Power and Revenge are an explosive combination
This regime continues to test the legal boundaries ... which are still holding by a thread
In France, there is a village where no one lives and only memories remain. It is now a museum, a reminder of the brutality of war. There were 642 men, women and children living in Oradour-sur-Glane on a summer day in 1944, when the Nazis arrived and massacred all of them and then burned the village to the ground. It is now known as the “martyred village.”
The WWII Museum page explains: “The ruins of this village serve as a reminder of Nazi atrocities suffered by not only the French but also other civilian populations who came face-to-face with Nazi oppression.”
Why did the Nazis slaughter this village? … no one seems to know for certain. A likely cause is that one man believed the village had been part of the resistance and, because he could, he ordered the massacre where hundreds died. While he was tried and sentenced to death in France, Germany refused to extradite him for execution.
Cruelty and violence are common tactics of Authoritarian Regimes
The Trump administration conceded in a court filing Monday that it mistakenly deported a Maryland father to El Salvador “because of an administrative error” and argued it could not return him because he’s now in Salvadoran custody.
Stop for just a minute. If you were in power and you accidentally removed a father (with legal status) from his life and family and sent him to a prison in a foreign country, would you just say “Oh, well … accidents happen,” and casually go back to your golf game?
CNN - The Center for Terrorism Confinement … described cells “built to hold 80 or so inmates” where men are held for 23.5 hours a day and “the only furniture is tiered metal bunks, with no sheets, pillows or mattresses … an open toilet, a cement basin and plastic bucket for washing and a large jug for drinking water.”
It was in front of this prison and these prisoners that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did a photo shoot wearing her $50,000 watch. (One report states that Noem insisted that the men take off their shirts so that their tattoos would show.)
We are at the point where brutal lawlessness begins.
We … all of us … know that hundreds of men have been kidnapped from our country and sent to a prison designed and known for its harsh conditions. We’ve heard the reasons for this action … gang membership, etc.
However, none of these men experienced “due process” or “innocent until proven guilty.” None of these people had a trial or were offered legal counsel. Reports show about three quarters of them have NO CRIMINAL RECORDS.
What’s to keep this regime from kidnapping anyone who happens to go against their wishes. I was living in Mexico when 44 students were “disappeared.” It was a tragedy that rocked the country. I never once thought it could happen here. But it is happening here.
Trump’s tendency toward revenge includes firings, stripping security details, initiating investigations of anyone who he feels has wronged him, threatening private law firms, intimidating judges, using any authority source to create fear and allegiance.
“I love getting even with people.”
The Atlantic offers a comprehensive article by Peter Wehner about Trump’s appetite for revenge. Here are a few snippets from the article:
REVENGE HAS LONG BEEN a central theme for Donald Trump. In a 1992 interview with the journalist Charlie Rose, Trump was asked if he had regrets. Among them, he told Rose, “I would have wiped the floor with the guys who weren’t loyal, which I will now do. I love getting even with people.” When Rose interjected, “Slow up. You love getting even with people?” Trump replied, “Absolutely.”
Last Friday, in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, the president described his adversaries as “scum,” “savages,” and “Marxists,” as well as “deranged,” “thugs,” “violent vicious lawyers,” and “a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government.”
The threat this poses to American democracy is obvious. A president and an administration with a Mafia mentality can create a Mafia state. They can target innocent people, shut down dissent, intimidate critics into silence, violate democratic norms, act without any statutory authority, sweep away checks and balances, spread disinformation and conspiracy theories, ignore court orders, and even declare martial law.
Fortunately, we still have heroes and last Saturday crowds showed up in the millions to protest the chaos and potential devastation caused by this regime. We will continue to honor the many heroes, the ones in the daily news as well as some of the unknown ones, here and in the every other week review of US in Crisis.
QUESTION: What most worries you?
Read More:
Oradour-sur-Glane: Martyred Village,The visible remains of Nazi brutality. The National WWII Museum
Addendum:
Posts you might have missed in March:
What worries me is the devastation that nobody is talking about. The many more homeless people we will have, the families that will not be able to pay their mortgages and feed their families — will they be homeless soon too? Where will they go? The ill that will not be able to afford medicine and care. The pain they will go through. The kids that won't have shelter, will be surrounded by anger, poverty, and poor education. The crime that will result with the devastation. The businesses that will have to close. The homes that will become in poor condition, disrepair. The insurance and taxes that will not get paid because people will not be able to afford it. The increases in borrowing money. This will prevent people from repairing those houses, buying homes, buying cars, starting or running their businesses.
But mostly the lack of government stability, the unknown and the fear. The unstability, the unknown, and the fear will take us down. It will stop everything and everyone from moving forward. It will create so many unanswered questions, few will be able to advance and solve problems and give and heal and thrive beyond the day. When we cant’t move forward, we eventually fall.
I worry about falling.
WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court directed President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday to facilitate the return to the United States of a Salvadoran man who the government has acknowledged was deported in error to El Salvador.