I served within the U.S. Military 36 years in the past. And my son—who’s had alternatives I by no means did as a Salvadoran immigrant—selected to comply with in my footsteps, becoming a member of the California Nationwide Guard.
After spending a yr within the Center East, he returned house and was activated to assist in the aftermath of the wildfires that devastated Southern California in January. He was stationed in Altadena, a hard-hit, working-class metropolis, the place he did what the Guard is supposed to do: assist individuals in disaster.
That have modified him. Even after being deactivated, he nonetheless drives an hour every means, a number of instances per week, to maintain serving to as town and its residents rebuild. That’s who he’s. And yeah, I’m tearing up simply enthusiastic about it. I’m so extremely happy with him.
He signed as much as serve his neighborhood, to not be a pawn in President Donald Trump’s fascist cosplay. However now? His unit has been activated once more, and this time to not assist individuals.
You may’t think about the fashion I really feel.
Trump has spent his whole presidency railing towards dissent. Now that he’s shedding in Congress, within the courts, and within the court docket of public opinion, he’s escalating—utilizing peaceable protests as a pretext for his dream of army dictatorship.
In January, my son and his fellow first responders have been welcomed by Southern Californians with meals, items, and gratitude. At this time, Trump is sending them into those self same communities as symbols of repression. He’s destroyed the goodwill they constructed—and he doesn’t care.
He needs confrontation. He needs escalation. He needs violence, as a result of he thinks it offers him license to go even additional.
Trump is attempting to interrupt this nation earlier than it breaks him.
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I’m scared for my son. However I’m proud. Happy with him. Happy with this neighborhood. Happy with the individuals within the streets refusing to again down. This second feels inevitable. We noticed it coming. We warned it was coming. We hoped it wouldn’t, however now it’s right here.
So sure, I’m scared. However I’m additionally burning with righteous fury. And that fury is stronger than Trump’s cruelty or the bloodlust of his followers.
Let’s fuck Trump up.
