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Am I an Enemy of the State?
Katie Benner has gained a certain level of notoriety in these parts. She’s the New York Times reporter who informed the
nation through her tweets that Trump supporters were a threat to national security; eight hours later she must have had second thoughts and deleted the tweets. But I couldn’t help thinking about all the people who genuinely believed that her perceptions were legitimate; that she was telling a truth that others agreed with, just because she was a “journalist with the New York Times.” Then I began to wonder what it would be like if I were considered to be a threat to this country. At first blush, that accusation seems ludicrous; for one, I’m only a marginal supporter of Donald Trump. But given the direction this country is headed, should I contemplate the reasons a person might contrive a persona for me that makes me an enemy of the state?
I decided to work my way through this exercise and to see where it might lead me. At the end of the process, I have to admit that I felt just a bit uneasy.
Now keep in mind that there could be a vast difference between the data that the government gathers that it determines makes me a national threat and data that only relates to my exercise of free speech without my intending to do anything insidious in this country. But the differences are just a matter of perspective, right? The list below identifies their potential conclusions about me, and I follow up that information with my own assessment. Here is what I identified:
She’s a Trump supporter—I’ve never liked Trump much, but I did vote for him. I also favored his policies. I expect their conclusion would be correct, although to make the leap to my being a white supremacist? But that’s ridiculous, right?
She’s a Conservative and a Republican—I’m a registered Republican, but my allegiance to Republican politicians is in jeopardy. But of course, any affiliation I acknowledge to either group makes me evil, degenerate, deplorable, and, well, stupid. That should just about cover most insults. And of course, I deny all those attributes. Then again, I’ll let you be the judge of “stupid.”
She attacks the Biden administration and Joe Biden—I don’t do that in writing very much, because I’m not interested in writing about the obvious. Biden’s dementia is disturbing to me, and the lack of policies or the number of stupid policies that are dangerous to this country are alarming. I also write a great deal about the alarming transgender trend; the absurdity of the climate change claims; the distortions and misperceptions about the coronavirus; the foolish steps the government is taking to try to revitalize the Iran agreement; the disaster of the no border policy; the drive toward socialism; the lies being told about teaching Critical Race Theory—well, that should cover at least some of my writing rants. So, yes, guilty as charged, I guess.
She’s Jewish—I have spoken out about the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic words and actions of those in Congress, and the unwillingness of members to condemn them and hold them to account. And the mealy-mouthed efforts of people like Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats to defend these anti-Semites is pathetic. There I go again, one more rant.
She’s patriotic—that means I speak about America’s roots, our founding, our history, with passion and commitment; therefore, I can hardly be counted on to support their globalist agenda in all its many forms.
She reads books by Conservative authors—these readings show that I am aligned with those who are critical of the government and in their own way are determined to overthrow the government. One only needs to study the work of Mollie Hemingway, Jason Riley, Ben Domenech, Victor Davis Hansen, Byron York, and Thomas Sowell to know that a cadre has formed to take down our democratic government. I do read their books. I rarely think of their creating a game plan, but I wouldn’t be surprised that others see them that way—even though the critics probably haven’t read their works.
She is anti-union—I have attacked unions, particularly the teachers’ unions on multiple fronts, and challenged their authority to act on their own behalf. That’s all true. Somehow allowing the inmates to run the asylum (which would be one way to describe unions dictating to school administrators and parents the decisions that should be made) is bizarre. But then I’ve never belonged to a union. What do I know?
She doesn’t believe that some speech should be banned— Those people who publish misinformation are endangering our country; misinformation is that data that doesn’t comply with experts’ opinions; that would apply to me. But I’ve given up on trusting almost all the experts and will decry their comments at almost every opportunity I get. Freedom of speech, except in rare situations, is woven into the very fabric of our nation. The censoring that we are seeing online is frightening. These deceptive actions to ban speech that the U.S. government doesn’t like is a violation of this precious right. And I will stand by that truth in the face of the abuse of power to act otherwise.
