• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, July 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

The Horrors of a Repressive Regime, American Style

Stephen J. Lyons by Stephen J. Lyons
10/26/21
in Featured, Opinion
Pro-abortion rights activists rally at the Texas State Capitol in Austin against SB8, September 11.

Pro-abortion rights activists rally at the Texas State Capitol in Austin against SB8, September 11. Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar/AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Within 24 hours of the United States pulling out of Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war and turning over the country to the Taliban, the brutal crackdown immediately began in earnest. 

Women would no longer have control over their own bodies and, if caught, they would be jailed, or worse. 

In addition, any neighbor, relative, or stranger could snitch on any disobedient woman who wanted to break free of the yoke of misogynistic patriarchy. These vigilantes could also turn in sympathetic doctors that assisted these oppressed women. 

Voting was so severely restricted that the party in power could maintain control over the populace in perpetuity. These restrictions were aimed at minority groups whose populations had grown over the past 20 years.

Guns could be openly carried on the streets; no training or permit necessary. And there was no limit on the number of firearms and ammo one could possess. Because of widespread religious and cultural beliefs and buoyed by a propaganda-driven distrust of modern science, people refused life-saving vaccines, allowing the rampant spread of the coronavirus, especially in rural areas.

It was so sad to watch what had begun as a unique experiment in democracy turn into a toxic combination of theocracy, autocracy, and corporate corruption. 

The United States of America, ‘Taliban Style’ 

What kind of country does this? What sort of nation stacks the highest judicial arbitrator in the land — its Supreme Court — with unqualified political toadies who serve on bended knee, blessing anti-democratic laws according to the whims and wishes of corporate and religious fundamentalists?

This is the kind of country the United States of America has become. 

Texas and Florida, specifically, and many of the states south of the Ohio River, have coerced their citizens into living under a repressive, Taliban-style government controlled by cynical white men and their rich, powerful corporate masters. Their motivation is to become even richer and more powerful by manipulating such hallowed democratic cornerstones as voting rights, women’s and children’s health care, and equal access to the American Dream by ensuring that education is financially out of reach. Who can forget the conservatives’ Supreme Leader — the disgraced, twice-impeached perpetual grifter, Donald Trump  — who famously said, “I love the poorly uneducated?”

US President Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

The viral spread of misinformation about elections and vaccines by dangerous pillow-hawking hucksters and violent, flag-toting insurrectionists is a gift to the “leaders” of these states, especially Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Both of these “leaders” will do or say anything as they position themselves for a presidential run in 2024 — providing their Supreme Leader Trump decides not to run again.

DeSantis, whose resting face seems to be one of befuddlement or severe abdominal distress, has recklessly guided his citizens from the cradle to an early grave by refusing to impose mask mandates as the delta variant of COVID-19 sweeps through Florida. He has even tried to impose fines on school districts that impose them. The courts have ruled against him, but the dogged DeSantis has assured all of us that he will appeal this decision. 

What a fighter! I guess the idea of protecting children that are not his own somehow appears to the governor to be a restriction of one’s right to die unnecessarily and at the expense of over-stressed Sunshine State healthcare workers. “Retiring” in Florida now has an entirely new meaning.

‘Texas Style’ Freedom

Over in the Lone Star state, Governor Abbott is on quite a roll. He just signed off on perhaps the most restrictive voting rights legislation in the nation. The demographics of Texas and the nation are changing, and way too many people of color are now going to the polls and threatening red Texas may turn blue. And that, my friends, just can’t stand.

But, wait, there’s more. Hold my beer, Abbott said. How about we pass the most repressive Sharia-like abortion bill in the nation? The bill outlaws abortion as early as six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy, often before many women are even aware they are pregnant. Oh, and no exceptions for rape or incest. But what does she know about her body anyway? Men like Abbott know better. The law took effect because the Supreme Court refused to take any action against it. Well, it’s not their problem; and besides, the six conservative judges must please the paymasters that greased their paths to a job for life. 

But even the six-week ban was not enough for Texas. Tucked into Senate Bill 8 is a $10,000 “reward” payable to those enterprising bounty hunters that find a woman getting an abortion or a doctor performing the procedure. Even a person giving a ride to a woman seeking an abortion can be sued. 

And, to top it all off, as of September 1, those whistleblowers can now enforce their vigilante justice by openly carrying their sidearms without the pesky permits that other states require. When Abbott signed the “constitutional carry” bill last June he crowed, “You could say that I signed into law today some laws that protect gun rights, But, today, I signed documents that instilled freedom in the Lone Star State.”

Yes, you could say that, but freedom for whom?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Stephen J. Lyons

Stephen J. Lyons

Author of six books of reportage and essays, most recently “Searching for Home: Misadventures with Misanthropes” (Finishing Line Press)

Related Posts

Donald Trump
Opinion

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

by Kevin Cokley
June 18, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.
Opinion

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

by Stephen J. Lyons
April 2, 2025
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands during a meeting in New York on September 25, 2019
World

Zelensky Says ‘Unpredictable’ Trump Could Help End War

by Staff Writer with AFP
January 2, 2025
US President Donald Trump inspects border wall prototypes
National

Trump Confirms Plan to Use Military for Mass Deportation

by Staff Writer with AFP
November 18, 2024
US President Donald Trump displays a sign saying 'Trump digs coal' during a rally.
National

Gore Says Climate Progress ‘Won’t Slow Much’ Because of Trump

by Staff Writer with AFP
November 26, 2024
Putin talks to Trump in Hamburg
Opinion

From Roosevelt to Trump: The Complicated Legacy of Personal Diplomacy

by Tizoc Chavez
November 15, 2024
Next Post
North American beaver

Saving Endangered Species Will Save People Too — But We Need More Innovation

Pen America Gala 2021

PEN America Honors Imprisoned Iranian Writers at 2021 Gala

Recommended

Lula da Silva

Brazil’s Lula Calls Trump’s Tariff Threat ‘Unacceptable Blackmail’

July 18, 2025
People from Nordic countries participate in the 2025 WorldPride DC parade and celebrate LGBTQ rights in Washington DC, USA, Saturday, June 7, 2025.

Sweden Cuts Red Tape for Changing Legal Gender

July 16, 2025
Ursula von der Leyen

EU Ministers Weigh Response to Latest Trump Tariff Threat

July 14, 2025
UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese

UN Says US Sanctions on Expert Sets ‘Dangerous Precedent,’ Must Be Reversed

July 11, 2025
Women in Afghanistan wearing a blue burqa

ICC Seeks Arrest of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

July 9, 2025
Kenya, Nairobi, 2024-07-16. Protesters in the streets

Nairobi Tense as Kenya Marks Democracy Uprising

July 7, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post