This is all I can do at the moment. Write the words, and put them out into the world. Try to make some sense of what is going on, and if I have the strength, find a way to hope.

Earlier today, dog murderer and director of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, gave a press conference in LA where she said that she and the Trump administration were not going anywhere, but would stay as long as they needed to in order to “liberate” the city from its socialist and “burdonsome” mayor and governor. You know, the people that were elected.

At that point, Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator from California and ranking member of the Senate’s immigration subcommittee, raised his voice to ask a question. It was a disruption, certainly, but he didn’t shout, lunge, or incite violence. He called from across the room, and was then physically removed, thrown on the ground, and handcuffed.

Here’s video, from Fox no less, which shows exactly what I just described:

Fox, of course, puts their own spin on it, describing Padilla as screaming. And the Fox audience in the comments are eating it up.

Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives and grinning, professional Trump-ass-kisser, immediately called for Senator Padilla to be censured.

That’s bad. Everything about this is bad. The military should not be deployed on American soil to attack American citizens. ICE shouldn’t be allowed to kidnap people and violate their right to due process. The head of the Department of Homeland Security should not be threatening a continuous military invasion of a California city.

All of this makes me mad. All of this should make you mad.

A sitting Senator raised their voice to question a military coup and is violently thrown to the ground. The party that screams “state’s rights” is comfortable deploying military in defiance of the state’s elected officials. The administration that is comfortable putting stipulations on natural disaster relief has no problem spending $134 million deploying the military to a place where peaceful protests are going on.

They lie and say that L.A. is in chaos. It’s not. ICE and the military presence are escalating tensions.

Fucking ICE. It shouldn’t even exist.

This short sums up my feelings about immigration and illegal aliens perfectly.

ICE is a terrorist organization, running around with their faces covered and without uniforms. Taking people without due process is a terrorist act, to families and to communities. Standing against them is morally right and correct — and also scary as hell.

I read about what happened with Padilla and then struggled through the rest of my work day. It’s so hard to just go about my business as if everything is normal. I want to do something. But what? I can’t quit my job, buy a gun, and take matters into my own hands. I’m not a superhero in an action movie. I’m an old man, a little overweight, with high blood pressure, a broken tooth, and eyes that are starting to go bad.

I’ll go to the protest on Saturday, but what else can I do, really? Run for office? I can’t get more than 350 people to follow me on social media. I never have and never will win a popularity contest.

I struggled through the day, and just a little while ago, I read that Israel has begun air strikes in Iran. Israel tried to kill the entire Iranian leadership, and it sounds like they had some success. Iran will retaliate. This is not a situation where cooler heads will prevail.

It is not unlikely that nuclear weapons are going to go off in The Middle East.

This is… too much. It’s too much.

There is just under a dozen of you that see these posts of mine. You mostly see things the way I see them, but a handful of you are more conservative than I am.

We are more than our political parties. We are more than the color of our skin, the reproductive organs in our pants, the amount of dollars in our wallets. We are people, all of us, children of God, Whoever you imagine Them to be. We are made from stardust, we breathe the same air, and the same blood pumps through our veins.

If we are going to survive these times, it is together. We have to find the things we have in common, find the values that we share, and move together to create a future that we can all live in.

If you’re reading this, I ask that you do the following:

• Look at the news yourself. Maybe what I’ve said so far is hyperbolic, or maybe I’m misinterpreting what my eyes and ears are clearly telling me. Just look for yourself, without the spin, and try to come to your own conclusions. Try to do it without letting the political filter cloud your vision.
• Look at the people around you, specifically the ones you disagree with. Ask yourself what you and the other person might find in common. Find the common ground and hold onto it. If things get as bad as I fear they might, we all need to hold onto each other and lift each other up.
• Look into your heart and ask yourself what you’re willing to live with. Then ask yourself what you’re willing to do about these times we’re living through. I’m still planning on peacefully protesting in Sacramento this Saturday. If you’re disagree with the protests, so be it. But please consider why so many people are willing to go out in the streets, and what the alternatives to protest may be.