THEY'RE MAKING THEIR MOVE TO CRIMINALIZE PEACEFUL OPPOSITION

I have a busy day today, so this is a hasty post, but I want to say that the most important thing that happened yesterday wasn't the indictment of James Comey -- it was the release of a presidential memorandum titled "Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence." You can read it at the White House website, and you should -- it's terrifying.

I don't have time today to give you a close read, but here are some passages from the memo, closely read by Jeff Sharlet, a journalist, professor, and author, most recently, of The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War.

From Trump's "terror" memo. It's critical to recognize & name the bait-&-switch: Using real acts of violence to attack the much greater strength of left organizations dedicated to building systemic rule-of-law resistance that is the opposite of violence.

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— Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social) September 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM

The kry point here is the administration's argument that violent acts like the Charlie Kirk assassination and the shooting at the Dallas ICE facility are organized political violence, planned in advance by liberal and left groups. You and I know that any twentysomething young man with the usual red-state access to guns and a head full of online brain poisoning can decide to shoot someone, and all that's needed beyond the gun and bullets is gas money. But the regime says it's all planned and financed by a shadowy "Antifa," and that's now the official policy of the U.S. government. And tens of millions of right-wing voters think that makes perfect sense.

And the imaginary co-conspirators aren't just groups that dole out money:

The “to” in Trump’s terror memo is doing terrifying work. Grammatically, it makes murder the intention of critique. So if I taught in my “educational institution” that Trump’s attack on rule-of-law is unprecedented—aka “isolated”—by this memo I could be accused of justifying murder.

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— Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social) September 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM

Key words in this clause of Trump terror memo are “trespass” and “civil disorder.” Rest is objectively or ostensibly illegal. But these terms bring under the “terrorism” umbrella something as simple as, say, sitting in front of an ICE entrance. Or, for that matter, just chanting from the sidewalk.

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— Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social) September 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM

From the Trump Terror Memo. Have you ever donated to a left org with a credit card? Get ready. This doesn’t mean they’re coming for you. It means if they want to come for you, you’re already cooked.

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— Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social) September 25, 2025 at 7:02 PM

I don't think he's exaggerating. As I said yesterday, the regime wants to define all criticism as incitement to violence. Its main target -- because Trump and everyone else in the White House want themselves and their allies to run America forever -- is liberal groups.

The point of this passage in the Trump terror memo—a major document—isn’t kicking down doors. It’s bleeding left nonprofits dry, a double whammy effect: crush the organizers, leading everyday people to believe organizing isn’t possible, that maybe they withered because they were wrong.

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— Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social) September 25, 2025 at 7:06 PM

Those groups could include the opposition party.

Speculation, but I don’t think it’s off the table that within a year or two state Democratic Party orgs could be designated terror orgs according to Trump’s terror memo. The point will be to make examples, and compel submission.

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— Jeff Sharlet (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social) September 25, 2025 at 7:23 PM

The administration's argument is that every act of political violence by a person expressing views we'd call liberal or left-wing was undoubtedly financed and unquestionably inspired by left-leaning organizations and individuals enaged in fund-raising, protest, and ordinary political speech. If the administration follows through on this, it's the end of multi-party democracy and basic civil liberties in America, and that's not an exaggeration.

Sharlet's assessment of the document appears in essay form on his Substack. Everyone in America who appreciates our basic freedoms should be as alarmed as he is.