politics

We’re All Human…Be Patient

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

Let me introduce here a topic of discussion that should give all of us pause in these highly-charged times of political polarization. Controversial (or should I say, detrimental) actions and recklessly misleading rhetoric by self-serving politicians can drive us out of our minds, kindling within us an extreme sense of rage and outrage, leaving us with zero patience for those foolish people that support the purveyors of those depraved ideas that we absolutely detest. We can’t believe that rational human beings could espouse such blatantly contrary-to-fact drivel, or stubbornly assert patent nonsense in the face of hard evidence. Well, it should come as no surprise, they do! And they believe so in good faith, regardless of how decisively reality contradicts them–because their reality is different. It’s theirs! And we must admit that we each have ours, too, which we espouse just as passionately.

However…

That does not mean that every opinion is sound, or that every argument is valid just because some bombastic ideologue or social media influencer spouts it. Nor does it mean we have to accept what is clearly and demonstrably false. There is such a thing as objective reality–fact–not alternative fact (there is no such thing). A fact is defined as the actual state of something claimed on the basis of empirical evidence. We call that truth. The English word fact is from the Latin, factum, i.e. that which exists as the result of something having been achieved; a thing accomplished in the real world, a deed. Factum Est: It is Done. Distortion of reality we call an untruth, a falsehood. When it is done deliberately, we call it a lie. Denial of reality in the face of evidence, or the other hand, we view as a kind of mental disorder.

Often we have to work at getting to the truth: checking, investigating, researching before drawing conclusions based on the data before us. We won’t always like what we find, but we cannot deny it. The process is not perfect. Mistakes are inevitable, but despite the mistakes, genuine efforts made in good faith will usually result in something which subsequent efforts can build on. Progress takes time and effort, but at a minimum it requires respect for truth. Not everyone is willing, for reasons of their own, to put in the required effort. Most choose the path of least resistance and are content to let others, vetted or not, do the critical thinking for them. The results are visible in the current state of affairs in our communities and nation.

So listening to others who voice absurd claims that we find intellectually indefensible, illogical, or offensive does not mean that we need to accept their views. But we need to listen to them, hear them, and seriously consider why so many feel the need for validation even when many of their strong convictions defy ordinary logic. Many of our countrymen vent their list of painful grievances that have festered for a long time. Past leaders who they hoped would relieve their suffering continually failed them. In reaching for what finally appeared to be deliverance, they willingly accepted the claims (no matter how absurd or spurious) of whoever promised hope presented to them in language they could understand. The conclusion: we must listen more to our neighbors’ concerns. They have a case. Simply ignoring their concerns leaves them hanging, and can destroy what were once warm relationships and even tear apart a nation.

We might gain some insight on political squabbling from this New York Times article, The Parents Are MAGA. The Kids are Liberal. Can You Tube Help? It features one Texas family that went so far as to create a podcast on YOUTUBE for the purpose of confronting their differences (with an eye toward changing the other side’s mind). As they fought it out publicly, the encounter sometimes ended badly. The article points out how such quarrels can lead to serious rifts between family members, friends, even spouses and partners. Such negative outcomes can endure for a long time, tearing families and friendships apart. The article mentions the observations of experts in conflict resolution and family therapy, who were brought in to analyze the emotional dynamics among the children and the parents as they hashed things out. They pointed out the virtual impossibility of succeeding in the goal of “changing someone else’s mind by insisting on your facts”, especially when the points in contention form a deep part of the other party’s identity. One will get much further by truly listening to the other person’s point of view, and by recognizing that the matter in question will likely remain insoluble. Calmly accept that their unyielding stance has reasons that are valid to them. Nevertheless, by feeling heard instead of attacked, the latter might actually go away considering some of your points more carefully (you might do likewise, of course). They might even decide to change their mind, eventually, but it will be because they chose to do so. And it will probably take a long time. 

The best course of action (and the sanest) is to stay calm, practice patient acceptance of the other person’s right to their own worldview. Work on your own predisposition to be right in every instance. Pick your battles. Is it so important to overcome the other person’s convictions in every instance?  Remember that the other person’s inner life has been shaped by their personal experiences. Their need to protect that identity transcends any argument to the contrary, no matter the strength of the evidence. Know when to leave well enough alone, and be content with finding the common ground that will keep you connected. With family members especially, you still want to be able to say with all sincerity, “I love you.”

