Category: current events

SoCS: alarm bells in the US

Vote for Democracy #48

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

I’ve been experiencing life here in the United States with increasing alarm.

The cruelty, lawlessness, and incompetence of the Trump administration continues to accelerate while the suffering here and abroad continues to mount.

I will spare you a stream-of-consciousness list of all the component parts of this catastrophe, but the destruction by Trump of the East Wing of the White House presents a decent metaphor – lie about what you are planning and rush in and wreck things.

Millions upon millions of people here are fighting back to save our democracy and have a chance to re-build it and slowly repair to the extent possible the global damage inflicted but we haven’t been able to turn the tide yet. I don’t know how long it will take but we won’t give up.

Joyce Vance published her first book this week, entitled Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy. It’s what we need to do.

We won’t give up.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “alarm.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/10/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-25-2025/

October 18 No Kings rallies

Vote for Democracy #47

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Millions of people in the United States plan to attend peaceful protests, rallies, and marches tomorrow, Saturday, October 18, 2025. The theme is No Kings and it is in support of the democratic principles of the United States and against the current administration which has grown increasingly autocratic. There are thousands of events scheduled across the United States with more occurring internationally in solidarity. You can find locations here.

Tomorrow’s events follow on the April 19th No Kings! events which turned out several million people. It is expected that even more people will turn out on October 18 as the Trump administration has grown even more extreme and defied court orders on deploying troops, immigration, cutting government employees, and refusing to execute laws and spending authorizations passed by Congress.

These events are planned to be non-violent and are meant to uphold our democracy. Although the Republicans in Washington are saying the No Kings rallies are about “hating America,” that is totally untrue. It’s about loving our country and upholding our highest ideals of equal rights, equal protection, and equal opportunity for all.

Sadly, my health situation will keep me from attending my local No Kings event in person, but I will be supporting them through my thoughts, letters to my representatives, advocacy through organizations working to uphold democracy, and through my words here at Top of JC’s Mind and among my various circles of friends and family.

Are you involved with the No Kings event? Please share in the comments if you are so moved!

Freedom of Speech

Vote for Democracy #46

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That is the text of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The Attorney General, the Vice President, the President, the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and everyone else in the government would do well to re-read it and observe it.

The court system has ruled over and over that “hate speech” and flag burning are protected by the First Amendment and that press report are not subject to government censorship.

Yes, here we are with the Attorney General saying the administration would target hate speech. The Justice Department tried to re-characerize the remark as meaning they would target speech that incited violence, which can be illegal, but that was not what she had said or appeared to mean.

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, the administration wants to investigate anyone critical of Kirk or his views, even though they have no legal grounds to do so because people’s right to free speech is guaranteed against government interference by the First Amendment. For those of you not familiar with the structure of the US government, Congress makes the law, the executive branch executes the law, and the judicial branch judges if the laws are in accordance with the Constitution and other statutes.

Note that the freedom of speech right is in regard to government interference. Private entities aren’t bound to allow free speech. For example, if someone makes an uncivil or inflammatory comment on my blog which I then delete, I am not violating the First Amendment because I am not the government and have the right to control what happens on my platform. (For the record, while I encourage respectful debate here at Top of JC’s Mind, I have on a rare occasion removed comments for using foul language or for spreading disinformation.) There was an instance of a copy shop employee refusing to print a flyer regarding Kirk. While the business owner could choose to sanction or fire the employee, the government has no right to investigate on free speech grounds.

The administration upped the ante a few days ago when the FCC Chair publicly pressured ABC affiliates to stop airing comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show because of a comment he had made regarding the right’s actions after Kirk’s murder, implying that not doing so would harm them in getting approvals and licenses from the FCC. This caused a couple of large media ownership groups to say they would suspend airing the show and ABC/Disney then suspending production. It’s unclear if the show will return or not. This situation does appear to violate the First Amendment because a government entity intervened to inhibit Kimmel’s free speech rights.

