People deprived of rights
Every day there are people being abducted by masked, armed men jumping out of minivans, trucks and cars. These people do not identify themselves; they do not show identification, badges, or last names. Their faces are hidden out of shame (while using the excuse of needing protection from the people they’re brutalizing). There is violence being brought against people who have done nothing wrong other than living their lives. We have rights, and they are being trampled on by the United States government. This is truly terrifying and a tidal shift, since if this can be done to anyone in the United States then it can be done to you. I realize that conservatives will say – “well that’s happening to people who aren’t citizens”. But those rights are supposed to apply to everyone, and we are all entitled to due process to prove it in a court of law, and are entitled to the presumption of innocence (innocent until proven guilty). Conservatives famously are unable to understand something until it happens to them. So let’s reframe it in terms they might be able to understand: What if it happened to you? What if some guy in fatigues, a mask, and weapon slam you to the ground and zip tie you despite your protest? If a person can just be targeted on the street and thrown into a van then it could happen to anyone. That means you, dear Republican – you, your spouse, or your children. They may also likely say that’s not going to happen to them because “I look like an American” (which translated from racist coding to English is: Americans are white, my skin is not brown/Americans don’t have an accent from another country). We’re just gonna ignore that white privileged and racist thought for now – but guess what? If ICE is being allowed to do this to anyone, then they can do it to you – there’s literally nothing stopping them. And since people are being assumed guilty and dragged away at a whim, we’ve already lost in a big way. Conservatives who disagree with this are being willfully ignorant.
Brainwashed
Conservatives have been brainwashed for decades which is in large part the reason they respond the way they do when they see people’s rights being trampled on or see the President sending in national guard to states to quell supposed “violence or insurrection”. The brainwashing capitalizes on their inherent racism they’ve refused to deal with. Conservatives have a comically over exaggerated sense of danger and crime regarding cities. This is just racial coding that exists generally as part of our culture of white supremacy but to those who watch Fox news and other conservative propaganda outlets it’s been weaponized to almost comically tragic proportions. They talk about cities as if they’re a literal war zone, clutching pearls at the thought of going anywhere near the city. And the targeting of cities is purposeful as it helps associate the places that vote overwhelmingly Democrat with negative associations like crime and corruption. When they see or hear of people abducted off the streets by government thugs they will immediately call on their brainwashed ideas that immigrants are mostly criminals or drug dealers. They are very much shielded from the visuals of normal everyday men, women, and children being dragged out of cars or grocery stores minding their own business. They are carefully shown by their media of choice only images of very selective video of someone fighting hard against being taken or someone who fits a stereotype that they commonly expect to see. I want to be clear – Republicans do not get a pass because they’ve been brainwashed. It’s easy enough to understand or figure out their beliefs are nonsense – the problem is that they choose to buy into it and don’t want to know any differently. You may wonder why people would engage in brainwashing – it’s simple really, it’s for the money. Conservative culture is ripe for grifting, just look at the fortunes amassed by Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. Sean Hannity recently bought a 2nd multimillion dollar beachfront condo for $14 million to merge it with the one next door into a single residence. And this just after recently purchasing a different beachfront property for $23 million. Unfortunately, it pays to sell division and anger at the expense of your country – unfortunately for us capitalism happily rewards it.
Military in the streets
Trump has wanted to turn the military against citizens for a long time, ever since his first term. He once asked if he could have the military shoot protestors in the legs. To the brainwashed, this sounds unbelievable that their “great” leader would do something like that without someone deserving it. Besides the fact that no protester could “deserve” it, it betrays a difference in understanding of who Trump is versus who the brainwashed conservatives see him as. Trump has an extremely fragile ego and juvenile personality. He can’t stand to be told he’s wrong and can’t handle people challenging him – which is one reason he surrounds himself with yes men.
His goal is to have the military do his bidding in attacking and controlling the citizens of the United States. Trump has no concept or respect for the constitution or the government it has tried to define in America – if you recognize that he’s essentially a selfish toddler that thinks he’s entitled to absolute obedience as a king then you understand him and his motives.
Hell on earth – complements of the “followers” of Jesus
The fact is that ICE’s tactics, the devastation to public health through the CDC, the corruption of the department of justice among so many other things I won’t name here are all part of an unleashing of hell on earth, especially to the least of these. I personally know many people who truly try to be faithful to Jesus’ teachings, and they were absolutely thrilled when Trump won the election of 2024. If they still support Trump, then it’s my sincere hope for each and every one of them that they are made to endure the hell that they’ve unleashed on others. Despite their own efforts and self imposed piety, they are as far from Jesus as if they had no faith at all. They can go to church all they like, pray as much as they can, tithe faithfully, read their bible religiously but it doesn’t mean anything. There are legions of atheists and agnostics all over the country who represent Christ better than any of conservative Christian would on their best red letter day. May every Christian who supports Trump be shown for the absolutely morally bankrupt hypocrite they truly are and may they never know peace.
What you can do
We need to stand up for our neighbors, fellow citizens, and those abducted by our government. It’s so important to join the fight against Trump’s authoritarian overreach. The conservative leadership’s reaction to protests, especially the “No Kings” protest is telling as it shows their hand. Mike Johnson, speaker of the house/human-snake hybrid/Christian hypocrite extraordinaire is spinning shameful propaganda, equating protestors with terrorists, in concert with the rest of the Trump administration. The fact that they are bothering to address it and spin propaganda shows how dangerous the movement is to them. Consider that during all 4 years of President Biden’s term, there were no nationwide protests. We’re not even into the first year of Trump’s term and I personally have been to at least 6 protests (and there have been others I haven’t attended). Conservative anger ginned up by their propaganda outlets doesn’t have a basis in reality, and it shows by the general lack of action (except for the Jan 6, 2021 insurrection, of course). While their anger is real, it lacks substance or a basis in reality; it’s a general malaise of temperament that affects the brainwashed.
These protests which occur throughout the entire country make this point subconsciously and directly to conservatives driving by. Even if they flip off all the protestors as they drive by in their huge overcompensator trucks, they are faced with the cognitive dissonance that something unique is happening. This is something that we haven’t seen before – or at least haven’t seen in the 2 or 3 generations since the Vietnam war. The protests bypass the Fox “News” propaganda echo chamber that Trump uses to fool the fools. They may try to tell themselves all the people out there are “paid protestors”, but they know deep down it’s not true. They are forced to confront it and they know something is wrong – and Trump can’t control that. In fact he hates not being able to control it. Furthermore, our protests will encourage others that may want to get out there and stand up but need a little encouragement from seeing others who feel similarly to how they feel. This is our act of solidarity, our message of hope to those being mistreated and trampled on. This is goodness standing up against the forces of corruption and the worst impulses humanity brings to the table. I’m going to be out there on 10/18/2025 – I hope to see you there too!
FDT
Merely Xtian 