It is wrong to pretend that things are “normal” to normalize the evil actions Kristi Noem oversees.
Recently, The Citadel hosted Kristi Noem. They should not have done this. The university should not give any recognition to someone who runs an organization of thugs who violate rights, beat people, and destroy lives.
Shame on my alma mater. To treat a loathsome person like Kristi Noem with any shred of respect — or to pretend that her visit was in any way, shape, or form “normal”- is to betray the ideals of The Citadel as well as normalizing behavior that is entirely unacceptable. She oversees people who are working to destroy the Bill of Rights, has wrongfully arrested over 170 American Citizens, and destroyed the credibility of the United States on the world stage.
Kristi Noem’s cruel leadership, blatant disregard of free speech and due process rights, and outrageous treatment of a democratically elected official make her unfit to serve as Secretary of DHS. The Citadel, as a college that supposedly teaches values of honor, has no business hosting someone who lies routinely and is borderline guilty of crimes against humanity.
The Citadel does not have to vocally oppose Noem. They just have to avoid inviting her in the first place. She could have gone somewhere else. So when she shows up for an event like this — knowingly or not, the college is giving its consent and approval to evil acts like this:
Let’s be clear, SOMEONE, inside the college’s administration or the alumni network, had to arrange for this to happen, and the college gave its consent to it. In so doing, they are turning a blind eye to blatant cruelty and violence against Americans, immigrants, and other people in the world. I’ve been reading all kinds of defenses from other alumni about how we “have to respect” government officials.
News flash: NO, I DO NOT. Such respect has to be earned, and through her actions, Kristi Noem, as well as just about every senior Trump official, has done nothing to earn any respect whatsoever.
Their actions are an assault on the Constitution and the Republic, which I swore an oath to protect. As did many of the folks at The Citadel. If you are not able to understand how bad these things are that are being done in the name of the “government,” then you have lost sight of what is right.
And lest anyone go the old trope that I am overreacting, here is another news flash: “No, I am not.” If anything, I am not mad enough right now. There are truths I have learned over the last 20 years that must not be dismissed or overcome right now; I’d regret my silence even more.
So, it’s time for the college to acknowledge its great failure. Let them know that it is NOT business as usual. Write to them. If you are a donor, stop donating. Make them pay a transactional cost to obliquely support vile and evil people.
Please write to the college and express your strong disapproval.
Write to the Citadel’s President, General Glenn Walters, and tell him you are disgusted with The Citadel disgracing itself by hosting Kristi Noem on campus.
Write to :
General Glenn Walters,
Office of the President,
The Citadel,
171 Moultrie Street,
Charleston, SC 29409,
United States
Pass the word along to your friends — get them to write too. There is strength in numbers. Even small actions can make a difference. This abomination of the President and the evil people who serve him cannot and must not be allowed to pretend things are “normal”.
They are not. And God willing, we will live to see them suffer the consequences of their actions.