To make matters worse, President Trump is again threatening freedom of the press, as well as free speech, by saying that entire broadcast networks should be disbanded because they run stories that are critical of him. There is a real fear that media companies will continue to cave to pressure from Trump and his administration and stop broadcasting facts and opinions that run counter to Trump’s viewpoint.

While most Republicans have been either backing Trump or staying silent, a few were shaken enough about the concept of hate speech – or opposition speech – not being protected by free speech provisions that they are speaking out. I’m not sure if they are standing on principle or if they fear what might happen to them when Republicans are no longer in power, but it’s good to see some of them willing to oppose the Trump administration when it is acting against our Constitution.

I also appreciate that having some Republicans speaking out will reach people who only consume ultra-concservative media. Everyone needs to realize that there are threats to free speech and free press so that we can make moves to protect our First Amendment rights. Some people are boycotting companies like Disney that are curtailing free speech by bowing to pressure from the administration. Many are supporting independent journalism sources, such as PBS/NPR.

It’s important for all of us to speak up for our rights. I plan to continue doing that here and wherever I find myself. I also plan to be on the lookout for further attempts to erode our rights and silence dissenting voices. We have to be careful that the United States doesn’t have its media coopted in the way it was in Hungary.

We also need to be sure that we don’t fall into the administration’s trap of calling any opposing viewpoints “hate speech.” If I say that I think it’s wrong to deport people who are in the process of getting green cards or who have refugee or other protected status, that is protected free speech. It is not hate speech.

I do try to heed the call in my faith to love everyone.

I refuse to engage in hateful speech or behavior.

I wish everyone felt that way.

political violence in the US

Vote for Democrary #45

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Last week was very difficult in the United States.

September 11th was the 24th anniversary of the Al-Qaeda attack which used hijacked airplanes as weapons against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, headquarters of the US military, in Virginia. A fourth airplane was prevented from hitting Washington DC, most likely planned to target either the White House or the Capitol, when the passengers fought against the hijackers and the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board but no one on the ground. There are solemn ceremonies at all three sites and people pause to remember those who were killed that day and those who were impacted by the attack, such as the responders who worked amid the wreckage and suffered health consequences.

This year, the Spetember 11th observance happened in the immediate reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing firebrand, during an event at a college in Utah. Although Kirk didn’t hold elected office, this was considered political violence because he was a major fundraiser and influencer through Turning Point USA, which he co-founded when he was 18. Much of his activity centered on high school and college campuses. His work was considered crucial to the Trump/Vance victory in 2024 and he was close to Vice President JD Vance, in particular.

Violence, including political violence, is unacceptable to me and the vast majority of Americans. Kirk’s murder was immediately denounced by leaders across the political spectrum. While many people looked at this as being part of a spate of political violence in recent years, including the attack on two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses that left two dead and two seriously injured, the arson attack on Pennsylvanis governor Josh Shapiro’s official residence hours after he had celebrated a Passover Seder with family and friends, the two assassination attempts against then-candidate Trump, and the attack that seriously injured former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband when a man broke into their home looking for her, some Republicans, most prominently President Trump, blamed Democrats or those on the political left for Kirk’s death, even though there was no evidence about who the shooter was or what their beliefs might be.

This is especially upsetting coming from Trump, who fometted the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the election victory of Joe Biden and then pardoned all those crimes when he took office. Trump’s supporters had injured scores of police officers and sought to kill Democractic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Vice President Mike Pence. This was a massive exercise in political violence whose implications continue to contaminate our national consciousness and discourse.

When the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk turned himself in to authorities, it turned out that he is not affiliated with Democrats. He was registered to vote without a party affiliation but had apparently never actually done so. He had etched message onto bullet casings that are part of online video gamer subcultures, but that are difficult to interpet for those who aren’t part of that community. Perhaps, he will make his motivations known in the future as the legal process unfolds, but, for now, we don’t know what his political motivations might have been. We do know that he came from a Republican family that were long-time gun owners. He was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).

