DHS Portrays Border Patrol as Agents of Christ

@#1 ... Sinclair Lewis: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." ...

Excellent quote. I think I may have also posted it. at one point.

Since then I have looked around ...

The Sinclair Lewis Society
about.illinoisstate.edu

... Frequently Asked Questions ...

Did Sinclair Lewis say, "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"?

This quote sounds like something Sinclair Lewis might have said or written, but we've never been able to find this exact quote. Here are passages from two novels Lewis wrote that are similar to the quote attributed to him.

From It Can't Happen Here: "But he saw too that in America the struggle was befogged by the fact that the worst Fascists were they who disowned the word Fascism' and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty."

From Gideon Planish: "I just wish people wouldn't quote Lincoln or the Bible, or hang out the flag or the cross, to cover up something that belongs more to the bank-book and the three golden balls."

There was also a play by Sherman Yellen called Strangers in the late 1970s which had a similar quote, but no one, including one of Lewis's biographers, Richard Lingeman, has ever been able to locate the original citation.

Other variants include one from James Waterman Wise, Jr. in the Christian Century (Feb.5, 1936) who noted that Hearst and Coughlin were the two chief exponents of fascism in America. If fascism comes, he added, it will not be identified with any "shirt" movement, nor with an "insignia," but it will probably be "wrapped up in the American flag and heralded as a plea for liberty and preservation of the constitution" (245). Another version is from Halford E. Luccock, in Keeping Life Out of Confusion (1938): "When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled made in Germany'; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, Americanism.'" Harrison Evans Salisbury in The Many Americas Shall Be One (1971) remarked "Sinclair Lewis aptly predicted in It Can't Happen Here that if fascism came to America it would come wrapped in the flag and whistling The Star Spangled Banner'" (29).
...

... and ready to move where he leads. It's a choice to face the unknown and to trust that God will equip you along the way." ...

Trump the savior-king
www.christiancentury.org

... Pete Hegseth may be the first Secretary of Defense whose tattoos have made headlines. In May 2020, he posted a photo on Instagram featuring the Latin phrase inked onto his right bicep: Deus Vult, meaning, "God wills it."

"Deus Vult" was the medieval Christian crusaders' battle cry. During the Crusades, Christians killed those who refused to convert, especially their Muslim Ottoman enemies, as they fought to conquer Jerusalem. White supremacists shouted the phrase as they marched on Charlottesville in 2017, and one January 6th rioter waved a white flag emblazoned with a red Jerusalem cross and the words "Deus Vult" as he approached the Capitol building.

Seeing the phrase on the arm of the Secretary of Defense disturbed medieval scholars, who understood it as "a call to religious violence." They saw it as clear evidence that Hegseth is "a Crusader fanboy."

Of course, Hegseth denies the link to any negative connotations his political rivals can dream up. But in his 2020 MAGA tome, American Crusade, he frequently references the medieval Crusades, and he urges the religious right to engage in a new "holy war."

He even nicknames Donald Trump "our Crusader in chief" and hints at his willingness to engage in future violence: "Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet." Hegseth claims that these statements are metaphors. ...

These Christians overlook vast swaths of the New Testament.

Hating on and violence against immigrants ... an anti-Jesus crusade.

1 John 4:20 addresses the relationship between love for God and love for others. It emphasizes that claiming to love God while harboring hatred for others is contradictory.
Key Message
Love and Hatred

Claiming Love for God: The verse states that if someone claims to love God but hates their brother or sister, they are considered a liar.

This verse reinforces a central Christian teaching: love for others is essential to demonstrating true love for God. It reflects the idea that love is not just a feeling but requires action and compassion towards others.

Related Teachings

The verse connects to other biblical teachings that emphasize love, such as Jesus' command to love one another (John 13:34-35) and the importance of love in the Christian faith.

In summary, 1 John 4:20 serves as a powerful reminder that genuine love for God is inseparable from love for others.
Bible Hub bibleref.com

MAGA has entirely re-imagined Christ.

He is redesigned in the shape of Donald Trump's Id.

When Trump is finally, fully unmasked as the raper of children....

They'll excuse it by Scripture.

All POTUS 48 will have to do is be a decent human being. He/she will be thought of as a saint.

What 70 year old man, who also happens to be a US citizen with no criminal record, would Jesus drag out of his house in only his underwear in the dead of winter because He didn't bother to verify his ID?:

bsky.app

#8 The man was Hmong, another large population of immigrants in Mpls. He had been here since the 70s and was a citizen. How does anybody think this is OK?

Jesus "could pass as Egyptian", crossed many borders and upset the caste system with peaceful resistance.

DHS catagorizes that as domestic terrorism.

We are all Palestinians now.

Resist Don't Collaborate.

Stay Safe. Its not worth your life.

Sand in the gears. Slow walk. Act Stupid.

SABOTAGE.

Karen Philipp (the blonde vocalist on the right) resides in, of all places, Hennepin County, Minnesota.

www.youtube.com

*** White House Hobgloblin Stephen Miller: "All Minneapolis Cops Told to Surrender to ICE" ***

Link: www.thedailybeast.com

Jesus was an immigrant.

#15 Why, yes Jesus was an immigrant.

And, according to the Book of Bovino, the three wise men brought gold, frankincense, myrrh and a flash-bang grenade to offer the newborn child.

Jesus was also killed by the government, regardless of what antisemites want to tell you.

the Book of Bovino

It's a short read.

22 Bible Verses on Welcoming Immigrants

sojo.net

DHS is likely to have their own special place in the bigly MAGA section of Hell.

