An Orwellian Nightmare Come to Life

 As if it emerged from a grotesque Orwellian fever dream, Trump’s Board of Peace has gathered representatives from some of the most brutal authoritarian regimes around the world. To think that an equitable or peaceful future for Gaza and/or the Palestinian people writ large could be achieved by the current occupant of the White House and his fellow morally challenged allies from the likes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, Turkey, Hungary, Indonesia, or Belarus is to stretch the limits of credibility. This is especially underscored by the fact that no traditional western ally has been included in, or agreed to be a party to, this group save the presence of Sigrid Kaag from the Netherlands. 

Consideration of Trump as a leading advocate for peace is especially ironic in the wake of recent instances of the wonton murder of sailors in the Caribbean, the illegal US invasion of the sovereign country of Venezuela, the unjustified murder of American citizens by ICE agents inside the our own boarders, and the massive assemblage of US warships in the waters just outside Iran, which is another sovereign nation with whom we are not at war that now finds itself directly in the crosshairs of the American military. These are violations of domestic and international law; crimes for which the perpetrator should and must be held accountable. Instead, he seeks to be recognized as a man of peace and reconciliation on the world stage. Somewhere, Orwell is lowering his head after observing the current enactment of his dark vision.

A Call for Responsible Policing

In the aftermath of the ruinous Trump regime, the restoration of the rule of law must feature an emphasis on conscientious, compassionate, and professional law enforcement in contrast to the blatant thuggery so shamefully put on display recently by ICE agents throughout our country. Their actions are an insult to the thousands of dedicated law enforcement officers who continue to act in the public interest by honorably providing essential police services on behalf of the people to whom they must be accountable. In the just, post-fascist society that we rightly deserve, these guardians of civil order, in contrast to the murderous actions of Trump’s Brown Shirts, must be faithful to their constitutional mandate to serve, protect, and be answerable to their fellow citizen-employers. 

A Simple Question of Accountability

 A lingering question for the  DOJ: why are not the persons responsible for the murders of Renee Good,  Alex Pretti, and the 150 boat operators slaughtered on the high seas either currently in custody or actively being prosecuted?

In Defense of Democracy Against Its Existential Threat

In a democratic environment, an opponent with whom one might disagree is your adversary; not your enemy. In the current authoritarian climate, we are being told to regard our fellow citizen as a mortal threat. In Trump’s fever-dreamed version of fascistic fatalism, this notion is applied more broadly to designate certain sovereign states as enemy territories subject to invasion by a federalized militia acting on behalf of a single leader’s delusional conception of the national political landscape. This is done at the expense of otherwise free-thinking citizens suddenly caught in the crosshairs of a militarized and thoroughly unaccountable governmental force. These are the ingredients for nationwide civil unrest as Americans are turned against each other by the sinister manipulations of a regime dedicated to the maintenance and expansion of a perennial autocracy acting on behalf of narrow corporate interests while democratic values and institutions are summarily discarded into the dustbin of history. We cannot allow this dark vision of our future to prevail! Now is the moment to stand tall against these destructive elements and reassert our full faith, confidence, and collective will in the pursuit of freedom over oppression. Rise, resist, and reclaim our national identity as an open, inclusive, tolerant, multicultural, just, and forwardly directional people. 

A Distinction Without a Difference

 Replacing Greg Bovino with Tom Holman is analogous to removing Hermann Goring in favor of Heinrich Himmler.

Of and By the People

 Let’s take a moment to celebrate the courageous spirit of the citizens of Minneapolis as they respond to the murderous tactics of Trump’s SS with steadfast expressions of determined collective resistance.

A Call to Action

When a country no longer recognizes the legitimacy of domestic or international law, enacts lethal violence upon its citizens with impunity, kidnaps, jails and detains individuals without the benefit of due process, and otherwise devalues human life altogether it forfeits its claim as a functioning democracy. 

We are witnessing the dissolution of our civil society and rapidly replacing it with a repressive authoritarian government led by a madmen and enabled by his cadre of spineless enablers. It is our patriotic duty/mandate to vigorously resist this regime by whatever means available. Rise up and defy!!