To those of you expressing despair at this point, I say get a grip. We have many institutions and professionals who stand between us and looming tyranny. Though sure, the oligarchs and fascists and (yes) Kremlin-led commies who are waging a putsch against our Great Experiment know this! Hence they are focusing their central energies at demolishing those institutions and professionals.
They began their purge right after the inauguration, by dismissing, re-assigning or neutralizing top experts on counter-terror, counter-espionage and cyber-security, then putting those who remain under direct command of appointees who are either suborned or deeply unqualified. A 100x version of what happened under GW Bush, when smaller purges appear to have led directly to the tragedies of 9/11.
(Every GOP senator who voted to confirm the current bestiary of Trumpian nominees has been directly culpable.)
(And if (when?) a major terror or other calamity happens, denounce those who eviscerated the corps of professional protectors!)
The professionals by now know they are the chief targets. Yes, you are justified to say that ICE raider-thugs are just as big a push. And sure, it's horrific. And I'll get to that, tying it to the mad right's all-out war vs ALL fact using professions, from science and teaching, medicine and law and civil service to the heroes of the FBI/Intel/Military officer corps who won the Cold War and the War on terror.
Right now, as individuals, the professionals are keeping their heads down. But I am sure each of the one MILLION members of the American Protector caste is asking self: "What will be my limit?"
The treasonists know this question is being asked into a million mirrors, every day. They are hoping that most of the professionals will - when they finally get fed-up -simply make a 'gesture' by resigning. We've seen thousands already. And boy has that done a lot of good? Not.
But there are other options. My own prediction?
It will start in some big city police department. Already there are anecdotes of folks - many of them citizens - fleeing ICE thugs to take shelter behind cops. So far, I know of no such confrontations that have gone physical. Yet. The masked ICErs generally turn tail at that point. But what if even just one cop begins a trend...
...by demanding the ICErs show ID. NOT to the person they are trying to grab, or to the surrounding public with their phone cams... but to the police themselves. City cops who say
"Oh, sure. Handcuff your suspect. And prepare to hand me a RECEIPT for detaining him. But if I see you using force greater than necessary, I will arrest you. Now wait over there, all of you... please."
== Would that be enough? ==
Would that be enough? Of course not. It would show solidarity between urban citizens and their constabularies. But even if it spread nationwide, we would need much more.
Fundamentally, our officers and such are sworn to obey the civilian chain of command... and there's little provision for when that chain of command is both insane and likely treasonous.
But then, solving such problems is why we hired them! And I do know this. It doesn't begin with resigning in protest!
== A man's GOT to know his limitations! ==
Dirty Harry said that, in Magnum Force. And I know mine. My limitations. Some of them.
Look, I am a theoretician. Though certainly my postings and activism and books have put me on lists. Indeed, they may land me - someday - on a train manifest. Well, I have already decided to die on this hill.
But I serve best by raising options. Possibilities.
Hence I will soon begin a series of postings about What democrats might do, if/when back in office, after microcephalic/blackmailed jibberers and KGB agents have been expelled. And the long-needed revival of a sane conservative party commences, from political sidelines.
My list of proposals is long. And some items I recommended as much as 20 years ago.
If I am still around, I'll post it all and see if ideas can make the kind of difference they are supposed to do.
== Relevant miscellany ==
Do tune in to this lovely “Letter to My Old Master” recited by the inimitable Laurence Fishburne.
Russia is merging its three largest oil companies -- Rosneft, Gazprom Neft & Lukoil, part of accelerating seizure of private companies, aimed at rebuilding the USSR, whose fall Putin called 'history's worst tragedy.' It sounds so preposterous. Putin and his 5000 fellow Lenin-raised "ex" commissars are re-creating EVERY aspect of the evil empire, except the egalitarian verbiage! And the US right adores them. One would not have credited it in a sci fi story!
But given their recent great victory over the America ...
I’m loyal to the first civilization that ever at least somewhat instituted fair play. And hence the only one that produced not only justice, but also Adam Smith’s prescription of flat-fair-creative competition -- the c-word that no ‘conservative’ ever utters anymore, in their rush to ally with “ex” commie-kremlin-commissars, plus murder sheiks, hedge parasites, carbon lords, cable impresarios and inheritance brats, all in order to resume 6000 years of feudal darkness.
The irony is thick! Adam Smith’s c-word (‘competition’) is what made this the most creative (another c-word) of all eras.
NOT the monopolist capitalism that gave itself a well-deserved bad name, but the flat-fair-broad and joyful competitiveness that happens when ALL children rise up fed and educated and confident, exactly what Friedrich Hayek recommended
...and pulling in that ladder, by starving children and trashing education and slandering our brilliant universities, is the oligarchs' top priority.
WHY is no one mentioning Adam Smith? While Republicans and their allies mention Smith's name - and wave flags a lot - they betray his principles and those of the US Founders, at every turn, conniving with oligarchs to END flat-fair competition forever.
Meanwhile Democrats are the ones fostering actual, Smithian flat-fair-creative competition... and not one of them will mention that fact or Adam Smith's name!
== Revisiting history ==
A thought occurred to me. Actually connecting several past thoughts. Elsewhere I've shown how the deepest mental schism in American life -- between pro- and anti-modernity impulses -- goes back all the way to 1778, when Cornwallis went south knowing he would find more romantic/nostalgics who would hence be loyal to the King. A trait that manifested during the Calhoun Tariff Tiff and then when a million poor southern whites marched and fought and many died to defend the feudal privileges of plantation slaver lords... and again when Gone With The Wind cultural waves romantically extolled the Olde South...
