The year was 1912.  I was a passenger aboard RMS Titanic.  It had hit an iceberg and was sinking fast.  As I herded my family toward the lifeboats...

Fast-forward 110 years.  I was suddenly (you know how dreams can be) a passenger aboard the U.S. of America.  As I herded my family toward the lifeboats, a crewman stopped me and said, "Sorry, sir, you can't go.  It's women and children only."  

Although the fear of imminent death gripped me, I said, "Well, at least my wife and daughters will survive."  

The crewman said, "Let me clarify, sir.  It's women and children of color only.  Your family does not qualify."  

I said (remember, this was only a dream), "Well, you seem very brave, seeing as you are not of color.  You will not be allowed into the lifeboats, either."  

"Let me further clarify, sir.  In addition to those I already mentioned, there is an allowance for crew members — that is to say, the people who are in charge."  

My annoyance overcame my fear.  "You mean the incompetent people in charge who drove this ship straight into an iceberg?"  

"No, sir.  It was not incompetence."  

"What?  You mean you did this on purpose?"  

"The ship was overcrowded sir, and besides, the smoke stacks were polluting the air with carbon.  Something had to be done."  

Just then, a muscular, bearded man barged between us.  "Get out of my way," the burly intruder said.  "I am entitled to a place on the lifeboats."  

The crewman indignantly responded, "Oh, no, you are not, sir.  It's women and —"  

The burly man interjected, "How dare you mis-gender me, you MAGA bigot?  I identify as a woman."  

"Oh," the crewman said.  "I am so sorry, ma'am.  Please forgive me as I grovel at your feet."  

"I will," the burly man said, "but only because I am too much in a hurry to cancel you overboard.  Now get these transphobic women and racist children out of my way."  

By now, my wife and children were pleading with me to do something to save their lives.  Fear left me, to be replaced by a fiery anger.  After all, what had I remaining to lose?  In my rage, I threw the crewman overboard and lifted the burly man off his feet (remember again, this was a dream) and threw him headfirst into the swirling, frigid sea.  I found for us a lifeboat, but it was already full.  At first, my heart fell, but then I could see what can be seen only while asleep.  Most of the occupants were criminals; terrorists; and worst of all, the very officers in command who had engineered this disaster.  As I violently made room for my family, an FBI agent pulled a gun and shot me dead.

Suddenly I sat up in bed, alive and awake, drenched in a cold sweat.  My wife awakened at that and cried out, "What's all this about getting to a lifeboat?  You must have been having a nightmare."  

"I was," I told her, "but now I'm awake, and it's worse."

Image: U.S. Navy via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.