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.
Rod you are a talented writer, that I believe is misguided as most of your followers. You do make some good points in some of your writings. The fact is the the good old USA is facing a invasion created by the past administrations. It has been going on for decades by both republicans and Democrats. The chance of a Wyoming citizen being deported is so low I do not know why it is even a topic. The influx of illegals (many violent criminals men of military age) coming into our county the past 4 years has really brought the issue to the forefront. We must take action to save our country. President Trump is doing what he was elected to do by the majority of the Citizens of our country. President Trump is trying to remove people from the government graft they have enjoyed for years. Employees of the federal government that are in favor of continuing the same old graft need to go. We need a productive workforce and military to help move our county forward. Their is so much waist in most in most areas of the federal government it is scarry. Elon Musk has exposed much of this already. There is so much more I believe. These issues should be a nonpartisan issues that all should be able to agree on. President Trump is trying to save our country. America First. No man is Perfect, but look at the body of work.
I wouldn’t be too worried Rod about being carted off in the night. I’ve always thought that the best attribute a person can have in life is that of good judgement. Trump doesn’t seem to have much of that in my humble opinion. He has appointed a bunch of nincompoops to take down the Federal government and they are rapidly wearing out their welcome. When the people of Greenland can tell you to your face that you should take a hike and you can’t do much about it you’re loosing the battle. Trump’s vision is just too bazaar for people to put up with much longer. He’s failing by the day.
Thank you Mr Miller!
Some how “ all of us” in our country need to come together and save ourselves, our constitution, and all of our institutions that promote civic duties. Schools, libraries, public radio, and tv are all on the chopping block! And our public lands are being threatened now by our own, Barraso, Lummis, and Hageman! Let’s just sell the land to the highest bidder to pay off the National debt… ignorance & greed come to mind.
Here’s a thought, how about the Billionaire oligarchs actually paying their fair share of the taxes they owe, instead of their accountants & lawyers paving the way to pay zero taxes? National debt could be paid off in a a few years.
The leaders in this country both sides of the aisle dream up laws to benefit them, and then the legislative branch votes in the new laws, and we have no say in all of this. Tax breaks are a good example. Anytime the leaders of this country say that, it makes me cringe. It’s a tax break for the billionaires and the bloated corporations that are monopolies, not us or the little guy running his family owned gas station or barbershop.
Ok, my apologies for rambling.
Dear Mr Miller, please keep writing your columns, keep us informed and laughing, with your humor, and outlook on life in the “Great Empty”
Respectfully,
Gretchen Mack
Dubois, WY
Thanks Rod. I hope the Wyoming voter takes a look at how our Federal delegation has responded to Trump trashing the Constitution as they are cheer leading his actions against our rights.
Based on Cynthia Lummis’s recent “opinion” published in the CSD it is clear she is not fit to serve and really knows nothing about our Republic. While I cannot write like Rod I know good stuff when I read it and this Order written by the conservative 4th Circuit is a gem and one someone should read to Cynthia because clearly she fails at reading comprehension on her own.
“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country
in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca4.178400/gov.uscourts.ca4.178400.8.0.pdf
Every time I watch the Don scribble out a spanky new executive order with his chubby little Sharpie I can’t help but chuckle to myself as I imagine some sinister version of Harold with his purple crayon — and then I remember that we also gave this 290 pound toddler in a ketchup stained Armani suit America’s nuclear launch codes and I choke on my own tongue…
He’s also a great weather prognosticator.
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.
Spot on!
Agree 100%.
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.
I keep asking why due process is such a problem. People don’t seem to understand that without due process, anyone…not just undocumented immigrants or “criminals”…can be rounded up and disappeared or incarcerated indefinitely without ever hearing the charges against them or ever seeing a judge. At some point, that might also include them. What am I missing?
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!