She is pro-gun ownership—in fact, she owns a gun. And she knows how to shoot it. Need I say more?
* * * *
It’s fair to ask why the government would come after me. But you may have already realized that these steps are not about my life, but are about any person—does that include you?– who does not buy into the government’s totalitarian efforts. Any resistance, any pushback, is seen as a threat and must be halted in just about any way possible.
Then you might ask, what might trigger these kinds of oppressive actions? That’s a much easier question to answer. First, continued failures by the Democrats and Biden have to be explained away. For many people, blaming Trump as the go-to trouble-maker is getting stale for some people; the well is running dry. A second reason is that in difficult times, scapegoating can be very powerful. When you have a rebellious population that won’t fall into line, they “obviously” must be prepared to destroy our democracy (as the Democrats often claim). Watch for increased and escalating scapegoating to happen for those who do not back the Democrats. A third reason is the reliance on lies and hyperbole. The media has been delighted to initiate or back up the administration in creating blame, exaggerating issues, and making up stories, whole cloth. Before the larger population catches on to their destructive strategies, they must make sure that no one gets in their way.
A writer from the Federalist came to the following conclusion:
So while it’s essential for our government to monitor and root out genuine domestic terrorism—and that includes Q-Anon crazies and Stop The Steal radicals who make legitimate threats to public safety—new proposals to surveil and incriminate and punish domestic extremists come at a time when people in power increasingly define domestic extremism so broadly as to include roughly half of the country. It’s a nice way for them to feel more comfortable with their classism and ignore their decades of failure.
Brenner’s tweets were not deleted because they were inaccurate. If anything, they were deleted because they were too accurate, because the logical conclusion of this definition inflation is still too radical to say aloud.
But then, I’m just a little fish in the sea. Right? What about you?
[photo by Jon Eric Marababol courtesy of unsplash.com]
Published in Domestic Policy
I’m wondering if any of you are considering doing anything diffently in your lives, or already have, given the potential for being singled out; many of you have a profile similar to mine. I don’t plan to do anything differently, but it does make me wonder . . .
My Uncle, who is very liberal, does not want conservatives dead.
The democrats who know me that I have worked with don’t’ want conservatives dead.
It is always the radicals that seek that sort of thing. Unfortunately, they are the ones who win. The majority of Russians did not want the USSR. They got it anyway.
Have you accepted the progressive administrative state as led by the liberal establishment as your lord and savior? If not, you are an enemy of The State. And, obviously, a white-supremacist domestic terrorist (regardless of the colour of your skin ans your actual actions).
Ah, but you haven’t addressed the majority of the rank-and-file who don’t know you personally. They may only imagine that could happen, but would they intervene to save you?
I don’t think they want me dead. Again, it is a vocal minority, but they are in power.
No, they won’t be able to intervene. By the time they understand what they have done it will be too late.
I fear you are misunderstanding me here. I believe we are headed for a Sectarian Civil War. I believe that most Americas don’t want that. I believe a minority of the radical left will use their power to trigger it, and even they don’t want it. But we will get it.
Then China will go to war with us, most likely in ways that attack our infrastructure, like cyberattacks and more plagues like the one they engineered and accidentally let out.
And every single person voting for the Democrats will be in part guilty over that disaster, but they will never, ever, admit it.
I’m not terribly worried because I don’t meet the activist profile, but I’m getting really tired of being surrounded by lots of people who don’t share my views. So we’re contemplating uprooting our life and moving, not that it’s a big deal or anything.
@hoyacon,that is a very big deal! I think we have a mixture of people on our cul-de-sac and in our development. We have a group that meets on “gun safety,” and we also have a very large gun club (obviously advocates) . But I also live in Florida, and that makes a huge difference to me. It is very reassuring to know how knowledgable Gov. DeSantis has been on Covid for example, and he has never backed down. If I lived under a different governor . . . well, I just don’t know . . .
I hear that sentiment from ‘the other side’ as well. It is not normal for Americans to feel this way, to feel this lack of trust and alienation. It’s something in the air. Or possibly the kool-aid.
