Scary masks, skeletons in the closet and frightful costumes; these all have been part of Halloween forever, but today the situation in America has turned into a real Halloween nightmare.
Now the masks are covering the faces of ICE agents as they terrorize communities, skeletons reveal bones of corruption, frightful costumes are worn by men with guns, and the CDC is staffed by brain-dead zombies. What used to be a holiday of playful innocence has turned into a prolonged episode of fear, and for some, terror.
The scenes of militarized federal agents in camouflage uniforms roughing up reporters, deploying tear gas and shooting rubber bullets are a real horror show, and intended to intimidate people into silent submission to the erosion of American democracy. And don’t be misled – democracy is under attack.
Authoritarian rule controls 80 percent of the world’s population, and democracy has always had a fragile hold globally. Here in America, our allegiance to the rule of law has provided a bulwark against tyranny, but under the current administration, the rule of law has broken down. The U.S. Supreme Court, effectively politicized, acts as a handmaiden to the Executive Branch of government, and their decisions have stripped Congress of its authority. Fear of retribution and unbridled campaign finance corruption have taken hold of our political system, and what sort of otherworldly horror will emerge is anyone’s guess.
For members of the undocumented community, this Halloween brings fresh fears. Even showing up at court for scheduled immigration hearings is now risky. Obtaining life-saving medical care is uncertain, and places of work are under surveillance. What was the promise of America has turned into a threat of deportation. Now that’s scary.
California is now in the midst of a special election to redistrict the state so that more Democratic Party members get elected to the House of Representatives; that’s how desperate the situation has become. What was a political system based upon trust has become a political system based on playing games. The Republican Party is gaming the system, and now the Democratic Party is doing the same. It’s a sure sign of how distorted and compromised American democracy has become, and who knows how long, if ever, it will take to get things back to normal again.
America has always had its contradictions; equality under law, freedom and justice have never been applied perfectly, but the effort by our current administration to actively subvert our system of law and politics is something entirely unprecedented. And it’s frightening.
We’d like to think redistricting should be conducted under the rules that have been put in place by the voters for a non-partisan committee of California citizens to manage redistricting, but the times demand something else. Now that the rules have been broken and the stakes are so high, we hope that Proposition 50 will pass.
There’s talk in the White House of invoking the Insurrection Act, which would suspend Habeas Corpus and let the President essentially rule by edict. If that happens, American democracy may never recover.
So, this Halloween, don’t worry about ghosts and goblins, worry about losing the right to vote and infringement of free speech and assembly. Boo!
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