Your Local Police = ICE

Hi it's me, your local OverReactor. Months ago, I posted this on BlueSky:

This post was the end of a longer thread about how fascism creeps in quietly. Contrary to the assumptions many Americans seem to have about the innate sanctity of democratic norms and institutions, they are crumbling in front of us. The history of rising fascist movements suggests that the Trump regime is just getting started. Courts are trying to hold firm, but they have no real muscle as long as Congress continues to enable the loss of freedoms. Once this gets normalized, we will never get back to constitutionalism. People will forget what freedom is like almost as soon as it's gone. Humans are tragically resilient. Don't believe me? Just ask anyone in Turkey who used to have rights, prior to about 7 years ago.

Here's a real-time example of the same steps currently being taken here in the U.S.A.:

Yesterday, the Trump regime issued an executive memorandum instructing that police forces will be "unleashed" to help ICE chase down people who (they claim) are criminals and "terrorists." Without due process, of course, we can't evaluate the truth of these claims. Due process is nothing more than verification that the state is not making errors or abusing its power. The Trump regime has been flouting due process, openly. MAGA hates federal workers and the federal state, allegedly. So why do they LOVE government overreach in the form of militarized police power?

If you haven't served time on the Board, you should know that we pay the Shorewood Hills police a bigger chunk of our operative budget than most municipalities in Wisconsin, and even across America, do. Our police force in this little bedroom community, which barely even makes police reports when crime actually happens, is actually armed to the teeth. When Krazy-eyes Kash Patel orders these local police officers to arrest kids and moms who (they claim) are dangerous illegal immigrations, and the penalty for refusing this instruction is to face sanctions or arrest, what do you think will happen next?

Keep in mind, the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Trump again, even after he pardoned 1500 insurrectionists who killed police officers. The Fürher repaid them all by erasing the federal database of police crimes. One proto-fascist on staff could threaten to rat out the others unless they cooperate with the fascist raids. Who will be the lawful actors in this hypothetical? When the orders are putatively "legal," because the White House issued them, who will stop them from following these once-illegal orders? Do you even know who oversees the police in our community? Is it the Village Board? (I know the answer, but I wonder if you do.)

Our village board is just seven people. They are a group of volunteers. This group has mostly demonstrated political cowardice in the face of conflict. They clung to a racist administrator for years who, with help from the Board majority, covered up her ineptness and corruption. They forced ELECTED officials to sign a civility pledge. I didn't sign it because that's a textbook intimidation tactic and I'm not that easily cowed. But really, is this the same Board you expect will call off the military assault at your neighbor's house, or on the playground at school? The civility pledge people?

Folks, I'm sorry to alarm you out of your stupor, but we are already swimming upstream. The more people they grab from schools, churches, courtrooms, and streets, the harder it will be for regular people to assess truth and parse facts.

So what can you do this week?

First, stay informed. I watch Meidas Touch and Brian Tyler Cohen on YouTube. The legacy and corporate media have already ceded ground. They're already making side deals. They're caving left and right, as CBS 60 Minutes has most recently shown.

Second, organize. Make your voices heard. We're having another law and order protest this upcoming Saturday. We're trying our best to coordinate with the national 50501 movement, but they are focused on May day this week. We will be holding local Saturday actions as long as people keep coming. Details are here.

Third, write to your local police and government, and stand up for what's right. Personally, I think we should demand our officers follow the stance of the MPD, Madison's better trained and better supervised force. Whatever your view, the safety of our communities are in our hands. Especially women's hands, as most men are still enabling this. No big surprise there.

What was it that Hamilton said? If we don't hang together, we will hang separately.