“It’s 11:00 pm do you know where your children are?” That was a very common question delivered by the newscasters appearing on television in the city of Pittsburgh, while I was growing up. I still remember watching Channel 2, whose call letters were KDKA, with a very ominous but professional reporter named Bill Burns, looking directly at the viewer as if he was sitting in our home, honestly concerned, that at this late hour, are you a responsible enough parent to KNOW exactly where your kids ARE! Next Walter Cronkite, growing up in the city of Pittsburgh, I believed that whatever Bill Burns asked, or said, or mentioned and in this case questioned, needed to be head and addressed. I can still picture and hear Bill Burns asking my parents “It’s 11:00 pm do you know where your children are?”
When we ask the Department of Homeland Security do they know where the children are, no matter which time of day, the answers we get are maybe we do, of course, we do, but that is not important, or something as sinister as, well, maybe if parents were more responsible and did not try to flee from abuse, from poverty, from hunger, from authoritarian governments or gang warfare, THEY would know where their children are. But since, these parents defied Emperor Trump, who dislikes the color brown on the skin of people,, and since these people are not the good kind of immigrants like Melania and her parents, we don’t have to know where their children are.
As in most countries when there is an Authoritarian government, scapegoats must be made a priority. Fear and loathing must be created, let the public know, that if you cross “DADDY”, you will be punished. In most countries when the leadership relies less on democratic principles and more on coercion and contempt, punishment must be handed out, not just a slap on the wrist, but actual separation of families and an establishment of camps, some may refer to them as concentration camps, places where you know you are not the boss of yourself, and places where you are quite never certain what your future may bring.
For anyone of any political persuasion, of any particular religious belief, of any color of skin, for anyone who still believes America has a chance to succeed as a leader in morals and values, the question of “Do you know where your children are?” should ring loud and strong, and send unshakeable chills of horror if the answer is NO!
