Show Me Your Papers!

Posted: January 14, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A 1938 German poster used throughout the country but especially in Austria after the Anschluss or the German annexation of Austria. It translates to “One People, One Nation, One Leader!” Last Saturday the United States Department of Labor posted a video that projected the slogans “One Homeland! One People! One Heritage! Remember Who You Are, American!“

A poster placed on “X” by the Department of Homeland Security. The caption read “Protect. Serve. Deport.” This is one of a series of such posters, all depicting white men in heroic and patriotic settings, as part of their “wartime recruitment” effort.

As events in Minnesota continue to spiral out of control, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Border Patrol (BP) agents are escalating their response to the peaceful demonstrations protesting the occupation of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Rather than de-escalating the situation and attempting to restore calm, they are using ever stronger tactics that are clearly meant to intimidate and abuse American citizens. There are believed to now be more than 3,000 federal agents in the area. That is more than the entire police departments of the two cities combined. Technically, there are two federal operations under way. One is Operation PARRIS (Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening) aimed at eliminating refugee fraud — in other words, directed at the Somali population in the region. (One might ask why there is not an army of accountants deployed to the city vice ICE.) The other is Operation Metro Surge aimed at combatting “illegal immigration and crime.” As a result, many American citizens are increasingly being assaulted (choke holds, knees to the back or neck, cars broken into and the occupants drug across the ground, not to mention the unprovoked killing of Renee Nicole Good). Yesterday, Trump posted on social media at the end of a long screed aimed at the citizens of Minnesota and the denunciation of President Joe Biden, “FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!” (All caps in the original. Because, of course….) In fact, the post was meant to intimidate American citizens, not to calm their fears.

The 1930’s style posters I displayed above are only a fraction of those in use by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor. They have also taken famous paintings by Norman Rockwell, Thomas Kinkade, Morgan Weistling and other artists and used them, without permission, in posters with words and slogans not intended in the originals, despite protests and condemnation by the families and estates of the artists. It is pure propaganda promoting a vision of America that never existed except in the minds of those yearning for something they never experienced. The images and phrases clearly leave no room for the diverse society we now have in the United States. It subtly, or not so subtly, promotes a “pure” nation of white Christian nationalists with men clearly in charge. All “others” are not welcome. The message to those that protest the deportations and thug like tactics of federal agents is that such people are not true Americans and are in fact, enemies to be defeated, humiliated and brutalized — maybe even rounded up and imprisoned. It is no accident that Renee Good was immediately branded a “domestic terrorist.” There will be no investigation into the shooting by the Department of Justice (DOJ), only into the background of Renee Good and her widow who are accused of being part of a vast left-wing conspiracy to create an insurrection. As a result, at least six federal prosecutors in DOJ resigned in protest.

Wake up America! This is no accident or series of accidental events. This is a concerted effort to display the uninhibited power of the federal government to crush dissent. Support Trump and his policies or be trampled. In my view, the events in Minnesota are a dress rehearsal for ever greater repression leading up to the mid-term elections. Trump’s private para-military force on our streets is getting larger and larger everyday as they grow ever less inhibited in trying to intimidate all of us who do not support them. When they say that there will be no investigation of the shooting, when they pardon all of the January 6th insurrectionists, and they repeatedly tell the thugs in tactical gear that the administration “has their back” they are telling those agents that anything goes and that there will be no accountability. That should scare the bejesus out of all of us.

Recall that shortly after his second inauguration Trump posted on social media that “He who serves his Country does not violate any Law.” He also claimed that he would be a dictator, but “only for one day.” Last week in an interview with the New York Times he explained that he is not bound by international law or anything else. The only thing limiting his power is “my own mind.” Trump is asserting that he has unlimited authority which completely rejects the Constitution and our long political and legal traditions.

There is no law that requires U.S. citizens to always have some form of identification on them to prove that they are citizens. However, that is not stopping ICE and BP agents from demanding proof of citizenship. There are increasing numbers of videos and eyewitness accounts documenting that it is happening. If someone does not look “American” they are likely to be detained, questioned and told to provide proof of citizenship. If they do not have it in their possession at the time, they are arrested and taken away. It is happening with increasing frequency.

