Morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Black is the coffee.
First they came for…
Life was perhaps simpler when Martin Niemöller wrote that poem. They don’t ask for papers anymore; they ask for phones. Who did they come for first? Do you remember? Was it the LGBTQ? Or the transgender? Or the Press? Or the immigrants? Does it matter?
Our country is collapsing into fascism while some wait for elections. Some won’t have to wait long; April 1 is around the corner. We will see what happens, though I expect any result favorable to Democrats to be contested, no matter the margins. Although we are not a declared fascist dictatorship we are already living in one. The collapse is imminent and the signs are everywhere. If by some miracle the House of Representatives turns Democrat I predict Martial Law will follow.
What was it Stephen Miller said? “A growing portion of the hard left has been violently radicalized. The left must never be returned to a position of national power.” He’s not joking. What can they do to stop us? Everything they want. “No District Court Judge, or any Judge, can assume the duties of the President of the United States. Only Crime and Chaos would result.” That’s a direct quote from our new dictator. So you can stop guessing who they came after first.
I am not leaving the US. I am a naturalized citizen. My rights mean nothing. I am a prisoner in my own country. They came for many before they came for me; I tried to warn you, I did what I could and it wasn’t enough. I am confined to these words, since my reality prevents me from doing much else. I wish I could take to the streets and bring you with me, but I can’t. I wish you could feel my pain each time I ask you to go out and fight when all I can do is this.
Yet this is enough to put me in as much danger as those on the streets. Perhaps even more. It doesn’t matter who they came for first; they’re coming for us now, no matter who we are. Speaking up against the government is no longer all it takes: you’re not even allowed the right to think against it by writing against it. We who write our words on our phones are all modern versions of Anne Frank, locked in our country’s attic. At least that’s what it feels like to me.
Not being Jewish, I feel I must apologize for the analogy, and yet it is perhaps the fact I am practically confined to my home that brings it to mind, as I watch from the window the world falling into pieces outside. I keep writing my thoughts knowing similar thoughts of others are getting them thrown in dark places as they get caught going about their lives. One day soon they may break into my attic, shackle my hands and feet and put me away. My papers will not matter. My phone will.
My family will be abandoned to the charity of strangers, without me, and unable to do much on my behalf. And still I keep my diary updated, with the rage born of not being able to do much else. My thoughts are my crime, I am well aware, but I cannot keep them to myself. I never did. I am a serial thought criminal and I am conscious of what that means. For now, as I and others write in the illusion of safety provided by our attics, confinement may not feel that bad, but it is.
Thousands who live without these constraints are able to do more and go out to protest, as they should; they must turn to millions. Still they are barely protected by rights being eroded more and more each day. And they certainly have none if they are foolish enough to leave the country and try to come back, especially if they are not white born citizens. That’s also an illusion. It won’t last long. It may not matter who they came for first, but it’s obvious who they will come for last.
If like me you are white of European descent, born or naturalized citizen, that would be who. There will be no one left to speak up for us. Our privilege is our weapon: it allows us to stay in the fight longer, to speak louder, even if our days are numbered. Don’t waste that advantage and do the best you can with it while it lasts. Freedom of speech may be under attack but it is the process we are due that is being taken away. That is the existential threat we face as a democracy.
The erosion of Justice is happening before our eyes. Your rights mean nothing: if you find yourself shackled like Hannibal Lecter and thrown into a cell with no food and water, even if you are lucky to have a high profile lawyer take your case, chances are you will remain in that hole for weeks, months, before the courts can rescue you. Assuming they can still rescue you. This is why we shouldn’t be cheering for people who appear to deserve being penalized to be put away like this.
Sure, there are foreign students who through their actions deserve losing their privileges. Sure there are Hispanic gang members that have no place running free on our streets. But when you cheer for their disappearance without due process you are ignoring the fact others who deserve none of that are being punished the same way. And there’s no longer the matter of you possibly being next. You WILL be next. You ARE next, already.
Few people in Congress act like they know this to be true. Most are in denial, still unsure where it is we are. One day we are close to a crisis, the next we’re in a crisis… They say whatever seems to attract more people to “chip in”, like they believe money and a privileged seat will save them. Them. Not us. Our politicians are running for their panic rooms and abandoning us to the slaughter. They think they will be safe inside and one day this will be over and they can come out.
With few exceptions, we have been abandoned. Even those few who speak up don’t realize what’s at stake and if they do they are still hesitant to say it clearly. The specter of civil war models their message. They are afraid. Only one thing can save us now: massive peaceful civil disobedience. Unless you want a war. Then go ahead and start blowing shit up. Good luck with that. In case you missed it, the military won’t save you, so take up arms at your own peril.
The time to rise up peacefully came already. Each day we don’t is a missed opportunity to fix this mess our country became. When will that happen? Today, I hope. Tomorrow, maybe. It’s never too late, but the more we hesitate the more harm will come. This is it, my friends. Every day, ordinary people are being empowered to act upon their worst instincts, guided by their own cruelty, fear, or lack of moral courage. They are not many, but they are all in the right places.
They are in Congress, in government, in the DOJ and the DOD, all the way down to the one holding your phone at a point of entry and deciding to shackle you and put you away as an enemy of the state. There’s them and there’s us. We may be run by fascists but there’s too many of us to be run over if we rise. We can do that or we can wait as they pick us up, one by one. I made my choice long ago. Time for you to choose. What are you prepared to do?
Resist & Oppose!
