Some of you may be aware of accusations that the phrase had Nazi origins; others may also know that this claim was widely rejected even by the mainstream media on research and reflection. All that is taken as read, but: what was it intended to mean?
The link above it doesn't help much: it leads to Homeland Security's "Worst of the Worst" page about criminal aliens, but it doesn't add any information or context for what is under discussion here.
It's a potentially powerful slogan if it means something, but in order to know what or whether it does we'd need to be clued in on some important matters. Who constitutes "ours"? Americans? DHS personnel? Some other group? Is it a warning to cartels not to target Homeland Security personnel? Is it a warning to protesters not to do so? Or does it intend some entirely different meaning?
Likewise, who constitutes "yours"? The aliens at the link don't seem to belong to any body that might be considered an organized group. Is it a threat targeting cartels? American protest groups? What is she talking about?
I'm not leveling any accusations except regarding the complete opacity of the attempted communication. You might think that, given how quickly opponents will rush to misconstrue Trump administration communications, some thought might be given to clarity of expression. Their opponents are going to construe the Betsy Ross flag as neo-Confederate, after all; but that one is clear and easily understood. Nobody is going to take that accusation seriously.
This, it's much harder to guess what they even meant to say. It's clearly a threat, but who is being threatened, and on whose behalf? I have no idea, only guesses about what might be intended.
2 comments:
Perhaps a scholarly exercise in the use of ambiguity? Keep 'em guessing?
If it is impossible to say something in a way that cannot be misconstrued,
perhaps a heavy fog is an advantage. (sar)
I mean, DHS is mostly a weapon pointed at Americans, though ICE is not. Police in general are a kind of permanent threat -- approximately "Do not cross these lines or we will come for you with guns, put you in chains and cage you for years or decades if we don't kill you outright in the process" -- so having the government make the threat explicit wouldn't be too shocking. Sometimes they do; I know of a few sheriffs who regularly make explicit threats, though they usually couch them a little more carefully so it's clear that they mean to threaten criminals (or at least motor vehicle code violators) rather than everyone.
This is so vague I don't even know if this is intended as a threat on our behalf, or against us. Were we meant to be threatened or reassured by this communication? I have no idea.
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