Sometimes interesting and unusual ideas come to me just after I wake up and am still dozing. Yesterday I woke up just after 5 A.M. with a searing image of last month’s mid-air collision burned into my brain. It was accompanied by the simple, horrifying phrase “the death of lightness and grace.”
The awesome, potent implications of this image and phrase washed over me. Most of those killed were figure skaters — whose entire purpose was to create and share graceful beauty — and their families.
All around the world, everyone is aghast at this ‘senseless tragedy,’ and there’s no doubt: it was horrific. And senseless. And the human pain and tragedy of all those lives suddenly lost — including the military personnel — and families shattered forever are deeply heartbreaking.
The personal human tragedies are intense and palpable. Yet… there’s also a whole other level to this tragedy.
A different ‘take’ on this tragic disaster
On the level of symbolism and the national zeitgeist, this bizarre air collision and tragedy make perfect, awful sense. Here we had a large group of figure skaters and figure skating champions — athletes known for their lightness, grace, and beauty — literally destroyed by an errant military helicopter, embodying the ominous antithesis of lightness and grace.
To be clear, any ‘interpretation’ of this disaster and its meaning that I offer in no way diminishes its horrific impact. In fact, the deeply symbolic nature of this event makes it even more horrific and disastrous.
If we consider what is happening right now in the U.S., we see a grim, humorless, and oppressive regime rapidly gaining power and enacting its bullying, unforgiving agenda. Say what you will about Trump and MAGA, they for sure are not known for their joy, lightness, and compassion.
Mr. Trump and his devoted MAGA supporters often come across as angry, racist, and vengeful — yet these are the exact folks many Americans chose to lead and guide our nation.
Big mistake. Huge.
A heavy, oppressive ‘blitzkrieg’ assault
Trump and his team initiated a lightning ‘blitzkrieg’ assault on America’s democratic institutions on the day of his inauguration, and their assault hasn’t let up since.
Following the dark ‘script’ embodied in the now-notorious Project 2025, Trump and his most rabid supporters have trampled over human rights, democratic ideals and processes, and several actual laws as well (such as the law requiring Trump to give Congress a full 30-day notice before firing any Inspectors General, and also detailing any legitimate reason(s) for the firings. Trump did neither.)
Trump regained power largely based on his promises to lower food prices and deport all ‘illegals’ — over 11,000,000 of them. The sweeping racism and heartlessness of this second promise came into clear view when the Trump team’s definition of ‘criminal’ recently expanded to include anyone who is here illegally.
Initially, Trump and his border czar Tom Homan said they would go after illegals with criminal records first — and only after they were all found and deported would the focus shift to non-criminals. But then, within just a few days, Mr. Homan was interviewed and ‘clarified’ (wrongly, it turns out) that ALL illegal immigrants are criminals since they broke the law to enter the U.S.
Now ALL illegal immigrants are horrible criminals?
See what they did here? They conflated — quite purposely, I’m sure — known bad actors with actual criminal records with any and ALL illegal immigrants! This kind of twisted ‘logic’ shows up frequently in Trump’s and MAGA’s worldview — and now they are busy imposing that worldview and that devious hatefulness on the entire Nation.
Make no mistake, lumping ALL illegals in with vicious or known criminals is simply wrong. It’s wrong factually — many are gainfully employed and pay taxes! — it’s wrong morally, and it’s leading to wrong and devastating results.
Trump has always portrayed illegal immigrants as ‘rapists’ and ‘scum’ who endanger American citizens and flout our laws. Yet the truth is that the rate of violent crime among immigrants and illegals is far lower than the rate among Americans in general!
It’s true; several studies have confirmed this. And it makes perfect sense if we think about it: why would illegal immigrants commit crimes and draw unwanted attention to themselves… when they’re trying their best to be invisible and stay under the radar?
The real truth is: they wouldn’t, and that’s exactly why their crime rate is lower than the average crime rate among Americans. It’s unclear whether Trump and his supporters know this, but what IS clear is that even if they did, they would never admit it’s true — and always do their best to bury such ‘inconvenient truths.’
The burgeoning horrors of the incoming administration are coming into clear focus, now, and the picture is not pretty. Rather, it’s ugly and scary as hell. The Trump team’s lightning ‘blitzkrieg’ has astounded and terrified many Americans — both legal citizens and ‘illegals.’
Many of us can now sense and feel the heavy jackboots of fascism and oppression stomping over our land and stomping on minorities, LGBTQ+ folks, gay marriage, and women’s bodily autonomy and freedom. Trump’s MAGA hordes are poised to fully take over and, in the process, crush our freedoms and remaining democratic (small ‘d’) ideals.
The tyrannical Trump/Project 2025 ‘end game’ has begun, in deadly earnest.
We’re all feeling the crushing impact of ‘Trumpism’
Now… back to the symbolism of the D.C. air disaster. This disaster literally embodied the ongoing, disastrous collision between our American ideals and promises of equality, and the racist, hateful realities of American life that came to their full fruition in ‘Trumpism.’
The fact that it was an off-course military helicopter that collided with an on-course — and just about to land — airliner amplifies and darkens the symbolism. Just as our nation is way off course, the military helicopter was off course and not following its prescribed flight plan and altitude.
Our nation — the entire United States — is now horribly ‘off course’ and has deviated from the prescribed path of constitutional government and democracy. The heavy, crushing impact of Trumpian lies, hate, and bullying oppression is increasing daily — and exponentially.
The Trump regime is crushing and destroying any remaining sense of optimism and lightness about America’s future (and even our allies’ and the world’s future). It’s fast replacing any remaining goodwill, compassion, and sense of fairness with heavy-handed cruelty, racism, and hate.
An oppressive, dying America
To me, that’s what this sad, senseless air disaster symbolizes. WHAM! Lightness, beauty, and grace are all being sacrificed on the dark, bloody altar of false ‘patriotism’ and fake ‘conservatism.’
The heavy, ruthless Project 2025 ‘axe’ is falling — swiftly — on everything remotely ‘liberal,’ fair, or compassionate. And the final result will assuredly not be a stronger, better America.
No, the final result will be an eviscerated, hollowed-out, and dying America. It will be a tottering, ugly, and hate-filled ‘Zombie America.’ It will mark the (temporary?) end of lightness, beauty, and grace throughout our bitterly divided nation.
All of that is contained in the dire symbolism of this air disaster (and I sincerely wish it wasn’t). I hope we Americans get the message so this ‘senseless’ disaster wasn’t totally in vain.
“This America” — an op-ed publication
Tags are included just for the just first month of publication to help promote the new pub. Gael MacLean, Richard Lowenthal, and Charles Bastille have agreed to be editors for this publication. Our founding members are: Nick Rogers, The Mouthy Renegade Writer, Fay Wylde, Kelly Carmichael, Robert G. Longpré [he / him], Coach Robin 🫠, Jeff Eagle, John Egelkrout, John P. Weiss, Bill Abbate, Brian Lageose, Jay Squires.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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