Where are we?

This was something I wrote almost three weeks ago (July 24, 2020), but it's still sticking with me.

You see sci-fi shows where aliens come and occupy cities and they pick human "collaborators" to work for them. I watch those shows (Colony, V, Earth Final Conflict comes to mind), and I start thinking. Well, what makes them betray the human race? What makes them, not begrudgingly, but all gung-ho, want to beat on their fellow man for an alien who wouldn't think twice about them? Then I think, well, that's sci-fi. They're doing that because they're paid actors following a script. If they evoke an emotion from the viewer, then the paycheck is well earned for the week. But yeah, sci-fi, fiction, tv.

Then I see images like this. And so many more like it. And the writer in me, the tv junkie in me, the nerd in me, my first gut reaction is the exact same as when I saw the planes on 9/11...first gut reaction...the special effects, wow. The action looks so real. What movie is this? Then I see, this is no movie. This is here. This isn't China or Venezuela. This is America. This isn't Tiananmen Square (for those of us old enough to remember). This is Portland. These aren't student activists facing down tanks from a Communist regime. These are mothers coming out in defense of their city, of their children. But it's not just the mothers. I think about the...what do I call them? Agents? Military? Paramilitary? Collaborators? But yeah, where are their heads at? Are they "Yeah, I get to bust some Marxist loving heads"? Are they "God I hope no one recognizes me"? Are they "Oh no, I know her, she's one of my Facebook friends"?

And no, I'm not defending the "agents" in no way, shape, or form. And no, I'm not trying to play the blame game. So please don't come around here saying Republicans this, Democrats that. Because not every Republican is bad and not every Democrat is good. Not every White is racist and I personally know some Blacks that are racists. So miss me with finger-pointing.

I'm saying I look at this picture and I wish it was a still from an upcoming movie. But this is real life. This is what America has become. Somebody's mother being taken by somebody's son for another man's definition of law and order. And not the Dick Wolf version. I look at this picture and I hurt for my country.