Today is Monday, March 10, 2025. If you think there are no signs that this country is slipping into fascism because of whom the ignorant electorate voted back into power on November 5, consider the case of one Mahmoud Khalil who is a leader of a pro-Palestinian protest on the campus of Columbia University in New York last year and was just recently arrested and now faces deportation under policies inaugurated under Donald J. Dump. This alarming story appears online for Who What Why in an article by Klaus Marre entitled “Of All the Bad Things Trump Is Doing, This May Be the Most Alarming.”

Before I provide you the story of Khalil, it’s important to understand that it’s not relevant what side you might support in this ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict. You might be on the side of Israel after the unspeakable atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Or you might support the Palestinians who are suffering from unspeakable atrocities committed by Israel since then. You could also be in disgust of anyone committing any atrocities on either side and have a more nuanced view of that conflict.

But based on the information we have now, his “arrest” should alarm every single American. Today, Khalil was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and then taken to Louisiana.

Without presenting any evidence or specifics, the administration stated that this arrest was the result of “Khalil [leading] activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” Of course, the bloviated liar in chief had to weigh in on this case like he’s weighed in on New York’s congestion pricing program which went into effect on January 5, which makes him just a fucking meddler for no reason other than to give the fuck-you to New York. The last statement is ominous enough, where he said, “This is the first arrest of many to come.” And this convicted felon wasn’t ever sentenced to any jail sentence for his crimes, remember that!

This detention of a legal resident (Khalil has a green card) seems to signal the undermining of the First Amendment (you know the one about free speech) and the threatening of sanctions against universities like Columbia University if they don’t toe the line. To underscore this, the Orange Turd just pulled $400 million in federal funding from this institution of higher learning. This is really so bad!

If Khalil did commit a real crime, he should have been charged and not dragged to some detention facility in Louisiana.

Less than 2 months in this interminable second reign of Dump, a very clear picture is emerging: He is using the levers of power to harass and intimidate his opposition. But as I’ve written until I was blue in the face, this sorry state of affairs was predicted a long time before he won reelection.

And it’s not just vulnerable green card holders like Mahmoud Khalil who are feeling the wrath of this deranged “emperor.” Last week, he began targeting law firms that did work on behalf of his opponents.

It is very disconcerting that all of this is being done in broad daylight. These are apparent actions meant to send a message loud and clear: You stand against us at your own peril.

The article ends with this alarming line: “And that is textbook fascism.”

Oh, by the way, we’re now in a “Trumpcession.” Something you can thank this fucking clown for! I just heard it on the Lawrence O’Donnell show. Here we go again with an economy down the tubes under another incompetent repugnican. We had no recession under Democrat Joe Biden, that’s for sure. Remember that!

And so it went!