Gordon Robinson | Necrotic narcissism

Current activities by USA Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) are raising hackles everywhere.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, killings of American citizens Renee Good, just after she dropped her 6-years-old son at school, and ICU Nurse, Alex Pretti, while filming ICE abuse of someone else, have sent shockwaves around the world. Well not the whole world because USA Federal Government reacted somewhat differently.

Immediately after Good’s killing, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Good, “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over” calling it “an act of domestic terrorism.” In fact, Good was trying to drive away from aggressive agents when one shot her three times.

Immediately after Pretti’s killing, DHS said an agent, acting in self-defence, fired after an “armed struggle” with a man who “approached Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.” Actual video footage shows that Pretti never touched his licensed weapon. It was confiscated by an ICE agent while he was being brutalized by colleagues. Then he was shot repeatedly while helpless on the ground.

Massive protests followed. State and city officials openly condemned the atrocities bluntly demanding I’C’E’ leave Minnesota.

On January 27, Rock icon Bruce Springsteen wrote a musical protest, On the Streets of Minneapolis, recorded and released on January 28:

Through the winter’s ice and cold,

down Nicollet Avenue,

a city aflame fought fire and ice

’neath an occupier’s boots.

King Trump’s private army from DHS

guns belted to their coats

came to Minneapolis to enforce the law

or so their story goes

They pumped bullets into a mother and an ICU nurse and called it “law enforcement”. It’s enforcement, yes, but not of law.

Against smoke and rubber bullets,

in the dawn’s early light,

citizens stood for justice

their voices ringing through the night.

And there were bloody footprints

where mercy should have stood

and two dead left to die on snow-filled streets

Alex Pretti and Renee Good

The Boss’s habit is speaking truth to power. So his lyrics were explicit:

Trump’s federal thugs beat up on

his face and his chest.

Then we heard the gunshots

and Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead.

Their claim was self defense, sir.

Just don’t believe your eyes.

It’s our blood and bones

and these whistles and phones

against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies.

Now they say they’re here to uphold the law

but they trample on our rights.

If your skin is black or brown my friend

you can be questioned or deported on sight.

In chants of ICE out now

our city’s heart and soul persists

through broken glass and bloody tears

on the streets of Minneapolis.

Springsteen, the rightful heir to legendary Bob Dylan’s legacy, has once again, as he did with Forty-One Shots, Youngstown and others, exposed the foetid fiend that’s America.

Last week, The Old Ball and Chain and I enjoyed a “catching up” lunch with a couple we haven’t seen for years. Naturally, the conversation included musings on current USA happenings.

The husband searched his phone then asked me to guess who said what he read aloud:

“With regard to the American Republic I confess my interest is nil. It was always an unhappy place. It’s now falling on its own sword because it insists on fighting mightily against future reality in the hopes of maintaining the America that was built on genocide, land capture, slavery and consequential racism. It’s imploding and I’m afraid nothing is likely to rescue it.

“My own cynical view of the difference between the two great American political parties is the Democrats know how to pretend better.”

I said “Definitely something I’d agree with but, since you’re asking me to guess, it’s probably some historical figure. Churchill?”

He laughed. “No. It’s you. From an e-mail you sent me in 2023.” Then he read more:

“I’m far more interested in the happenings in Israel/Gaza which I apprehend could be the genesis of World War III and, bearing in mind the advance in weaponry worldwide, maybe even Armageddon.”

What’s happening in USA isn’t carelessness but necrotic narcissism infecting the entire nation. It’s deliberate and studied. Nazi pre-World War II strategy was a calculated multi-phased approach to overturn the Treaty of Versailles; create a totalitarian dictatorship; rearm Germany; expand in Eastern Europe. Hitler, a highly intelligent narcissist democratically elected on a Germany First platform, succeeded diplomatically in fooling imbeciles like Neville Chamberlain to gain early toeholds in Eastern Europe without firing a shot. In the inevitable war, he overplayed his hand, expanded too far too soon and Germany imploded.

Trump, a stupid narcissist, is trying to use Hitler’s playbook. He wants to overturn North Atlantic Treaty; create a totalitarian dictatorship; expand in western hemisphere. But he’s incapable of diplomacy and his vision ends when calculated chaos causes elections to be abandoned.

In all likelihood, he’ll only succeed in causing USA implosion.

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com