The Thought Police

We all have regrets. I suspect there are more than a few people who regret their recent vote by now (In fact there is a whole twitter feed devoted to just that: @Trump_Regrets). One of my regrets is never learning to type. I also regret not buying Apple stock years ago but that’s another story. My inability to type efficiently is a problem now because I’m expecting a knock on my door at any moment so I need to finish this latest rant as quickly as possible.

The knock I’m expecting is from the thought police. Like many people, I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of the world lately, and as you might imagine, I don’t have a lot of positive things (okay I have none) to say about the new world order. Because of that, I’m anticipating the thought police at any moment. I just hope if they do stop by, they bring some beer as I’ve just discovered my supply is dwindling. Of course, they are the thought police so they already know that.

It’s been an awfully long time since I read Orwell’s 1984 (and a long time since the year 1984). But I still remember some of it, in particular Big Brother, The Ministry of Truth and the Thought Police. Here in 2017, with the NSA listening to all of our calls (they must be bored silly with mine) and cameras covering our every move, Big Brother is already watching.

As for the Ministry of Truth, the fictional agency responsible for propaganda and rewriting history, that’s up and running now too. In the last ten days alone, the Un-President claimed there were “a million to a million-and-a-half people” at his inauguration (There weren’t). He renewed his claim about illegal voters costing him the popular vote (absolutely not one shred of evidence). And about his disastrous and unconstitutional (unconstitutional according to some guy named Mike Pence in 2015) executive order banning travel from seven predominately Muslim countries, the Un-President said, “it’s working out very nicely.” Has he seen the news lately? Once you add in the “alternative facts” from Kellyanne Conway, (or as Keith Olberman calls her, Kellaynne ConJob), its easy to see the Ministry of Truth is not only open for business but running at full speed.

But it’s the thought police that worry me the most. Contrary to popular belief, there are lots of thoughts rumbling around in my head and many of them are cause for concern.  For instance, I have some thoughts about Steve Bannon.  He thinks the media is the “opposition party” and that the press should “keep its mouth shut.” I think he should take a look at the first amendment.

While I’m at it, Bannon on the National Security Council? As the thought police surely know, having a white supremacist anywhere near the white house worries me enough already, but the Security Council?  Argh!

Kellyanne ConJob thinks journalists who “talked smack” about the Un-President during the campaign should be fired. I think she should review the first amendment as well. I also think the next time she tells the truth will be the first time and I wonder how she sleeps at night but I’m trying keep the word count down here.

Here’s another thought I’ve had and it’s truly horrifying. I’m sure even the thought police are stunned to know that I’m in agreement with John McCain and Lindsay Graham about something. Here is what they’ve said about the Un-President’s travel ban. “This executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve or security.” Hmm. Maybe the thought police will be after them as well.

I don’t want to make it sound like all of my thoughts are about the never-ending chaos emanating from Pennsylvania Avenue. A couple of nights ago, I thought, ”Wow, Steph Curry is an unbelievable shooter.” Unfortunately, right after that I began thinking about the 5-year-old kid who was separated from his mother and detained for hours. I thought about how wrong (and unconstitutional) a religious test of any kind is. I thought about how great it was when the ACLU got involved in this mess (and then I donated to them). I thought about how worrisome it is that the administration apparently ignored federal court rulings and continued detaining people (We should all worry about that one!). I thought about how most Republicans in Congress have remained silent while the constitution they claim to love gets shredded. I thought about how inept the Voldemort administration seems to be and I wondered how long it would be before impeachment proceedings began (for me its already been too long).

And, since the thought police already know what I’m thinking, I admit that I thought about chocolate ice cream (and now I’m thinking about it again).

I’m not alone in those thoughts. As I’ve written before, the overwhelming majority of Americans did not vote for the Fool on the Hill. So its possible the thought police will be extremely busy in the coming months. Fortunately, they haven’t made it to my house yet (Perhaps they’ve stopped to pick up that beer?).

Yesterday it was the Mexicans and today the Muslims. It’s only a matter of time before they come for “wrong thinkers” like me.

At the end of 1984, Winston Smith is a broken man; the Party has won. In 2017, we must not let that happen. Resistance is not futile. The thought police cannot win. They will not win. But thought alone will not defeat them. We’ll need to act. We must continue to march, to protest, to sing, to write, to create art, and above all, to tell the truth.

Count me in for all of it. And occasionally, when the thought police aren’t looking, I’ll think about the magic of Steph Curry and chocolate ice cream too.