Surprised? No. Shocked? Yes.

Marisa Kabas of The Handbasket, writing about the violent takedown of a delivery worker by federal agents:

A response people like to lob when stuff like this is shared is, “are you surprised?” I expect this time will be no different, but I’d like to preemptively address it.

There is a difference between being surprised and shocked. Is it surprising that Trump’s stormtroopers are acting with impunity? The past nine months have taught us no, of course not. But is it shocking to see a man — someone’s family member, someone’s friend, someone’s neighbor — being brutalized by agents who are fully aware they’re being watched and recorded? Yes. And I hope it remains shocking. There can be no day when this is normal.

“Are you surprised?” Someone wrote something similar in a comment on a recent post of mine — don’t tell me you’re surprised, or words to that effect. Surprised, no. But I hope that I never lose the ability to be shocked. None of what this administration is doing can be considered normal. And it is always appropriate to point that out.