Freedom Of Assembly

Civil Liberties Under Attack With Arrest Of Palestinian, Mahmoud Khalil, Activist From Columbia University!

Ronald 1 Comment

Civil liberties are under attack in the Trump Presidency, and the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student of Palestinian descent, is an alarm bell, as there is no justification for his arrest by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and his detention in secret in a prison in Louisiana.

Khalil may have political viewpoints about the Israel-Gaza War that are unpopular and opposed by many American Jews and other supporters of Israel, but that is not justification for the move to deport, when he is here legally on a green card, a permanent resident card with the permission to work,and has not committed any felonies.

Khalil led student demonstrations last spring, but when did we declare there is no freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech, just because some of us may not agree with one’s viewpoints?

This was not the way that demonstrations at the University of Virginia in 2017 by white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers were treated, by Donald Trump!

Trump is acting like a dictator threatening all Americans’ rights to the First Amendment, and this case must be fought to restore the basic principles of the Bill of Rights.

This was abrogated by President John Adams in the 1790s, Woodrow Wilson during and after World War I, and Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, most infamously among our Presidents, and it is not a political or partisan view to oppose violations of the rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution!

“Unitary Executive” Is Term For Dictatorship And Plutocracy!

Ronald 26 Comments

With “Project 2025” now in effect during the Donald Trump Presidency in his second, nonconsecutive term, the term “Unitary Executive” is now officially the rationale for Trump asserting himself in an authoritarian manner!

This is a direct attack on the history of the Presidency, and if not challenged effectively, it means we are under a dictatorship and plutocracy, with billionaires, led by Elon Musk, but also most of the Cabinet members and other advisers around Trump, being in total control of domestic and foreign policy.

The federal courts, so far, are challenging this reality, but the question is whether the Supreme Court will assert itself with its present membership, when cases arrive at the Court in the future.

The News Media also is, courageously, making clear the threats to all Americans by this new “GILDED AGE” mentality.

And the Democrats in state governments and many in Congress are also making clear they will not sit on the sidelines as the basic concepts of American democracy are under attack.

But with growing public demonstrations developing across the nation by average citizens, the question is will the Trump Administration abuse the rights under the First Amendment—Freedom of Speech, Press, and Assembly—and use violence to suppress popular opinion and outrage at the revolutionary changes being brought about against our entire constitutional history!

Trump’s recent statement–“He who saves his country does not violate any laws”–is an alarm bell in the night, and must be resisted, as America does not have or need a King or dictator!

America has a system of “checks and balances”, and Donald Trump must be controlled in his powers for the good of the nation and its future!

The Ignorance And Naivete Of Millions Of Americans About Immigration And Isolationism

Ronald 6 Comments

The ignorance and naivete of millions of Americans about immigration and isolationism is extremely depressing and counterproductive!

America is a nation of immigrants, and for so many Americans to wish a curb on immigration, and not be concerned about the possible deportation of undocumented immigrants who have not been arrested or convicted, is stunning.

The importance of immigration is misunderstood, as the economy will be horribly damaged if mass deportation occurs, and there will be massive inflation, and shortage of workers to fill many jobs across the economy.

And for Americans to think isolationism, and ignoring of aggression by authoritarian governments is not our concern, makes clear their total lack of knowledge of World War II and the Cold War.

Of course, Republicans want to promote ignorance and naivete in order to gain and keep power, so the concept that history needs to be sanitized for the future generation is highly disturbing.

It is deja vu all over again, as Donald Trump returns to power to do more damage on human rights, the economy, national security, and so many other areas of policy.

America is reaching the lowest level of education and knowledge of the masses, and that is a guarantee of the destruction of American democracy, if allowed to succeed over the next few years.

So all those who care about America and its future must do everything possible legally to thwart the evil intentions of the Trump Presidency, including court suits, and courageous journalism, and the American people utilizing the First Amendment rights of speech, press, assembly and religion free of government intervention!

Ron DeSantis Is A Right Wing Threat, Undermining Basic Human Rights, Education, Health Care, And Harming Public Safety!

Ronald 4 Comments

Florida, the state I have lived in for 34 years, since 1989, has become a right wing threat under Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis has banned an elective African American Studies Advanced Placement Course in Florida High Schools, claiming it has no educational value.

DeSantis has fired an elected Prosecutor, Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, for publicly disagreeing with the governor’s stand on abortion rights and transgender health care.

DeSantis has cracked down on the Disney Company and its control of its properties in Central Florida, because they disagree with his policies and actions.

