As I read of the US attack and destruction of a boat in international waters in the Caribbean Sea, I am reminded of a childhood joke about the bug hitting the car windshield on the highway; “Alive, Alive, Alive, Alive, DEAD!” Yet this is no laughing matter. Trump alleges (evidence is scarce) that the boat was operated by 11 members of the Tren de Aragua drug cartel, a group that he has labelled a terrorist organization. Eleven souls killed, found guilty in the court of Trump’s mind, his orders eagerly carried out by Trump minions, no one saying nay, since all of those whose views are not “aligned with the President’s agenda” have been purged. Senator Lindsay Graham happily posted on X, “this is a welcome sign that we have a new sheriff in town.” This is not a welcome sign. It is a disturbing foreshadowing, a trial run, another act to desensitize us to Trump’s violent violation of our Constitution and basic human rights, a dark hint of things to come on US soil. The attack was an extrajudicial and arbitrary use of force, a snuff film triumphantly posted on Truth Social. Is this what we have become? Shoot first, post on line, deflect questions later? There was no attempt at interdiction, at stopping the boat, detaining its crew, to determine if any of Trump’s claims were true. Alive, Alive, Alive, DEAD! Like a video game, with a callous disregard for human life and a violation of the UN Convention of the law of the sea and the sanctity of life under international human rights law. Eleven purported drug traffickers obliterated so Trump could distract from Epstein, so he could notch a bloody win. Is this truly what America has become?