I have always said that we, the Americans eligible to vote, freely chose the mess that we are immersed in now.  This does not go over well with those who voted, essentially, for a reasonably stable nation and world.  The problem is that more people voted for the regime presently in control, and by far the largest number of eligible citizens didn’t even bother to vote, or voted for someone with zero chance of making a difference.

Bill Kristol of the Bulwark shared a sobering analysis by historian Fred Kagan, and his article here: Kristol/Kagan on Chaos Is Coming.   Also, is this a snapshot of the future plans of the U.S. leadership?  Both worth your time.

But this post is mostly about a real-world example shared with me Friday evening by a local friend.  Succinctly, ICE has descended on the Twin Cities community to root out alleged and undesirable illegals.  For myself, probably for most of us, the street theater might seem distant and abstract, even if we live here.  It’s not happening in our neighborhood, so why bother?

Ann’s e-mail, following, helps to bring the issue closer to home.  I have slightly edited the original only to protect specific identities.  Otherwise, the e-mail is here in its entirety, and worth your time.

“We have friends from [S. America].  One of them was once in my… class, and he became almost a family member.  In fact, his parents were just here from… and we got together with them.  Then his cousin followed him here, and we have kind of “adopted” him also.  He has helped [my husband] a lot around the yard, etc.  They both graduated from college and obtained work permits and jobs.  [Sebastian] married and moved out of state.

[Francisco’s] green card is in the works, and he just received a notice that it would be here soon.  He looks Mexican, and I have told him more than once that he could be targeted.  He just kinda laughed.  Tonight he called, really distraught.  He said today Immigration pulled a good friend of his over on the road.  The guy is in the same situation – a valid work permit and a green card on the way.  [Francisco] said that the thugs in their vehicles passed him on the road, saw that he looked Hispanic, then pulled him over and pointed guns at him.  The friend was driving his own car but was delivering packages for Amazon at the time.  They threw him into some facility in Elk River, where he was able to call.  He doesn’t even know what happened to his car.  He said someone just drove it off (probably including folks’ Christmas packages…)

The friend has to appear in court on Monday.  [Francisco] and his friends were trying to find an attorney to accompany him.  (He later said that they found someone.  These immigration attorneys are making out like bandits right now…)

Francisco also said that ICE showed up at his worksite today and hauled someone off.  And that they knew of someone else who actually has a green card but was arrested.  We hear what’s going on, but to hear the distress in his voice and to relate to the terror of his friend is something else.  And to realize his shock that this can actually happen in… America.  I’m so ashamed and angry.”

Within those four paragraphs lie the problem, as well as the possibility, for all of us.

Ann’s report was second-hand.  I make it third hand – I’ve known Ann a long time, and I trust her reporting.  Then comes you, and on and on.

That atrocities are happening is visible every day on the news, but for lots of reasons, we can pretend it doesn’t directly involve us, so why bother?

The same relates to the summary executions in the Gulf of Mexico off of Venezuela, by the United States of America.  There is vivid evidence of what happened, but no evidence at all of who was killed and what they might have been carrying, and to what destination.

Each of us, I think, have to take stock as to where we stand in the survival or death of this great country of ours.  There is an old saying that comes to mindL “an injury to one is an injury to all”.  We do not have the excuse of saying we could not see, nor could we hear….

Do more than what you think you can.  The solution lies with all of us.

The comments of Sherrie and Sonya in the December 4 post are worth reading.  The illustration Sherrie couldn’t transmit is here;  Both comments are below the illustration.

Make Christmas or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa or whatever your tradition a time for reflection on your place in the solution.

Sherrie: Greetings of the Season, Dick. I especially appreciate your reminder that keeping our democracy and caring for everyone in our human community is up to all of us. I’ve been asking acquaintances who uses “woke” as a pejorative, “Was Jesus Woke?”
I tried to attach my sister’s first contribution to the project, but I’m not technically woke enough. Here’s a verbal description of the image–it features a smiling Jesus surrounded by an ethnically diverse group of children. She’s working on a more inclusive version featuring Elijah, Confucius, Buddha, an Islam representation, Alice Paul (and/or Jane Addams), Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as Jesus.
P.S. I think your grasp of social justice and your memory of political and economic history more than compensate for a one-time lapse in remembering three randomly generated words.

Sonja:  I can attest to that report in the Star Tribune [Star Tribune Medical Dec. 1, 2025]. When I had an endoscopy in November, two of the nurses were Filipino, the anesthesiologist was black, the surgeon was Middle Eastern, and there were others with accents from I don’t know where. Of the dozen or so people involved in my care that day, only two were white and “looked like me.” Where would we be without immigrants and minorities in Healthcare and many other segments of our workforce?!

And I have to say, during the whole experience, I was treated with kindness and respect and was never apprehensive about the quality of care.