I count myself among the millions of Americans who have actively lowered their sensitivity level around news, in hopes of psychologically surviving the era of cruelty for entertainment. I have been successful enough that I can now merely make a mental note of an infuriating event that would once have brought me to the brink of planning to leave the country or, far worse, behaving lawlessly. Such has been my reaction to the blanket coverage of Secretary Pete Hegseth’s latest scandal, but other items this week made their mark.

Though furious at what appears to be the murder of two survivors of a boat attack, each additional report on the subject of alleged drug smugglers blown out of the water by American bombs in the Caribbean Sea brings to mind the considerable accusations 20 years ago of George W. Bush and company being war criminals for the Iraq War – accusations that persist with each notable Iraq War anniversary. I also remember anti-war group Code Pink’s constant confrontations with Barack Obama over ordering drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan that allegedly killed many civilians. Abhorrent though it most certainly is, this constitutionally challenged administration is far from the first in recent memory to have allegedly committed war crimes.

Almost as concerning as the second strike on the survivors in the September 2 Caribbean attack was the president’s decision to pardon former Honduran president, Juan Orlandao Hernandez, a man who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in trafficking drugs to the U.S. That does not seem to track with making the fight to keep drugs from U.S. shores so crucial that the government should potentially murder people to do it.  

That hypocrisy strongly suggests the following: No justification for any Trump administration policy position is real. The public should assume there is always something else going on. And in this instance, keeping brown people down in a way that makes this very white-nationalist-influenced administration look like heroes to the base is what this 21st-century version of a War on Drugs really appears to be about. I doubt this is a newsflash to any intellectually honest person who’s paying attention.

The same motivation appears to be at work for the president‘s choice to describe an entire people as “garbage.”  The people under presidential attack are Somalis in Minnesota, who are being accused of fraudulent claims during Covid. There was nothing surprising about the comment from the man who thinks of nations of black and brown people as “shithole countries.” This time, though, he’s actually including some naturalized citizens and long-time legal residents. Make no mistake: there is little to no safety for the foreign born on U.S. soil.

This leads to another news item too bone chilling for insensitivity to hold, namely, the decision of the United States Supreme Court to take up the case on birthright citizenship. The last time the Court took up a case that appeared to have an open and shut constitutional question, the Justices gave the presidency immunity for a host of criminal behavior, a decision the Founding Fathers most assuredly did not foresee or ordain. The mere choice to hear the case suggests the country should brace for another enormous constitutional change.

But be sure not to try to acclimate to changes while attempting to enjoy a national park. Visitors to the States and natives alike have equal reason to feel a rise in blood pressure along with the rise in new fees. The announcement of the choice to hike admission fees for non-citizens and waive national park admission fees on Donald Trump’s birthday  but to no longer do so for Martin Luther King Jr.‘s birthday or Juneteenth, broke through this American’s desensitization.

There’s just too much to dismiss. And it’s anything but entertaining.