Tag: politics

Since the end of World War II the United States has attempted to establish a world order based on common consent, economic interdependence, and democratic rule. Yes, our fidelity to these aims has often fallen woefully short. That’s undeniable. We’ve been hypocritical on many egregious occasions. But even so, there was generally a shared thread amongst those we elected that these were the right ideals even when we failed to live up to them.

After September 11, we brought together a “coalition of the willing” to take military action around the world. Poorly thought through and supported by lies–but, a coalition nonetheless. We asked our allies to send their children to die for our cause in a desert on the other side of the planet. And they answered our call. Action taken by common consent–not unilateral declaration.

In the aftermath of WWII the United States engaged Japan and Western Europe in aggressive stabilization and rebuilding campaigns. We wanted to thwart the perceived dangers of communism and believed that this was the solution. The theoretical basis of these efforts was that democratic nations with interconnected economies don’t start wars and don’t become desperate enough to heed the calls of communist revolution.

Nations were to air their grievances in the United Nations, rally others to their cause, and exert social and economic pressure rather than take military action. Through this venue the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved without bloodshed. Through humanitarian programs the United States exerted soft power throughout the world showing the benefits of being our friend while using economic sanctions to warn of the danger of being our enemy.

Again, we failed many times to meet these ideals, but they were a shared sentiment even so.

This is no longer true.

The United States has now placed in charge a group of people for whom the saying “might makes right” is the furthest extent of their moral reasoning.

They assassinated a general of an adversary’s army because they could. They kidnapped a foreign head of state because they could. They are threatening to conquer Greenland because “no one’s going to fight us over it”. They use missiles to blow up civilian boats in the ocean because they can.

They act unilaterally, insult our allies, and spit in the faces of common consent, economic interdependence, and democratic rule. This matters possibly more deeply than the rest of the abhorrent, degenerate, destructive behaviors they engage in.

If the foundational principles of the world order we’ve existed in for the past 50+ years fall then the world will enter a spiral of destruction. “Might makes right,” so the US takes Greenland and goes to war with Europe. “Might makes right”, so, while the US is distracted, China takes Taiwan. “Might makes right”, so with Europe distracted, Russia finally succeeds conquering Ukraine and moves on to the Baltics. Every country with the means begins a crash program to build, buy, or steal nuclear or biological weapons because it’s the only language still understood in a “might makes right” world. And we will leave the world in ashes.

We know how this plays out because WWII was heavily documented and has been studied for decades. When demagogues seize power and believe themselves above consequence they endlessly grasp for more. After all, until someone stops them, they have the right to take more. That’s the way the world works–that’s the way the world they want to live in works.

Common consent is gone as far as the United States’ international actions are concerned. We’ve withdrawn from dozens of cooperative international agencies and taken unilateral action whenever it pleases us–enemies or allies be damned. Our new policy on international relations is, “Who’s going to stop us?”.

Economic interdependence is under assault from isolationist tariffs and trade wars. If we no longer buy anything from Mexico, then it won’t hurt our economy to bomb Mexico into oblivion.

Democratic rule is hanging by a thread. The president already incited a violent coup once, was impeached for it, and for some insane reason this country elected him again. He and his cabal have been laying the groundwork for months to normalize the idea of violating the Constitution so he can remain in power when his term ends.

The danger is immense. And I don’t know what to do about it.

“I can tell you,” my colleague went on, “of a man in Leipzig, a judge. He was not a Nazi, except nominally, but he certainly wasn’t an anti-Nazi. He was just—a judge. In ’42 or ’43, early ’43, I think it was, a Jew was tried before him in a case involving, but only incidentally, relations with an ‘Aryan’ woman. This was ‘race injury,’ something the Party was especially anxious to punish. In the case at bar, however, the judge had the power to convict the man of a ‘nonracial’ offense and send him to an ordinary prison for a very long term, thus saving him from Party ‘processing’ which would have meant concentration camp or, more probably, deportation and death. But the man was innocent of the ‘nonracial’ charge, in the judge’s opinion, and so, as an honorable judge, he acquitted him. Of course, the Party seized the Jew as soon as he left the courtroom.”

