Tag: Constitution

SoCS: Onward!

Don’t get me started writing about the horrors of the Trump administration, especially in stream of consciousness, because it would go on for pages and pages and be incredibly painful to read.

Nobody needs that, especially because it wouldn’t be helpful in making changes that are needed to protect lives.

I’m sending prayers and well wishes to all those protesting and speaking out against the autocracy and evil that has befallen the US and afflicted so many here and across the world. While very few of us have any real power in the government, I believe our numbers will eventually prevail to get us back on a path that honors our Constitution and laws and our highest ideals for equality, compassion, and care for all people and our common home, the earth.

Stay strong but remember that, when you need to rest, others are there to carry on until you can rejoin the effort. Although I wish we could get to a better state of affairs quickly, this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

Onward!
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday/Just Jot It January today is “don’t get me started.” If you would like to join in with either effort, you can find details here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/09/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2026-daily-prompt-for-jan-10th/

extrajudicial

Vote for Democrary #51

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Not the post I expected to write this morning.

The Trump administration continued its assault on the Constitution and the rule of law yesterday by using our elite military forces to kidnap Venezulan leader Maduro and his spouse and bring them to the United States, ostensibly to be tried for drug trafficking charges. This follows months of bombing boats and killing crew members coming from Venezula and other Central/South American countries, also ostensibly tied to drug trafficking.

These actions appear to break both United States and international law.

What should happen is that warrants or charges should be issued and arrests made, not bringing in the military or killing people without trial.

In the case of Maduro and his family, charges should have been brought with an arrest taking place if he left his country. This is the usual protocol followed with national leaders, as we see with cases of war crimes. (One of the terrible things about Trump inviting Putin to Alaska last year is that Putin is under indictment for war crimes and should have been arrested upon entering the United States, but was not.)

I don’t know what the evidence is against Maduro and whether he will be convicted at trial. In the past, the United States Department of Justice did not indict on serious charges unless they felt sure they had enough evidence to convict but the Trump Department of Justice has hollowed out many of the veteran prosecutors and has had a number of high profile cases fall apart because they have not had proper evidence before filing charges.

It’s obvious, though, that Trump’s aggressive behavior against Venezula is not about drugs. If Trump was serious about jailing drug traffickers, he would not have pardoned former Honduran president Hernández, who was convicted on drug charges and serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US.

Instead, this seems to be about power and money. Trump plans to “run” Venezula for the immediate future and bring in his fossil fuel patrons to take Venezulan oil. You may recall that Trump asked for millions of dollars in campaign funding from the fossil fuel industry for his 2024 campaign and this move in Venezula would be the latest handout to benefit them.

The Trump administration is claiming this was a law enforcement action rather than a military incursion, trying to skirt the Constitution which states that only Congress can declare war. I don’t know what will happen with this because the Republican majority has been reluctant to insist on exercising their Constitutional duties.

I am worried that Trump has started a war with Venezuela that will further destabilize the country. Maduro was acting as president despite having lost the last election. The apparent winner, Edmundo González, was forced into exile because the military still backed Maduro. Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, should assume the presidency but will probably be considered illegitimate because she was elected along with Maduro. Most countries were already sanctioning Venezuela because Maduro was still acting as president despite having lost the election. I’m not sure how they will react to Trump saying he is going to “run” Venezuela. There may be action in the United Nations.

What I can say is that I think Trump’s action was unconstitutional, illegal, and unwise. I hope that he will be held to account, along with the Cabinet members and other people involved, but Congress does not inspire confidence in this regard.

It’s hard to predict what will happen, so I won’t try, but I wanted to be clear that I think this action against Venezuela was wrong.

This post is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. To join in, please visit here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/04/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-4th-2026/ for more information.

shutdown aftermath, etc.

Vote for Democracy #49

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

I’ve been struggling with health stuff again and unable to organize my thoughts well enough to tackle a post on the overwhelming state of affairs in the US but will make an attempt.