 Below is a wise quote I found in the Comments section following the article where a reader (Arthur, from Washington DC), agreeing with one of the commenters (Kiki C), made the following observation:

I heard a good suggestion:

“If you want to hate the world, watch the news.

If you want to love the world, travel.”

“Five Words that Changed America”

/ Richard L. Marrash / 2 Comments

That is the title of an opinion piece running today in the New York Times by opinion writer Jamelle Bouie. The author reminds us not only of the universality of the principles posited in the Declaration of Independence, but also how restricted their application was in the general understanding of the American colonists at the time. The following text is taken directly from his article. I recommend reading the entire piece, as well as the opinion pieces by various other authors who contributed to the story of today’s celebration. (See the link to Bouie’s article at the end of this post).

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“This Declaration is a profound statement of values: of a universal aspiration for human freedom. As President Gerald Ford said in a speech marking the nation’s bicentennial, ‘The Declaration is the Polaris of our political order — the fixed star of freedom. It is impervious to change because it states moral truths that are eternal.‘

“As a matter of civic faith, this is what the Declaration means. As a matter of history, however, the story is much more complicated.

“As Thomas Jefferson wrote it, the Declaration was less an affirmation of human equality than a pointed claim about the nature of political authority and a powerful assertion of the right of revolution, informed by the Enlightenment writings of John Locke and other social contract theorists. It was meant as an argument about the preconditions of government — an assertion of the purity of prelapsarian life — not a road map for emancipation.“

The Declaration alone did not change everything, obviously. As we know from our American history, emancipation and equality for all would take a civil war and decades of painful struggles for social change and civil rights to arrive at where we are today–better than before, yet far from achievement of the desired goal: equality...for all. We are still a work in progress toward a more perfect union.

Today we are facing a shameless assault on what had been for so long iconic American values: fairness, justice, kindness, civility, and respect for difference of opinion. We had been, and for the most part still remain, a bright beacon to myriads of people around the world. We are Americans! And we stand together to maintain those shared values that have made our country the envy of every nation in the world and the destination of all those seeking freedom from tyranny and oppression (Life and Liberty) and freedom of opportunity (Pursuit of happiness). We are not a people who cherish malice and self-service, lies and deception, corruption and self-aggrandizement. We were founded for just the opposite reason, and we fought a bloody civil war to uphold those traditional values because we were “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal“. We must remain so.

The nation known as the United States of America is the longest-enduring democracy in the history of the world. No other political entity or state based on self-government by its own people has ever existed as long or in as complete a form as the United States of America. We are unique in the history of mankind. We take just pride in our virtues, but one might ask, “Do we have flaws? Sure we do, and many corrections are needed to get it right. “Democracy,” as Winston Churchill said, “is the worst form of government–except for all the others!” So as we celebrate 250 years as a democratic republic based on equal justice for all and the rule of law, let’s dedicate ourselves to the proposition of overcoming the serious challenges to our democracy from those who sneer at our values and cynically look to serve only themselves. Their tool for doing that is by continually sowing dissension among us: divide et impera, divide and conquer. By standing together we can reject their bogus attempts to redefine us for their personal advantage and profit. Together we can reclaim our founding virtues, and stand proudly as Americans who think for ourselves, who cannot so easily be duped into giving up our birthright to those who despise it. We must come together, as our forefathers did, for we are Americans, and we will not give up our founding principles to political predators and self-serving opportunists.

Following ratification of the of the American Constitution in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wondered if we could keep our republic. We can reassure him, Mr. Franklin, we have kept it! And what a remarkable achievement it is: 250 years of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So today, along with our families and friends, let’s celebrate our grand old flag and enjoy the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. May God bless the United States of America and keep her safe for our children and our grandchildren, for all our fellow citizens, and for all generations to come.

Link to Jamelle Bouie’s NYT article, “Five Words that Changed America”.