DeSantis is planning to promote a policy of guns “open carry”, without any permit or training or licensing, in all public places, which will insure mass murder incidents occurring ever more as happened at the Parkland Florida School Massacre in 2018 and the Orlando Florida “Pulse” Massacre in 2015.

DeSantis is banning books in public schools and libraries, and threatening prosecution for teachers or librarians who defy him. This is censorship, totally against American democratic values, but it will not stop students from inquiry about all kinds of issues, but has the effect of intimidation.

DeSantis has as Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo who is undermining protection for seniors or children or anyone else with the COVID 19 Pandemic, as he works with DeSantis on banning of masks and vaccinations as Florida policy.

DeSantis has fired school board members in several counties, and appointed Republican replacements that are dictating policies and curriculums in local schools.

DeSantis has set out to destroy the New College of Florida, in Sarasota, a liberal university which has received great honors and reputation. He has put a right wing extremist onto its board, and the President of the university has been fired, and the plan is to fire faculty members who do not fit the version of DeSantis regarding what is proper education.

DeSantis has interfered with college professors at Florida state universities, dictating what can be expressed in classes and put into class syllabi, and working to end tenure rights.

DeSantis has banned any protection or safety for gay and transgender children, which will promote suicides, as his puritan view of sexuality permeates the state of Florida.

DeSantis has declared war on empathy, decency, compassion, and is more concerned about so called “guilt” that white students might feel, totally preposterous, and at the same time, having no concern about the effect on students of color.

DeSantis’s war on abortion rights is also taking away a woman’s control over her body, putting Florida into the crosshairs of right wing control by an authoritarian minded man who wants to be President of the United States.

DeSantis also formed a political stunt about immigration, shipping Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, promoting his nativism agenda.

DeSantis has declared war on people of color; science and medicine; education and libraries; gays, lesbians and transgender individuals; women’s rights over their own bodies; elected officials who defy him; corporations who disagree with his views; immigrants; and he has shown no concern about public safety from unstable individuals who will have license to kill innocent citizens with firearms.

DeSantis is promoting intolerance, hatred, division, and destroying the reputation of Florida, at a time when the cost of living is high and housing prices are out of sight; the state is trying to recover from Hurricane Ian; and the public health threat from COVID 19 is still killing Floridians every day.

And since he did not react to recent examples of antisemitism displayed by White Supremacists and Neo Nazis, that is another great concern.

But his lust for power is unchecked, and he must be challenged and stopped, before he becomes an ever greater threat to the nation and the world beyond just the state of Florida.

All decent, humane people must rise up and resist, even as DeSantis had a law passed barring demonstrations that might block traffic, so one can expect the possibility of the use of police forces to crack down on the freedom of assembly.

This is not a time to sit on the sidelines, as what is happening in Florida could become the future of the entire nation, if Ron DeSantis was to go on and to win the Presidential Election of 2024!

Donald Trump Declares His Fascist Desires To Delay Presidential Election, Rejected Unanimously By Congress And Scholars

Ronald 20 Comments

President Donald Trump is not hiding his dictatorial desires, having declared on Twitter yesterday his wish to delay or cancel the Presidential Election of 2020 until the legitimacy of the election can be insured.

That makes it very clear that Trump is a Fascist, trying to stay in office without accountability and responsibility for his multitude of crimes against his oath of office.

Trump was trying to take attention away from the escalation of the CoronaVirus Pandemic to all time highs in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California, and the growing number of cases erupting in the Midwest.

Trump is also trying to make us forget that the Gross Domestic Product dropped a shocking 33 percent in the second quarter of April, May and June 2020, the all time record since statistics were kept starting in 1947, after World War II. Five years of growth were wiped out all at once!

All this plus the illegal, unconstitutional sending of unidentified military forces to Portland, Seattle and threats to other Democratic run cities, over the fake threat to federal buildings conjured up by Trump. Who are the threats he suggests? Retired military veterans, housewives, and other decent Americans are taking a stand against racism and for freedom of assembly, while the unwanted and unconstitutional forces are provoking violence and detaining people, shoving them in cars, in a manner reminiscent of Nazi Storm Troopers!

For the first time, however, Republicans in Congress rebuked Trump on the idea of delaying or suspending the elections. This included Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, as well as many others in a party that until now has bowed down to every whim of Donald Trump!

Trump’s suggestion that the results of the election might take months or years is truly delusional, as he forgets that Inauguration Day is 78 days after Election Day, and that the Electoral College meets in December.

It took 36 days in 2000 to resolve the winner in that election, and even in 1876-1877, while it took four months to decide the winner, it occurred with two days to go until the inauguration on the then later date of March 4!

