Capitulating to DJT is not as practical as it might seem. It is pretty irresistible human nature to want to gravitate to where the power is.
I remember George C. Scott as "Patton" in "The Last Days of Patton" saying the overwhelming percentage of people in Germany only supported Nazi rule "because they had no choice."
It's called self-preservation. But in the long term, the instinct can be counterproductive or even life-destroying. One might say that the forces for good always end up with the upper hand. This ought to be the Christian attitude.
But look how Christianity itself has been co-opted by the Trump movement. My own "liberal" church of First Lutheran in this town is no longer even strong enough to have its own Sunday services at its own building anymore. Our ELCA is trying to be an outlier vs. Trump-ism. Will we eventually capitulate in some way just to keep the doors open? Or let's say open them again?
This coming Sunday there will be no service at FLC. I have asked if the doors would at least be open. I'm not certain on that. Meanwhile the right-leaning churches of Morris are doing fine, pews filled with Trump voters who are no doubt cheering what the ICE "goon squads" are doing.
We are seeing the slow but steady creation of a "secret police." In some cases they wear masks. They'll descend on people like they came right from hell.
Law firms have been put on the defensive in America. The whole purpose of American law is to litigate, to advocate for aggrieved parties in a civilized system that reflects the Judeo-Christian ethic. We have seen the foundation of that get threatened. However, there have been rays of hope, rays of sunshine lately.
DJT has mounted an unprecedented offensive against major law firms. The firms have had to consider appeasement vs. Trump. MSNBC tells us that four important firms have chosen the courageous route and that to date, these four are undefeated in court!
It turns out that people have a basic tendency not to trust law firms and lawyers who are inclined to "capitulate" vs. power. It's not the nature of the beast. We can feel somewhat encouraged by new developments, at least in the short run. Storm clouds are always on the horizon, So I posted this comment to a Yahoo! news article:
Trump will try to call off the mid-terms. Don't ever bet against him.
"Ty" responded:
Trump can't call off the mid-term elections, and Congress has to vote on him running a third term. We found no provision in the House tax and spending bill that says the president can delay or cancel an election. Elections experts told us the bill would not give the president any power over elections. Only Congress can change a presidential election’s date. The president lacks the power to cancel or delay elections. So, with all this that he and the GOP are doing now, you can best believe that the majority of the people who backed him for the 2024 election will be running in a different direction, trust and believe that!
Thanks for the articulate elucidation. If all this is true, maybe the storm clouds will abate.
Now I'll move on to something closer to home. Will people lose trust in educational institutions that are now choosing to "cave" in the face of Trump-ism and its power?
An example of the weak-kneed and cowardly approach may be exhibited by our University of Minnesota. Very sad to say this. The U has of course been part of the backbone of our Morris community. I have wondered if the phenomenal growth of Superior Industries will be enough to compensate if the U suspends operation of its Morris campus.
Based on new budget news coming out for the U, we can legitimately wonder if the sky is falling. Will the U's Morris campus end up in a state like the Appleton prison? Well, the toilets would still have to be flushed.
Maybe we should be ashamed of the U right now. But some people locally would want to whack me over the head for offering that thought. Because, we are all supposed to recognize where the influence is, adjust to that. So in the name of looking out for our own interests, we're going to capitulate? History does not offer encouraging lessons about this. Then again, we can never predict the future with certainty.
We had a U.S. Senate candidate in MN who has said "the bad guys won World War II." I presume he continues to root for his "good guys." As so many preferred churches in the Morris area are continuing to do. Look at Good Shepherd for example. I doubt that these people support the U of M much if at all. Oh it's "liberal."
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| Rebecca Cunningham |
So there's a gamble at play here? A gamble that the top forces are truly going to take over America? Cancellation of the mid-terms? Therefore, well, just "go along to get along?" I don't think the Trump movement thinks a whole lot of "higher education" anyway.
We might as well commit ourselves to a higher ideal. And if it fails? Well we can at least sleep at night. That is, if the goon squads don't come after us. And please be aware that's possible.
The first sentence of the Minnpost article: "The University of Minnesota, swept up like other schools in the maelstrom of the Trump administration policies they say erode academic freedom, is undergoing intense internal debate about what to do about it."
Collin Peterson pathetically ran his last race for Congress like he was ashamed to be a Democrat. What did that do for him? He'll have the weak-kneed image permanently. And so the forces for capitulation still rage. How can the U of M hold up?
There remains more than a breath of life among America's colleges and universities. So, hundreds of institution presidents have signed an American Association of Colleges and Universities letter that decried the "unprecedented government overreach and political interference."
Some Minnesota schools are in with this. The document has hundreds of signatures. "Yet the University of Minnesota's new president, Rebecca Cunningham, took a pass."
I'm sure our UMN-Morris leaders have gotten talking points for supporting Cunningham. So I won't bother talking to them. The nation's schools are trying to organize a defense to the Trump administration's actions. And we're on the sidelines.
Am I a marked person myself? I mean, I have written with sympathy toward the Palestinians, and now by the "standards" of the DJT administration, I would be considered a "terrorist sympathizer." Schools that have allowed pro-Palestinian demonstrations are now labeled anti-Semitic.
Not sure I really can extricate myself from this situation. Unless we can pull off the mid-terms. But I don't know about that. I love the Jewish people. But I do not love Israel. Guys wearing masks might come and get me in the middle of the night. Are people really proud of what they are doing when they wear masks?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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