The “f word” has been overused in recent years — that is fascism. However, there are several examples in history that are eerily similar to what is happening in our country. Fascism is not some theoretical idea that academics debate. It is a specific political movement that prioritizes the nation over the individual and manifests through nationalism, militarism and the suppression of enemies of the state. Those enemies are particular ethnic groups, religious groups or opponents of the ruling regime. Fascism is a governing structure, it is more than just an idea. A self-declared small group of people claims ultimate authority to run the country. It disavows democratic norms and rejects equal rights under the law. Then the powerful leader fuses the power of the state with the power of big businesses and the military to run the country. The virtue of brute strength is idolized. It includes disdain for the role of women in positions of leadership and fears non-traditional sexual identities. By inventing enemies, declaring national emergencies or acting in the name of national security, their power is used to control the population. Elections are rigged and therefore of little meaning. The media is controlled to feed the population only the propaganda that serves those in power. Other “elites” — academics, journalists, opposition political parties, intellectuals and the rest — are used as targets to enrage the population by claiming that the average person has been tricked out of their share of the wealth and power by those elites.

“You’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong.” “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” From Trump’s speech to his supporters on 6 January 2021.

I do not think it is inevitable that we will fall into the depths of a fascist society, but the Trump regime is sure trying to get there. Increasingly, everyday people are pushing back. I think that pushback will only grow, but it is not going to be easy to unseat the regime in power. Most importantly, that pushback must be peaceful, calm, but unyielding. The Trump regime is looking for an opportunity to crack down even more and in more areas. As the DHS army grows, more cities will be targeted. Do not be fooled by the propaganda. Thank goodness for cell phones — a statement I did not think I would make — because the videos and pictures are the easiest and best way to counter the propaganda. Stay safe out there.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell in the novel 1984.

Absurd

Posted: January 4, 2019 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mr. Donald J. Trump held his first cabinet meeting of the year on 2 January.  In keeping with his reality show background, the meeting was televised.  The meeting was really a 90 minute monologue on just about everything that Mr. Trump stewed about over the holidays.  There were many newsworthy elements to be found in the transcript ranging from the border wall to the economy.  Many of the statements were provably wrong or misleading.  The list of falsehoods is too long to go through here.

Among the many untruths from the meeting perhaps the most troubling, at least in terms of asking oneself “where the heck did that come from?” were his comments on Afghanistan.  In a discussion about a continued U.S. military presence there, he launched into a bizarre statement full of previously unknown “facts”.  In addition to slandering our allies that have fought and died alongside US troops there he said,

“Russia is there.  Russia used to be the Soviet Union.  Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan.  Russia.  So you take a look at other countries.  Pakistan is there; they should be fighting.  But Russia should be fighting.

The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia.  They were right to be there.  The problem is it was a tough fight.  And literally, they went bankrupt.  They went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union.  You know, a lot of these places you’re reading about now are no longer a part of Russia because of Afghanistan.”

No one.  No one, on the left, the right or the respective wing nuts of either side have ever said or believed that the Russians went into Afghanistan to fight terrorists or because they had a “right” to invade them.  Bipartisan efforts during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush worked to isolate and punish the USSR for that invasion.

The real reason the Soviets invaded was the Brezhnev Doctrine.  In 1968 Leonid Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union put forth as a basic tenet of Soviet foreign policy the right to interfere in the affairs of any communist country anywhere in the world.  The Afghan government was communist when the Soviets invaded in 1979 and they occupied the country until their withdrawal in 1989.  While true that the occupation was a drain on the Soviet military and the occupation became unpopular with the Soviet people, it did not bankrupt them or otherwise lead to the fall of the Iron Curtain.  There were numerous reasons for the fall, but Afghanistan was more of a symptom of all that was wrong with the Soviet system rather than the cause.  They definitely did not enter Afghanistan to fight “terrorists.”

