Terrorism from Within

 Ex-President Trump absconded with 'Top Secret' and other 'Classified' documents in clear violation of law and his oath of office.  The only authority to be able to call out the crimes are Federal institutions.  Thus, Trump ends up in the cross-hairs of multiple investigations about the scope and nature of his crimes.  As the FBI, the NSA, and Congress pursue him, Trump is raising money and regaining strength by tapping into anti-authoritarian sentiment held by conservative anti-government sects.

In an NY Times op-ed, Michelle Cottle links Trump's tactics with the anti-federal government politics of recent American history. Ruby Ridge is the short-hand reference to a 1992 confrontation between U.S. Marshall Services and a family in Idaho who defied Federal authorities, resulting in a shoot-out and killing of a U.S. Marshall and several members of the family. The incident was cited as the inspiration for the Oklahoma City bombing of a Federal building in 1995 by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Cottle's piece links other incidents of defying Federal authority,

    
    Going back still farther, federal troops played a prominent role in dismantling the segregated South. In his 1963 inaugural address, Gov. George Wallace of Alabama delivered his infamous pro-segregation rallying cry and whined that after the Civil War, the South was “set upon by the vulturous carpetbagger and federal troops, all loyal Southerners were denied the vote at the point of bayonet, so that the infamous illegal 14th Amendment might be passed.” Even now, plenty of white Southerners — the aggrieved heart of today’s Republican Party — cling to their sense of being oppressed by highhanded federal meddlers.

I share a distaste for government over-reach, intrusion, and interference.  And it should be natural for people to feel most comfortable and least fearful of authority closest to home, and thus, most untrusting and fearful of authority at the level of a federal government.  My general belief is that corruption is most enabled at the local level.  An important role of the Federal government and the Constitution is protection of an individual's 'inalienable rights' , including protection against infringement by state and local government.  In my life, this is the general role of the Federal authorities.  Their reach stops local industry from fouling the water I drink and the air I breathe.  It has failed to act against the abuse of power by local police.