Resist Don't Collaborate.
Stay Safe. Its not worth your life.
Sand in the gears. Slow walk. Act Stupid.
SABOTAGE.
#12 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2026-01-19 11:03 AM

A problem is that ICE will attack people following their vehicles.

They stop in the middle of a street, get out, look up the plates, call people by the registration name, photograph them and pepper spray the windshield vents before they break the window and drag the driver out, typically harming them in the process, and then arrest them.

They have left vehicles abandoned in the street, including children.

ICE agents are terrorists that deserves prison.

There is no "fixing" ICE other than dismantling it.

This is a federal agency empowered to enforce administrative laws over immigrants, aliens, migrants, i.e. non-US citizens.

Previous to 2002, Immigration Agents (GS-1810) enforced this administrative law.

They apprehended illegal aliens, overstays, etc and brought the suspects before Immigration Judges for hearings.

These aliens caught by INS Immigration Agents were either paroled until their hearing date with an IJ or incarcerated at INS facilities.

There were no instant deportations and US citizens were left alone.

After the panic of 9/11, ICE was created to instantly deport aliens without a judicial or immigration hearing: "Get the Muslims out!"

Allowing INS Agents to enforce laws against US citizens, "Customs Enforcement" was added to their writ, like we see at the borders. No longer are there two separate checkpoints for Immigration and one for Customs.

Previous INS Immigration Agents with a writ to apprehend aliens became Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents with a writ to target non-aliens.

#25 If I may, C0RI0LANUS

I might suggest Electoral-Vote.com be added to your daily reading. The hosts are academics (one from California, the other from Denmark). They are often right-on-the-mark on so many of their posts. FYI, Saturdays are reserved for answering readers' questions, Sundays are for letters from readers, and Monday through Friday cover events of the day/week written by the hosts. On Fridays they have two great ending segments: This Week in Schadenfreude and This Week in Freudenfreude. It think you'll find their This Week in Freudenfreude especially uplifting.

I posted this earlier, and since the hosts are academics, I thought you might find their takes very worthwhile reading.

#26 Many of the stories I post here come directly from Electoral-Vote.com, which I have been reading, regularly, since the 2000 aughts.

Republicans are the innkeeper, refusing to provide Mary and Joseph with a room.

How does anybody think this is OK?
#9 | POSTED BY CHANTRESSE

It's a combination of hate, fear, ignorance and delusion.

The worst people in America were brought together by a man who represents the worst aspects of humanity.

Burn It All Down
#21 | POSTED BY LEGALLYYOURDEAD

Don't you worry, Trump and republicans are in the process of burning this nation to the ground.

Rejoice!

@26 Thanks for the lead, A Friend, I'll check it out after playing bridge tonight.

BTW I: As a New Yorker, do you recall any mass INS raids against the Irish in the Bronx or Queens before 9/11?

Some of the Irish overstays before 9/11 became NYPD cops and they still had their native brough. I drank with one last century. I was told another became an FDNY firefighter (but this qualifies as hearsay as I didn't meet him).

This was all before Ireland's economic boom after they joined the EU, so America was still the land of opportunity for the Irish before 2000.

I also knew a Canadian "overstay" who had a good job in NYC for years (I won't say where). He paid his taxes, kept out of trouble, but was finally caught up in the post 9/11 dragnet. And the poor guy wasn't a Muslim, Arab, Hindu etc. He was a regular looking guy and a NY Giants fan like me.

BTW II: Australian federal immigration officers are unarmed. When they conduct a raid or inspection of a farm or factory for illegal alien workers, they are accompanied by local police officers to deal with Australian citizens or the threat of violence.

#31 You're most welcome. That's the first site I read each day and, as I mentioned, is the source of many of the threads I post here (e.g.: The Hill that The White House Wants to Die On, Parts I through IV; Giving in to a Bully Rarely Works, Part I: Bill Cassidy; and, Party Identification Now Favors the Democrats by 8 Points).

I was unaware of the raids you referenced. But I'm glad you did. National ethnocentricity is as terrible to me as is We're #1, We're #1, etc. Jeff Daniels, as Will McAvoy, nailed it in this speech from the opening scene in the first episode of The Newsroom.

So, what you described, sadly, fits right into that whole mindset.

As for your BTW II: Why is it that a nation founded as a penal colony (from the POV of western "values") is so much more civilized than the home of the brave and land of the free?

(circular logic: anchor: top)

There is no "fixing" ICE other than dismantling it.

I agree. It should be dismantled and then a similar organization rebuilt. We actually need border police, but Trump has completely destroyed ICE. No one will ever work with them again.

www.rawstory.com

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been pulling guns on off-duty officers of color while illegally demanding their citizenship papers.

Trump murdered ICE. It's over.

"onwards Christian soldiers ... "

If you read the actual text of many church hymns, especially in evangelical denominations, you'll notice that they are obviously war chants.

#35 Especially the part that goes, Marching as to war, sentinel.

@#36 ... Marching as to war ...

Industry- State Of The Nation (1983)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics ...

genius.com

...
[Verse 1]
I see them marching off to war
They're looking so heroic
I'm told they won't be gone for long
But that's a lie and they know it

Ten thousand gone they won't return
Never to be seen again
Strategic games is all we learn in the end
But they say

[Chorus]
Don't you worry about the situation
A message from the telephone
They out there fighting for the state of the nation
I'm waiting a chance to come home
They always have to fight the alienation
And realize I'm fighting alone
...