I don’t know what will happen in the coming days and weeks. While there are calls for greater civility in public discourse – again – and calls for better mental health care – again – and calls for tightening access to guns – again, there is little hope that these will effect change among those who are promoting themselves by vilifying those who disagree with them.

There is also the real fear that political violence will continue to escalate as it did in the 1960s when I was a child. Then, as now, the perpetrators of political violence were more often on the right/white supremacist side of the spectrum than on the left.

I know that I am afraid.

fears for US immigrants

Vote for Democracy #43

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

There are so many horrors happening every day in the United States under the Trump regime that it’s difficult to write posts because I feel like I’m not able to do justice to the topic when there are so many illegal, immoral, unconstitutional, and/or unconscionable actions and statements perpetrated in an ongoing basis.

Today, though, I decided to lift up the threats to immigrants and refugees beginning with a local story. Roger Wang, the owner of a local Chinese restaurant who fled political persecution in China, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as he arrived for his green card hearing. For those who may not be familiar, a green card is a document that means an immigrant can live and work permanently in the US. Roger had been in the legal process for twelve years and had fulfilled all the requirements that ICE set out to earn his green card, but he was arrested anyway. There is a fundraiser for legal costs and to try to offset the losses to his business. As I write this, I haven’t heard any updates about where Roger is and when or whether he might be able to be released.

Stories like Roger’s are being repeated around the country. Immigrants are being detained by ICE, even when they do have legal status. The Trump administration has shamefully rescinded the legal status of many refugees, including those who served alongside the US in Afghanistan, and who face danger if they return to their home countries. Government agents, sometimes without identifying insignia and with their faces covered, have snatched people from their workplaces, cars, or even the streets and detained them. Sometimes, people with citizenship are detained, too. Appallingly, agents have injured people they are taking into custody They also have taken parents away, leaving their young children behind; sometimes, they take the children into custody, too, and have deported them with their parent, even if the children are United States citizens. Trump tried to take away birthright citizenship from children if both of their parents are undocumented, but this order is on hold while the courts hear arguments about it, although the 14th Amendment, Section 1 is very clear that being born in the United States confers citizenship.

It’s become more difficult to travel into the United States, even for people who are citizens or have permanent status. This month, Wilmer Chavarria, the school superintendent in Winooski, Vermont and a naturalized citizen originally from Central America, was questioned for five hours at the Houston airport as he returned from visiting family in Nicaragua. This risk causes a chilling effect on international travel for both US citizens and for tourists from other countries, especially those who aren’t White, as people of color are disproportionately subjected to being hassled by government border agents. Some countries are warning against travel to the US and tourism is down significantly. This is especially true for Canadians, due to Trump’s threats to their sovereignty and damage to their economy. This is particularly sad because Canada has been such a good neighbor for so long; my spouse B has Canadian ancestry with one of his great-grandfathers immigrating to the US in the late-19th century.

The majority of Americans are upset about the cruelty and disregard for US and international law that the Trump administration is exhibiting. They have sent people to detention camps and dangerous foreign countries and prisons without hearings or formal charges. They have disrespected judges and skirted/defied court orders when cases are brought. Many people, including lawyers, local/state government officials, faith leaders, charitable organizations, schools, and local community members are doing all they can to speak up for the rights of our immigrant neighbors, but it’s difficult when unidentified federal officials snatch people without notice and take them to undisclosed locations, sometimes even deporting them to their country of origin or an unrelated country before their families or lawyers can speak to them.

It’s part of the authoritarian nightmare we are living.

We will keep speaking out and doing what we can, despite the grim reality.

I don’t know how long it will take but we have to get our democracy back on track and always, always, always respect human rights.

sorrow

Vote for Democracy #41

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

I’m not able to write much these days for various reasons, but wanted to express my deep sorrow at the immense damage that Donald Trump and his administration are inflicting both in the US and around the world.

While I’m trying to do my (infinitesimal) part in bringing our country back to decency, I am comforted knowing that millions of others are doing their part, too.

