The Death of Truth and Decency

Tonight marks the first semi-final game of the College Football Playoff. Suddenly it doesn't seem so important.

Yesterday morning, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was behind the wheel of a Honda SUV on a residential Minneapolis street. Her car momentarily blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) trucks. After two agents got out of the truck, one walked up to the SUV and yanked on the driver’s door handle, ordering her to get out, yelling, “Get out of the car. Get the f*** out of the car.” 

As Good began to drive away, a third ICE officer fired multiple gunshots into the car, killing her. The agents then reportedly refused to let a doctor help her and blocked an ambulance from offering her life-saving services.

I have watched the video of the incident many times. It's outrageous and disgusting. It's murder. No other description is accurate. Good was attempting to leave the scene. She was turning to avoid the agent. 

What's almost as bad as the murder itself are the lies of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the glamour girl, dog killer, and President Donald Trump.

Noem immediately put a blatantly false spin on the killing, saying Good had "weaponized her vehicle." 

Trump, who last said something true back in 2015, went even further, falsely claiming "the woman driving the car...violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer."

Incredibly, we have reached the point in this country where truth no longer matters. Where the government lies to us every day. Where the president just makes shit up, stuff that has no basis in truth.

We've also lost all sense of empathy and humanity. It's been replaced by heartless, tasteless, merciless cruelty.

Consider Trump's reactions to the recent deaths of Tatiana Schlossberg and Rob Reiner and his wife.

When Reiner and his wife were brutally murdered by their son, Trump posted a rant about Reiner "reportedly" being killed because of his criticism of the president. 

When Schlossberg, a 35-year old mother of two young children, died of cancer, Trump sent out several posts mocking the Kennedy family (Tatiana was the daughter of Caroline Kennedy).

Most people, especially those in positions of authority, might express their condolences and say a nice word or two about the departed. 

Not Trump. He has no empathy, no humanity, and cares about nothing other than himself. 

We teach our children to be humble, not to brag. We teach our children to tell the truth, not to lie. We teach our children to respect others, not to call names.  We teach our children to play fair, not to cheat.

Trump is a childlike bully who lies and brags about himself, calls his opponents names and pursues vengeance at any opportunity, and cheats on the golf course, in business, in politics, and on his wives.

He is also a wannabe strongman, similar to those murderous dictators he has admired and cowed down to.

Five years ago, on Jan. 6, 2021, he encouraged and egged on 2000 "patriots" who stormed the capital and tried to overturn the 2020 election in one of the most disgraceful anti-American acts in the history of our country. He later pardoned all who had participated in the violent riot.

In recent months, he's been committing murder on the high seas, authorizing missile strikes on "narco terrorists" in small boats traveling away from the U.S., including an execution of two men clinging to boat wreckage.

Over the weekend, the same man who campaigned on an "America First" agenda against intervention and nation building illegally invaded Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro.

Under Donald Trump, the "shining city on a hill" has become a land of lies, hypocrisy, lawlessness, retribution, cruelty and violence.

I used to be proud of my country. Proud to be an American.

No more.