Trump’s Lyin’ Eyes
Trump’s Lyin’ Eyes
By J.D. Murphy
In the United States of America, because of Republican control of congress withDonald J. Trump as our 47th president, it simply no longer matters where you live, or what you might happen to believe in, to become a victim of the transparently out-of-control executive and legislative branches of the federal government,manifested by the indiscriminate use—at the cost of billions of taxpayer dollars—of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency againstnot only non-citizen illegal aliens as intended, but all citizens exercising free speech rights in physical proximity to ICE agents.
If you think you are immune from ICE depredations, continue to drive your kids to school; jog; visit your gym; drop off your car for repairs; pick up your laundry; meet a friend for coffee; return a library book; walk to a park; attend mass; attend a doctor’s or dentist’s appointment; renew your driver’s license; pick up a prescription; visit a neighbor; drive to work; change a tire on your E-bike; stare at the moon; watch the news; let the dog out; or chew a gummy—but don’t dare forget for a second that if ICE agents are in physical proximity, your constitutional rights as an American citizen could and will be denied at gunpoint for unknown reasons.
According to President Trump and his Republican confirmed cabinet heads, if you are detained or arrested by ICE, you are now—ipso facto—a legitimate candidate for treatment as a “domestic terrorist.” This highly charged rubric is routinely employed to falsely justify the sometimes-brutal physical violation of the constitutional rights of actual American citizens by ICE.
There are reportedly 3,000 ICE agents presently in the City of Minneapolis,outnumbering local police approximately five-to-one. Local law enforcement is excluded from the ICE efforts to find illegal aliens, thus establishing ICE as an alien force itself. Local citizens of all colors, religions, and partisan political values are on the streets day and night exercising their free speech rights by demanding that ICE to leave their city and state.
President Trump and his lock-step Republican supporters now tiresomely declarethat the exercise of free speech by Minneapolis citizens constitutes insurrection, and therefore can justify the use of the United States military.
President Trump’s perception of ordinary citizens exercising their right to protest the presence of thousands of ICE agents as insurrectionists, unashamedlycontradicts his willful refusal—while observing the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. capitol on T.V safely inside the White House—for more than three hours before he sent a message to the estimated 10,000 “Save America” “patriots” he invited to target the U.S. capitol building, to get on with their day elsewhere.
Trump’s “Save America” invitees were provided inspiration for a threatened outcome of their attack on the U.S. Capitol by the erection of gallows on capitol grounds that symbolized what could happen to Vice-President Pence if he endorsed Joe Biden as the 47th President of the United States. The instant “Save America” invitees entered U.S. capitol grounds—because their presence and subsequent actions had the imprimatur of the President of the United States—although by the sheer ferocity and viciousness of the attacks on the capitol building and those who protect it, by definition, became insurrectionists—remain lauded as “patriots” by President Trump.
President Trump’s “Save America” ‘patriots” attacked the U.S. capitol with “rocks and bricks; large batteries; unopened canned goods; bats and batons; and flagpoles. Bike racks, and ballistic shields were used to strike the police, as was at least one fire extinguisher. Professional grade fireworks were also used against the police. Human excrement was used… . Green lasers were used against the eyes of law enforcement, and at least one Capitol Police Officer was assaulted with an electroshock “stun gun” weapon. Commercially available defensive “pepper spray,” and its much more long-range and potent variant “bear spray,” was used on January 6th against the Capitol Police. Fire was used as a weapon to destroy property. There were “five associated deaths, and 140 police officers injured.” There were nine arrests on firearm charges and some 3,071 rounds of ammunition recovered.” The U.S. capitol also suffered $2.7 million in property damage. (Source: Annals of Emergency Medicine.)
Minneapolis “Domestic Terrorists,” citizens remain armed solely with whistles, balloons, phones used video cameras, loud voices, and maybe an occasional snowball.
In response to such pacifist armor, Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress now define Minneapolis citizens engaged in their exercise of free speechagainst the ICE occupation as “insurrectionists.” The literally mind-boggling use of such a volatile term mirrors President Trump’s hallucinogenic characterization ofthe attack on the U.S. capitol as a “Day of Love,” and Republican members of congress who continue to describe January 6th as a “tour,” and the falsely labeledinsurrectionists as solely exhibiting “orderly behavior.”
No American citizen can allow such a travesty and material threat to our democracy to remain unchallenged to the Trump administration. Regardless of partisan beliefs, all will suffer the same deadly consequences to our nation and ourselves in perpetuity arising from such attacks on our constitutional rights. Let’s support each other to come to our senses.
J.D. Murphy is an American businessman, author, and filmmaker best known for co-founding the University of Phoenix. Born in Portland, Oregon in 1946, Murphy studied at San Jose State University and later taught there while running a community mental health program early in his career. In 1976 he helped launch the University of Phoenix with John Sperling, serving in senior administrative roles focused on government affairs and accreditation before resigning in 1997. As a filmmaker and writer, Murphy produced and wrote Valley of the Heart’s Delight (2006) and has authored books including Jury Rigging in the Court of Public Opinion, Mission Forsaken: The University of Phoenix Affair with Wall Street, and American Incendiary Populism. He lives in St. Helena, California, where he operates the Sang-Froid Vineyards on his property.