No place to hide when raging fear invades our country … our communities

 

By Mary Kay Roth

One chilly evening last week, around dusk, my car was stopped at a red traffic light on “O” street.  Lost in thought, I suddenly became aware that the driver in the vehicle next to me was roaring his engine, had rolled down his window and was screaming at me.

“Oh my god it’s a f *%! liberal.  It’s a f*%! commie liberal.  Can you believe it, right here we have a f*%! liberal.  Look at her, a stupid f*%! commie just sitting at the light.”

I froze behind my steering wheel, picturing the Minneapolis woman who had been backing up her car and ended up dead, knowing I had bumper stickers declaring my political sentiments.

The light changed and a huge white pickup truck revved his motor, soared ahead and swerved in front of me. His vehicle had huge letters on the back, spelling out TRUMP, and he started periodically stomping on his brakes while slowing in front of me.

Getting close to my home, I waited until the last possible moment to spin around a corner off “O” street – sped home, closed the garage and locked all my doors.

My heart raced.  I was scared to death.

As far back as 2016, Trump was clear about his intentions when he said: “Real power is – I don’t even want to use the word – fear.” 

The demented leader of the free world has been sowing seeds of fear ever since, leveraging terror and anxiety for powerful political gains. And if you think you can hide – living in a red state or a blue state, peacefully protesting, trying to stay quiet and play it safe – you’re sadly mistaken.  You haven’t paused at the wrong traffic light lately. 

Or you haven’t been watching and listening to what’s happening in Minnesota.

Not just one, but now two innocent citizens – Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti – have been murdered by ICE death troopers, while hundreds of others in the Twin Cities have been beaten and dragged out of their vehicles, pepper sprayed and tear gassed – with ICE breaking windows, forcibly entering homes, terrorizing the state.

Inciting violence, city by city, our maniacal mad king is militarizing America with his demonic ICE agents (imagine Proud Boys with guns, masks and affirmation).

And don’t kid yourself, Trump and his minions are coming after anyone who dares cross them. Immigrants, protestors, university presidents, news reporters, judges, comedians, trans people, any and all political opponents … you … me.

In a recent article in The Atlantic, columnist Robert Kagan wrote: “Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II, one that will make the Cold War look like child’s play and the post-Cold War world look like paradise.”

I’m certainly not alone in my alarm.

At a doctor’s visit recently, my physician shared he had purchased a home overseas and was hoping to move there. I’m shocked at gun-control friends who are purchasing handguns. A few weeks ago, when I was preparing to attend the Lincoln rally protesting the first outrageous murder in Minneapolis, a cautious friend asked: “Aren’t you afraid to go?”

Later, as we stood in downtown Lincoln in front of the federal building, our posters and signs held high, a few well-marked MAGA trucks circled the block and shouted profanities. And it was impossible not to envision them raising guns or turning their trucks into the crowd to mow us down.

A fervor of thuggish gangsterism has been unleashed in our country with a braggart, bully swagger.

I remember working for Lincoln Public Schools when Trump was first elected in 2016 and we had to convene at district offices – a mere 24 hours after he was elected – because students were already feeling empowered to yell nasty, virulently racist invectives at anyone of color. Many times these young people reported blessings from their parents.

One of the basic tenets of securing the political conditions necessary for the exercise of personal freedom – the exercise of basic human rights – is that citizens need freedom from fear. 

But the president and cowardly congress have turned that principle upside down with cruelty, confusion and, yes, fear.  And what’s more they seem to take joy in doing so, relishing every moment of fresh hell.

Threats of the USA taking over Greenland, Canada, undermining our beloved alliances. The invasion of Venezuela without congressional approval. Initiating inhumane and cruel policies, carrying out illegal deportations, endangering health care, food programs, public education. Ignoring court orders. Dehumanizing and demonizing wide-ranging groups of citizens.

But the nightmare crawling through Minnesota right now chills me to the bone – icy fingers of fear as cold as the state’s frigid temperatures. 

So, as I sit in my warm, cozy and seemingly safe home on this cold winter’s day, I am left to wonder: How do you stop fear from controlling you?   

The very wise Robert Reich – American professor, author, lawyer and political commentator – reminds us to stand up to bullies.  Call them out.  

At the same time, he stresses that in these times those simple suggestions must come with courage, resilience, vigilance.

I watch in awe as the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul brave bone-chilling weather to peacefully protest the siege of their cities – stand up to ICE to protect their neighbors – refuse to lie down.

Democracy has never been a spectator sport – especially now – Reich says, urging us to: Call our elected officials. Attend town halls. Join local resistance groups. Boycott organizations and corporations that have caved to Trump. Help protect those who are weaker. Stand on principle. Make noise.

I think about judges and attorneys who refuse to do Trump’s bidding.  Physicians who refuse to listen to RFK.  Musicians pulling out from the Kennedy Center. Everyone at the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Protestors who stand alongside one another.  Local and national journalists who continue the fight.  Those who support Lincoln’s ethnic families – those who are wrapping their arms around and protecting the most vulnerable. Everyone who continues to tell their story.

You know, I’m not ashamed I ran into my house on that fateful day and locked the doors.  A few well-meaning friends and family members have gently suggested I may want to remove some of my bumper stickers.

But I think the important moment is when we decide NOT to take off the bumper stickers. 

Instead, we add new ones: “I stand with Minnesota.”