Chaos, Cringe, and Stay Tuned

/ Richard L. Marrash / 2 Comments

Remove an illegitimate ruler, a ruthless dictator, from power in a neighboring sovereign country. No easy task, but it was carried out with extraordinary skill and professionalism by United States military personnel–a surgical extraction–without the loss of a single American life, and with minimal damage to citizens of the target country, Venezuela. The action has been praised by several regional governments, and by citizens and supporters of the Opposition party that had won election in 2024, but had been denied the right to govern by the ruling regime. Ousted by a loss in the election, but maintained in power by force, Nicholas Maduro, was ruling Venezuela illegitimately. That criminal status was underscored by a multimillion-dollar reward for his capture by the first Trump Administration, followed by the Biden Administration, and continued under Trump 2.0.

The winner of the 2024 election and subsequent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina Machado, pursued by the usurper regime, had to flee the country, as did many of her compatriots. Previous contacts with the Trump Administration had indicated that the latter would welcome her return to assume her rightful position as the elected head of state. But following the successful operation that resulted in the capture and removal of Maduro, it appears that the Trump Administration has lost interest in Machado and the Venezuelan opposition movement. Rather, it has declared that it would collaborate with the government of Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, “if she does the right thing.” According to President Trump, the popular, democratic, election-winning Ms. Machado will no longer do. “She doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within, the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Clearly, reestablishing democracy and legitimate governance is not a priority of this administration. That should come as no surprise. The President has always been a transactional player. The deal is what matters to him, and the deal in Venezuela is oil. The former dictator, Hugo Chavez, had nationalized the country’s oil industry and expropriated the property of U. S. oil companies. The latter, in fact, had created Venezuela’s oil sector. And now, according to Trump, “we will run Venezuela.” That means working with the same illegitimate regime that has been ruling the country under Nicholas Maduro.

So much for Trump’s “America First” policy and his repeated campaign promises to stay out of foreign entanglements, especially military actions to effect regime change. We are now going to “run Venezuela”, and while we’re at it, we might consider going after Columbia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and how about this: taking possession of Greenland. Taking Greenland! Property of the Kingdom of Denmark, our NATO ally. Good Lord! Destroy NATO in one fell swoop, and with it the longest stretch of global stability–eighty years of keeping the peace since the end of World War Two. Trump’s policy advisor, deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, the likely influence behind these ideas, announces the intention to use our power to rule the Western Hemisphere, including control of the Arctic approaches by grabbing Greenland. Such naked imperialism would simply mean that we are handing China and Russia the playbook so they can emulate us in their own zones of influence. That’s not a wise strategy, nor is it intelligent foreign policy trade-craft. “O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason.”

Goodness, gracious, I thought Trump told us that we would look after our own country’s needs and avoid dangerous adventurism abroad. I guess the promises during the election campaign were meant only as suggestions to gain the approval of the America First crowd. The MAGA spin doctors have been working overtime to normalize this issue. Other issues like the turmoil in our domestic sphere have gotten their own special pro-Administration interpretation.

To be fair, there is a good case to be made for removing Maduro and obtaining compensation for the looting of American oil resources. The goal is legitimate; the means by which it was achieved might not be. The U. S. launching of a military operation against a South American neighbor will be challenged. International law has to be respected even though Venezuela’s criminal regime has pursued several provocative policies including the courting of our powerful global adversaries, providing them oil as well as a strategic outpost right on America’s doorstep. There are compelling reasons for acting against the Venezuelan dictatorship, especially being so close to our shores. Precedent goes back to the Monroe Doctrine (with a cute play on words giving us the Donroe Doctrine). But all the same, the Administration has engaged in saying one thing, then doing the opposite. They are not the first to spin their actions, but they have taken that conduct to a whole new level.

The first full year of the Second Trump Administration has played out in ways that bedevil any rational attempt to explain policy. Policy? Policies? What policies? Certainly nothing coherent or enhanced by objectivity and vision for the long-term health of the nation. The only throughline is Donald Trump’s whim at any given moment. The deal maker wants this or that when he wants it. And the Constitution, the law, the Judiciary, the Congress, and anyone who disagrees with him be damned.

