American Terrorist 

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We have a terrorist organization operating in the United States. Shockingly, it is one that seems to have evaded all judicial and legislative reach. It's called the Presidency.

True to Donald Trump's previous record of illegal, immoral and unethical actions, his latest horror should shock the consciences of even his most loyal Christian right supporters. The crotch-grabbing, frolicking with golden-showering hookers and fire-at-will terminations of his most competent cabinet members, are nothing compared to the mass-kidnappings he has mandated through a depraved interpretation of U.S. immigration law. (Of course he's blaming it on the Democrats—isn't that what he always does?—but the sad facts speak for themselves. The notion that Dems spearheaded this horrific policy change has been thoroughly debunked. It was King Donald who made that policy change, back in March, initiating a period of zero-tolerance enforcement, including expedited prosecution of all immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally.

While a slow-burning outcry has forced Trump's hand, temporarily ending the separation of children from their would-be immigrant parents, it's far from over. Whatever your religious or non-religious persuasions, no one can say that incarcerating kids, toddlers and babies was the right way to treat other humans. It's been no secret, in the past, that Trump's modus operandi has, indeed, consisted of the "gentle finesse" that we saw in The Art of the Deal. (What a laugh!)

While I personally question the use of the word "art" in the book's title, there seems to be no question that Trump has perfected the use of bludgeoning as the principle strategy in securing the agreement of his opponents. Adopting a corruption of Teddy Roosevelt's brilliant slogan, about walking softly and carrying a big stick, Trump's re-coined variation reads, Talk loudly, crudely—with shameless vulgarity—and carry a caveman-sized club.

In Trump's latest horrific disregard for the most basic human values, kidnapping was added to his ever-expanding list of crimes against humanity. Ripping children from their mothers' arms, he has stepped up his predictable extortionist strategy. While the babies cry and hundreds of children are being permanently emotionally damaged as they languish in the Trump Kennel, immigrant parents are rightly asking themselves, "What have I done?" My guess is that Trump might have called it correctly. I don't think that any family, treated to his little houses of horror, would ever try immigration a second time.

In the wake of Trump's temporary capitulation to public outrage, one of my questions is why it took Americans so long to finally voice their anger. Even the churches, including the Christian evangelical bloc, watched in silence for an entire month and said nothing about the outrage. (After all, hurting a few fully developed babies, children and teens can't be nearly as bad as killing a cluster of cells in a woman's womb, can it?)

Among the moral mutes was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While it should stand as a bastion of Christian principles, President Russell M. Nelson and his flock remained silent until other Christian faiths shamed it into making a statement. Jumping in as late as it did shows how politics and the bandwagon-effect seem to be its only real loyalty.

It's apparent, now, that the power of religions might have ended, or at least postponed, the depravity that led to the suffering of so many. As soon as the volume got turned up, voila, a few brave voices brought the rabid orange raccoon to his knees.

The solution to immigration problems is not easy; I certainly don't have all the answers, but these for-ransom kidnappings must stop. Right now, there's only a very temporary reprieve. The kids can only be incarcerated, accompanied by their parents, for a mere 20 days. What then? If we continue to allow the clown-maniac to operate without sanction or review, we're going to find ourselves in a real mess.

Here's just a glimpse of how absurd it could get:

•A new law legalizing the much-applauded Trump-style pussy-grabbing and the caveat of "self-pardoning" convictions for sexual assaults and rapes perpetrated by persons having a net worth of $10 million or more.

•Daily city-square floggings of all abortionists, non-compliant NFL players, New York Times reporters and, of course, the hordes of murderer-rapist invaders.

•Resurrection of city-center stocks and pillories for the purpose of shaming the LBGTQ community, limited to no longer than 20 consecutive days.

•Unrestricted torture of all suspected foreign terrorists—domestic ones get a free pass—including, but not restricted to: water-boarding, bamboo slivers under their nail beds and delivery of genital electrical shocks not to exceed 1,200 volts.

•Rewriting the inspiring inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty to read, "Fuck the tired and the poor, to hell with the huddled masses and don't send us any more murderers and rapists."

•Immediate confirmation of the latest U.S. Supreme Court pick. Who could that possibly be? God—not the same pansy-ass one from the New Testament, but one who teaches the lesson, "Blessed are the insanely rich, for they shall inherit it all."

•An official news service—one that, under direct presidential supervision, is committed to the "truth."

You might be rolling your eyes and scoffing at these scenarios, but if you look at history, especially at the tyrants that have hijacked a passel of more-or-less democratic nations, the writing is on the wall. We should all be scared. While we continue to revel in the illusion of our democracy, the most essential of our freedoms are on the chopping block. What will it take for Americans to wake up and smell the coffee? (Oops, I have trod once more on one of the local sacred cows.)

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