Column By John Young
There’s an iron train a-travelin” that’s been a-rollin” through the years with a firebox of hatred and a furnace full of fears
– Bob Dylan
What is the Spanish word for “boogeyman”?
I Googled the English-to-Spanish and found “hombre del saco” — “man of the sack.”
Not sure of how that applies. Another term for “pig in a poke”?
Whatever the translation, in this stretch of national regress, know that at the White House, “Venezuelan” is the Big Bad Hombre’s boogeyman of the moment, just like “they’re eating dogs, cats” — dark-skinned Haitians, that is — a few months ago.
Check next week for the president’s next target. Here’s my bet the target’s skin will be brown.
People from Venezuela have been in the news a whole bunch recently. By and large, it’s because of nothing any of them has ever done to harm a soul.
First, the Supreme Court granted the “Make America Hate Again” administration the power to deport nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who are among us legally via the Temporary Protected Status program.
“Protected from what?” ask those chronically irked by humanity they can’t hack.
TPS, initiated with George W. Bush’s signature, allows refuge for people who fear for their lives because of gang violence, government repression, and more, such as natural disasters.
Second, the same court ruled the Alien Enemies Act to be a bogus justification for mass deportation. The 1798 law grants a president wartime powers to expel people from invading countries.
The reasoning, crystal clear to each justice except Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, was naturally that we aren’t at war with Venezuela, the last time any of us checked.
Third, to help stir the requisite hysteria behind draconian moves like these — and no doubt to secure a Christmas bonus — the top aide of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard ordered analysts to misrepresent the Venezuelan government’s involvement in the activities of a Venezuelan gang in the United States.
In New York Times terminology, that aide, Joe Kent, ordered a “torqued narrative.” Also known as a “big ol’ fib” to justify illegal actions.
“Ya see! Venezuela’s behind it! Ya see? It’s an invasion!”
A variation of: “They’re emptying the prisons! Build the wall!”
By the way: The only nation we can confirm to be emptying prisons for invading purposes is Vladimir Putin’s.
Do you ever get tired of the preachin’ sounds of fear when they’re hammered at your head and pounded in your ear?
In the above-quoted song, “Train-a-Travelin’,” Bob Dylan evokes a time when lynchings were still deemed justice and voting was only for a few.
We’re moved many degrees away from those times. Hate-based demagoguery, however, remains a mighty political tool. Or why else would Stephen Miller have a job?
One could find a “furnace full of fears” last summer when MAGA’s golden-domed messiah brought his train of hysteria to a rally in my state of Colorado to continue pressing a lie and a smear.
The tall tale: Denver suburb Aurora had been overtaken by a Venezuelan gang.
The truth: Most of the alleged gang members in question were already behind bars. Truth still: The group was about the size of an Indy 500 pit crew.
As Aurora officials — including Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican who is a former congressman — repeatedly stated, not only had a gang not taken over the city, but the villains had also not even taken over the apartments in question.
Yet to stir as much fear of brown foreigners and to harvest as much political advantage as possible, the Golden One came to Denver and stirred a red-clad crowd that menaced reporters as he spoke before massive blow-ups of the alleged gang members.
Then he boogeyed on down the campaign road with more scary racist claims to alarm more people.
Do the kill-crazy bandits and the haters get you down? Does the preachin’ and the politics spin your head around? – Bob Dylan
Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email him at jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