The Trump Administration’s balance sheet is mixed. Some achievements have been successful: closing the porous southern border, for example. But ICE operations to arrest and deport illegal immigrants have been excessively aggressive, and in too many instances have targeted peaceful working residents, who pose no threat to the community, or even American citizens. This is still supposed to be America, the land that most of our ancestors came to as immigrants. Yes, over the past few decades, too many have come illegally. But they are illegal, not inhuman. There is no reason to harass them unmercifully or to deny them due process of law. The law and the Constitution seem to have little effect on Trump and company. No one objects to removal of criminal offenders and “the worst of the worst,” but what we have seen does no credit to the government or to those who turn a blind eye to injustice. Moreover, the economy will not benefit from the loss of so many of those who have been working in the unpleasant jobs that very few other Americans will accept.

Economists warned the government about levying tariffs across the board. Some tariffs had to be walked back right away because of the economic blowback, and others have caused problems already, such as in the agriculture and construction sectors. More are going to feel the squeeze in the future. Most expert opinion declared the tariff policy a bad idea, even if some surgically targeted tariffs could be useful when applied to support specific foreign policy objectives. Well-thought-out policy, however, is not a regular characteristic of this Administration.

Not simply abroad, but also at home, the President has deployed the military to make America great again. He has sent National Guard troops into American cities. He claims that crime is out of control in cities led by Democratic politicians, a claim in defiance of crime statistics for most of those areas–most report that crime rates are down from previous years. But Trump asserts that the Guard is there to support local law enforcement. In most cases, the latter have declared that they have no need of National Guard assistance. No matter. Trump says that urban crime where Democrats are in power requires a military response.

During the 2024 election campaign, Trump and his supporters insisted that they would release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files. That case, they claimed, had failed to disclose all of the malefactors and their wicked deeds. Yet that presumably urgent legal matter has since gone silent, as the Department of Justice and the Administration apparently have decided against fulfilling their campaign slogans. You can draw your own conclusions.

Support Trump, if you choose, that is your right. Disagree with him, if you choose, that is your right, too. Although, if you disagree, you should not, as an American citizen, have to face slander and punishment. But in these unbelievably perverse times, a United States Senator–retired Navy veteran who flew numerous combat missions in the Persian Gulf wars, and later a renowned astronaut–has been threatened with recall to active duty for the purpose of being tried by court martial. For what? For reminding the military that they have a duty to refuse to obey an illegal order. Everyone currently serving and who has served in the military understands that duty. The current Secretary of Defense (or of War, if you so choose) emphatically stated the very same thing on television only a few short years ago. But Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Republican, chooses to attack Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat, for making the same point. He threatens him with court martial to reduce him in rank and to reduce his retirement compensation. As an American, a politically Independent voter, and a veteran myself, I consider this an outrage–a cowardly play by a petty man so lacking in fitness for the position he holds that he has made the once-venerable Pentagon into a laughing stock. Virtually no one on the Republican side in Congress has had the courage to stand up even for the sake of their institution, the First Branch of Government, to denounce such despicable overreach. Mark Kelly is a man of honor and integrity, whose long years of service to this nation have exemplified the courage and character that we all respect. The same cannot be said of his detractors.

But vindictive legal action against political opponents is a hallmark of the Trump Administration. And it is carried out by sycophants who lack integrity, honor, and character. Such unsavory people can be found in both parties, certainly, but this Administration revels in retribution, carries it out with relish, and proudly brags about it.

A few days ago we passed the fifth anniversary of the insurrection of January 6, 2021, a violent attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. When he took office in 2025, Donald Trump pardoned nearly all of the participants, including the most violent ones. A textbook case of criminal behavior and illegality, yet Pete Hegseth wants to charge Senator Mark Kelly with sedition for reiterating what Hegseth himself said–that the military must refuse illegal orders. Remember that at the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi military leaders and subordinates sought to excuse their murderous actions by claiming that they were “only following orders.” In the U. S. military, such a claim is no defense for carrying out illegal or criminal orders. I have no doubt Hegseth will attempt to spin the context to somehow arrive at something resembling a charge. Unless the JAG officers at the Pentagon are complete idiots, such a charge and any other attempt to discredit and demote Mark Kelly should be dismissed. But given the degree of hypocrisy at the highest levels of our government today, I wouldn’t put it past them to get creative in finding some way to dishonor a true American hero. In the long run, it doesn’t matter. The truth is there for anyone to observe. I salute retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly, currently United States Senator from Arizona, and offer him my profound respect.

