Indecent Exposure
The face of the nation keeps changing and changing. The face of the nation, I don’t recognize it no more.—John Mellencamp
The Trump administration just asked the Supreme Court for permission to resume its trial-less deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious terrorism confinement center under the 18th century Alien Enemies Act. And next month, Trump will reportedly welcome El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele as the first leader from the Western Hemisphere to get a formal White House visit. Why would America be leaning into a policy that makes us look like the bad guy? Do I have to paint a picture for you? No, I don’t. Kristi Noem already did that. This week, she staged a photo-op at El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison. Jonathan V. Last sets the scene in The Bulwark: “In the background are a few dozen men, crammed into a cell. Their bunks are stacked four-high. Their heads are freshly shaved. They wear identical white shorts. They are all shirtless. Their poses are similar. Three rows of prisoners stand still in the front as Noem speaks, their hands either at their sides or clasped in front of them. The rest of them are arrayed on the bunks so as to create a visual for Noem’s use. None of these men is speaking. Or moving. Or making any facial expressions. They have clearly been posed by the jailers, forced to hold position so that they can be useful props for the American woman so that she can manufacture propaganda for her regime. We have seen this kind of thing before. Just not from America. I want to be deadly serious about this: We are now the bad guys.” This Is the Land of Wolves Now.
+ “Noem wanted it known that the ‘tools in our tool kit’ include a hellhole that might terrify every immigrant, but should definitely shame every American. And then, the optics. I am sorry for returning to the optics. Honestly, who among us ever knows what to wear on a propaganda visit to an extrajudicial foreign prison?” Monica Hesse in WaPo: Real Housewives of Gitmo.
+ In today’s America, it would be pretty difficult to get a lot of political support for protecting violent criminals who have illegally entered the country. But what if all the people being sent to CECOT prison aren’t actually criminals? MoJo: You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos. “Alvarado’s older sister, María, stressed in a call from Venezuela that her brother has no connection to Tren de Aragua. She said her brother was deeply devoted to helping Nelyerson—explaining that one of his three tattoos is an autism awareness ribbon with his brother’s name on it and that he used to teach swimming classes for children with developmental disabilities.” Are these claims of misidentification correct? How would we know without due process?
+ “An ICE official said in a sworn statement that ‘many’ individuals deported under the AEA did not have a criminal record in the U.S. or Venezuela, so it’s not clear that they ‘perpetuated’ anything in their communities. Also, several of the individuals deported were lawfully awaiting asylum determinations and were not in the U.S. illegally.” Homeland Security Secretary’s El Salvador Stunt Just Got Worse.
+ The images of Noem in front of shirtless prisoners is juxtaposed against the images of masked federal agents arresting students for their protesting activities. Will Bunch: The disappearing of Rumeysa Ozturk is something I never thought I’d see in America. Like me, you may not like Ozturk’s politics. But what happens when the administration decides it doesn’t like yours? Consider the pace at which this stuff is moving. Trump is even trying to thought-control the friggin zoo. “US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to remove ‘improper ideology’ from the famed Smithsonian Museums — and the National Zoo — expanding his conservative clampdown on cultural institutions.”
+ “Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the State Department has revoked 300 or more student visas, as the White House increasingly targets foreign-born students whose main transgression seems to be activism.” Trump takes aim at foreign-born college students, with 300 visas revoked. From Rubio: “If you invite me into your home because I say, ‘Oh, I want to go to your house for dinner,’ and I come into your house and I start putting mud on your couch and spray-painting your kitchen, I bet you you’re going to kick me out.” (Me inviting Marco Rubio to my house for dinner? Now that’s a photo-op you’ll never see.)
