A Considered Warning

In the wake of the backlash to the arbitrary, ill-advised and, more importantly, ill-conceived Trumpian edict regarding the blanket immigration prohibition currently in effect (albeit contested), a note of additional warning is now appropriate and necessary.

Trump's recent executive orders have seriously decreased what was already sagging approval ratings and despite his apparent disregard for public or journalistic affirmation, the 'success' of his reign will depend on the extent to which his message and promise of a fear-induced agenda sufficiently resonates with the majority of people in this country. The lack of consensus among the population for his policies and declarations is similar to the general attitude to the newly installed government of Bush/Chaney in the days before the terrorist-induced tragedy of 9/11. After the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, the nation was galvanized in response to an existential threat and seized with a collective sense of fear which yielded acquiescence to repressive measures and policies which impinged upon fundamental constitutional rights through the enactment of the Pariot Act, the widespread implementation of mass surveillance, and a systematic disregard for human rights heretofore protected by international law. This forfeiture of power, especially to the executive branch of government, eventually resulted in the disastrous debacle in Iraq which all but squandered the goodwill of the international community so much in evidence in aftermath of the 2001 attack.

The current regime is exercising similar executive authority the perceived legitimacy and popular support of which will be needed to continue to operate with any credible mandate from the populace. As in the case of the last Republican regime, this mandate will likely be secured by the occurrence of a fear-inducing event used (if not designed and intended) to coalesce a national sentiment otherwise indifferent or outwardly hostile to the ruling government. False flag operations and the use of provocateurs to influence events and change opinion have a long history of targeted usage internationally and here at home. Given Trump's growing unpopularity, his penchant for authoritarian over-reach and a conspicuous lack of moral discretion, the assertion of this tactic should be neither unexpected nor unanticipated as a very real possibility in the not too distant future.

My last admonition in the immediate aftermath of Trump's ascension to power was: 'people get ready'; it has now become 'people be ready'. As a new form of darkness readies itself, the resolve of the American people to preserve and protect its precious freedoms is bound to be tested in ways suggested here and in ways only now dimly imagined.