Opinion
For No Kings Day, I wore an inflatable bear costume – and saw America in all its glory
More than that, his statement was meant to groom the public. The Trump administration is trying to get US citizens used to the idea that federal agents could use lethal force — to the point of killing people — against anyone who exercises their constitutional right to peacefully protest government actions they don’t like.
On too many videos circulating on social media to count, masked ICE agents have been recorded getting more and more aggressive with members of the public, deliberately escalating non-violent exchanges into violent ones.
Federal agents have been caught on video body slamming people to the ground, kneeling on people’s necks, and pointing armed weapons at close range. More than 20 people have died at ICE’s hands, including US citizens, but this tally is artificially low because the Trump administration tightly controls media access to ICE detention facilities.
Team Trump has no idea what the First Amendment means
Homan, like Trump, seems oblivious to what the First Amendment says.
“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech … or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”
This protection was extended from Congress, or the federal government, to the states in 1868 through the passage of the 14th Amendment.
It was the very first amendment to the Constitution, and was the key to getting states to go along with the Constitution at all. Many states refused to sign or support the Constitution after it was drafted in 1787 because they were fearful of a strong federal government with no constraints to protect people from overreach. It was the sticking point that refused to yield, as the objecting states would not support the Constitution without a guarantee of individual liberties, including freedom of religion and, most importantly, the freedom to speak openly, to gather, and to criticize the government.
James Madison rose to the challenge and drafted the First Amendment, the language of which remains to this day, and has never been changed.
The world is envious of our freedom of speech
Freedom of speech beyond the reach or control of the government stands as a beacon of freedom throughout the world, a marker of man’s evolution from the Dark Ages when rulers often punished and tortured people for their beliefs.
That’s why Trump’s Executive Order declaring that the federal government would now punish dissenters, whom he labelled “domestic terrorists,” sends chills down the spine of anyone who has the slightest concept of world history.
People in MAGA who support Trump’s centralized thought control have no concept of what it’s like to live under authoritarian rule. In China, Xi Jinping has installed facial recognition software into China's public security apparatus, where it records everyone at cross lights, bus stops, transport hubs and in public spaces. Xi uses it for mass surveillance, to record, identify, track and persecute anyone who criticizes the government.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin is just as bad. Aside from famously having critics poisoned, or pushed out of helicopters and windows, Putin has imposed severe prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading "deliberately false information" about the Russian military.
Last week, Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tried something similar. Hegseth announced new rules threatening journalists’ access to the Pentagon if they did not agree to publish only information that he wants released, and was shocked when most of the press refused to go along with it.
The faction of MAGA clamoring to relax the division between church and state today have no idea what they are asking for either. Trump’s Christo Nationalists claim the U.S. was founded by and for Christians, and that its laws and government should therefore impose Christian values over all of society. They have no understanding of world or human history, or that freedom of religion grew out of the Inquisition, when torture was common.
James Madison would be proud of No Kings Day
Yesterday, huge crowds marched in major cities, as smaller gatherings sprung up across small town USA for “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration.
On my way to the protest… Picture: Sabrina Haake
There were more than 2,500 events in all 50 states, predicted to be one of the largest demonstrations in US history.
Demonstrators spoke out against Trump’s policies, including perceived threats to democracy, ICE raids and Trump deploying military troops in US cities. The signs speak for themselves.
As I marched inside my bear inflatable, I’ve never been more proud to be an American.
- Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.
Dems know damn well how to beat Trump — it's not with scaremongering like this
When I grudgingly reached for the overheated troublemaker, this is what confronted me:
Collapse imminent? Desperate call? Emergency sirens? What the …?
THIS is what I am being accosted with at 10 p.m., while trying to wind down from another insane day?
I slapped my phone down, and went into a slow boil …
To be honest, I had a lousy Monday, so maybe this message set me off more than it should have, but when I woke up this morning from a semi-sleepless night, I found I was still in a mood, and figured at least this much needed writing:
STOP IT WITH THESE LOADED MESSAGES, DEMOCRATS
Anybody who cares enough to pay attention to what is happening in (and to) the United States is to the point of being scared to death right now. Not an hour goes by that Trump and his nauseating Republicans aren’t terrorizing America.
