“The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you…….. “ President George Washington, September, 1796
Part One – A Moral Obligation
Since eight or nine years ago I have been an unfrequenter of social media. What started out as a venue for sharing information and viewpoints had devolved into a cesspool of trolls and nasty memes and insults. There was nowhere to find civil discussion anymore, civility having been replaced by confrontation and personal attacks. Social media tended to mirror the landscape under the administration of America’s 45th president, and it failed to recover under the 46th.
For all the peace and well-being that comes with turning off the outside world, the outside world is where I live. I cannot ignore how what happens in this world affects me and all that I care about.
America’s 47th president came into power on the unspoken promise to shake things up and dismantle the institutions that had made the U.S. a superpower and, in the eyes of many, “the land of opportunity.” A year into his presidency, I cannot deny that I have felt the effects of his administration’s progress.
I would never again be able to hold my head up from shame if I did not at least try to stop the disaster. I, personally, am not immediately affected by the harm this government is causing – not yet. Things I deeply care about are being damaged. The lives of people I don’t even know are being ruined, and it’s because I and people like me have chosen to not get involved.
It is a civic and moral duty to get involved. Until Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, Americans may have been forgiven for believing it was in their better interests to stay out of the war in Europe and Asia. After the Pearl Harbor attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt galvanized the entire country to get involved in the war effort, to protect not only Americans and our way of life, but also to do the right thing for the people of Europe and Asia.
We need not wait for an assault so brazen as the attacks on December 7 and September 11 to realize that our freedoms and our collective way of life are being threatened. The assaults against Americans by their own government began in earnest over a year ago. I know this from reading major news media articles. But to have more certainty about what is actually happening, the student of history in me says I need primary sources, actual eyewitnesses.
I found actual eyewitnesses on Social Media. People who live in or near neighborhoods that have been targeted by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) have posted videos of masked ICE agents breaking car windows, pulling women out of their cars, and dragging men and women around on the pavement. One friend whom I have known more than 20 years – a former high school history teacher – posted video of a man being shot and killed by ICE agents. A resident of Minnesota, he has also posted updates of ICE activity and Resistance activity.
What I have noticed on Social Media is that there is growing concern about what is happening in America. It is growing in intensity, and it is growing in numbers of people who are voicing their concerns. The actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have evoked comparisons to 1930’s Germany – not by middle school children, but by credible historians (and a former history teacher who is a primary source of information). These comparisons have been backed up by lawmakers who have visited detention camps and have witnessed the inhumane conditions under which men, women, and children are kept.
They are keeping children in prisons! These children have not been arrested for causing harm to anybody, and they have not been tried in court for criminal activity. The most well-known prisoner is a five-year-old boy whom ICE agents used as bait to capture his father. Both the child and his father have been released by orders of a judge, but the head of DHS has stated publicly that she intends to get them back in prison.
“This is not the America I grew up in.” It’s not just me saying it. It’s also hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of people participating in demonstrations and town-halls. It’s lawmakers, veteran journalists, and combat veterans of foreign wars lamenting in anger about what America is becoming under the administration of the 47th president.
ICE may be the most visible problem to the greatest number of eyewitnesses, but it is not the only problem. Scores of people find the behavior of the White House press secretary despicable for the same reasons they also find the behavior of the U.S. Attorney General despicable. Cabinet members who have appeared before Congress have behaved in the same way as the Attorney General and the press secretary, and scores of people have expressed their disdain for them as well.
What have they all done to earn the ire of the American public? They lie. They deflect. They cover for their president, not for the American people. They protect criminals and hurl insults at people who ask questions.
People are not only upset with the personnel in this government. They are upset with the policies of this administration. The 47th president has cut off aid to foreign countries, which has resulted in tens of thousands of preventable deaths in Africa. The 47th president’s tariffs have weakened businesses and industries that depend heavily on imports and exports. The 47th president has threatened to invade Greenland, and has threatened to annex Canada.
The 47th president has sent National Guard troops to cities of his political rivals. The 47th president has fired thousands of government workers to curtail the employment of women and racial minorities in government. The administration of the 47th president has sought and continues to seek to undermine the election process, to undermine the Constitution’s definition of citizenship, and to erase from history the contributions of racial minorities. For example, in March of 2025, this administration had two panels removed from the visitors center at the Netherlands American Cemetery. Why? The panels honored the black soldiers who fought in World War 2.
Social Media Shows Us A Country In Trouble
There are a few things I have noticed in my recent visits to social media. The disdain and fear of this administration is widespread and expanding. Yet, more and more people are willing to speak up, as there are more and more calls for speaking up and doing the right thing ‘for yourselves, for your communities, and for your country.’
There are a lot of posts and memes expressing disdain and disgust for individuals who are working in this administration. And I believe that the people that post these memes and comments are missing something. They never mention what I see as the main force behind the problems America is facing today. There is an elephant in the room, and I believe we should talk about it.
What I noticed in social media are two developments that are not encouraging. True, there are more and more people calling out this administration for its lies, corruption, cruelty, and childish behavior. It is still just social media, or ‘vanity media,’ where people thrive on ‘likes’ and 2-word comments like “well said.” There is little call to action, and few who actually take action beyond reading posts and leaving 2-word comments.
Exposing The Elephant In The Room
The second thing I noticed is a significantly high number of people who side with the 47th president and his administration. Their posts sometimes praise the president and his cronies for being the best in history and deserving of all the Nobel prizes. Much more often their posts criticize opponents of the president, citing misinformation or conspiracy theories to support their arguments.
When someone posts an image of a person being kicked by a group of ICE agents, someone else leaves a comment praising the ICE agents. The same when they see an image of an infant detained and put before a judge alone to answer for his criminal behavior. The same when they see children hiding and afraid to go to school. A significant sector of our society seems to like what is happening. They enjoy seeing others in pain. They enjoy causing pain when they can by inserting insults and childish name-calling in their comments.
The supporters of the 47th president and his administration represent a significant force in America that is directly liable for the erosion of decency and the acceleration of the country’s downfall that we are witnessing today. They represent the elephant in the room, which goes by two names; The New Conservative Movement, or more specifically, The Republican Party.
To return to any semblance of “the America I grew up in,” we are going to have to shift our focus from incompetent individuals to the whole elephant. Part Two of this series will be about the elephant in the room and why we should get it out of the room, far away from power of any kind. Before we can do that, we must do something else. Part Three of this series prods us to accept responsibility for what happens in our country, and to hold ourselves accountable, not the elephant or the ox.