You’re Probably on the List

Brothers and Sisters —

I’m not even sure where to start. With absolutely zero hyperbole, I can only say that some of our worst fears came to pass rhis month when a Justice Department memo painted a bull’s-eye on you, me, people we love, and millions of Americans who share common cause with us.

With language so vague and sweeping as to include anyone who doesn’t toe the MAGA line, the memo was sent out to hundreds of thousands of law enforcement and intelligence personnel across the country. The directive? Create the largest enemies list ever compiled — one that makes all previous extremist right-wing administrations look like bastions of tolerance and inclusivity.

The story was cracked December 8 by investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein,

https://substack.com/@kenklippenstein/note/c-185530682?r=b3v4q&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

to whom a copy of the memo was leaked. The mainstream corporate news media has been almost entirely silent on this blood-curdling totalitarian move, except for a couple of outlets that mostly missed the forest for the Antifa fear-mongering. I’m going to heavily quote his piece on Substack,because I can’t summarize it in a way that makes his revelations any more succinct or more powerful:

Attorney General Pam Bondi is ordering the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism,” according to a Justice Department memo published here exclusively.

The focus of the order is on those expressing “opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology,” as well as “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” and “anti-Christianity.”

Are you against masked thugs disappearing people who might be undocumented immigrants (with more and more U.S. citizens being swept up in ICE terror campaigns), traumatizing children, and pepper-spraying members of Congress who merely ask a question? Whoops! You’re an entity that goes on the list.

Any atheists or secular humanists in the crowd tonight? Oh! Too bad for you, you anti-Christian terror supporter!

Do you espouse a radical gender ideology? Not sure? Well, guess what?! Any belief that the LGBTQIA community deserves the same rights as the straight world goes against the sensibilities of our embarrassingly homo/transphobic administration. So, yeah, you’re on the list too — right up there at the top, probably, you deviant sicko!

I am, of course, waiting for the addendum that says any position other than missionary is punishable by a life sentence…

So all this is bad — very bad — right? Wait. It gets worse. Much worse. I’ll allow Ken Klippenstein to explain again:

In addition to compiling the list of undesirables, Bondi directs the FBI to enhance the capabilities (and publicity) of its tip line in order to more aggressively solicit tips from the American public on, well, other Americans. To that end, Bondi also directs the FBI to establish “a cash reward system” for information leading to identification and arrest of leadership figures within these purported domestic terrorist organizations. (The memo later instructs the FBI to “establish cooperators to provide information and eventually testify against other members” of the groups.)

The payouts don’t end there. Justice Department grants are now to prioritize funding to programs for state and local law enforcement to go after domestic terrorism.

Does no one remember the Cold War? The U.S. line that explained why the Free World in the West was superior to the Soviet Bloc always included the reminder that the East German Stasi pressured and rewarded people for turning in their neighbors and family for thought crime — something that liberty-loving Americans simply would never tolerate.

That Soviet totalitarianism borrowed a page — or a few chapters — from the Gestapo playbook that kept the German public in line probably needs no reference here. It does bear pointing out, however, that an alarming number of people who fetishize the military, and especially deify WWII veterans (who do deserve our respect), wholeheartedly support the U.S. slide into fascism. As long as the targets of surveillance, violence, and disappearances are chosen in a way that supports their homo/transphobia and xenophobia, the infiltration of masked secret police into day-to-day life is shrugged off with a “well, those people are violating God’s sex codes” or “they should have come to this country legally like my great-grandparents did” (never mind that as long as their ancestors didn’t have visible symptoms of Consumption or teeth falling out of their jaws, they got the green light at Ellis Island).

When I asked the Pittsfield and North Adams police chiefs a few months ago if they would obey an order from the Trump administration that they knew violated the Constitution, their response was silence. That request was about something hypothetical. This Justice Department directive is anything but. Trump and his henchmen are gearing up for a nationwide sweep of any organizations or “entities” (which would include individual Americans) who are likely to push back against whatever atrocity is being cooked up in secret as you read this.

We have the right to know how our local law enforcement is going to respond to their marching orders delivered last week. That we’re in the hinterlands out here in Western Mass. will not protect us. Any condescending “don’t worry about it” from our public officials should be cause for deep concern — and rejected.

Please support my work with a small (or large) monthly donation through any of these gateways: