Losing Pride

THE PROUD BOYS, at least a few of them, aint so proud anymore. Those remaining on the outside are probably still feigning swagger and pride, while secretly shaking in their jackboots about the possibility of themselves facing criminal prosecution in the near future in the name of equal justice under law, of the sort being endured by their lofty but suddenly not so lofty leadership. Sadly, the handful of Prideful Youngsters just recently sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for engaging in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the American people and carrying out an insurrrection against the federal government, are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Their organization numbers in the thousands, their supporters and admirers in the millions. Their trial proceeds, and they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They stand before the judge, in an unfamiliar posture of humble contrition, and, when given the chance to speak, express newly found remorse, and beg for leniency and mercy, sometimes in tears. The cocky swagger and smirky expressions of strength, confidence and contempt are long gone. The judge pronounces sentence, about two decades of time in prison, and explains that the convicted party has behaved egregiously in planning, leading, and participating in a criminal conspiracy to plan and implement a violent insurrection against the federal government for the purpsoe of overturning a presidential election and keeping Donald Trump in power illegally. Then the newly convicted criminal is led from the courtroom, to be taken to a place of long term confinement, wearing a facial expression simulaneously conveying fear, shock, and anger. Most of America, watching on television, smiles broadly with deep satisfaction at this belated but very appropriate administration of justice. Justice, at long last, is being served. But all Americans are not smiling. Many are not. Many are as resentful and angry as the criminals themselves. They have convinced themselves that the Proud Boys, and other similar organizations, are the noble, virtuous spearhead of a righteous movment for truth, justice, and the American way, and that the newly convicted leaders of the Proud boys, like Donald Trump himself and the rest of the Trump movement, are being unfairly persecuted by an elite liberal establishment determned to destroy the entire country in order to bring down Donald Trump and his political movement. The Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers,white supremacist groups, neo Nazias, and the staunchly loyal members of the Trump support base,including and particularly more than eighty percent of America's evangelical Christians, are directly derived from mainstream American conservatism. There is not a single progressive liberal or socialist among them. There are hundreds of such people in the United States Congress, nearly a hundred and fifty in the House alone, and they are no less delusional, no less misguided, no less guilty, no less criminal, at least in spiirt, than those who supported and participated in the insurrection of January 6, 2021, but have yet to face their own justice. Every American citizen who still supports Donald Trump is guilty of the crime of accessory to criminal activity. Because of its majority support of Trump's big election lie, support of the Capitol insurrection, and and its denial of its own criminality, the Republian party has turned itself into a criminal, terrorist organization, truly an enemy organization of America. Most shocking of all is the sheer number of previously presumed good American citizens who still support Donald Trump. Polls indicate that if the 2024 presidential election were held today, it would either be a dead heat, or Trump would win by a narrow margin. That will doubltess change as the election nears, Trump's various criminal psrosecutions proceed, independent voters come forth in large numbers, the issues shake ou,t and America comes to its senses. Nonetheless, the state of affairs in this country right now is shocking and alarming, our only comfort being our faith that it cannot possibly get worse, but can only get better.