Tin soldiers and Nixon coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio

Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been gone long ago
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know? Ohio Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

Just when you think it can’t possibly get worse, or go back to another dangerous time in America, it does.

George Orwell was a bit premature in his prediction but my guess is someone gave Trump the Cliff Notes–or more likely read it to him–and a new idea was born.

It’s not Big Brother we have to fear, that would be too obvious even for someone whose inherent opposition to intellectuality (and his total lack thereof) is on full display with his latest Executive Order. No, it is being out of lock step by espousing “improper ideology.”

Under the noble banner of,

“RESTORING TRUTH AND SANITY TO AMERICAN HISTORY”

“Section 1. Purpose and Policy. Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth. This revisionist movement seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light. Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.” Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History – The White House

I would like someone, anyone, who thinks this is the way forward in America to explain to me what precisely “Improper Ideology” is in light of the FIRST Amendment. How is free speech supported or reinforced by this?

I assume that this means they oppose telling the full tragic history of slavery in this country and prefer “whitewashing” it by claiming slaves “benefited” by being brought to this country and taught skills they otherwise would not gain.

Joe Broadmeadow

Or perhaps they prefer to cast the history of Jim Crow Laws and the undeniably unfair treatment of minorities in the courts, in the workplace, and in education as “insignificant individual minor inconveniences.”

Or that they prefer the idea that slaves “benefited” from being brought to America.

Or they believe the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent was somehow critical to winning the war in the Pacific.

This would almost be comical if it weren’t serious.

Now I know there will be a chorus of dissenters who claim the US Government should not be paying for these exhibits at the Smithsonian. Yet their objection fails on its face. In this case, it is the one exception to the usual appropriate rule of “it’s always about the money.”

No, in this case, it is because many Americans do not want to face the truth. They prefer the pablum they were fed in history class to reality. And so, a convenient cover of eliminating “improper ideology” was invented. Kind of like “terminated with extreme prejudice” instead of killing or “the vehicle experienced a rapid, unplanned disassembly over the Gulf of America” instead of “the SpaceX rocket blew up and spread debris over the Gulf of Rocket Debris.”

Mr. Trump has followed the playbook of the Chinese government in dealing with dissent. And we all know, next to Russia, the Chinese approach to dealing with enemies of the state (a.k.a., those who disagree with the government) is a favorite of the convicted felon in charge.

It’s only a matter of time before we adopt the progressive punitive approach of China with sentences such as these. Chinese courts routinely hand down the sentence of “Sǐxíng, huǎnqí liǎng nián zhíxíng” or “death sentence with two years’ probation.”

Can you imagine? Two years’ probation for wrongful thinking? China executes more individuals than all other countries involved but, no doubt, we are making every effort to work our way back to the top.

At the domestic level, Xi stressed the importance of controlling ideology, regulating the internet, and actively attacking “false” views within China’s public sphere. For Xi, ideology is a powerful tool that can, at best, unify the Chinese people or, at worst, turn them against the Chinese state. (Ideological Struggles and China’s Contentious Public Sphere)

So here we are on the road to remodeling our government to resemble China and Russia. I wonder how long it will take for those who supported this remarkably unqualified man for the Presidency to realize they were fooled by a promise more gorgeous than it’s realization?

And if I could see into the future, I wonder how many people who were fooled will deny ever voting for him.

Meanwhile, since I am certain this constitutes Improper Ideology, I shall await the arrival of the Americanized version of the Schutzstaffel to pay a visit.