The reason why Trump is acting hysterically is his realization that he will be indicted by a New York grand jury, which cannot be stopped by a Presidential pardon, and will, most likely, go to federal prison, where he belongs, along with a a whole group of family members and many major figures in his administration.

It is only Donald Trump who thinks there will be a “rigged” election, as he well knows that his election in 2016 was “rigged” by Russian collusion, pointed out in the report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in 2019, but covered up by Attorney General William Barr, who will also end up in prison as the worst, most corrupt Attorney General in American history!

Absentee and mail balloting will go forth in this upcoming election, and the issue of corruption is a “red herring”, and Americans will have the right in much of the nation to vote, and not endanger their lives in this pandemic to do so!

Many major conservative groups, such as the Federalist Society, denounced Trump for the suggestion of delaying the election, and said he was acting like a Fascist, and should resign.

So finally, Republicans and conservatives are rising up against Trump!

Donald Trump, The Fascist Wannabe: Attacking Conservative Support Of States Rights, And First Amendment Right To Freedom Of Speech And Assembly

Ronald 3 Comments

Donald Trump is demonstrating how he is a Fascist Wannabe, and in so doing, he is attacking conservatives who support states rights, and attacking all decent people who uphold the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

Trump’s sending of military forces incognito to Portland, Oregon to use tear gas and rubber bullets against mostly peaceful demonstrators calling for change in race relations and for accountability of police, has not been called for by the Oregon state government or the Portland city government, but two night ago, even the Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was personally tear gassed by these unaccountable forces unleashed by Trump! And Trump ridiculed Wheeler on Twitter, making fun of him, after he was assaulted with tear gas!

There is no breakdown of law and order, and there is no right of the President to send in what is best described as storm troopers, without name plates or identifying, to detain people and kidnap them from the scene. The local police are in charge of anything that has to be dealt with, not a secret, unaccountable force authorized by Attorney General William Barr, who is the most abusive and corrupt leader of the Justice Department in its history!

Conservatives with principles are up in arms about the violation of states rights on this matter, and it reminds many of the Nazi storm troopers who abused people and brought about Nazi absolutism under Adolf Hitler. Conservatives, but also anyone interested in promoting freedom, are alarmed by this going on in not just Portland, but now the threat of it also showing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Seattle; Chicago; Detroit; Philadelphia; New York and other cities.

Republican groups, such as the Lincoln Project, are condemning what Trump is authorizing, as unlawful!

The job of keeping order is up to local and state authorities, and only when they call for federal intervention, does the US government have authority to intervene.

And the right of freedom of speech and assembly, and ability to call for redress of grievances in a peaceful manner, is inscribed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

This alone, forgetting for the moment all of the other multitude of violations of law, would be enough to impeach and remove both Donald Trump and William Barr, for corruption and abuse of power in office!

The Department of Homeland Security and its subsidiary, Customs and Border Patrol, is breaking the Constitution, with the approval of Trump and Barr.

If this is not a move toward Fascism, then nothing is so!

Journalist Dan Rather A True Profile In Courage: From Richard Nixon To The Bushes To Donald Trump!

Ronald 2 Comments

Dan Rather, the long time anchor of CBS News from 1981 to 2005, is now 85 years old, but still in the battle for the truth and freedom of the press.

Rather fought against President Richard Nixon during the Watergate Crisis in 1973-1974, confronting him openly at a press conference, and was on Nixon’s enemy’s list.

Rather confronted George H W Bush in 1988 about Ronald Reagan’s Iran Contra Scandal, leading to the two men shouting at each other.

Rather exposed the fact in 2004 that George W. Bush had been reading magazines and avoiding National Guard duty during the Vietnam War, and for that, he was forced out as anchor in 2005.

Now, Rather is already exposing and condemning Donald Trump in his lies and deceit, and pointing out what any intelligent, sane person sees, that Donald Trump is an extremely dangerous man to America’s civil liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly.

Dan Rather has devoted his life to journalism, and is a true hero, who should be applauded and supported in the struggle to preserve American democracy!

Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address And First Actions Show America Is In Massive Constitutional Crisis, Greater Than Watergate!

Ronald 9 Comments

Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address and first actions in office show America is in a massive constitutional crisis, greater than Watergate!

Trump’s speech was the most negative, darkest speech ever given on Inauguration Day, when usually the rhetoric is lofty and positive.

He talked about “Carnage” in the nation after eight great years of positive change under Barack Obama.

