For me, Trump’s embrace of authoritarianism is frightening. The world has seen this evil before. This is not a matter of competing political philosophies. We are not being presented with a choice between two visions of what is good for America. This is a battle between good and evil. Trump offers no solutions to the immigration crisis. Rather, his only action so far has been to obstruct any and all solutions. His obstructionism alone is reason enough to keep him from the Presidency. It is his demonization and dehumanizing of immigrants with lies and hatred that should cause fear in all of us. This is what dictators do. They govern by fear of the other. Trump is trying to unite us, not in our democratic ideals, but by manufacturing a common, fictitious enemy so as to bind us in hatred. We should not stand for it.
I am not a religious person, but I know and admire many religious people and many religious leaders. Their silence disappoints me. “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Why aren’t people who profess to believe in God, who take pride in receiving God’s word, not standing up against evil? I know that immigrants represent an unknown quantity to some people, and fear of the unknown can be hard to overcome. If immigrants have no place in your life, it can be easy to dismiss immigrants as not your problem. It might even be possible to say you don’t hate immigrants, you just wish they weren’t here.
Tyrants, however, don’t stop after one bite. Once they have demonized one group of people, they will turn against others. Trump did that this weekend. He took the step to total anti-democratic, authoritarianism. He found a group that is worse than immigrants in his fevered mind: “. . . the enemy from within…we have some very bad people, we have some sick people, radical left lunatics…. And it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.” —Donald Trump, October 13, 2024, to Maria Bartiromo, Fox News Anchor.
We know who he means by “radical left lunatics.” They are the people who pose the greatest threat to an authoritarian—the educators, the artists, the unionists, the Democrats, anyone who is not a MAGAist. We should not take the threat to use the Army against Americans as an idle one. It is a clear attempt to silence people who would stand up to evil. As we have seen happen throughout history and in other countries, Not even God will help those who keep silent. I am proud to state that I am one of the enemy from within.
Hawaiian Noir 