Once more with feeling

The Declaration of Independence, which I reprinted in my previous post, was a daunting amount of text weighted with 18th Century English. In order to simplify, shorten, and focus on specific items, I’ve pulled out and commented on the specific content that spoke to me.

 … [Men] deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

… when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government…  

• Again, if there is no other way to stop or change what’s happening in Washington, it is our right and our duty to vote the perpetrator(s) out of office.

The history of the present King of Great Britain [read: Pres. Trump] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

• Trump continues to exert and/or override powers that rightly belong to Congress or the Judiciary, often doing so by issuing Executive Orders, ignoring court rulings against him, or giving power and permission to his unelected appointees.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

• Trump has refused to abide by rules and laws he disagrees with, however good they might be for the public.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

• He simply ignores or refuses to abide by laws and rulings from Congress or the Judiciary.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

• He has blackmailed or shut down news networks (eg, CBS) into silence or payment of, in effect, tribute, forcing their owners into retiring/quitting. He has attacked and threatened university presidents into bowing to his wishes by threatening to withhold funding, threatening international students with deportation or the blocking of their applications for admission. He (or Musk) has fired employees, withheld (or clawed back) funding from numerous agencies, studies, and individual researchers.

 … obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, 

• He’s using every resource at his disposal to intimidate, round up, deport, and/or deny immigrants admission to this country — criminal, law-abiding, or otherwise.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

• He simply ignores any court rulings against him and his activities. He doesn’t recognize the Judiciary as having any power over him.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will

• Three of the Supreme Court justices are his appointees and as such are likely to support his positions. In fact, as a significant portion of the Court’s conservative majority, those judges have already ruled that henceforth presidents shall have immunity from prosecution for any acts committed as president.

 … sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies [ICE, National Guard] without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military [ICE, National Guard] independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

• They can act and are acting without requests or authorizations from local officials such as governors and mayors.

He has combined with others [eg, Musk] to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

• He sent ICE, then the National Guard, then the US Marines, into Los Angeles, without a request (as required) from either the Governor of California or the Mayor of Los Angeles. ICE continues to conduct raids and arrest individuals across the country, without the permission of and often over the objections of local governments and law officials.

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

• Look no further than Trump’s tariffs imposed unilaterally, unevenly, and sometimes intermittently on most other countries. The American public will end up paying the tariff taxes in the form of higher prices on a wide variety of groceries, goods, and services.

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

… to be tried for pretended offences:

• Ask any immigrant who has been snatched off the streets, arrested at work, or taken from his/her/their home and deported without the Due Process required by the Constitution.

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves [ie, Trump] invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

• Trump and his appointees simply ignore city and state governments, laws, organizations, etc. when they want to impose something different. Examples: school districting, library contents, admission requirements, vaccination requirements, abortion access and information.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us 

• Let us never forget the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol, a truly heinous insurrection by armed individuals and incited directly by Trump himself. Then, on the first day of his second term, he released them all and granted them full pardons! If we broaden the definition of insurrection to include public counter-demonstrations, we must include the massive demonstrations across the nation on No Kings Day, June 14, 2025. The mostly peaceful demonstrations of an estimated five million people across the nation was deemed the largest in US history.

A Prince [ie, Trump], whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Fini.

This turned into a rather lengthy post after all. Sorry ’bout that. But I hope it at least succeeds in drawing your attention to some of the specifics that caught my attention. You may or may not agree with my interpretations, but one thing remains very clear; if this nation is to retain even a vague resemblance to what our forefathers intended, the next few elections will be critical. If you are not already registered to vote, plan now to get it done, especially if you want to change your political affiliation. Every vote will be critical; every voice must be heard.