Prison Radio
Kenneth Hartman

It said that P.T. Barnum, circus man and snake oil salesman, coined the phrase, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” It looks like pretty close to 60 million were hatched on Election Day as they pulled the lever for con-man-in-chief Donald J. Trump, now president elected of these united states. Regardless of the whys of this election, we all need to gird ourselves for the coming actions of his administration.

He has no choice but to create an internal security force an order of magnitude greater than what already exists, if he’s to make good on the central promise to deport 11 million undocumented workers. And don’t kid yourselves: he will try to do this, or he won’t be reelected. Don’t let the newfound measured tones or the pious talk fool you: the hard right will be appeased.

The potentates of the prison-industrial complex must surely be swimming in champagne right now and selling purity bonds, hand over fist, to every profiteer in the land. The swell of population that’ll be pouring into their immigration detention centers will fill every nook and cranny of expensive space.

There’s only one way to defeat a bully: sock him right in the middle of his overinflated ego. All of us concerned with human rights and justice need to push back in every way we can for as long as we can until his sorry can is back out of that house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Everyone needs to turn out for the midterm elections in 2018 and take back both houses of Congress. And in 2020, this backwards blowhard must be repudiated with a resounding defeat.

The next four years will be rough, but this is the battle of our life. Our children, our descendants, the rest of the planet—all of them are counting on us to rectify this tragic election. Let’s get to work.

This is Kenneth Hartman, executive director of the Other Death Penalty Project from inside California’s prison system.

These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.