The propagandists for the Trump administration seem be climbing farther down the rabbit hole (no shade on rabbits!) as they weave a reality based on "alternate facts." How, and why, do people do that?
In a decidedly un-American era in which “jack-booted thugs” in camo and masks are assaulting and illegally arresting people and violating the constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure in several supposedly “blue” cities across the country, you have to wonder who it is that is willing to do this to their fellow citizens and community members. What motivates the shock troops? Is it just the supposed $50K bonus they’ve been promised that causes fellow Americans to check their morals at the gate? Are they true MAGA believers who will do anything for the most corrupt president of all times? Or are they gamers who have gotten excited about taking their passion IRL and are ready to beat up those they consider bad guys? To coin a phrase, there are good people on both sides, I suppose - a few who consider the mission of removing undocumented people important for the country, but may not have bargained for being the 21st Century’s version of the Alabama State Troopers beating civil rights marchers at the Edmund Pettis Bridge in 1965. It starts at the top, with Donald Trump and his minions who have hitched their wagons to this leader who seems to be moving fast toward the gates of hell. For some, like Stephen Miller, this is a fulfillment of his deeply dystopian view of the world, where he revels in the cruelty inflicted on people at his direction. For others, like Elon Musk, it has been about advancing his own fortunes by destroying much of the federal government. Russell Vought telegraphed his plan early with Project 2025 and is ruthlessly carrying it as far as he can. Pledge your support Watching cabinet meetings is a cringeworthy event, where people who previously had led companies, been elected officials and were otherwise notable leaders, have been turned into the political equivalent of the Stepford wives. As Trump descends increasingly into incoherence and illness, its clear that the minions are feeling a need to further ratchet up their already extreme efforts so they can deliver on a gold platter more extreme examples of their fealty. In some cases, like DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, it was clear that she savors the cruelty of her agency, and is oblivious to the constitutional rights and laws that Americans have fought to protect for 250 years. Others appear to be craftier, like HHS Secretary Kennedy, advancing their personal agenda by lying to Congress and firing all the dedicated and knowledgable public servants who have served the nation well for generations. I want to focus on perhaps the most disturbing transformation of a federal agency: the takeover of the Department of Justice by Trump’s loyalists, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi. What was once the agency that was largely independent of the president’s whims and had been the primary enforcer of our constitutional and legal rights, the collapse of the DOJ role of holding our own government accountable has facilitated virtually every other affront by other agencies. With the firings and resignations of almost five percent to DOJ staff in the past year, including the loss of top leaders of the different divisions, the capacity of the agency is deeply diminished. But even worse is that the top agency staff have chosen to ignore their fundamental job of law enforcement and become increasingly Trump’s tool for carrying out his outrageous agenda of retribution. Congress enacts laws and the courts interpret those laws as cases come to them under our separation powers and checks and balances. But if the DOJ declines to prosecute crimes and seek enforcement of those laws it is almost impossible to bring justice to bear. DOJ staff are supposed to advise agencies on what is legal and what is not legal, to investigate and bring law enforcement to bear where appropriate, and to prosecute criminals or defend agencies carrying out their duties as warranted. But the top officials in this DOJ rubber stamp and reportedly encourage the blatant disregard for the courts as they are much more concerned about keeping the favor of the president than about doing the job they’ve been given. What I haven’t seen enough reporting on (and it may be out there and I’ve simply missed it) is what is NOT being done by the DOJ as a result of this dangerous redirection. What were FBI agents and federal prosecutors doing before they were ordered to investigate the five members of Congress who released the video in December restating the military code of ethics that soldiers must decline to enforce illegal orders? How about those who are now told they must investigate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis for making statements protected by the First Amendment calling for ICE to leave their state and urging protesters to demonstrate peacefully? Last spring reportedly as many as 1,000 FBI agents who were previously working on national security issues were spending time looking through the Epstein files, and now another 500 agency staff are looking through additional materials. The transparent shell game being played on the Epstein files has meant taking investigators away from protecting the people of this country from threats of all sorts, and creating a pretense for protecting Trump from whatever he is afraid to see released to the public. But perhaps most troubling about the DOJ today is what has happened in the wake of the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Declining to investigate an officer involved homicide and instead turning their sites on Good’s widow and attempting to claim community efforts to resist an invasion by poorly trained, uncontrolled, masked and armed DHS staff are somehow illegal and threatening to those officials, is beyond belief bad for our nation. The Big Lies of this administration are growing, perhaps out of desperation as they try to tamp down the growing opposition particularly to the brutality of ICE. To their credit, brave DOJ staff have had enough and quit rather than shirk their actual duties and be required to carry out the orders of a madman and his facilitators. There are signs of hope as individuals and groups increasingly say they’ve had enough. But as historian Heather Cox Richardson regularly warns, things are going to get worse before they get better because of the grip that the Trumpists now have on the levers of power, and the cowardice of the Republican led Congress. Each of us has a role to play in the resistance. On a hopeful note Richardson points out that historically out of times of turmoil like this can arise a new, more responsive government. We can’t predict what will happen, but we can take a sense of hope out of the 250 years this nation has continued to exist, with scary times like these periodically developing, but with the resilience of the American spirit fighting on. We see that spirit across the country, and particularly in Minnesota right now, even though it is coming at great cost to them. Give them your support, push back on your members of Congress who are allowing the undermining of our system of justice and endangering our entire nation. |