Only one person is pushing the narrative that the Soviet Union had a “right” to invade Afghanistan to stop “terrorism.”  That one person is Vladimir Putin.  He is pushing a new revisionist history that is pure propaganda and is designed to restore his view of the glory of the Soviet empire in order to stoke nationalist sentiment in Russia, entrench his own power, and provide the basis for his adventurism in Ukraine, the Baltic states, and elsewhere in the hope of restoring that empire.

And now I guess there are two people pushing that line, one of which is the President of the United States.

As the Wall Street Journal put it in part in an editorial,

“Right to be there? We cannot recall a more absurd misstatement of history by an American President. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with three divisions in December 1979 to prop up a fellow communist government.

The invasion was condemned throughout the non-communist world. The Soviets justified the invasion as an extension of the Brezhnev Doctrine, asserting their right to prevent countries from leaving the communist sphere. They stayed until 1989.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a defining event in the Cold War, making clear to all serious people the reality of the communist Kremlin’s threat. Mr. Trump’s cracked history can’t alter that reality.”

Is the president ignorant of history or is someone feeding him propaganda that he willingly repeats?  I am not a conspiracy theorist, but this should raise alarm bells.  Either the president really is ignorant of important world events that continue to shape international relations today, or he is willingly repeating Mr. Putin’s revisionist history meant to restore the luster of the former Soviet Union.  Either answer is deeply troubling.

What are we to make of this?  In the continued chaos of this administration it is easy to lose track of the multitude of “absurd” statements and actions coming out of the White House.  However, given the president’s propensity to support and defend all things Putin, one must ask again, “what is going on?”  The answer may be even more troubling than we can imagine.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Posted: May 29, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls. There was no Collusion, except by the Democrats!”

— Donald J. Trump 29 May 2018 on Twitter.

“Why aren’t the 13 Angry and heavily conflicted Democrats investigating the totally Crooked Campaign of totally Crooked Hillary Clinton. It’s a Rigged Witch Hunt, that’s why! Ask them if they enjoyed her after election celebration!”

— Donald J. Trump 29 May 2018 on Twitter.

“This whole Russia Probe is Rigged. Just an excuse as to why the Dems and Crooked Hillary lost the Election and States that haven’t been lost in decades. 13 Angry Democrats, and all Dems if you include the people who worked for Obama for 8 years. #SPYGATE & CONFLICTS OF INTEREST!”

—  Donald J. Trump 27 May 2018 on Twitter.

I am very nervous about the future of our country.  The president is deliberately undermining the institutions that help to keep us safe in the law enforcement and intelligence communities.  In addition, he is already claiming that if Republicans lose control of the House or Senate it is because Special Counsel Robert Mueller “meddled” in the election.  Preposterous!

Let’s face it.  The president lies.  It is deliberate and pre-meditated.  All three quotes above are his attempt to change the narrative regarding the investigation underway by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  They were some of the thirteen Tweets put out by the president over the holiday weekend relating to the investigation of Russian efforts to disrupt our elections.  These statements go far beyond opinion and land squarely in the realm of consciously lying.  We can no longer — if we ever really could — trust the president on anything he says.

The average citizen is just trying to get by from day-to-day. Going to work, taking care of one’s family and dealing with the rigors of daily life make it difficult to keep up with the continual barrage of information deliberately designed to deflect and distract.  The issues are complicated and cannot fully be understood through a Tweet or a fifteen second sound bite on television.  Totally understandable.  In fact, Mr. Trump and his abettors count on that as they throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.  But it is important to try to ferret out the truth.

Propaganda works.

“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”

— Joseph Goebbels

For the moment, lets put policy changes aside.  Many people support his efforts — although I am afraid he is going to destroy our economy through his capricious and erratic trade policies, which is why we should remember his multiple bankruptcies — and I can respect that, even if I disagree.  I cannot ignore the daily character issues surrounding the president and his bullying and his attacks on institutions that keep America safe.  Would you honestly look to Mr. Trump as an example for your children and grand children to emulate?