He is so insecure that he continues to brag about his accomplishments, even today while visiting the CIA headquarters in Virginia, an agency he had been highly critical of, as they investigate any Russian connection during the Presidential campaign, and with Trump still applauding Vladimir Putin of Russia, while strongly attacking NATO and the European Union, undermining our alliances from Truman to Obama.

And his changes in the White House website within an hour after Barack Obama left office is alarming–wiping out the sections on Gays and Lesbians, Civil Rights, Health Care, Immigration, Native Americans, Violence Against Women, Disabilities, Climate Change, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Public Radio, PBS, and with more certain to come.

Trump also signed into law the wiping out of an Obama initiative to lower mortgage insurance fees to help new homeowners, causing an estimated $500 increase annually, which will force some out of the home market, people who are struggling to be able to buy The American Dream, their own home.

How can Trump say he is for the people, and that they control their government, when only the wealthy and powerful will benefit, and many groups of people will suffer, massively, by his narrow mindedness and bigotry?

Trump is already in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, with conflicts of interest all over the world, making profit off being President, and putting his foreign properties under threat of attack. Just the Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a few blocks from the White House, is a violation of the Constitution, and leading early to impeachment resolutions.

We are in a nightmare situation, and the fear that Trump will suppress the free news media, form an enemy’s list like Richard Nixon had, and try to curb freedom of assembly, and who knows, possible thoughts of Martial Law that might be endorsed by a right wing Attorney General, Jeff Sessions!

Widespread Protests Against Trump Inauguration Grow Day By Day!

Ronald 4 Comments

Widespread protests against the Trump Inauguration are growing day by day.

No significant entertainers are willing to perform at his inauguration in Washington DC on Friday, January 20, 2017.

The Rockettes are divided over performance, with some dancers refusing to do so, although under pressure to follow orders.

Some members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir are also reluctant to sing for the incoming President, on moral and ethical grounds.

This is all perfectly understandable, as many see performing for Trump as equivalent of performing for Adolf Hitler, right or wrong.

The fact that Trump consorts with other dictators, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, and the leaders of such nations as Turkey, and the Philippines, and even has had praise for North Korea’s leader Kim Jon Un as a “strong leader”, is indeed alarming.

One gets the feeling that Trump’s willingness to ignore security information that shows Russia hacked our election process, and therefore helped Donald Trump, and seems to be engaged in a “bromance” with Putin disgusts and alarms millions of Americans, does not phase him one bit.

The Republican Party is starting to split with Trump on this, with Senator John McCain calling for hearings on Thursday, January 5.

So there are fireworks ahead, and it is expected that there will be widespread protests against Trump centered around Inauguration Day, totally appropriate freedom of assembly and nonviolent civil disobedience, and it is all a harbinger of the next four years!

So we can wish for a Happy New Year 2017, but there are warning signs ahead of a very difficult, tumultuous year!

Donald Trump Is Not A “Miracle Man”: Disillusionment Among Followers Will Erupt Soon, Before End of 2017!

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Donald Trump is guaranteed to alienate many of his followers, once they realize he is NOT a “Miracle Man”, that we are going to end up with many events that no one bargained for, including:

The most corrupt Presidency since Richard Nixon, and possibly surpassing the level and depth of Nixon scandals.

The strong likelihood of a major war, with major commitment of troops, and loss of life closer to Vietnam over a period of years, than to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Manufacturing and Mining jobs will NOT return, as it will be clear that Trump’s pledge to the white uneducated working class will not be fulfilled.

A massive cut is likely in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Food Stamps, and poverty will rise, and not just among minorities, but among poor whites, sick people, and the elderly.

Environmental damage that will harm the health of all Americans will be likely, the greatest since the disastrous environmental record of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

The conditions of labor will get worse, with no concern about minimum wage, sick leave, overtime pay, or basic benefits.

Racism will increase with backing of the Trump Presidency,

Mistreatment of women and of gays and lesbians is insured to multiply, with the support of extreme right wing social conservative Vice President Mike Pence.

The Supreme Court, unless both Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer stay healthy, will move dramatically to the extreme right, long term damage.

Basic civil liberties and civil rights will go by the wayside, with curbs on freedom of expression, as through speech, press, and assembly.

One can project that over time, a year or so, great disillusionment will set in, and possibly lead to open confrontations with law enforcement authorities, who try to quell public dissent with the approval of an authoritarian President and executive branch, and an unsympathetic Republican party controlled Congress.

Expect a strong reaction to occur, something such as happened under Richard Nixon during his continuation of the Vietnam War nearly 50 years ago.