Word on the ol’ sagebrush telegraph says Donald Trump is using his second presidency to exact revenge on all his political enemies. I wonder if I need to worry about that.
Opinion
I haven’t missed many opportunities to ridicule Trump in my columns, or to pour scorn on his bone-headed pronouncements, his ineptitude and his bizarre behavior. So I sorta wonder if I’ve made some manner of enemies list in the White House. If not, it isn’t for lack of trying.
All along, I’ve taken comfort in the freedoms of expression granted in the First Amendment to our Constitution. All of my book-learnin’, and all of my experience has taught me that, thanks to these constitutional rights, citizens of the U.S. are free to criticize our government when we think it has gone off the rails. I’d even argue that it’s the patriotic duty of any good citizen to do so.
Molly Ivins, a revered columnist from Texas, put it better than I can when she said, “I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.”
But it looks like Trump’s Revenge Tour is turning that all on its head.
Trump is trashing the U.S. Constitution in his paranoid zeal to exile his political opponents. Hell, he even deported a Maryland man with legal residency status to a dungeon of a prison in El Salvador for having the wrong tattoo! Sure, the administration admitted it made a teeny mistake in that instance, but says they can’t get the guy back. Their reasoning on that front — he’s out of the country, so it’s out of our hands to do anything about it — would apply just as well had they “accidentally” deported and jailed a natural-born Wyomingite. Let that sink in for a second. If that poor dude ever makes it back to his American wife and kids from Trump’s “mistake,” he’ll be lucky to be in one piece.
In the face of Trump’s intellectual ethnic cleansing of America — his purity tests, his loyalty oaths, his attacks against the free press — I should probably worry, but I’m not much of a worrier. I’m just a grizzled ol’ cowboy out here in the Big Empty who writes an opinion column in Wyoming.
Trump probably doesn’t even know I exist.
But, on the other hand, he does have Elon Musk’s DOGE nerds using AI (not the steak sauce, mind you) to poke through every word written or said in the past decade, ferreting out seditious criticism of MAGA. A cursory keyword search is bound to pick up something I have written. Maybe they’ll even come across this column, and put it in Trump’s daily briefing.
Nightmare scenarios ensue!
Should I prepare myself for a 3 a.m. knock on my door, scaring the hell out of Good Dog Henry, as jackbooted ICE thugs throw a hood over my head and toss me into a black Suburban? Maybe I’ll wake up on a plane en route to a CIA black site in Dubai or Guantanamo where I can expect a good talkin’-to from mercenary interrogators. All because I called the president an asshole.
(Note to editor: if I miss my next few deadlines, I hope you’ll take my deportation into consideration.)
But that may just be my pride screwing with my head, some sort of elevated sense of self-importance, an ego trip of frightening proportion. Like I said, Trump probably doesn’t even know I exist.
Trump has a lot of bigger fish to fry. Generals who don’t buy his bullshit, and aren’t afraid to say so. Senators in his own party who are working up the courage to push back against Trump’s dangerous goofiness. Journalists with international reach and a much greater readership than I have, who use the First Amendment to reveal the Emperor’s nakedness.
The administration probably doesn’t have time to go after a simple son of the Wyoming soil with an adequate vocabulary, so I should just keep writing. Trump has a long list of political opponents to silence before he gets to me.
But, if push comes to shove, and in the interest of my patriotic duty, I’ll make it easy for him.
Dear Trump, I live at 2803 Central Ave. in Cheyenne. I’m pretty easy to find, just a couple blocks north of the Capitol. On nice days, you can find me sitting out on my porch, drinking beer and thinking up new and interesting ways to say nasty stuff about you.
really enjoyed that opinion. mr. miller you are wonderful. I just have a question: why are our congress people not following the oath they took? They swore an oath to uphold the constitution. Not an oath to a person.
You are great Rod!! Thank you for speaking out as always, please keep it up it this insane, scary taking over of our Constitution! I am standing with millions of others!
Amen, brother.
Rod, while I cannot guarantee that the Orange Orangutan will never send Kristi Gnome after you, you can rest assured that by the time he gets around to you, you will be in good company there, to paraphrase yourself.
There are those of us like Rod, myself, Roger etc. that have been speaking out for years against the bigots and those that rape and scrape. Trump is just like Joe McCarthy and yes Hitler, But, the truth is: Trump would not be doing this without a support team. I truly believe the Heritage Foundation had a pile of executive orders for him to sign the moment he took office. Heritage Folks with KKK backgrounds have been wanting ethnic cleansing forever. They also want to put women back into the kitchen and out of the work force and power centers. It is criminal how the defense department is firing women, blacks, trans and gay folks.
I don’t know about the rest of you but if they show up at my house I tend to take at least one of them with me…m
Thanks for calling out the POTUS and his lapdogs. I wonder when our congressional delegation is going to re-visit the Code of the West and say enough is enough.
This man makes my week! I wish I could write and articulate like this man.
Thank you Rod. Fresh air(ing) of this narcissistic’s actions is nice to hear.
Yes, please keep writing, Rod. The growing voices of dissent are needed now more than ever.
“Anne Frank? Yeah, she’s upstairs.” – Every single WY MAGA voter
Rod, it’s not trump that should worry you. The orange grifter with soft hands and a soiled diaper is a small matter. Look across the street. Your red-hatted neighbor will sell you out to ICE Barbie and her stooges, then laugh about it over imported coffee (pre-tariff). These are the same people who sacrificed relationships with family and friends to chase Facebook likes and the orange fever dream of a re-born June Cleaver ‘Murika. Rod, you are the ‘other.’ The Jew, the gypsy, the gay, the Muslim, the brown immigrant, the socialist, the liberal, the academic. Those pimple face brats at doge don’t need AI or A1, they have an alt-right ally with a “Let’s Go Brandon” 6×10 flag waving in the constant Cheyenne wind. He’s going to call the 1-800-DEPORT hotline and give you up. He’ll betray his Nation. She’ll betray the US Constitution, and they will betray their neighbor. Judas Iscariot. Judas of the City. Judas of Cheyenne.
People keep expecting a bell to ring or starting gun to signal the start of fascism in America. WY, it’s already here. The sitting US president told the corrupt leader of a Central American country he should build five more prison facilities to keep “home growns” from America. Fascism is here, and it’s being warmly hosted by your Neighborhood Watch program. “Rod? Yeah, he’s upstairs.”
Move quietly, protect the vulnerable in your communities and go down swinging.
Well said, and painfully on target.
What don’t people get on difference of US CITIZENS and illegals and even here on visa/green card?
The constitution says all people here have the same protections under the law. Amendment 5 covers them.
Rod’s somewhat flight of fancy should be a concern for all of us, at least those who honor and cherish the Constitution with the built in protections for our system of government and rights of individuals and organizations. Trump, in less than three months in office, has done so much undermine these protections. Among other actions are his declarations of “national emergency” to justify deporting immigrants, imposing tariffs, attacks on the environment, and the list goes on. Announcing a “national emergency” is his way to bypass fundamental rights such as due process. Trump knows no boundaries and he will continue with these excesses unless stopped before more damage is done to the underpinnings of our democracy.
Keep writing Rod, truth will outlast all lies- including the “Big”one!
Your columns are the best, thank you!