U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while hosting a dinner in the Rose Garden at the White House on Sept. 2.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while hosting a dinner in the Rose Garden at the White House on Sept. 2.
Reporting by the New York Times detailed the Trump administration’s widespread searches of Minnesotans who protested the actions of ICE in their community. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that it was investigating Antifa, an organization that does not exist.
The administration creates make-believe groups to “justify” unwarranted federal intrusions into American lives. These include the false labeling of political opponents as “leftist” and “communist” — outdated, tiresome tropes which in the president’s mind define any individual or group that promotes democracy instead of oppression.
In the real world, the administration actually investigated climate change groups, unions and civic organizations in Minnesota, intent on defending our democracy. In California, a union leader was detained for months by ICE. The Guardian reports that invasive surveillance of citizens occurs at multiple levels.
Such is the loathsome ruse of this political moment — lies upon lies, with allegations finding no foundation to support them. The vast majority of those detained by ICE have no criminal record.
The actions are theatrical, acted out to intimidate organizations and individuals who oppose the administration’s autocratic behavior, while tragically harming those immediately subjected to warrantless detention.
ICE, for example, recently abducted parents in Danbury, Connecticut, detained as their children boarded school buses to start a new school year — actions that speak volumes about the depths of inhumanity that permeate the administration.
Children will go home only to find no parents, none of whom are criminals. It’s a media terror campaign, brought about by crushing the lives of thousands nationally.
Yet, what’s amazing about America is that we grew as a society to cherish individual rights, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. This powerful essence of democracy informs the fiber of our nation to this day.
The democratic form of government is both structurally and ethically superior to the dysfunctions of authoritarian rule, which seeks to suppress independent thought.
In this darkened 2026, for example, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth kissed the ring of presidential hate by terminating careers of highly capable female officers, jettisoning competent, experienced and knowledgeable women from service, blocking and denying their insights that help our nation.
The fabricated ruse of “DEI” is yet another weaponized misnomer of an acronym to belittle women who question the administration; including also Black and brown American men and women seeking to protect our democracy. Anyone who articulates the right of individual thinking and questions the administration’s policies is labeled a villain.
The failure of autocracy is that highly credible majors and generals are terminated because they have clear thoughts compared to those of the president. This corrupt mindset yields chaos, as we find in Iran with the current disarray of the once formidable U.S. military.
The U.S. base in Bahrain that supplied goods to replenish sailors on their extended stay in a hot war zone was attacked. Iran knew the location of that base; the administration failed to protect it. Just as they failed to protect our soldiers from missiles in Kuwait and other Middle Eastern bases.
Hegseth failed to report the damage in Bahrain and failed to create alternative supply routes to support our sailors. And he failed to tell the public and Congress the truth about what had happened.
Instead, as is the authoritarian want — to protect the leader by blaming others — the administration’s PR campaign criticized families of Navy sailors for telling the truth about ship-bound difficulties sailors experienced, seeking sufficient rations of food and water.
The incompetence of white hyper-masculine leaders is evidently quite profound.
In another universe, female leaders were elected to governorships in Virginia and New Jersey. Abigal Spanberger, Virginia’s governor elected in 2025, served more than eight years as a CIA field agent.
Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey’s governor, elected in 2025 as well, served 10 years as a helicopter pilot in the Navy. Elissa Slotkin, a CIA analyst for three tours in Iraq, won her Michigan election to the U.S. Senate in 2024.
And Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore, elected in 2022, is a Black man who served seven years as a U.S. Army officer and deployed to Afghanistan as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne.
Voters found the experience, patriotism and democratic ideals of these candidates to be credible and elected them to high office.
Understand by now the administration’s incompetent depravity, baselessly targeting women, and non-white men and women — as well as any white general who thinks aloud about how to better help our nation.
The authoritarian delusion holds in mind an imaginary hierarchical caste system, where the entire nation is found below it, except for those who donate to their coffers.
Jeffrey Leverich, of Stoughton, is a former senior researcher for WEAC.
Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
Become a Cap Times member today and enjoy great benefits.
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
