Open Letter
I am opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal war in Gaza. More than 50,000 civilians have been killed, most of them women and children. It needs to stop. There, I’ve said it.
Note to President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio: This does not mean I am an anti-Semite; it has nothing to do with my regard for the people of Israel. It does not mean I sympathize with Hamas; it does not make me a terrorist. I am not interfering with American foreign policy. I am not a threat to national security. As a resident of the United States, I am simply exercising my Constitutional right to express an opinion.
Note to my friends: If I should suddenly disappear, please ask the neighbors if they’ve seen some masked men and a black, unmarked SUV parked nearby. Call my attorney and tell him to check the ICE prison in Louisiana. I know you’ll say, “But you’re not an undocumented immigrant or a foreigner staying here on a temporary student visa or a green card holder.” And you’re right. I am a native-born US citizen. But I figure it is only a matter of time before even that will not be enough to save me from the emerging autocracy in Washington.
Nobody is arguing that foreigners who have committed crimes in our country cannot be imprisoned or deported AFTER they’ve received due process. But it should go without saying that ordinary people should not be detained, imprisoned, or deported for exercising their right to free speech. For those of you who are unaware, due process and free speech are not entitlements reserved only for the privileged few. Chief Justice Antonin Scalia said that those Constitutional rights apply to every person inside the borders of the United States — citizens and noncitizens alike. Many people would call this an example of “the Rule of Law.”
Donald Trump and the members of his administration don’t believe in the Rule of Law. And they’re not big fans of other democratic principles either.
In one of his first official acts, Trump pardoned 1,500 violent January 6 insurrectionists.
Trump is quickly delivering on his campaign promises of “revenge and retribution” against his political opponents. He issued executive orders barring attorneys from entering federal buildings because their law firms had represented clients he doesn’t like. The head of Trump’s Department of Justice said that federal judges “don’t have the authority” to tell his administration what it can and cannot do and that those who ruled against the illegal actions taken by his administration “should be impeached.”
Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from universities that won’t change their policies on hiring, admissions, and curriculum to match his demands. He tasked his vice president with deciding what is “proper” historical content to be displayed by Smithsonian museums, particularly the new African American one. Trump named himself Director of the Kennedy Center so he can censor programming he doesn’t approve of.
Trump filled his cabinet with individuals whose only apparent qualification is their unquestioning loyalty to him. He called legitimate media criticism of himself and his inner circle—including being called out for egregious security breaches — “fake news” and “a witch hunt.”
He ceded authority to defund and dismantle whole government departments and agencies to an unelected, unconfirmed, unaccountable billionaire donor who has summarily fired tens of thousands of public employees (including many veterans) without cause.
Trump has alienated our allies and embraced autocrats. He said he’s “not joking” when he won’t rule out running for a third term (a clear violation of the 22nd Amendment).
Tell me I shouldn’t be concerned. Tell me these aren’t flashing red warning lights. Tell me I’m not witnessing a direct assault on our democracy.
Because that’s what I’m seeing.
Miriam Johnson, PhD, MSW
Columbia