The United States of America will survive even an immoral, self-serving, narcissistic despot and his pitiful brood of ass-kissing tools as well as his diehard worshipers. The real world is changing rapidly, and our country requires rational, well-educated and creative innovators to meet the challenges ahead. I believe that brilliant young Americans of all backgrounds will rally to the cause of their nation in the fierce global competition that has arisen. America’s future progress demands flexibility, adroit problem-solving, and scientific thinkers. Narrow minds and rigid ideologues need not apply.

Tighten your seat belts, America, and let’s get started. Welcome to 2026!

Operation Overlord-Epilogue

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

For those who have previously read and commented on my D-Day posts, I offer my somber greeting on this annual memorial to the patriotic men and women of the “Greatest Generation”, those who served across the world in our armed forces as well as the civilians at home who stepped up to manufacture the war machines necessary for victory in World War Two. America was a nation united, not by ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation, but rather by a public culture of genuine belief in the worth and dignity of every human being and the liberal values embodied in our Constitution, laws, and social norms. And they possessed the willingness to make any sacrifice to preserve those values. For that, they willingly went abroad to fight and die to deter and defeat the tyrannical plague of Nazism and fascism that had spread across Europe and the Far East, and threatened to engulf the entire world in a vicious and racist authoritarian blight, cynically punishing freedom of thought and expression and individual liberty unhampered by any effective opposition. The latter had been eliminated through the mechanisms of propaganda based on dissemination and continuous repetition of lies, half-truths, disinformation, dehumanization of opponents, along with the weaponizing of social institutions: the churches, the judiciary, schools and universities, corporations, and the media. The goal of those measures is to create a public perception that sees what the authoritarian regime wants the public to see, substituting that false perception in the place of reality. And only that manufactured perception–no matter how bizarre or contrary to fact–is hailed as truth and truly patriotic. Anyone in opposition–no matter how soundly developed and grounded in fact their position–is deemed an enemy of the people. No criticism of the regime or the Fuehrer, the supreme leader, can be tolerated. By definition, what the leader deems good is good for the state. The leader is the state.

That is what the Greatest Generation fought to eliminate from the world: the tyranny of authoritarian government, the loss of liberty and freedom of expression, the assault on human dignity. That’s what the Founders worried about, by the way, and thought about long and hard, applying the grim lessons of European history to their deliberations. They devised a Constitution with safeguards against the unrestricted accumulation of power in the hands of an unaccountable government. They gave us a democratic republic, but they cautioned us to take care lest we lose it (Ben Franklin, 1787).

A true democracy can tolerate in its midst diversity of opinion and even that which it finds offensive. That’s what freedom of speech and assembly means. What a true democracy cannot tolerate is the insidious transformation of constitutional government and the rule of law into irrelevancies to be ignored or weapons to be deployed against critics.

Do you ever wonder if the Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves?

I won’t belabor the point any more. Memorial Day was one week ago, a day when we remembered the fallen from all of our wars. Today remember the generation of World War Two, who fought the ugly blight of totalitarianism and hateful racist policies that saw the murder of countless innocent people across Europe and Asia.

Remember the heroism of D-Day, 6 June 1944, the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

If interested, read my previous D-Day posts for other details.

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IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father):

George Marrash, US Army, WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Sam Sadie, US Marine Corps, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII

Corruptio Optimi Pessima, Veritas Autem Vos Liberabit

/ Richard L. Marrash / 1 Comment

I don’t know how to begin, or what to say. All of us have seen the news. An incredible breach of operational security……by those charged with safeguarding the nation and its vital interests! What can you say or do? Those placed in charge have failed in the most elementary aspect of professional tradecraft–securing classified information (whether or not the word CLASSIFIED appears on the document or has been formally stated). Highly sensitive, mission critical information must be protected according to the required procedures and safeguards. Those are not suggestions. It is the law. If you don’t know that, and if you argue that “I didn’t see any classification notice” on the information or “no one mentioned that information was classified,” you do not belong anywhere close to a responsible position in the intelligence community. This security failure would never be tolerated in a new, junior member of the IC. It is catastrophic when it appears at the highest levels and among several of the heads of the most sensitive agencies.

These leaders of the most important agencies of our government used a marginally secure system, Signal, for a top-level discussion of classified information and even brought in a total outsider–a journalist–and were totally unaware of his presence on the discussion thread, while they went ahead and dumped restricted intelligence into the discourse, which should have been held in a SCIF (sensitive compartmentalized information facility). All while preparing to send U. S. pilots into enemy territory to conduct a dangerous operation.

