Also significant and ominous here are the immediate reactions of the federal agents who grabbed and manhandled Padilla. While the fact that Noem didn't say anything to stop them reflects badly on her personally, it's also important that what the automatic reaction of these men--some combination of SS, CBP, and FBI--was. They could hear h…
Also significant and ominous here are the immediate reactions of the federal agents who grabbed and manhandled Padilla. While the fact that Noem didn't say anything to stop them reflects badly on her personally, it's also important that what the automatic reaction of these men--some combination of SS, CBP, and FBI--was. They could hear him saying who he was and yet they pushed him out of the room, put him on the floor, and handcuffed him.
The fact that they did this--perhaps on the orders of one of them, perhaps spontaneously--matters. Sure it's bad that Noem didn't say anything to stop it, sure it's bad that the norms of our political discourse are deteriorating. But let's also look at this as one of many phenomena out there that shows armed personnel of one kind or another (is LEOs the umbrella term here?) working closely with or for Trump administration officials and apparently adopting norms and practices that are antithetical to our country's best principles. From ICE and CBP personnel to the Secret Service and FBI agents and perhaps sooner rather than later other services, there's a dangerous pattern of viewing anyone different and any opposition as the enemy and of ignoring norms of tradition and even human decency as well as laws in dealing with those they see as the enemy. This is bad.
Also significant and ominous here are the immediate reactions of the federal agents who grabbed and manhandled Padilla. While the fact that Noem didn't say anything to stop them reflects badly on her personally, it's also important that what the automatic reaction of these men--some combination of SS, CBP, and FBI--was. They could hear him saying who he was and yet they pushed him out of the room, put him on the floor, and handcuffed him.
The fact that they did this--perhaps on the orders of one of them, perhaps spontaneously--matters. Sure it's bad that Noem didn't say anything to stop it, sure it's bad that the norms of our political discourse are deteriorating. But let's also look at this as one of many phenomena out there that shows armed personnel of one kind or another (is LEOs the umbrella term here?) working closely with or for Trump administration officials and apparently adopting norms and practices that are antithetical to our country's best principles. From ICE and CBP personnel to the Secret Service and FBI agents and perhaps sooner rather than later other services, there's a dangerous pattern of viewing anyone different and any opposition as the enemy and of ignoring norms of tradition and even human decency as well as laws in dealing with those they see as the enemy. This is bad.