My area is deep, deep, deep Blue, and uprooting ourselves is certainly a major thing. But it may be time for the stated reasons.
Susan, there is already a big dossier on you.
Their politics has morphed into a religion and a source of meaning and self-worth. Disagreement is heresy and a mortal threat.
Shall I save a place for you in line, @oldbathos? Seriously, I do agree with your description, which makes it all of concern to me.
Don’t bother. if I don’t make it to my bunker in western NC in time, that’s on me.
”Different” will be imposed instead of a choice. Comment #12 wasn’t a joke.
My credit score hasn’t changed, but it’s relevant. It’s irrelevant for us, fortunately, because we only use if for smaller items and pay it off every month. Just one card.
Then again, when I try to purchase anything “they” don’t approve of (such as something gun-related), I could have a problem at some point, couldn’t I? . . .
I can very easily picture Olbermann strutting around in a black uniform with jack boots.
Mark Steyn was returning home after attending one of the Canadian tribunals about his supposed hate crimes. The border guard asked him why he’d been in Canada. He replied that he was being tried for crimes against humanity. The border guard said, “Welcome back.”
I know well meaning, reasonably informed liberals who believe everything the far left puts out. They live way out side Washington, LA or New York City, and fight with local Republicans over a lot of things with legitimate differences in perspective in areas where they have some actual experience and knowledge. However, they believe the mainstream media regarding areas where they have no inside knowledge and dismiss alternative views without reading or listening and have no knowledge of totalitarian or even just centralized corrupt places. They’ll send me articles that are crazy, irrelevant to the subject, or flatly dishonest. They will be profoundly disturbed when the republic comes an end and the economy tanks, but will still blame Trump. We think we can use reality and time for our arguments to move the system back toward a shared republic. We’re probably kidding ourselves. We have to be prepared to separate or watch it all die, rot and be dominated by the Chinese if it isn’t already in their hands.
Mrs Rodin is on your wavelength. She worries that pursuing liberty is now a transgressive act. And takes no comfort from the smallness of us “nobodies” as potential targets. Given the dragnet snd the small fishes caught up in the Capitol breach it is hard to argue that only the Tucker’s of the world are targets.
Yeti?
Think a little bigger. Most of us will be fine but…what if things like access to credit is driven by who you voted for and/or a cumulative woke “score” calculated with data supplied by big tech. Voted for Trump then No House for You! Reposted an awesome Tween by Ted Cruz the No Small Business Loan for You.
Don’t stop there…what if available schedule slots for bypass or hip replacement surgery are awarded by such scores. Worse, you mother’s or grand daughters surgery is to be scheduled based on a family score that is partially driven by your un-woke footprint. Extend that to job applications, etc., etc., etc.
Nah, I’m just being paranoid again…
Congratulations on making the Ace of Spades Overnight Thread.
I wonder if I can get my boss to let me put that on mine. I think there’s a 50/50 chance.
I haven’t been accused of it yet, but it might be coming.
You’d be more than welcome in east Tennessee, except for that Hoya stuff.
Wow! Thanks for telling me, @bishopwash!
I’m flexible–and we’ve thought about there.
As an aside, I’ve always kind of liked the fact that Bristol VA/Tenn is in two states, with the center dividing line of Main Street being the state line, so you can have one foot in each state. “Twice the City, twice the fun” as their ad slogan states. OT but a fun fact.
It is the lockdowns. They have atomized society and forced us to live, in my opinion, unhealthy online social lives. Things are more segregated online and the anonymization make things more nasty. It is spilling over into real life. It didn’t do that before because everyone had enough RL encounters to take the edge off and remind people we are all human beings. It is also why the racial elements have gotten worse over the last year and a half.
I have quit donating to conservative groups and causes except in small amounts anonymously. I am working to get off email lists, phone lists, and distribution lists. I realize this is part of the point; however, I need my job so I am taking steps to make my self small at the moment. I don’t have enough wealth that it makes much of a difference, and I will probably get back into the fray as 2022 get closer.