As expected, the President has played down the breach, and, true to form, has attacked The Atlantic journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, incredibly, for being responsible for having been placed on the discussion thread. He was placed there by Mike Walz, President Trump’s national security advisor. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, denounced Goldberg, The Atlantic, and the media and claimed that he did not disclose classified information. The other members present on the Signal discussion dodged any responsibility during their testimonies before the Senate subcommittee that began looking into the security breach. Except for a few courageous souls willing to face the Trumpian/MAGA attack machine, most Senate and Congressional Republicans have remained mute on the seriousness of the incident.

So while our current Government denounces Canada, the EU, NATO, Ukraine, and cozies up to Russia and its wannabe Tsar Vladimir Putin, the gates of our security system are thrown open. Russian, Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian hackers, among others, will hardly need to break into the system to seize our most sensitive information. They can just get a Signal account and wait for the clueless amateurs to simply leave lying around what these adversaries are seeking!

It goes without saying that these lightweights should never have been confirmed by the Senate for positions of such grave responsibility. Too late now, but at a minimum, Walz and Hegseth should resign. The others should receive at least official reprimands. But none of that will happen. The administration has continued to denounce Goldberg and the media in general for concocting a “hoax”, Mr. Trump’s favorite tactic when his actions or policies are criticized. It is the classic play of the demagogue: deny, deflect, distract. Instead of attacking him, the government should be praising the fact that Jeffrey Goldberg pulled himself offline once he understood that he was privy to a sensitive operational discussion conducted by top U. S. officials! At first, he thought it was a sham invitation to the group, but when the attack was ultimately reported in the news, Goldberg realized that somehow he had been included in a highly sensitive Signal thread–a discussion where operational details were revealed that could have forewarned our adversaries and endangered the lives of the U. S. servicemen who were carrying out the attack. We were very lucky this time.

This is not the United States of America that I recognize. Like many others of my generation, and those before and since, I swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States both in military service and again in federal service in the intelligence community. I have never retracted my commitment to that oath either as military or civilian. I am bound by it until the day I die. I am certain that nearly all of my fellow Americans who have served their country feel the same way. But I am outraged and distressed by the reluctance of the White House and the Congress to demand complete accountability and by the irresponsibility of officials serving at the highest levels of our government. We dodged a bullet this time, but it must not happen again.

Whatever your political feelings, you should feel ashamed that we have come to this state of affairs. As Americans, it appears that we cannot even count on our leaders to protect our national interests. Their duty to do so is enjoined by their sworn oaths to the Constitution. To avoid any future disaster due to reckless, avoidable breakdowns in security, we must insist on complete transparency in getting to the bottom of this thoughtless blunder. Instead, we are being subjected to denial and deflection and the whining excuses of those who have shown us clearly that they possess neither the character nor the professional qualifications for the high offices they hold. They have demonstrated their woeful incompetence to the whole world. It is inexcusable. May God save the United States of America.

Lieb Vaterland Magst Ruhig Sein

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

I begin this post with an email exchange between Linda, and myself. Linda is my longtime friend from our University of Michigan days and a frequent email correspondent :

Read about the influencer behind the Tech Bro turn to the Right politically. I’d only recently heard of this man.  Take a look. 

Linda

“The Dubious History of America’s Most Famous Monarchist,” by Jamelle Bouie, The New York Times, Jan. 22, 20251

In a recent article describing the country’s progressive inclination toward oligarchy, I did read a reference to someone touting monarchy for the United States. Thanks for sharing this NYT article with me, Linda, it makes clear who that “American monarchist” is and what he is about. 

The article Linda shared with me got me to thinking about some troubling current events, and I jotted down my thoughts as follows.

