Well-written and well-reasoned piece, James, thank you. Even though I'm no longer a US citizen, I still feel shame, sorrow and disgust at what my former country is becoming. That a nation that helped defeat fascism is in the process of becoming the thing it helped defeat.

On another note, I was surprised to learn that the French had developed sentient grains in 1940 -

"The French barley knew what had hit them . . . " 😃