The picture of a child crying is taken in Mississippi following the ICE raid at multiple chicken processing plants. It represents the trumpian policy of using cruelty and fear to intimidate whole groups of people. That it took place one day after a mass shooting of Latinos in El Paso, perpetrated by a white nationalist terrorist, demonstrates the craven depravity of trump and his so called policies. It is not a policy – it is a club used to beat people into submission.
The second picture is a picture of the ICE police at the chicken plants. Note that the ICE are fully armed and wearing flak jackets. There are other pictures of ICE wearing black shirts, black pants, black boots and black gloves. They are dressed as the storm troopers that they are. What did they fear? That the immigrants would come after them with a three inch knife used to slit a chicken’s throat? Did they wear flak jackets because they were afraid of being attacked with chicken gizzards? I had thought that the Nuremberg Trials demolished the excuse of following orders as a sufficient excuse to be found guilty of criminal acts. By enacting this raid they were guilty of using terror against children and they should have refused orders to round up parents. By refusing to do so, they became criminals themselves.
The third picture is the crazed first family holding a child in El Paso. The child had to be brought back to the hospital – both of the child’s parents had been killed the previous day in the mass shooting accomplished by a white nationalist terrorist. Notice the thumbs up from the unpresident. That is a picture of empathy, isn’t it? They needed the child as a prop because none of the survivors in the hospital would allow themselves to be pictured with the trumps. Even the doctors would later state that trump really did not show empathy for the people who were killed and wounded. Melanie (an illegal immigrant?) is a willing accomplice in this travesty.
For those of you who say – well, they are illegal immigrants and they are taking our jobs. I simply say bullshit. If you believe this then I encourage you to go to the Koch company that is holding a job fair tomorrow to replace the workers. You actually don’t have to travel to Mississippi – just go to a local chicken processing plant, go to the human (yuk, yuk) resources office and tell them you want to work on the processing line immediately and you want to replace an illegal immigrant. You want work! Or next time you go to a restaurant, walk into the kitchen and tell them you want a job dishwashing or hauling garbage so that you can replace one of those dreaded illegals who are taking your job. I don’t think I hear a lot of feet moving.
Regarding the police – I support police who honor their oath to protect and serve (all people). I worked with police closely when I served as a mental health crisis intervention counselor and I know the good work that some of them do. I am aware of the risks that they take every day as they try to honor the oath to serve and protect. As for the ICE storm troopers in Mississippi – they should be fired immediately and brought up on charges of terrorizing children. The segment of ICE that deals with deportation raids should be immediately disbanded. For those of you that post honor the police and the flag memes on social media, try to be a bit more selective and thoughtful. Your blanket approval only encourages ICE criminals to continue terrorizing families.
As for trump and family – 2020 is very far away and impeachment is moving too slowly, Each day brings a new atrocity that he commits and I fear for our country and our soul. This is a man (?) that has no moral core. He is a disgrace as a human being and as a president.
I grew up in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, and all in all, I had a decent life. I knew little about money or what it meant to be rich or to be poor. I would find out later that my parents and grandparents never earned more than four figures in a year and most of that time in was around five or six thousand at best. One of the lessons I learned was that rich people (even fake rich people like our unpresident) did not care for poor people – they only cared about themselves and how they could get richer. That sort of bursts the balloon that says that people voted for trump based on the economy. You know in your hearts and minds that I am speaking truth to power about that. Where does that leave us when considering trump supporters – not the economy, not moral leadership, not honesty, and certainly not skills of diplomacy. It leads me to believe the basis of his support is hatred for the ‘other’ – racism if you will. He won the last election because of a cadre of white voters in three states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin and racism and white nationalism is very much alive and rooted deeply in our culture. Don’t make the same mistake this time.
There are things you can do – contact senators and representatives and support meaningful gun control. Take to the streets when you can. I believe that we need people in the streets, as they did in Puerto Rico, and remain there every day until we rid this country of the cancer that infects it. Do not remain silent – trump takes silence as consent. You must realize that this is truth be told.