“And the judge?”

“Yes, the judge. He could not get the case off his conscience—a case, mind you, in which he had acquitted an innocent man. He thought that he should have convicted him and saved him from the Party, but how could he have convicted an innocent man? The thing preyed on him more and more, and he had to talk about it, first to his family, then to his friends, and then to acquaintances. (That’s how I heard about it.) After the ’44 Putsch they arrested him. After that, I don’t know.”

–They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45 by Milton Mayer

A federal judge in Tennessee has ordered a delay in the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia after his legal team raised concerns that the Salvadoran native could be deported upon release.

His attorneys pointed to an emergency hearing Thursday in Maryland — Abrego Garcia’s home state — where the government said it planned to deport him to a third country as soon as he is released from jail.

–NPR, June 27, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/06/27/g-s1-74925/abrego-garcia-tennessee-judge-delay-release-deportation

We are forcing our judges to decide whether to falsely hold innocent people in jail or risk putting them in the hands of the federal government which has made it clear they intend to dump their victims in foreign prisons to be abused and forgotten.

Meanwhile, supporters of this behavior are actively working to open camps where the undesirables can be densely packed. One might even say concentrated.

–AP News, June 25, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/florida-alligator-alcatraz-immigration-detention-trump-desantis-cc060aa6528acbd91a87ec1922578146

And the Supreme Court just ruled that executive orders can suspend Constitutional rights indefinitely unless each person affected makes an individual petition to a court to demand their Constitutional rights be upheld which the court then enforces.

Justice Sotomayor warns in response:

No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates. Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from law-abiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship.

–AP News, June 27, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/birthright-citizenship-immigration-trump-89be4f8457dd69312abc8427d4194cb9

This continues the ongoing attack on Constitutional rights, in particular birthright citizenship. Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

That text is unambiguous. Born in the United States means citizen of the United States. But right now, that’s no longer true. The Supreme Court says Trump can revoke citizenship from whomever he wants until a court gets around to hearing and ruling on each specific case.

I warned about this in 2018: Proud Nationalist? Seriously?

We are now fully in the “we’re going to take these things away from you” stage of nationalism.

The people cheering it on are assaulting and assassinating their political opponents.

–NPR, June 17, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/06/17/g-s1-73157/alex-padilla-kristi-noem-los-angeles-immigration-protests-press-conference

–NPR, June 16, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/06/16/nx-s1-5433748/minnesota-shooting-suspect-vance-boelter-arrested-melissa-hortman-john-hoffman

Our nation is crumbling.

If you, like me, have been hearing a very consistent new wave of rhetoric amounting to “compromise for peace–the dying has to stop” regarding Ukraine then you should understand that this is direct Russian propaganda. The entire purpose of the message is to use feigned humanitarian concern to get you thinking past the sale. The sale is, “Russia takes more Ukrainian territory.” And the feigned humanitarian concern is a cudgel to beat anyone who disagrees via responses like, “How many more people are you going to make die?! And for what, some scrap of land?!”

This can be difficult to respond to because, OF COURSE, decent people don’t want more death, destruction, and suffering. It takes an awareness of history to understand that appeasement of expansionist dictators has never led to lasting peace. The only chance for sustained peace and stability is to ensure that this war ends with Russia unconditionally leaving Ukrainian territory–which Russia can do unilaterally. And international pressure should be entirely on Russia to do so without compromise.

Otherwise we’ll be right back here when Russia takes yet another territory in a few years. Like they took Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014. Appeasement didn’t work in 1938, it didn’t work in 2008, it didn’t work in 2014. It won’t work in 2025. But Russian propaganda is blasting out, “Peace for our time” and millions of Americans are parroting it.