Let Us Not Get Complacent

So simple to forget Donald Trump and his henchmen/women. So simple to think, here he goes again and go on with whatever we are doing. So simple to think all is well when the government reopened today. So simple to forget the activities of DOGE in January of this year. So simple to lose track of Trump's convictions and impeachment trials. We have to constantly wake ourselves up to remember and stay vigilant. I am guilty of falling asleep.

In the last 3 days, I have been jolted from a somnolent state. On Wednesday, I listened to the podcast, "The Daily." Two reporters presented a piece about a man who has organized some of the ICE operations, Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino. Mr. Bovino was interviewed by Hamed Aleaziz who covers Homeland Security for the New York Times. On my car radio, Gregory Bovino articulated in a slightly country and folksy manner. He explained his evolution from a North Carolina boy to a gun toting macho man modeled after certain action heros. Methodical, passionate, and proud to be in a position where he could orchestrate confrontational tactics, Mr. Bovino has been praised by Trump and is on standby for further missions.

He was involved in the Los Angeles raids, as well as those near Bakersfield, California and Chicago. His strategy in Chicago was an unannounced raid in the middle of the night, complete with agents rapelling down an apartment building. I listened to an audio tape of the capture of Hispanic adults and children in one of his maneuevers. The sounds of panic and yelling were frightening. I sat up straighter, that's for sure. Those voices could have been from any assault in any totalitarian government in the world.

Another moment of reawakening occurred last night. An acquaintence whom I respect told me about ads he heard on the radio during a recent trip to Florida. He reported that someone from the Department of Homeland Security makes public service announcements that were aimed at threatening undocumented individuals. That sounds un-American to me.

Lastly, I read an article last night in the New York Times about a professor, at Indiana University who will not be able to continue teaching a class on diversity. She included the "Make America Great Again" slogan as an example of covert white supremacy in a diagram she presented. The professor was suspended from teaching the class (and maybe her job) under a new Indiana law which reflects efforts by university officials to conform to Trump's priorities. The 1930's in certain European countries comes to mind.

This is scary stuff. The question is how do we keep our eyes and ears open without losing our sanity, which resides in our brains, hearts, and stomachs? I think we accomplish and maintain awareness and vigilance by reading, protesting, signing petitions, contacting our representatives, talking with our friends and family, voting, and living a life which is in direct opposition to what is happening in our cities, fields, Home Depots, courtrooms, secret prisons and detention centers.

©KarenLevi 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/us/gregory-bovino-immigration-california.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/us/indiana-university-professor-white-supremacy-lesson.html