We are dealing with a lot.
Preying on our emotions like this late at night by sending urgent missives designed to empty our pockets is insensitive at best, and abusive at worst.
Too often, it’s even worse than that, because a lot of the crap in all these damn messages — and last night’s in particular — is just plain nonsense.
That makes them insulting, and dangerous, because there are already more than enough political lies and misinformation destabilizing America.
To start, this election in Pennsylvania is nothing like what went down in Georgia, four-plus years ago. In fact, this election on Nov. 4, is like few others anywhere, and many Pennsylvanians don’t even know that.
Here’s what they do need to know: Vote YES to retain the three Supreme Court justices currently on the bench. You’d think a loud, obnoxious message like the one I was bombarded with above would at least say that much.
By voting to retain the three justices in this election, liberals will hold onto a 5-2 majority on that court, and protect Pennsylvanians from the evil machinations of the no-good Republicans in that battleground state.
If you want more, I encourage you to have a look at this tremendous article I found from Spotlight PA that gets into the particulars of the race: Pa. election 2025: What is judicial retention, and why does it matter for Supreme Court balance? Among other things, it does a thorough job of breaking down how Pennsylvania conducts its whacky Supreme Court elections.
(NOTE: I sent this piece, along with a few of my own choice words, to the devils at ActBlue, who accosted me with their fundraising message. They either have no idea how these elections are run, or worse, really don’t give a damn just as long as they can scare the hell out of everybody by screaming about some damn fictional, “imminent collapse.”)
The Spotlight PA write is lengthy, but I encourage you to read it. For now, though, here are some important bits I extracted from the piece, with passages I highlighted for emphasis:
- These yes-or-no retention elections are a big deal, and if Republicans succeed in their stated goal of getting Pennsylvanians to vote “no,” they could set the stage for a total remaking of the court. But the process is also very different from a traditional election, and Republicans won’t automatically win a majority even if they get “no” votes.
- Retention elections are not partisan, so when a judge appears on the ballot to be retained, their name won’t have a party next to it. These elections also don’t involve an opposing candidate. Voters are simply asked to say yes or no to giving a judge another decade on the bench. If the vote is yes, the judge stays on. If it is no, the governor can appoint a temporary replacement subject to the approval of the state Senate. An election for a replacement to serve a full 10-year term is then held in the next odd year, which means that if a judge isn’t retained this year, voters won’t pick a long-term replacement until 2027. The judges appointed as replacements traditionally don’t stand for full-term elections, though nothing actually prevents them from doing so.
- Is a ‘no’ vote on retention the norm? Nope. It’s extremely unusual. Most judges up for retention win new terms by comfortable margins. Just one statewide judge has lost retention since 1968, when the state constitution was last updated — Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro.
OK, me again.
From an historical standpoint, things look pretty good for the Left-leaning justices in this race. I should also add that recent polling has “yes” leading by double-digits. Democrats have also spent more than three times as much money as Republicans on the race according to the tracking service AdImpact.
All that, despite the bombastic claims in that loud fundraising message designed to get your heart beating and your head screaming.
Look, the Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania is important as hell. EVERY election in the United States of America is as important as hell, and should be treated as such.
From now until Nov. 4, we should all do what we can within reason to help our fellow patriots in Pennsylvania prevail at the voting booth. We do that by spreading the truth, and offering a hand up, not a punch in the face with late-night scare tactics.
I believe this constant assault on our senses is having a negative effect on voters right now. I believe we are in danger of burning people out who have been running hot for the better part of a decade trying to stand up for Democrats by putting down this Republican fascism that is overrunning this country.
Since last November’s nightmare, Democrats have fared incredibly well in elections all over the country, including the battleground state of Wisconsin, where the liberal justice running for that Supreme Court won by a whopping 10 points in April.
You’ll remember that election because it is the one the grotesque Elon Musk used to bribe voters with all his blood money. Turns out, it takes more than just money to win elections ...
I’ve had enough of all this repellent fundraising, and these offensive scare tactics.
I say we could stand a pat on the back, instead of a kick in the ass.
I say we give each other a break, before we are broken for good.
I say thank you for all you are doing.
- (D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.)