There’s a scene from Band of Brothers I’ve been thinking about a lot these days. It’s from the penultimate episode (“Why We Fight”) which finds Easy Company en route to Berchtesgaden in April 1945. Private Webster (played by Eoin Bailey) beholds the thousands of surrendered German POWs marching the other way in defeat and has a (NSFW) moment of clarity and indignation:

Key quote:

Dragging our asses half way around the world, interrupting our lives, for what? You ignorant servile scum, what the f*** are we doing here?!

Perhaps you can see why this might ring true as I consider current events set in motion at the direction of the current president of the United States, including but not limited to a radicalized, extralegal police force laying siege to American cities, kidnapping and murdering people.

Hearing from friends who live in Minneapolis, for example, I imagine they could deeply relate to Webster’s exasperation and exhaustion at having their lives cruelly interrupted by fascists who seek only to denigrate and destroy. And they’re not dragging their asses to the streets to protest or hold candlelight vigils in the frigid cold for slain citizens because it’s fun and a great use of free time.

What are we doing here?

You know who else is wondering the same thing? Santa Clara’s own Batman:

A man wearing a Batman costume spoke at the Santa Clara City Council to criticize a lack of action against the federal immigration crackdown.

“What the f*** are we doing here? Seriously, you have had months to prepare for this upcoming event. I don’t give a damn if this is out of decorum. People are dying on our streets every single day in this country because we allow this federal government to walk all over you. Look me in the eye. Can any one of you go home to your children and tell them that you did everything you could to protect their classmates? To protect their grandparents? I don’t think you can.”

Thank you, Batman. And no thanks whatsoever to all the ignorant, servile politicians doing the bidding of the geriatric malignant narcissist dementia patient and wannabe mafioso currently occupying the White House who is not long for this earth. What a waste.

Another related lesson courtesy of the Dark Knight: Terror will lose.