FIRST THEY CAME FOR A U.S. SENATOR

You know the rest

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I’ve been telling everyone I know recently, “They’re going to start arresting political figures.” Today they got a good start.

Senator Alex Padilla of California was forceably removed from a Kristi Noem Press Conference in Los Angeles today. His crime? He tried to ask a question.

In a normal world, mind you- as in a Constitutional order under rule by law - a U.S. Senator has every reason to be where Senator Padilla was today. He has the right, indeed the responsibility, to exercise oversight and ask questions of the Secretary. His presence there was both legal and appropriate. But this is not a normal world. And Trump feels he gets points from MAGA for looking tough on California.

These were Secretary Noem’s words right before the episode: “We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the Socialists and the burdensome leadership that this Governor and this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city.”

Responses from Democrats came quickly, but the one that made me pull my hair out was the post by Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader. He said the video of the Senator being manhandled by law enforcement sickened his stomach, and “We need immediate answers to what went on.”

Does Senator Schumer really think we just need to “demand answers?” Write a harshly worded letter, perhaps? Didn’t Chamberlain try that? If he does, then there should be no surprise why people are horrified at the weak-kneed response they’re feeling from the Democratic Party.

There’s a resistance to all this happening now, but it’s coming from the people.

Someone clearly would have told the guards, “Hey, wait. That’s Senator Padilla.” No way they did not know. And no way they didn’t know exactly what they were doing. They were sending a signal. And if Senator Schumer doesn’t get that warning, or won’t respond to it the way it needs to be responded to, he should resign his position as leader of the Senate Democrats.

Secretary Noem said “When I leave here, I’ll find him and visit and find out really what his concerns were. I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn’t appropriate, that if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation.”

No, Madame Secretary, you know damn well what his “concerns” are and no, his job is not to “reach out and try to have a conversation.” He knew what he was doing. He wanted his questions on camera, available to the press in the room. And that’s where those questions belong: in front of the American people, not in some secret little room where your ignorance about the law and lack of empathy are not on full display for all to see.

This isn’t even just authoritarianism. It’s totalitarianism. And the next step after that is fascism. This is real, and it is happening now.

Wherever you are, I hope you can make it to a No King’s protest on Saturday. If you do go, commit yourself to this: be very, very peaceful.

Any violence at the protests totally plays into the administration’s hands. Trump and his minions would like nothing more than for the protests to be violent, giving them an excuse to bring in the military. They’re already doing it in LA and if we give them the chance, they will do it elsewhere.

They wish to portray citizens protesting unAmerican activity as people who are trying to “rebel.” And remember that word. If he can convince enough people that that’s what’s happening, as Steven Miller is already trying to do, then that will pave the way for him to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare Martial Law.

They will not succeed.

They do not represent the spirit of this country, the values of this country, or the laws of this country. Our conviction that we must be a good and decent America will override their conviction that we need not be. But we must stand now. We cannot sit this out.

Remember, you are not simply standing against a policy you don’t like; you are standing for an America that is the dream of our forefathers and our promise to our children. Gandhi said, “Politics should be sacred.” He wasn’t talking about religious dogma or doctrine; he was talking about living from our hearts. And we can do that. The consciousness exhibited at those rallies could literally affect the trajectory of American history. Go in peace.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and his allies would always pray before a march. If you have even one prayer partner to join you before the rally on Saturday, together ask for prayer and protection over all participants (not just the people you like!). You will be calling in a great and mighty Power. Prayer is the medium of miracles, and we need miracles now.