As I read this essay by Kathleen Wallace, the thing that struck me was the emotive tone of the piece — betrayal. I think that many of us who are activists, or who have studied the history of the United States, have felt this at some point. I have been swamped with this feeling of betrayal by my country more than a few times. Usually it has been brought on by finding out the dirty details of some policy. The first for me was in 1972 when I found out about the slaughter of golden eagles by government hired bounty hunters. They were killing goldens for purportedly predating on sheep. However, goldens struck back by attacking the helicopters used to hunt the, flying into the blades and crashing at least one (if memory serves me correctly). There have been many experiences since then, including the lies and deceptions taking us into Afghanistan and Iraq that had everything to do with resource issues and virtually nothing to do with “security”. That so many lives would be put on the line (theirs and ours, civilian and military) for profit. And that an administration could blatantly lie us into two wars (which we are still fighting), destabilize an entire region of the world (resulting in even more death and dislocation), and that there were zero consequences for Bush, Cheney, et al for their crimes – yes crimes.

Certainly Trump is landing body blow after body blow to any remnants of even faux decency in this nation; including the outright racist attack on “The Squad” (Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, Omar, and Tlaib):

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly…..
….and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….

Which sadly has about 195,000 “likes”.

However, Trump’s dizzying grifting and path of destruction is less of a betrayal than the virtually full throated support of the Republicons who have thrown all to the winds to play joyfully in the muck and the graft that is the Trump “brand”.

The betrayal that is felt by many just awakening to the reality of the level of corruption and profiteering that maintains and advances the destruction from extreme wealth, corporate corruption, or the ongoing deception out of federal representatives and beyond, is no different than that felt by us who continue to get repeated dashes of frigid water in the face. The betrayal is not just the who, but the violation of basic human values and norms; actions that fly in the face of what we think is decent and just. That jolt of disbelief that 1) people could deliberately make decisions knowing they will destroy thousands to millions of lives, and 2) that multiple systems not only allow these crimes against humanity and the Earth, but that they are structured to protect, obscure, and even further these crimes. It is no surprise when people feel horrified and betrayed. The surprise is that we cannot maintain the horror and outrage long enough for a critical mass to say…