By
Dr. Álvaro Huerta
The white nationalist barbarians, aided and abetted by their Führer—President Donald J. Trump—stormed and entered the gate(s) at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. The seditionists include those who brazenly entered the so-called people’s house [*see note below], responsible for death, destruction and mayhem, along with their snowflake leader who suckered them to do so from afar, lying that he would be there with them!
For the record, the proverbial gate was previously stormed and entered, legally tainted by gross irregularities and interferences, with the 2016 election of the orange nationalist barbarian in the White House and the white nationalist Congressmembers in the Senate and House of Representatives. This also includes the white nationalists embedded in all levels of government, including law federal enforcement.
In reference to those who have already be identified and arrested, where more should follow, shouldn’t all who entered the Capitol building also face murder charges? Let’s consider this scenario: Two people rob a store, where one of them kills the clerk and the other one steals the money. In this case, typically, both will be charged with different degrees of murder, apart from armed robbery and other charges. Why should those who engaged in an attempted coup, a more serious crime, be treated any differently? I’m sure if the seditionists were brown or black, as many others have articulated, the brutal nature of the State and its agents of suppression would’ve been on full display. If they were Muslims, this scenario would’ve provided Trump with a false pretext to invade Iran, like in the case of 9/11 with former President George W. Bush and Iraq.
As we focus our national attention on the culprits behind this attempted coup, let’s not forget the strong and powerful supporters of Trump, where they should also be held accountable (or eternally shamed at minimum), like the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, for the vitriol rhetoric and events leading up to the violent and deadly attack on the Capitol. This includes, among others, Trump’s immediate family (especially Donald Jr., Jared and Ivanka!); Trump subordinates, like Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and the guy who apparently didn’t get hugged as a kid, Stephen Miller; soon-to-be-disbarred Rudy Giuliani; idiotic and immoral Republican leaders in Congress, like Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), etc.; and, let’s not forget the estimated 74 million people who voted for the most incompetent and deranged President in U.S. history.
By courting, supporting and encouraging white supremist groups and militias, many of whom are well armed and trained given their police and/or military background, snowflakes like Trump and his minions at the White House and Congress are playing with fire. For instance, when Trump repeatedly says that CNN is the enemy of the people, at any time, no one should be surprised if his armed supporters seriously harm CNN reporters. In fact, given Trump’s violent rhetoric about “liberating Michigan” and targeting Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, it didn’t take long for his armed supporters to plan to kidnap her. As usual, when others do the dirty work for the snowflake Trump, he acts like an armchair mafioso, denying any link with those who follow his orders—coded or not.
In terms of pretending to be a tough guy, as I’ve written before, such as in The Hill (09/09/16), “[i]f he’s really a tough guy, I invite him to my old barrio—without private bodyguards, Secret Service agents and local police—to reassert his claim that Mexican immigrants constitute ‘drug dealers,’ ‘criminals’ and ‘rapists.’ If he can’t repeat these racist generalizations directly to the people he’s attacking, then he’s a coward.” I must say that I’m amazed that Trump supporters take all of the risks with jail time and bodily harm to follow the orders of their Führer, while Trump is playing golf or waiting for the attempted coup to start with his ilk and family, as if they’re at a Patriots football tailgate party!
While I can go on and on, I’ll end with this: Trump must not only be removed from office, he must also be arrested and prosecuted for aiding and abetting an attempted coup against the United States of America. This must be done before he pardons everyone in his criminal orbit, including himself. This includes the sycophant Vice President Mike Pence, along with the remaining complicit cabinet!
[*Despite the abhorrent attempted coup, let’s not forget that the governing elite and monied classes, throughout American history, have used the U.S. Capitol as a base to steal the lands of Native Americans and break treaties, enslave Blacks and kill them, violently annex territory from Mexico (1848) and scapegoat their people on both side of la frontera, engage in domestic/foreign espionage and imperialist wars, etc.]
[Image: Cartoon appears courtesy of Lalo Alcaraz & Andrews McMeel Syndication.]
[About: Dr. Álvaro Huerta is an Associate Professor in Urban & Regional Planning and Ethnic & Women’s Studies at California State Polytechnic University. Among other scholarly publications, he’s the author of Reframing the Latino Immigration Debate: Towards a Humanistic Paradigm and Defending Latina/o Immigrant Communities: The Xenophobic Era of Trump and Beyond. He holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in urban planning and a B.A. in history from the University of California, Los Angeles.]
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CALL FOR PLAY SUBMISSIONS: DRAMA IN THE TIME OF COVID—AN ANTHOLOGY
Close to 8 million people worldwide have contracted Covid-19. One
million have died. In the United States alone, over 200,000 have succumbed to
this deadly virus, and counting. With no end to the pandemic in sight, the
"new normal" involves lockdowns, social distancing, face masks, fear,
and political strife.
More than any other creative genre, drama has suffered the hardest during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the closure of theaters worldwide as in plagues of the past, playhouses have been forced to find new ways to reproduce the magic of live theater by going virtual. For smaller venues lacking the resources, many have closed temporarily or permanently shuttered. For playwrights, this reality translates to fewer opportunities to showcase their work, and the virus places in peril the future of live theater and new works.
We seek an anthology to showcase works by playwrights examining Covid-19 in all its permutations. We are looking for dramatic works (short plays, performance pieces, monologues, etc.) from diverse playwrights worldwide that speak to the deaths, isolation, social, political, and economic upheaval that have followed in the wake of this pandemic. The anthology will be published by FlowerSong Press in Spring 2022. For more information on this call for submissions and FlowerSong Press, please visit here.
To submit, send new and un-produced scripts as attachments of no
more than 25 pages to covidanthology@gmail.com by August 1, 2021.
Include a 50-75 word third-person bio in the body of your email. Plays that
have had readings or workshops are acceptable. Format scripts as Microsoft Word
or PDF documents only, and include a title page with contact information.
Simultaneous submissions are okay but please notify us asap if accepted
elsewhere. All accepted playwrights will receive a copy of the anthology upon
publication.
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