Still, the sorrow remains for the lives lost and the damage done already and for those who will continue to be affected in the future, even after the United States government returns to sanity, decency, and striving for the ideals spelled out in our Constitution and laws.

from bad to worse

Vote for Democracy #40

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Conditions in the United States are deteriorating in terms of the legal rights of individuals and the rule of law.

The most obvious examples right now are in the state of California. As the Trump administration escalates its deportation campaign, it is arresting people as they appear for scheduled meetings regarding their immigration status, at workplaces, and, sometimes, grabbing them out of cars or on the street. The agents doing these things are often masked and not wearing identifying badges, making it look as though they are criminal kidnappers. It’s terrifying for the immigrant community and for mixed-status families where some members are US citizens and others are not. It’s also heart-breaking that Trump has rescinded the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people who are refugees or who had been on temporary protected status.

While these things are happening throughout the country, there had been a concentration of workplace raids in Los Angeles, resulting in demonstrations at a facility where it seems that arrested migrants were being held without the ability to contact their families. A small number of protesters clashed with police, resulting in some arrests. Even though, the protests were confined to a small area of the city and were being handled by the Los Angeles police, Trump signed an order saying he could take over control of the National Guard, even though governors are in charge of National Guard deployments in their states, and could use federal troops within the United States, which is forbidden except in circumstances such as armed insurrection.

Trump ordered 2,000 California National Guard troops and 700 US Marines to Los Angeles, adding almost 3,000 National Guard troops a few days later. Governor Gavin Newsom sued to return the National Guard to his control, and, last night, Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer ruled that Trump’s move was illegal. Unfortunately, the Trump Justice Department immediately appealed and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has put a stay on the order until they can hear the case on Tuesday.

This is scary for several reasons. While the Trump administration is using this first in California, the executive order applies everywhere in the country, so Trump could call out the military anywhere in the US in the meantime. While these federalized National Guard or other troops are supposed to only act in a support role to protect federal property and personnel, they have already been shown to detain people while waiting for police to arrive to make arrests. On Saturday, Trump has scheduled a large military parade in Washington, DC, ostensibly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the formation of the Army although June 14th is also his 79th birthday (and Flag Day). In reaction to this show of force by the President, there are about 2,000 protests being organized throughout the country – and even in a few international locations – as No Kings Day, also termed as No Tyrants Day in places that do have a monarch. The flagship protest is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; there is no event planned for Washington, DC in order to steer clear of Trump’s military parade. The No Kings Day events are peaceful marches and rallies, but I am afraid that Trump will send troops or federalized National Guard after protesters, especially in big, majority-Democratic cities.

Tensions are ratcheted even higher because, yesterday, California Senator Alex Padilla was detained while trying to ask a question at a press conference that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was giving at a federal building in Los Angeles. Sen. Padilla was forced from the room onto the floor and handcuffed, even though he announced that he was a senator and was accompanied by an FBI agent and security guard. If that can happen to a United States senator, what could happen to someone who is an immigrant or vulnerable or a member of a minority group?

While my health prevents me from attending in person, I offer my support to all those who will be at the No Kings protests tomorrow. I’m praying for their safety and hoping that police and other authorities have the good sense to honor the attendees as they exercise their First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom to peaceably assemble, and freedom to petition the government.

I hope that the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court will uphold Judge Breyer’s ruling in the coming days and that the Trump administration will abide by it. We must not militarize the country and disregard our Constitutional rights. The Republicans in Congress need to wake up and honor their oaths and demand resignations or impeach any officials who are breaking the law and undermining our democracy.

In less than a month, we will observe the 249th anniversary of the United States. We must do it as a free people with our full rights intact.

One-Liner Wednesday: No Kings!

Saturday, June 14, 2025 is No Kings Day in the United States with over 1,800 events planned across the country; you can search locations here.