There was not really a path for the record-breaking government shutdown to have a good outcome, so it didn’t. The Trump administration cruelly shut off food assistance, even though there were funds available to continue. It did, however, highlight the truly terrible statistic that 1 in 8 people here struggle to get enough to eat. The vast majority of these are children, elders, disabled people, or employed adults. Many employers do not pay wages that are sufficient to cover the basic cost of living, so workers and their dependents need government assistance and/or charity to have enough food. This also means that, even after a lifetime of employment, many retirees don’t have enough income to survive and were never able to save enough to have a cushion for their retirement years. It’s a sign of how warped our society has become that so many are hungry in the richest country in the world. At least in the agreement to reopen the government through January 20, funding was secured for food benefits through September 30.

Meanwhile, it is unclear if the health insurance subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans will be extended. As people are trying to sign up for 2026 plans, the rates from the insurance companies have risen sharply without the subsidies in place, sometimes doubling, tripling, or worse, which will leave millions uninsured. This, in turn, will drive up insurance rates even higher, as hospitals and doctors will raise prices for people with insurance to try to stay afloat. More rural hospitals, which are already strained, may be forced to close. It’s disgusting that our country does not treat health care as a basic right, denying care to anyone without good insurance and/or mounds of cash.

There has been a lot of talk about who bears “blame” for the shutdown. To my mind, the fault lies with the Repbulicans in both the legislative and executive branches. The budget process should work through the Congressional committees to have the appropriation bills passed and in place for October 1, when the new fiscal year begins. Instead, Repbulicans insisted on ramming through their own proposals rather than negotiating with Democrats and Independents to craft appropriation bills that could pass under regular order. Even when Democrats tried to make proposals, Congressional Republican leaders and the President refused to negotiate. The Speaker of the House went so far as to not even call the House into sessions for weeks, time that should have been spent crafting budget bills so that they didn’t have to rely on short-term continuing resolutions to keep the government open.

Another major problem is that the Trump administration has not been executing laws that Congress has passed. How can Congressional Democrats and the general public trust that the Trump administration will spend the money that Congress allocates when they shamefully cancelled life-saving funds for USAID and other agencies and programs, even ignoring court orders?

There is a Constitutional way to deal with this, impeachment of the president and other members of the executive branch by the House and conviction by the Senate, but the current Congressional Repbulicans won’t take action against Trump, even when he is illegally usurping powers granted to Congress, not the President. Unfortunately, this traps the country in this hurtful, dysfunctional state until, at least, the next election.

It is possible that the Republicans could lost the majority in the House even before the midterm elections next November. If more Repbulicans resign, as Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to do in January, and seats are left open for a time period or if Democrats flip some of those seats, the Repbulicans could lose their majority and a new Speaker would be elected. A Democratic majority could launch investigations and might be able to find enough Repbulican senators to pass bipartisan legislation to better serve the country.

Meanwhile, concerned citizens will continue to protest, boycott, and raise their voices to call for their rights, liberty, and values to prevail, in line with our Constitution and laws. We have sunk so low in the functioning of our national government that it will be a long, hard slog to recover, but we will try. It will be difficult for other countries to ever trust us again, given the immense harm that Trump has perpetrated on the world. All the more reason to get to work now.

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.

