Monthly Archives: April 2025

Federal Politics, Local Politics, State Politics

Assault On Democracy – Seven: Trump’s War On Courts, Colleges And Universities, And Law Firms

Trump’s America is moving forward with its war on the United States’ courts, colleges and universities, and law firms.  It is playing a cat-and-mouse game of divide and conquer and was logging meaningful success while encountering little resistance from any of them until Harvard University decided that enough was enough.  Harvard said an emphatic no to Trump!  I mention Harvard before the courts and law firms because the courts would be the final piece needed to finalize the construct of Trump’s America’s linchpin to its plan to center all the government’s power in the executive branch of government.

Harvard’s “no” to Trump seems to have triggered the domino effect of courage to resist him.  To be clear, although I included the courts when I said that Trump’s America was encountering little resistance “from any of them” in its cat-and-mouse game to divide and conquer America as we know it, it is important to acknowledge that the courts contributed to slowing the Trump’s America momentum.  And now, their efforts have increased dramatically as they witness the lawlessness of the Trump administration and its disdain of the courts, including the United States Supreme Court, and their power.  These courts have watched in horror and virtual silence while Trump has pardon criminals, his administration has arrested at least one sitting judge, and he continues to test the grit of U.S. courts while ignoring their rulings.

America is in a very precarious and peculiar situation.   It is easy to see the precariousness of the situation because of the fight that is being waged for the soul of America.  This fight is fueled mainly by Trump’s America’s desire to end democracy in America, and replace it with an authoritarian leader.  The peculiar piece of this situation is a bit more subtle so requires deeper scrutiny.  The peculiar thing is that while the message from all elected officials is that if Americans want to keep our democracy, we must remain strong and fight for it; at the same time, Republican elected officials are not fighting for democracy.  Instead, they are saying publicly and privately, mostly privately, how afraid they are of retaliation by Trump and that is why they are reluctant to resist him at all, let alone publicly.  Now, Isn’t that special?!

A good example of this Republican fear was showcased by Senator Lisa Murkowski while she was addressing a summit of nonprofit and tribal leaders in Alaska when she said “we are all afraid…  The retaliation is real; …and that is why there is so much fear.”  While I recognize that the retaliation is real and empathize with Senator Murkowski, she and her Republican colleagues took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  It is arguable that most Americans under this Trump administration are afraid.  But none of us can afford to be frozen by that fear to the point where we do not act to protect the American democracy!

Senator Murkowski and her Republican colleagues ran for office and won.  They chose their jobs!  They must know that their jobs consist of more than just wrapping all the power and adulation around them like a warm cozy blanket while receiving a paycheck when things are easy during their tenure and then receiving a regular paycheck when they complete their “service” to their country upon retirement!  They must know that they have a fiduciary responsibility to the American people to be there and fight for them, fight for America, when the rubber meets the road!

Soldiers and policemen take an oath before they are given their jobs.  They know ahead of time that their jobs, somewhere along the way might involve dangerous or even life-threatening situations and that they have a responsibility to run toward that danger rather than away from it.  And the record reflects that in the great majority of cases, they have done that.  It does not reflect that they were never afraid.  Just like those soldiers and policemen, all these elected senators and representatives, especially now and especially those at the federal level of government, have a responsibility to run toward the danger.  Nothing says that they must not be afraid, but their oath, everything in the Constitution, and everything meaningful and worth fighting for in the American way of life says that they must run toward that danger!

Most of what Trump is doing right now is destroying America.  He has ruined America’s credibility and alienated all of our allies to the point where they no longer trust America.  He and his administration are relentlessly chipping away at the foundation of America by attacking the Department of Education at the federal level, which is causing K-12 schools in all states to struggle to survive.  They are attacking our colleges and universities by trying to control their curriculum and dictate to them personnel policies that fit the Trump administration’s agenda, so they too are struggling to survive.

Trump has driven the stock market down to a level that America hasn’t seen since 1932.  He has taken an economy that was the envy of the world when he took office and has now greatly increased the potential that it will slip into a recession.  Instead of bringing prices down on his first day in office as he said that he would, Trump has driven prices up.  Yet, while all of this is happening, he says that “[he] couldn’t care less” if the price of cars goes up.  Finally, it seems that, because of his policies, America is a lot less safe now than it was before he took office.

At the end of his first term, Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, said that if he was not able to remain in office he would, and I paraphrase here, burn the place down on the way out rather than leave peacefully.  Evidently, American voters did not take her admonition seriously.  If they had, one would think that they would not have elected him to a second term; giving him another chance to “burn the place down.”  Based on what Trump has done to America so far during his second term, he is starting early to make sure that he will finish the job this time in case that things do not work out for a third term.

Even if his intention is not to burn the place down but to “make America great again,” the effect will be the same.  However, based on Trump’s record and his declaration “I am your retribution” before he took office this time, it is reasonable to believe that it is his intention and he will “burn the place down.”  Not to worry though, since “[he] alone can fix [America’s problems], if this third term thing should happen to work out in his favor, he will, if he decides to do so, just fix all the stuff he messed up during his second term.  Then, in Trump’s mind, America will be great again until he leaves office… if he ever does leave office.