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/06/11/one-liner-wednesday-better/

Disintegration

Vote for Democracy #37

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

I am watching the United States, the only country where I have lived for over sixty years, disintegrate around me.

My heart is broken and I don’t know how well I can convey the gravity of the situation, but I have to try.

I will say that there is massive and growing resistance among the public and within the government at various levels but it’s unclear whether or not we can keep our democracy and its Constitution and laws in effect.

The Trump/Vance administration has defied court orders trying to contain their illegal behavior. There have been orders to reinstate employees and officials wrongfully terminated, to restore funding cuts and agency closures that the administration has enacted when only Congress has the authority to do so, and to give due process rights to immigrants and visitors who have been imprisoned in different parts of the country or even sent to a notorious foreign prison in El Salvador.

Trump has written executive orders that don’t reflect reality, declaring states of emergency where there is no emergency so that he can attempt these illegal actions that are terrorizing millions of people, in the United States and around the world.

At the moment, he is trashing our national economy and disrupting the global economy with his tariff policy. He has threatened the sovereignty of other nations who are our allies. The world order that rose from the ashes of World War II over the past 80 years, led by the United States, is damaged and, I’m afraid, irreparable because our allies will not be able to trust us again.

What should be happening is that Congress should impeach and convict the president of high crimes and misdemeanors and remove him from office. Other executive branch officials, including the vice-president, should resign or themselves be impeached for their unconstitutional actions. This would include the current House speaker, who would become president under the Constitution, if he would not restore the rule of law and stop the takeover of the government by oligarchs and corrupt politicians.

Given the way the Republican majorities of both houses of Congress have been behaving, the above scenario will only happen if dozens of Republicans either decide to fulfill their oaths to uphold the Constitution and laws or resign their seats, either to protect their families from threats or to accede to the demands of their constituents who are being harmed by the Republican regime.

I have no illusions that this scenario, which is in accordance with the way our Constitution is designed, is going to happen.

I know that things can get worse. There is the possibility that Trump will try to declare a state of emergency to allows him to use the military within the US to go after peaceful protesters. He could try to jail members of the media or elected officials who oppose him. He could start a war with Canada because he wants to annex them or with Denmark over Greenland, either of which would turn into a major conflict as the other NATO nations would come to the aid of Canada and Denmark under Article 5 of the treaty that formed NATO in 1949.

Or any number of other horrible things that would harm millions of people.

That’s why so many of us are speaking out to resist Trump/Musk/Vance/DOGE.

While my fears are national and global, they are also personal. Among my friends and family are people who are immigrants, naturalized citizens, people of color, part of the LGBTQIA+ community, living in poverty, dependent on government programs for health care or food assistance or income, retired, dealing with illness and/or disabilities, children, elders, students, writers, teachers, government workers, people of various faiths and non-religious philosophies, rural, suburban, and urban dwellers.

In all of that, I think I am typical of most people in the United States.

When I hear about funding cuts for medical research and vaccines, I know that my own health and that of my family and friends has been vastly improved by these in the past and will suffer in the future if these cuts remain in place.

When I hear about visitors from other countries being harassed, turned away, or even imprisoned without cause, I worry about what might happen the next time the UK branch of my family comes to visit because it includes a foreign national.

Watching the wild gyrations in the stock, bond, and currency markets, I worry about our financial stability as we begin our retirement.

I don’t know what will happen next, but I know that millions upon millions of us are trying to keep our democracy intact so there is some chance to repair some of the harms of the last few months.

I wonder if this is how people felt at other times of national peril, especially during the Civil War.

We are not currently forming “a more perfect Union” as the Preamble to our Constitution calls us to do. We aren’t fulfilling any of the purposes of government found there either.

Deep breath.

Keep trying.

One-Liner Wednesday: Cory Booker sign

Sign that a friend made for the Hands Off! gatherings on Saturday, April 5, 2025 with a quote from Cory Booker‘s record-breaking speech in the United States Senate: “This is a moral moment.”

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/04/09/one-liner-wednesday-good-call/