Our government is disappearing our students. My “our” is we, the people of the United States of America. I say “our” because its “ours.” It isn’t 47’s. He is lying. It is not the case that all American citizens approve the actions of our government against Mahmoud Khalil, but here we are. 47 has deployed a “We.” I am here to say that 47 is bearing false witness against me and all American citizens who oppose the actions he appears to have ordered and approved in regard to Mahmoud Khalil who is, from what I can discern, being denied due process as of right now. He is deploying a fallacy sometimes referred to as “the crowd shroud.” His “we” is doing too much work. He is being inappropriate. It is a sign of weakness. Generalization is fascism’s oxygen supply. Specificity cuts it off.
A less general way of describing the terror attacks currently being carried out against individuals like Mahmoud Khalil and his wife and the child they’re expecting is this: Republicans are disappearing our students. Yes, 47 and Marco Rubio are the two high profile Republicans who’ve hopped on God’s internet to express their approval of this assault, but they’re enabled by Republican leaders who, as far as we know, condone and approve their teammates’ misconduct. So…Republicans are disappearing our students. If one or more Republicans decide to unlock arms with Rubio and 47 over this abusive decision, that will be good news. Please let me know if you hear from one.
Stay safe, y’all.
Here’s what Jesse Singal heard from an immigration attorney:
Ann Coulter has issued a signal.
Steve Vladeck has questions.
Court orders access to lawyers via phone.
Here’s Prem Thakker on DHS agents moving in on more students on Columbia’s campus.
Here’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein on our masked agents arresting our student (Badar Khan Suri) because our government suspects he and his wife (Mapheze Saleh) might hold a particular view. Read the sentence correctly. Then make sure you read the piece before proceeding further. It’s helpful for many reasons, but one big one is this part: “Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a determination on Saturday that Suri’s visa should be canceled for foreign policy reasons.”
Yes, it’s our government. But Marco Rubio issued the determination.
The question of who issued what and who decided or determined what is essential in the pursuit of a free and civil society. God sees everything governments hide.
Update: I just thought of a couple of other ways of describing the situation.
Southern Baptists are disappearing our students.
When I say this, I don’t mean to say that confirmed Southern Baptist leaders like Brent Leatherwood and Mike Johnson (pictured above) personally issued a directive to disappear anyone. But association is currency. Having publicly vouched for one another (That’s how I read the image above) and having vouched for so many others involved in the disappearing of our students, I would hope they would make time to speak up on which disappearances they don’t approve and….what we should expect from them moving forward.
I am lately helped by Kristin Du Mez’s assessment of where we are:
“In recent weeks, this utter abandonment of even pretending to care about the truth has been one of the things wearing me down most. I don’t know how to engage in a space that has zero regard for truth. How do we as citizens participate in a democracy when disinformation is so prevalant, and when so many seem so willing to believe the lies and ignore the reality that is right in front of us? When so many are willing to abandon all values to choose their side, every single time?”
Read her whole post here.
In other news:
Where’s the lie?
[The image above is the work of Guy Richards Smit]
If you support Putin, as Trump, Vance and Rubio do, then by definition you are engaged in "pro-terrorist activity," yes? Of course, Trump wont need to self-deport since Christian Nationalist fanatics on the Supreme Court have said that presidents (Republican ones, they mean) get a pass on pro-terrorist or any other illegal activities while in office.
In Tennessee, we're disappearing students in another way, too. The Legislature is on the verge of allowing school districts to turn away undocumented students who were brought to this country by their parents. Districts like Nashville that choose not to discriminate will be punished, because the pending bill also would require them to verify the immigration status of their students. It's pretty clear that the state will then use this data to cut funding for the district by the number of undocumented kids (and of course they will also turn it over to ICE).
This is a state that allows foster children to sleep on the floors of state office buildings; that turned away federal funds for summer food assistance (all of $40 per month) for hungry kids who qualify for free/reduced-price lunches when school is in session; and that now feels morally justified in turning away kids from schools.
I suppose they've removed from their Trump Bibles Jesus' warning that, for those who put a stumbling block in front of the "little ones," it would be better if they tied a millstone around their necks and threw themselves into the sea.
This is straightforward. I have been sitting in the TN state legislative committees listening to the arguments of many Republicans as they put forth bills, and I have begun to wonder if some folks are tuned in to their thinking ability or just to their rage.