For my own part, the greatest threat to our nation is illustrated by the pardoning of the entire roster of January 6 insurrectionists. Many duly convicted of violent sedition and insurrection. This smug bunch and their affiliated anti-government militias, and similar groups and individuals whether organized or simply like-minded, have now become an unofficial, private army for Trump to call on whenever he feels the need. Remember his directions to the Proud Boys, “stand down and stand by.” He has empowered them to act beyond the reach of legal consequences by showing his readiness to pardon them–so, then: “Stand by,” America, for any future actions he will decide to use them for. Exaggeration? I think not. He referred to them as “patriots,” “political prisoners,” and “hostages.” But they are criminals, unquestionably, observed in their violent actions and words on TV screens all over the world, and subsequently convicted according to law. Yet, the President is even now indicating he will invite some of them to the White House!

In the 1930s, while he was tightening his hold on political power in Germany, Adolf Hitler had his Sturmabteilung (SA), popularly known as the Brown Shirts, thugs wearing swastikas, who went around harassing and beating those who opposed him and his Nazi party. We have just experienced the first step in that direction.2 Count on the Trump Administration to push forward with its agenda heedless of constitutional and institutional norms. The Constitution and the rule of law apparently need not apply to Trump and his coterie of sycophants.

That Trump has a taste for the use of naked force to achieve his ends comes as no surprise. He is deploying thousands of active-duty military to the southern border and launching mass deportations of illegal immigrants. No serious person disputes that both ineffective control of the border and the broken immigration system have been for decades thorny, unresolved problems that both political parties failed to address. But at least a preliminary attempt was offered in the bipartisan immigration bill that Trump scuttled lest it interfere with his 2024 election campaign. Conservative Republicans as well as Democrats had worked on the bill together and believed its passage would have been a step forward and provided something to continue to build on. Trump, on the contrary, prefers to use brute force to make that happen. While only a couple of days in office, already he is aiming his ire and vindictiveness at the institutions of government and the employees of agencies that have aroused his resentment for a host of personal grievances including such offenses as: DEI, wokeness, LGBTQ, and of course the sin of disloyalty of the various offenders on his enemies list. The way of the dictator does not bode well for the nation once known as the “land of the free and the home of the brave” where today the emboldened Executive Branch of the US Government goes forward increasingly unchecked by the cowed Legislative Branch and empowered by the acquiescent Judicial Branch. This nation appears ready to raise its outstretched arm in salute and shout, “Sieg Heil!”

Now, every time I think about the consequences of what these actions are leading us to, Benjamin Franklin’s warning reverberates in my mind. When asked following the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 what kind of government the delegates had established, he replied tersely: A republic, if you can keep it. I try to be optimistic, but I’m not sure we can.

[Note: the title of this post is from the German patriotic anthem, Die Wacht Am Rhein. The translation of the verse is, “Beloved Fatherland, May you be at peace.” I wanted to share the laudable sentiment, but at the same time let the German words resonate with a warning about the trend toward extremist nationalism that I have tried to describe in this post.]

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  1. The NYT article identifies a “prolific Internet commenter” named, Curtis Yarvin. The author of the piece summarizes his political philosophy: “The path to national renewal, Yarvin argues, is to unravel American democracy in favor of rule by a benevolent C.E.O.-monarch drawn from a cadre of venture capitalists and corporate oligarchs.” ↩︎
  2. See the guest essay in the New York Times, January 5, 2025, } “For Many of Us, Jan. 6 Never Ended,” By Aquilino Gonell. Mr. Gonell is a former sergeant in the Capitol Police and the author, with Susan Shapiro, of “American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy.” ↩︎

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AMERICAN HEROES WHO DEFENDED THE U. S. CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021

These officers and their families remain under threat by right wing extremists because of their testimonies before the January 6 Committee and current legal actions involving the insurrectionists of that day. Several have appeared on television and in the newspapers to bear witness to the “criminal behavior” of those who attacked and brutalized them and their colleagues defending the U. S. Capitol. Obviously, I can’t mention here all of the names of the dozens of Capitol Police and D. C. Metropolitan Police who suffered similar violent experiences at the hands of the mob.

Harry Dunn, Capitol Police (Retired, wounded on Jan. 6)

Michael Fanone, DC Metropolitan Police (Retired, wounded on Jan. 6)

Aquilino Gonell, Capitol Police (Retired, wounded on Jan. 6)

Brian Sicknick, Capitol Police (RIP, died of wounds received on Jan. 6)

Daniel Hodges, DC Metropolitan Police (Wounded on Jan. 6)

Steven Sund, Capitol Police chief, (Scapegoated, resigned under pressure)