What Would Nellis Say?

capitol storm

By Rick Stiller​​​​​​

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I scrambled to finish and publish For All That’s Right And True, the fifth and, what I hoped would be, final volume in my Redemption Series, before November’s election for two reasons…first, to satisfy my need to silence the novel’s 132 characters who have been forecasting national nightmares inside my brain for more than a decade, and second, I prayed the American people would prove my predictions wrong. In hindsight, after the apocalypse we have endured over the past two months, I believe the traumas in For All That’s Right And True will transpire before the next election.

A couple of nights after MAGA morons re-elected the most dangerous and disgusting presidential candidate in the history of our republic for a second term, I awoke and sat upright in my bed with two thoughts…that everything that I’ve been writing about in my essays and novels was about to come true, and my hopeful finale in the last book might prove prescient. Unfortunately, it seems quite the opposite.

We are witnessing the deconstruction of our democracy from the inside out, as prescribed in the nine-hundred pages of Russell Vought’s Project 2025, the playbook for dismantling and privatizing the federal government. The Republicans are calling the second Trump era a “Post Constitutional America.” History will recall it as the period when ignorant Americans gleefully elected a fascist government that erased the rights and benefits that made this country the envy of the world.

While claiming that his juvenile tech team is chasing waste and fraud, South African bigot Elon Musk is indiscriminately firing thousands of workers who make the machinery of government function and defunding vital programs that protect and benefit millions of our citizens. 

Judges have ruled against the massive layoffs and ordered those workers back to work. The new secretaries of those agencies are paying their civil servants’ salaries but denying them desk space, office supplies, and the equipment to do their jobs. Have a question about why your Social Security check hasn’t shown up, or when you might expect your refund from the IRS, or veterans scheduling care from the VA? There’s nobody there to answer the phones!

Trump’s puppet Congress is wasting no time in pirating funds for their $4.5 trillion giveaway to the wealthiest 1/10th of 1% of the population, from programs that feed the poor, provide medical care for millions, and protect us from storms, diseases, and corporate theft.

The Trump regime is building barriers and tariffs against our closest allies, neighbors, and trading partners, ignoring our treaties and commitments, and threatening military invasions of Canada, Greenland, and Panama. 

Two months ago, America was the leader of the free world with a resilient economy that recovered far more rapidly than any other nation on the planet under the Biden administration. Now, we are a pariah that can’t be trusted to fulfill our promises or maintain our commitments to peace and world order. Russia, China, and now the United States will determine the world's future at the expense of and without the approval or involvement of the other 192 recognized countries.

It only took Adolph Hitler thirty-one days to eliminate his political opposition, pack the judiciary with sympathetic collaborators, shut down the free press, and begin a re-education campaign to convince the population that the Jews caused the country’s problems. The massive and sophisticated propaganda campaign convinced German citizens that the only path to national salvation was for him to have complete control of the government and the right to eradicate their neighbors in death camps. While not as efficient, Trump and his lackeys are well on their way to emulating Hitler’s despicable feat.

For the first time in our history, we are witnessing a fascist/autocratic coup that has six patrons on the Supreme Court, a terrified and subservient majority in the House of Representatives, and a compliant Senate. While Democrats fumble and stumble, the only branch of government that is maintaining any semblance of independence is the federal judiciary, which has ruled against many of the administration’s more outrageous offenses in the past few weeks.

Sighting the Alien Enemies Act, an archaic law established in 1798 in anticipation of the War of 1812 and only used in World War I and II, their pogram against people of color is not confined to violent immigrant criminals but rather anyone who disagrees with the current administration, including U.S. citizens.

Presidential assistant Steven Miller, famous for his cruel and malicious presidential orders against anyone who is not a white “Christian” male…consider the Muslim travel ban and kidnapping thousands of babies from migrant mothers’ arms with no intention of ever returning them…in conjunction with equally despicable Tom Homan, the Director of ICE, has launched their campaign to round up millions of “illegal” immigrants without trial or representation and ship them off to countries they have never visited, let alone lived in.

As we have witnessed in a slick video produced by the administration with a musical soundtrack, prisoners who were deported to El Salvador - without being allowed representation by a lawyer, indicted for a crime, or tried in an American court - where they were stripped to their underwear, shackled, and had their heads shaved before being bussed off to suffer violence and inhumanity inside the walls of a barbaric prison run by a brutal dictator known for his contempt for human rights. Homan and his ICE Gestapo have not released any documentation to prove that any of these people were guilty of any crime. Cruelty, fear, and dehumanization is the point.

Washington, D.C. Judge James Boasberg ruled that the deportations were illegal and ordered the administration to stop several clandestine flights to Venezuela, but Homan’s thugs ignored the ruling and delivered their hostages anyway. Trump is calling for the judge’s impeachment, but Chief Justice Roberts rebuked his demands, “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

Obstinate judges who make rulings based on their oath to the Constitution and established law are the final obstacles to be neutered before the fascists take complete control. When the administration defies a judge’s order with an attitude of “Make me,” there is no authority other than the military that can force the executive branch to acquiesce. Defense Secretary Hegseth made firing independent generals who are not Trump loyalists his first priority after taking office.

We are facing a Constitutional crisis with potential consequences more dire than any in our history. We are approaching the moment when real American patriots are going to have to stand up to defend our beliefs and our future against the brutal demolition that is well underway.

In a recent conversation with former staunch “Christian” Republicans, I was dismayed to hear them excuse the blatant racism and cruelty of ICE raids, the senseless dismissals of tens of thousands of public servants who make government service function, and the looming demolition of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (“Oh, Trump would never do that!”) because the administration claims to be eliminating waste and fraud. 

No, they’re not! As public records clearly demonstrate, Trump’s DOGE team has not identified or eliminated any “waste or fraud. They are hollowing out and dismantling many of our most crucial agencies (think nuclear energy and weapons, scientists monitoring diseases and potential epidemics, and NOAA’s weather forecasting) so they can be “privatized” to profit Musk and his billionaire buddies. This campaign has no interest in serving the public or streamlining the government. They are reaping massive quantities of data and stashing it in gigantic Ai server farms to be harvested and manipulated for their own personal use.

There is no way to separate or excuse the bigotry, hate, and vengeance that is driving Trump’s MAGA Republican attacks on our democracy and our way of life from the “efficiencies” they claim to be instituting. The Trump administration has no interest in the “public good” or the working people who were foolish enough to believe his endless lies and voted for him.

The nation can not wait for Democratic leadership to stop fumbling around searching for the proper message before they are finally willing to stand up and fight. It is time for real American patriots to demand an end to this nightmare before it is too late to reclaim and rebuild all the liberties that actually make America great.

Stand up! Speak out! Make a difference! God bless our America!

Thank you for your support and I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Visit: www.rickstiller.com for more on my essays and novels.

Give your soul a break with my floral portraits from Kelian’s Garden: www.rickstillerart.com

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