Mahmoud Khalil's case is not the low-water mark you think it is

Two people born in 1995 one in the USA, and one abroad teach us about the state we live in.

A post-publication update about the negative reception: many have been critiquing this article as being “whataboutism”: it’s not. The point here is NOT to diminish the evilness of Trump. The point is to show that “The Resistance” — us — is in part NOT there for Mahmoud Khalil, nor for civil rights; but, only to regain electoral power. We need to find a way to state what we are fighting for, so when the Democrats take office again — and they will at some point — we don’t have a “resistance” sleeping like we did for the past 4 years during a genocide that our now-bedfellows enabled.

Progress is not made by resisting Trump, it’s made by changing the rules. And we can’t have that unless we’re fighting for better rules, and we hold all violators accountable. Including the ones that are just supporting Khalil so they can return to power, and drone bomb and genocide whatever family he may have overseas.

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My pet peeve is contending with liberal delusions about the world they live in and their own heroes. I want to compare two cases of different severity: one under Trump, and one under Obama. Just to get it out of the way (a) #FreeMahmoudKhalil (b) Trump is (just one example of) an autocrat.

Mahmoud Khalil

A quick overview of the facts:

• Khalil is an Algerian citizen who was born in Syria in 1995.

• He never committed a criminal act. There is no allegation otherwise.

• He was never tried by a jury.

• He was summarily detained on March 8, 2025 and awaits deportation.

• He is 29 years old.

• This occurred under Donald J. Trump.

• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Khalil was distributing “pro-Hamas propaganda flyers.”

Abdulrahman al-Awlaki

A quick overview of the facts:

• Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was an American citizen born in Denver in 1995.

• He never committed a criminal act. There was no allegation otherwise.

• He was never tried by a jury.

• He was summarily executed by a drone strike on October 14, 2011.

• He was 16 years old.

• This occurred under Obama who personally approved the drone strike.

• White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said about the event,

  I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well-being of their children. I don't think becoming an al-Qaeda jihadist terrorist is the best way to go about doing your business.

Summary

Obama killed a US citizen and child — 16 years old — and was never held accountable for it. At worst, a kid said some undesirable things. He thought he could kill him. He did. He got away with it. Trump thought he could detain and deport a Green Card recipient but non-citizen. At worst, an adult said some undesirable things. It remains unseen whether or not Trump will achieve his end goal, and get away with it.

Obama was worse here. Trump can’t hold a candle to it. If you can’t contend with these events, you can’t be a part of the solution.

Resist Trump; Reevaluate Democrats

It’s easy to resist Trump when he’s doing evil. I’m sure all of your friends are tuned into it. It’s popular. But Trump is only maintaining and expanding the cracks in civil liberties. If that foundation was rebuilt, things wouldn’t be like this: one party ensures the cracks remain, the other is active with a chisel.

Honor the heroes that pay the price for your civil liberties by showing you where they stop. Honor them by rejecting Democrats in 2028 and doing it loud and right now. Do it before Democrats take it upon themselves to squander the opposition. If you want the world you envision used to exist before Trump, commit to making it that way.

• Presidents shouldn’t have kill lists.

• All people in the empire, regardless of citizenship status, should enjoy similar rights and protections.

• All people outside of the empire and countries we’re actively in declared War with should be treated by the regime as if they were citizens of the empire.

Anything less is unacceptable. Be consistent. Don’t compromise.