One-Liner Wednesday: the US flag and the Constitution

“I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.”
~~~ Molly Ivins

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/09/03/one-liner-wednesday-me-from-now-on/

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.

Trump corruption

Vote for Democracy #39

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Donald Trump and his family are not even trying to hide their grifting and corruption.

The two most recent public examples are the acceptance of a luxury 747 from the government of Qatar and a dinner with the top holders of a Trump meme coin.

The jet had been made for the use of Qatar’s royal family but they had been trying to sell it in recent years. Trump had seen the jet and liked it. He wanted to use it as the presidential plane while Boeing continues to construct two new planes to replace the current ones, which are almost thirty-five years old. Somehow, instead of buying it, Trump finagled it being a gift to the Defense Department that will be transferred to the Trump presidential library when he leaves office. This is an attempt to get around the emoluments clause of the US Constitution, which prohibits the president from accepting gifts from foreign countries without the consent of Congress.

Article I, Section 9, Clause 8:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Days before being sworn in for his second term, Trump and his family launched a crypto meme coin called $Trump. The nature of crypto is lack of transparency as to who holds it but it is known that Trump and his family profit from the trading of the meme coin. Trump’s sons, Don, Jr. and Eric, announced a dinner with the President for the largest holders of $Trump, many of whom are known to be from foreign countries. The top 25 holders also had an additional reception with the President and a tour of the White House the next day. This paying for access to the president is a form of grift, influence peddling, and corruption. It’s also a further example of how Trump has used the presidency as a way to enrich himself and his family. Unlike other presidents, he has not released his tax returns to the public and has not placed his assets into a blind trust so that the public has confidence that presidential decisions are being made for the good of the country rather than personal financial gains.

In this term, Trump is also promoting policies that give advantages to his rich allies, especially Elon Musk. Musk, already a major government contractor, has increased his contracts while cutting many other contracts through DOGE, having court cases and investigations against him dismissed, having environmental regulations relaxed, and having pressure applied for other agencies and countries to accept his Starlink system.

So, yes, the United States has descended into both autocracy and oligarchy. The forces of democracy are fighting, though, and, I think, gaining momentum as the Trump administration’s actions become more lawless and blatant. While the damage has already been immense, we have to regain our democracy, values, and the rule of law before our country is lost forever. All the small actions of individuals and the larger initiatives of organizations, multiplied by millions, must prevail.

Today is observed as Memorial Day in the United States, when we honor the memory of those killed in service to our country. We owe it to their memory to do our part in upholding the democracy for which they gave their lives.

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.

SoCS: the real patriots

Vote for Democracy #36

There is a debate in the United States about what it means to be patriotic.

Some people connect patriotism with militarism or with waving a flag but I think that is not what true patriotism is.

Our Constitution begins “We the People” and lays out the purposes for which “We the People” are organizing their government.

Among these purposes is to “promote the general welfare.” It’s not to make as much money as I can personally. It’s certainly not make as much money as I can by exploiting others and not paying a fair share in taxes.

Another purpose is to “secure the blessings of liberty” for ourselves and future generations. It’s not about each individual doing whatever they personally want if it infringes on the rights and freedoms of others. A patriot can’t say whatever they want while denying that right to everyone else.

It’s alarming how Trump/Musk/Vance are trampling on “We the People” and our rights while ignoring the very purpose of our government as laid out in the Preamble of our Constitution. They are also ignoring or warping the Articles and Amendments that don’t fit their power grab.

The true patriots are those speaking out and working toward the ideals of “We the People.” Many of them, at least half a million in over 1,000 locations, are gathering today to say “Hands Off!” to the oligarchs and DT’s administration and the militias like the Proud Boys and anyone at the federal, state, or local level that is trying to take our rights and votes and our legitimate ability to govern ourselves that are laid out in the Constitution.

There are many more than those half million who won’t be able to be out there but who are working within their own spheres of influence to stand up for the United States and “We the People.” I wrote yesterday about how my health is keeping me from being out on the street today but my heart is with those who are peacefully protesting and telling DT et al “Hands Off!”

True patriots say “Hands Off!” our rights, our freedoms, our education, our environmental protections, our health care, our bodies, our neighbors, our safety, our freedom to worship or not, our words.

We the People are the Patriots. We are the government. Our elected officials are to represent us, not overlook “the general welfare” to take all power and money and property for themselves.

Thank you to all the true patriots who are working to make our government function properly and recognize that it’s about “We the People,” not about them and their personal wealth and power.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this was to base the post on pat or a word that contained pat. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/04/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-5-2025/

One-Liner Wednesday: resistance

Vote for Democracy #33

In the midst of the vindictive, mean, immoral, unconstitutional, illegal under both national and international law, threatening, and insane beginning of the Trump administration, millions of Americans have mobilized to oppose Trump and his actions and, we hope, to limit the damage to people in the United States and everywhere in the world; we appreciate the support from all our friends and allies and I personally want to thank my Canadian friends who have reached to me in solidarity.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/02/05/one-liner-wednesday-i-dont-understand/