SILENCE COULD BE DEADLY

Although identifying parallels between the Trump administration's approach to the power of government and Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany may have been overdone, however, some elements of their respective strategies are unequivocally and appropriately comparable. During his campaign, President Trump made a point of promising some radical policies. Mass deportations of undocumented aliens, abolition of D.E.I. (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs, and simplifying gender identification were just a few. Within weeks of taking office, the Trump administration deployed 5,000 active troops and national guard members to the Southern border. Thus far, I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) personnel carried out between 20,000 and 23,000 arrests. Its goal is to deport one million undocumented immigrants during the administration's first year. Locating, processing and deporting such a sizable target population has proven to be challenging. To handle this many migrants the administration is developing a deportation hub at Ford Bliss near El Paso, Texas, which could house up to 10,000 inmates as they go through the process. This facility is supposed to serve as a model for more internment camps on military sites across the country. For the time being, a 30,000 internee facility at Guantanamo Bay was scrapped because of the cost. Meanwhile, Republicans across the country are looking to implement a hardline immigration agenda that aligns with President Trump's vision of tougher measures in support of his core immigration policies. Much of this support focuses on helping I.C.E. identify suspected deportation candidates. Similar to a system Nazi Germany developed, which paid bounty hunters to inform on Jews hidden from the Gestapo, unscrupulous citizens are now ready to embrace the opportunity to earn some extra income. Missouri State Senator David Gregory recently introduced a Senate Bill which establishes an anonymous tip line allowing individuals to report suspected illegal immigrants. If their information leads to an arrest, the informer could receive a $1,000 reward. Mississippi is considering a similar compensation structure. Not to be outdone, Texas Governor Greg Abbott would also not rule out using bounty hunters to apprehend illegal migrants in his state. This strategy of incentivizing the search and seizure of suspected illegal immigrants without rhyme or reason promises to spread a growing apprehension among non white citizens, legitimate or not. The promise of potential rewards might become too strong for unscrupulous bounty hunters to care about evidence. Among other core elements of the administration's objectives are expeditiously implementing the abolishment of anything resembling D.E.I. (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion); delegitimizing transgender individuals struggling with gender identity issues, and reclassifying thousands of career civil service employees into a category that would eliminate their civil service protection. D.E.I. everything has been an overwhelming target from the beginning. On his first day in office, the president signed an order directing federal agencies to terminate all "equity related" contracts, grants or programs. He required federal contractors to verify that they don't promote D.E.I. Efforts to increase diversity have long been under attack by Republicans who contend the measures threaten merit-based hiring, promotion and economic opportunity for white people. The administration is eliminating the concept from the federal lexicon to an extreme degree. References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the "Enola Gay" aircraft which dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, and photographs of the first women to pass marine infantry training are among the more than 26,000 images marked for deletion as the defense department works to purge D.E.I. content and change history. One official reported that the purge could remove as many as 100,000 images and posts all together. Noticeably, all targeted historic content portray non-white, male, heterosexual representations. (To highlight the idiocy of this project: the "Enola Gay" bomber was named after Enola Gay Tibbits, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbits.) The entire project displays the administration's racist inclinations. Mr. Trump's loyalists like to suggest that they are replacing D.E.I. with meritocracy. The underlying assumption appears to be that minorities and women are less competent. Transgender people are being erased as well. Donald Trump, playing God, ordained that hence forward we will recognize only two genders: male and female. Consequently, the Defense Department announced that the estimated 1,320 to 6,630 transgender individuals in our military will be removed. This scary scenario appears to be expanding unchallenged at an accelerated pace. While Trump sets the policy, many of his executioners exhibit their ignorance. Loyalty to the extreme leader appears to remain the only attribute required for survival at the pinnacle of our national government. Our tendency to not question these developments amount to legitimize what should be roundly rejected. What comes to mind is a powerful poem created at the end of World War II by the German Lutheran theologian Martin Niemoler: - First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist; - Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist; - Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew; - Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me. Niemoler initially supported the Nazi movement. He ultimately became a staunch opponent of the regime, and spent years in a concentration camp. His poem is about the silent complicity of German intellectuals and clergy following the Nazi's rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets. His words are a reference to the Holocaust. They are also, however, a warning about the ease with which such an event could occur again if we of the present allow ourselves to become ignorant of the lessons of the past. Theo Wierdsma

