Crocodile Tears in LA
What's going on in Los Angeles is really hard to watch because it reminds me of the riots that broke out in 1992 after Rodney King's attackers were acquitted. As hard as it is, I knew I needed to say something to my audience, which includes some folks from my past who have attacked me and, perhaps by some macabre self-indulgence, still read my newsletter.
I don't want to kick assholes off my feed because that violates some core beliefs I hold. But I also don't want to give them, or a public I've found to be totally indifferent to my community's sufferings, anything of value that belongs to me, even my words. Writing is a form of vulnerability, and I want to protect myself by not giving any more of myself than a public space calls for. So I gave an AI chatbot a few prompts and, in a few seconds, it spat out an essay included nearly zero personal investment from me.
So here is my authentic reflection on the ICE raids in my hometown, reserved for paying subscribers who, even if macabre, are giving $omething of theirs in return for something from me.
My first reaction to seeing the California National Guard deployed was to sympathize with the soldiers following orders into a stupid situation for which they will be judged guilty by association.
I'm afraid that it's only a matter of time before progressive anger at ICE is taken out on soldiers and, by extension, veterans and military Dependents. I've seen leftists throw shit (evil words as well as physical objects) at soldiers just trying to do a job they didn't have much say in. I've been there when my community has been called monsters and baby-killers, and I know the moral damage that can do to young hearts and minds in uniform. It is damage I've been healing from for 20+ years.
I hope liberals remember that the CA National Guard includes their neighbors, friends, family members. Just like the undocumented migrants targeted by ICE, soldiers don't like having to do stupid shit, whether that's obeying the questionable orders of a dipshit president or destroying their backs by hunching over to pick strawberries all day. I hope progressives think about what I have in common with the marginalized before they convince themselves I cannot possibly have anything in common with aliens deprived of the rights our nation claims to provide all residents.
The principle being pursued by federal agencies is the same; privatize civil rights and restrict access to Constitutional protections. That's what the military community has in common with undocumented migrants. If progressives are angry at depriving immigrants of American liberty, then why TF aren't they also pissed that the same exact thing that's been happening to soldiers and veterans for an entire generation? Until there's greater public awareness of the link between human dignity and military suicide, the lefty emotions about deportations are nothing but crocodile tears, an insincere display of emotion that does more to virtue signal than make any real difference in the lives of grunts like migrants and soldiers.