Here are the facts (but look them up for yourself, don’t rely on my word) as to what is going on most recently with the Russia investigation and thus the Tweets above:

  • Last week Mr. Trump tried to get Congress to investigate the investigators investigating him by claiming that a “spy” was put into his campaign by the FBI.  Despite originally saying that only Republicans would be briefed on the actual facts (no politicizing of intelligence in this case!), senior members of both parties (known as the Gang of Eight) were briefed.  There was no there there. Nothing. Bumpkiss. Nada.  Just one more in a long line of false accusations put out by the president.  Claims of wiretapping of Trump Tower, an “unmasking scandal” of intelligence intercepts, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (with apologies to Yul Brynner in the King and I).
  • The leadership of the Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI, and the Special Counsel are all Republicans and appointed by Republicans.  Some by the president directly.
  • The FBI actually helped Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign.  The FBI and DOJ received information from an allied intelligence source that three individuals with his campaign did or may have close ties to the Russians with the intent of interfering with the election.  It was their duty to investigate a possible assault on our electoral system and indeed, that one or both of the campaigns were being disrupted.  An informant met with the three to assess the depth of their knowledge and possible associations with known Russian operatives.  By the way, the informant worked in the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan.  (Also all Democrats?!)
  • FBI Director Comey publicly announced an investigation into Secretary Hillary Clinton — twice — during the campaign.  The investigation into the Trump campaign was kept secret so as not to disrupt his campaign or impugn anyone on his staff until the facts were known.
  • The Mueller Team has approximately sixteen lawyers with experience in both Republican and Democrat administrations supported by roughly thirty-six staff, including investigators and non-attorneys.
  • The “witch hunt,” after only a year, has already resulted in nineteen indictments including Mr. Trump’s National Security Adviser, former campaign manager and the assistant campaign manager.
  • Mr. Mueller’s team does not leak information, which gives the field of public opinion completely to Mr. Trump and his abettors.  That said, it is widely believed that Mr. Mueller is looking into the following crimes.
    • Russian election interference.
    • Links between Trump associates and Russian officials.
    • Collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian agents.
    • Obstruction of Justice.
    • Financial transactions including money laundering and tax evasion.
    • Violations of federal campaign laws.
  • I could fill pages more of facts directly countering the president’s pronouncements.

Look at how Mr. Trump says what he does.  Very rarely does he dispute the facts.  Rather he creates falsehoods and/or attacks individuals or institutions.  There are no specifics, but only vague accusations.  As a result, he can never be wrong and can, when that proves to be a dead end, he just comes up with the next wild and false thing.

Apparently, he wants to use the DOJ and FBI as a personal force, loyal to him rather than the nation and the rule of law.  He will not stop until he gets what he wants and is willing to destroy anyone or any institution to protect himself and his self-interests.  Obviously he is getting increasingly desperate as the investigators close in around him.  We should all worry about just how desperate he may get.  Mr. Trump will not go quietly into the night.

I fervently hope that our nation’s leaders, Democrats and Republicans, stand tall and remind the president that no American is above the law.

Vladimir Putin is thrilled.  His efforts are paying off beyond his wildest hopes.

“Those who are capable of tyranny are capable of perjury to sustain it.”                              — Lysander Spooner

What’s In a Name?

Posted: October 3, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Some of you may have seen this already.  Even taking into account the randomness of the survey and the impact of editing, it still paints the power of propaganda.

On Jimmy Kimmel’s show the other night the “man in the street” interviewer asked  people which they preferred — The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare?   The overwhelming choice was The Affordable Care Act.   We know that they are the same, but apparently many people do not.

When the interviewer asked about specific provisions of Obamacare — such as allowing children to stay on their parents policy until age 26, no restrictions for previous conditions, etc. — the response was always positive, even as they continued to say that they did not like Obamacare.

Propaganda works.

You can watch it for yourself here: http://youtu.be/sx2scvIFGjE