissism is so named because it is “Malignant”, it is contagious and spreads though a society unless the tumor is removed. Also, I recently read a book “Surrounded by Psychopaths” which had some good insights. We all have some degree of psychopathic tendencies (selfish, manipulative), but the difference is in how much and how well we keep it under control. A person with only minor intermittent psychopathic tendencies who is surrounded by a society whose norms keep them in check, can function quite well. The author ranks people on a scale of 20 questions and whether they exhibit those tendencies sometimes (1 point) or 2 points for almost always. My non-professional evaluation gave Donald Trump a score of 39 out of 40. He only got one point for “Violated Parol”, because while not parole he has violated Judges orders.
Psychiatrist say Malignant Narcissist do not get better, nor do serious psychopaths. If they are placed in a healthy family or work environment, they do not adopt healthy habits and get better, instead the family or social group always gets sicker. The only recommended treatment is to separate them from society and positions of authority or power. Thank you Ronald Regan for closing the mental hospitals.
Thom Hartmann had a good article this week on how we were progressively on our way towards a predominantly WE society, one that sees the good in all, works to promote the common good and general welfare. A society that understands that what we do to the least among us, we do unto ourselves. The Bad Betrayal Bill has codified a ME society, filled with hate, racism, and selfishness. He alone has set our nation back almost a century. I for one am “Not Going Back”.
I’ve traveled the world as an international pilot, been to 6 of the 7 continents, and had my life greatly enriched by the opportunity to interact with many different cultures around the world. One of our nation’s greatest strengths is our widely diverse cultural heritage, and it is to our detriment if we allow Steven Miller to turn our nation into a Monoculture. Monoculture does not work well in farming, and it doesn’t work well in nations. Everywhere I’ve gone in the world, People are People, they all want the same basic things, food, shelter, adequate medical care, clothing, education, and to leave a better life and better world for their kids than the one they inherited. It matters not their race, religion, gender or orientation, or even their country or planet of origin, People are People, it is mostly the governments that muck things up.
How can we as citizens be friends with even our adjacent neighbors to the north and south? It is like neighbor kids trying to be friends when their parents are fighting with each other over something stupid. It will be harder, but we need to form citizen outreach groups like the ones that were forming bonds between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Unfortunately, governments mucked that one up, but we must keep trying or we allow governments to pull us down into dystopia. Take a stand, and don’t let them drag you backwards into hate and selfishness.
There are a few things we can do right now. People keep talking about the Mid-Terms saving us. Don’t know if we have that much time, we could be pretty well subjugated by then. I did some research, and most states allow recall elections, though the law for recalling Federal officials (US Senators and Congresscritters) are rather ill defined and not tested, I think it is time to test them. If your Rep sold out the country (Lisa Murkowski, I’m looking at you, you alone could have saved us), I suggest you research your state’s laws, offer them the chance to resign, then start a recall if they don’t. I understand the Mango Mussolini is a wanna-be mafia boss, and probably every Republican received threats against them and their families but look where past capitulations to his mob rule have gotten us. You were hired to represent we the people against threats both foreign and domestic, and you have folded. Now We the People must do YOUR job for you.
July 17th is the 5th anniversary of John Lewis’ passing and has been called as a national day of peaceful “Good Trouble” protests. Historians tell us that a nation needs 3.5% of its population in the streets peacefully protesting in order to overthrow a tyrant. The US population is currently estimated at 347,275,807 people. 3.5% of that is 12,154,654 people. I know it is a weekday, but let’s recruit your neighbors, your kids (it’s their future) your spouse, the local Drag Queen story hour people, the LGBTQ+, and every ethnic group you can find, and shoot for 20 million people in the streets on July 17th. Make it as diverse a show of strength and solidarity as possible and make it absolutely undeniable that this tyranny will NOT Stand!
We can CELEBRATE Independence Day next year!