...and now, bilious anti-modernism that manifests (with much geographic overlap) across the same confederate heartland, as spite toward universities and all-out war vs ALL fact using professions, from science and teaching, medicine and law and civil service to the heroes of the FBI/Intel/Military officer corps who won the Cold War and the War on terror.
In earlier missives I laid out the varied Phases of the American Civil War... and the current one - phase 8 or maybe 9... is nasty.
But a commonality just occurred to me.
Among the travesties that led to the worst episode (so far) -- the 1860s 'Civil War' - was the Fugitive Slave Act, supported by the John Roberts of the 1850s - Roger Taney, cursed be his name and memory and honor.
After which, bands of often-masked irregular southern cavalry began rampaging and raiding across northern states, smashing into homes and workplaces, snatching neighbors and ignoring victims who waved documents proving they were free persons, and not 'illegals.'
Sound familiar? Has anyone else made the parallel with today's monstrous ICE depredations? Because those slave-catcher raids had deeper effects than merely a run for the Canadian border.
They radicalized northerners, who would never have voted for Lincoln had they not been fiercely offended by such nasty aggression and oppression in their own villages and counties.
Another major result? Northern states began re-activating their dormant militias. And thusly by 1861 hundreds of thousands of brave True Americans were almost ready, when Lincoln called for volunteers.
Almost. Bull Run was a calamity but those who stood up stayed up. And stepped up again. Till the Union found its generals.
Newsom/AOC in 28.
8 comments:
GMT-5. I never understood why Hal felt it necessary to kill the scientists in suspension. But it made an amazing scene.
Hal would have had the same conflict of duty with all the crew except the one(s) with mission security clearance, and they might not have agreed with the 'tidiness' of Hal's working solution.
Resigning is a standard way to resolve conflicts in command (Adm. Holsey should perhaps have done it earlier). However, these are not 'standard' times and, if I can see what 'upholding *and* protecting the Constitution' in these circumstances requires, then so can several thousand flag officers. How they go about maintaining their oath is up to them. I doubt they're going to tell me, so all I can really do is trust in their reputed ingenuity and non-complicity.
"GMT-5. I never understood why Hal felt it necessary to kill the scientists in suspension. But it made an amazing scene."
There was cheering in the theater for THX-1138 when the number of robotic cops in service declined by one.
Both instances were drama by screenshot. Forget the gun. Chekhov now has a computer.
Professionals alone won't save you. Those still in office and deemed sufficiently loyal not to be fired, that is. I still see the odds of MAGA "winning" as high.
Quantico and DHS have lowered the standards for recruitment (being loyal to the regime and appearing sober at the recruitment interview could seem to suffice in the future.) The Gestapo had their roots in the Prussian Political Police, which the Nazis took over in 1932 and supplanted regular Police officers with their own people.
The mass media (and the billionaires that own them) have surrendered or were supporters of the regime in the first place.
The Democrats are still a mess.
What I do think what helps is that the regime fucks it up faster than they build up things, and the courts seem to act as a check, or at least slow things down until they reach the supreme court. Also, MAGA shows lines of fracturing. Epstein, tariffs, yadda yadda
When, not if, the AI bubble bursts, things will get tenfold worse than they are now (Just think of the US credit rating when GDP suddenly halves.) We all can only hope that the bubble deflates slowly and if it crushes, it does so before January 20th, 2029. (I am appalled that our own leaders ignore the threat, and will feign complete surprise when it happens, as they always do.)
There is the myriad of grassroots local resistance groups who mount a more effective and successful opposition than anyone actually paid to do so. An intelligent autocrat would allow the fire to slowly burn out. Putins path to totalitarian power took at least a decades, of not two.Trump and his cronies keep the flames alive by pouring oil into it by the barrel.
>>We have many institutions and professionals who stand between us and looming tyranny.
The evidence thus far suggests otherwise.
Larry (from last thread),
I agree that interstellar flight will likely be among the easier challenges, but I don’t think moving a representative sample to Terra will be the most challenging act. We are going to need chunks of Terra with us in Sol’s system long before we go interstellar. It won’t just be humans colonizing Mars.
V.Vinge wrote this into his book involving the Slow Zone trading ships. I suspect he got that right.
As evidence for ICE inspired radicalization... I need look no further than my wife. She normally avoids politics. She teaches at an elementary school in a mod-to-severe autism class. She focuses on life outcomes for these kids.
That was until... masked ICE agents showed up in the schools and the homes of her kids. OMG(!) was she ever spitting fire.
A local mother was radicalized enough to show up ICE raids and interfere. No doubt that qualifies as obstruction, right? The local sheriff squad that protects ICE agents got quite physical with her during her arrest leading to a short stint in the hospital. My wife showed up at the rally outside the county jail calling for her release AND ONLY THEN realized the arrested woman was the mother of one of her kids.
(I mostly take over kid watching duties during protests, but I did help her on the IT side when she wanted to set up better ways for her new friends to communicate. Her group can usually field between 30-50 people at events now... and they aren't the kind of people who need any prompting to show up. All of them got radicalized somehow.)
So... yes. What is happening now rhymes with the consequences of the Fugitive Slave Act.
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