We closed our eyes and America slipped away

"It almost didn’t feel like I was just at home.... It just felt like I had never seen or witnessed anything like that."

—Patrick Gilmore, citizen

It was "More Than A Feeling."

He closed his eyes and America slipped away.

Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Boston — whatever.

"Gilmore was on his way to the [Chicago] train station with a friend Sunday afternoon.... As they waited to cross the street, a cyclist approached, taunted the agents and — after a brief exchange — jetted off west along Wacker Drive as [armed] agents chased after him." —Chicago Tribune

"[Our] Blitz was launched to remove the worst of the worst.... Nowhere is a safe haven.... We will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return." —Department of Homeland Security

"A helicopter and tens of federal officers wearing military-style tactical gear with high-powered rifles and flash-bang grenades descended on a home in Elgin, Ill. Inside, a man was getting ready for work when he 'saw red lasers all over the kitchen and the front door,' and suddenly heard an explosion." —New York Times

Trump, speaking Tuesday to a roomful of military leaders about "animals" and American cities: "We’re going to straighten them out one by one. The people in this room are going to help with that. It’s a war from within."

About his political opponents: “They’re vicious people that we have to fight."

About “sleazebag” journalists: "They're enemies of the people,” the Lügenpresse.

About uneasy military officers: "If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future."

Governor JB Pritzker: "Jackbooted thugs roaming around a peaceful downtown."

U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks: "[It's} chilling. This is what dictators do." —USA TODAY

Dorothy: I've a feeling we're not in America anymore.

"It's More Than a Feeling."

"I closed my eyes and it slipped away."

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Cross-posted in Substack.