“And think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don’t forget to say grace”[1]
When I turn on the news, the darkness flows in, unfiltered, and raw.
President Trump has rocketed past regime change right into occupation, and empire.
Delta Force personnel, supported by “more than 150 aircraft launched from 20 bases around the Western Hemisphere, including F-35 and F-22 jets, and B-1 bombers”[2] took Maduro and his wife into custody and transported them to New York to face trial.
Most of the charges involve trafficking in narcotics, but the after operation glow coming from White House has been dripping with the promise of oil revenue.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has recently taken to dismissing the Cuban government as being feeble and incompetent, dancing on the edge of irrelevance. Trump speaks, dreamily, or liberating Mexico from the cartels he claims are in control. Echoing through all of the rhetoric and accusation, is the noble sentiment that one day they’ll be able to govern themselves. We just need to nurse them back to nationhood.
President Trump hasn’t given up on his dream to liberate Greenland from the awful Chinese and Russian fleets that have encircled the island. He talks about bringing them into the warm embrace of American domination.
It’s easy to imagine a team of designers trying to find the best place for the fifty-first star on the American flag to represent the newest state, Canada. There are probably heated conversations about the best way to add a gold lamé to suggest a touch of royalty.
We are now one fourth of the way to Kent State and things are just beginning. That particular tragedy, so long ago, shocked the nation, brought outrage and fury to the nation. Our newest round of state sponsored executions seems to have been brushed aside by administration officials. Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, donned an absurdly large cowboy hat and offered a monotone, uncaring defense of the ICE agent. Vice President Vance echoed the drone. It was unsurprising, at the very least.
Trump said the woman was at fault, somethings never change. Blame the victim. Trump, during an interview in the Oval Office, asked an aide to play the video and claimed the woman “ran over” the agent. When pressed on this claim, after the video was finished, Trump blamed former President Biden. There is an echo of madness in the words coming from the administration. When people won’t admit to mistakes what chance do we have of them ever correcting the error.
Portland saw two people shot, during a routine stop. There are accusations of “weaponizing” vehicles, by “radical leftist domestic terrorists.” In the old saying, the “proof is in the pudding, and the only proof offered is the unsubstantiated accusations leveled by high ranking cabinet members. Our country churns under the weight of potential disaster.
Are we safer from drugs, no, as long as there is a demand someone will find a way to offer a supply. Most of the people swept up in these anonymous raids are simple people just trying to find a way to provide for their family in the land of opportunity. Hate and violence have become instruments of policy. Instead of international security the constant threats of armed might have not given us any sense of peace, or security. In national capitals around the world leaders are discussing the best way to counter the newest threat to international security.
Every day things get worse, there is no hope for peace, or prosperity. Instead there is chaos and fear, a constant sense of dread. What comes next, I’m not sure I want to know.
“America where are you now?
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters?
Don’t you know we need you now
We can’t fight alone against the monster.”[3]
[1] Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire
[2] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/mock-house-cia-source-special-forces-us-operation-capture-maduro-2026-01-03/
[3] Monster, Steppenwolf.
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Chad Davis. on Flickr Under CC License
Large vigil for Renee Good in South Minneapolis. Good, who was observing ICE actions, was killed by an ICE agent earlier in the day.