TRADITIONAL INTERNATIONAL ALIGNMENTS ARE SHIFTING

The initial response to the disastrous Oval Office encounter between Hungarian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump and his vice president was that the resulting confrontation became a horrendously shameful moment for our country. The sentiment expressed by many was that the objective of the U.S. team was to ambush the Ukranian leader to be lectured to and humiliated on the world stage, either on behalf of or for the benefit of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The massive reaction by a vast majority of world leaders and pundits should have been anticipated, but may have been unexpected. Washington Post Journalist Jonathan Capehart saw the staged event as "a travesty, horrendous, despicable." Republican columnist David Brooks reported that he was "nauseated, just nauseated." Republican Nebraska congressman Don Bacon suggested that what transpired was "a bad day for America's foreign policy. Trump might stand with Putin and his brutal invasion, but real Americans stand with Ukraine and its brave leader and valiant people" Prime minsters and presidents from all over, including the E.U., Great Britain, Canada and Australia, posted on social media in support of Zelensky and Ukraine. French President Emanuel Macron made clear that "There is an aggressor: Russia. There is a people under attack: Ukraine." Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed support for Ukraine as well. He posted: "This is the struggle of a democratic nation versus an authoritarian regime led by Vladimir Putin who clearly has imperialistic designs, not just on Ukraine, but throughout that region." Polish Cold War hero Lech Walesa, leader of the "Solidarity" movement during the 1980s, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and Polish president from 1990-1995, who fought USSR power, in a well planned, detailed response, voiced his horror at Trump's scolding of Zelensky. His open letter to Donald Trump, which was co-signed by 39 former Polish political prisoners, is well worth reading in its entirety. Some excerpts: "We watched the report of your conversation with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste." "Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukranian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world." "We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this." "The atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation --- reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the security services and the debates in Communist courts." On the Sunday following the shouting match in the Oval Office, leaders from the E.U., Great Britain and Canada met in an emergency meeting in London. Absent were the U.S. and Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban, a long-time Putin ally and Trump supporter, who was not invited. This meeting was followed by an emergency session of the E.U. in Brussels on March 6, during which all but one of the attendees (Orban) voted to provide Ukraine with an additional $30 billion in support for military equipment, and a plan for $800 billion in a rearmament fund for Europe to defend Ukraine and itself. In the mean time, Donald Trump showed his colors by placing further U.S. military aid for Ukraine on hold, and cancelling intelligence sharing with Zelensky's military forces. In addition, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stop all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions. The Trump administration made clear that it no longer sees Russia as a cyber security threat. Shortly before these manipulations were executed, the U.N. passed a resolution calling for de-escalation, an immediate ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the conflict. It included a demand for Russia's "complete and unconditional withdrawal" from Ukraine territory. Contrary to historical precedent, the U.S. voted against the resolution, joined by 17 others, including Russia, Israel, North Korea, Sudan, Belarus, Hungary and Iran. Every one of these, except for Israel, has an authoritarian system of government. Trump's maneuverings have raised concerns, not just in Europe, but also in the capitals of allies around the world. For about 80 years U.S. foreign policy has been based on a network of alliances and institutions that allowed the country "to project power, to create zones of prosperity, to enjoy trade with like-minded partners." This extended mainly to Europe. Trump is effectively signifying that he is no longer interested in hearing from European allies, and that he is aligning with a power that is a daily threat to Europe. He is also considering a major change to U.S. participation in NATO, especially relative to U.S. adherence to Article 5 of the alliance, which stipulates that an attack on any member is considered to be an attack on all and will prompt a total NATO response. Trump has pointedly stated that he would only send U.S. military to defend NATO allies that contribute what he deems to be a fair share of their national GDPs to their defense budgets. He has actually encouraged Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to any NATO country that does not pay enough. European leaders are scrambling about how to respond to these attacks on an alliance that has successfully endured for this long. They need to consider what they can do to help Ukraine stave off continued military attacks by Russia and political attacks by Trump. Giorgia Meloni, Italy's prime minister, leader of the, fascist leaning, "Brothers of Italy," and a Trump supporter, is pushing for a summit meeting to help clarify positions and develop options. The continent is reorganizing, but hoping that eventually America will come back. A lot can happen during the next four years. Theo Wierdsma