One more time

I’ve mentioned this before, but a recent post by Old NFO suggests the thing I thought would fade away, the tendency of some to see a Trump presidency as the harbinger of everything from government endorsed (or at least ignored) KKK terrorism to cattle cars and internment camps for various groups of people, has not come to an end. I have to admit I don’t really understand this, but I’m convinced the folks who harbor these fears do so without good reason. Here’s why.

Let’s look at something like abortion. Regardless of the social/religious/political leanings of whoever Trump might appoint to the Supreme Court, one thing remains true. The SCOTUS hates to reverse earlier decisions and does so with great reluctance. That means Roe v. Wade is not going away. The Court is simply not going to rule that a woman has no right to an abortion, period. Insistence to the contrary might make for great news copy, but that’s all it is.

If we turn our attention to government sanctioned acts of violence against one or more minority groups, the same thing is true. It simply will not happen. Nor are we going to have scores of  private citizens engaging in such things only to have law enforcement turn a blind eye to their activities. Now, might there be a few misguided, cowardly racists who do such things? Of course. We already have such people and there’s no reason to suggest they will go away or that some of them won’t use this as an excuse to engage in one or more acts of violence against those they have chosen to hate. What’s important to remember is that had Hillary Clinton won the election, they would have used that as an excuse for the same actions.

No one is going to be rounded up and put in cattle cars or forced into internment camps. We tried that once, years ago. It did not work out well. It’s not going to happen under Trump.

Now, if you want something legitimate about which to worry, consider this. Some of the worst provisions of the Patriot Act remain in effect thanks to multiple versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Every time one of these provisions is included in the NDAA, our various representatives have the opportunity to vote against it, to insist that these outrageous attacks on liberty be removed, permanently, as the price of passing the Act. Every time, they fail to do so. A few vote against the Acts, but the vast and overwhelming majority of our elected representatives choose to despise liberty instead. I do not care if you call yourself a liberal, progressive, conservative or libertarian, if you voted for the Representative from your congressional district and/or the Senator(s) from your state, one thing is almost guaranteed. That person, the one for whom you voted, chose to deliberately vote for a bill that contains an attack on your liberty. If they are reelected, odds are they will do so again. And your concern is that Donald Trump is going to authorize internment camps? Really? You fear that the plumber you hired is going to pose a threat because of your race?

During both the primary and general election cycles, people told me Trump was engaging in fear mongering. I agreed. He surely was. When I pointed out that those on the Democratic side were also engaging in fear mongering, albeit more subtly and with far greater finesse, I was met with what I can only call “surprised resistance.” The champions of freedom on the left, I was assured, would never do such a thing. I’m told the same thing, still.

Allow me to suggest that if you wish to fear for your safety and freedom, if you wish to have a legitimate concern about attacks on liberty, that the NDAA is a far better cause for such concern. You can focus on Trump if you wish, of course. You can object to his nominees for various positions (I have issues with many of them, myself). But, if you think Trump and his upcoming administration are bigger threats to freedom than the NDAA, you are engaging in overwhelmingly foolish self-deception.

Finally, I would add this: If you truly as concerned about your safety under a Trump administration as you say, allow me to suggest many of the people you simply cannot understand for having voted for someone other than Hillary are your comrades should things reach that point. See, many of those people did not view Trump as a great choice for the highest office in the nation. They would have much preferred someone else. They voted for Trump or someone else other than Hillary simply because she was even more objectionable than Trump. There’s a clue in this. These people treasure liberty at least as much as  you. They don’t want the things you fear from Trump to happen. And, this is the important part, if those things were to occur, these are the people who will be standing with you in the cause of liberty. These are the ones who will march with you, the ones who will sign along with you reasonable petitions calling for government to respect and protect liberty. These are the ones who will speak out on behalf of freedom with you. And, yes, should that most unfortunate of cirmcumstances come to pass, these are the ones who will say “no more” to a government that completely forgets the reason for the Second Amendment. So, though they voted differently perhaps than you did, don’t allow others to deceive you into believing they don’t support your freedom as much as they do their own.