Whether it is due to fear, personal political goals, the hope of personal financial gain, or some other nefarious reason unknown to the American people, except for a few Republican dissenters, the Trump Republican Party is not going to help save democracy.  The expression on Senator Lisa Murkowski’s face said it all when she said the words, scarcely above a whisper, “we are all afraid… retribution is real.”  Her face was riddled with fear!  The courts and we the people are all that stand between the end of democracy as we know it in America and the establishment of Trump’s America and an authoritarian government.  The American people have been painted into a corner and so are faced with a binary choice; will we fight for democracy or will we not fight for it?!  The time to decide is now!  There is no time to lose!

During his 2025 State of the State address, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said; “Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance.  Democracy requires your courage.  So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the tragic spirit of despair overcome us when our country needs us the most.”  I am going to borrow Governor Pritzker’s message to his constituents and address it to all Americans, and especially to Senator Lisa Murkowski and all the rest of those Republican congresspersons who continue to be intimidated by Trump.  America needs you!  So, step up and speak up despite your fear.  And always remember, there is nothing wrong with harboring fear; the important thing rests in how you handle that fear!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop; Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line

Federal Politics, State Politics

Assault On Democracy – Six: Trump’s America

Trump and his Republican Party are racing ahead with Trump’s plans for Trump’s America.  There are more and more freighting signs that he is headed toward success in establishing a new world order, whether intended or not, while America is flailing in her efforts to fight back against his authoritarian instinct.  The American people are doing everything that they can to save the American democracy while elected Republican politicians are hiding underneath any rock they can lift or cowering in any dark corner they can find and only coming out when Trump wants something done: something like having them provide political cover for him or getting a bill passed.  Once they have granted him his wishes and affirmatively addressed any other commands from him that might have arisen while they were out-and-about, they scramble back to their rocks and dark corners while all the time quivering with fear.

It seems that no matter how much pressure the American people put on these Republican officials it is not enough.  Thus far, it has managed to move a handful of them to stand up to Trump but not nearly enough to reign him in, let alone stop him from continuing with his quest to, what appears to be, ruin the American and world economy.  They fear Trump more than they fear we the people and the power of our vote!

Trump is loving this while he openly declares that people are “coming to kiss my ass,” and revels in the power that he feels from it.  Watching these elected Republican officials who are supposed to be part of a coequal branch of government scramble back-and-forth from beneath their rocks and to-and-from their dark corners is like icing on the cake or dessert.  If these Republican politicians should at some point, after they have assured themselves that the American people have hamstrung Trump and have him under control, decide to come out from hiding, spin the narrative in their favor and regain the voters’ trust, they should be shown no quarter.  Their political lives should not be spared because they will have failed to honor their oath of office; they will have failed to protect and defend the Constitution.

It is not only the politicians who dress in suits and ties that the American people need to take a close look at if Americans are fortunate enough to make it through Trump 2.0, we also need to take a close look at those politicians who do business in long black robes; the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) justices.  The American people must not be lulled to sleep and fooled by SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts and the conservative supermajority that he leads because from time-to-time he and one or two of the other conservative justices do not vote with the other conservative justices.  These dissents occur on rulings that are much less likely to have a tectonic impact on democracy as those in which they vote with their supermajority colleagues.  Chief Justice Roberts’ record from the time that he entered government through the present reflects who he is.

The fact that he gutted the Voting Rights Act, voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, and authored the response that granted Trump presidential immunity solidifies his identify.  And his leadership and response in the handling of requests by elected congressmen to fix a SCOTUS filled with scandalous behavior by its justices, who refuse to even establish an enforceable code of ethics to itself like one that already applies to every other court in America, certainly does not help inspire confidence in the SCOTUS and its ability to render rulings that are fair, unbiased, and based on the law.  So even if the rulings that the SCOTUS is now making relative to cases involving Trump are above board, fair, unbiased and based on the law, because of its record and lack of ability or refusal to avoid even the appearance of bias or political activity, most of the American public does not trust the SCOTUS and so is not convinced that these rulings are decisively based on the law.

At this juncture, even if the SCOTUS is not among those institutions or individuals who fear Trump and are very careful about how they respond to him or any situation that involves him, it is extremely hard to decipher whether its rulings are void of fear or favor.  A ruling by the SCOTUS regarding whether someone who was admittedly sent to a foreign prison by mistake and without due process should be immediately returned to the United States and allowed the same should be a slam dunk!  Instead, after first granting the Trump administration a temporary stay against a lower court’s order to immediately return the person to the United States, the SCOTUS ultimately ruled against the Trump administration’s request to allow the person to remain there in a foreign prison and after ordering that a minor clarification be made, referred the case back to the lower court.

However, the ruling was somewhat vague and – according to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnel, based on the Trump administration’s attorney’s argument to ship and leave the person there in the first place, it appears to leave an opening for the Trump administration to argue that even American citizens could be swept up and sent off to a foreign prison without due process.  And, right on cue Trump swoops in and lets everyone know that this is exactly what he wants to do and is ready to make this argument right now.  He let everyone know that he would love to send the “home grown” to foreign prisons as well: he was referring to American citizens who are criminals.

Prior to the SCOTUS ruling, Trump had said that his administration would obey court rulings.  Since then, however, he has dug his heels in.  After the lower court stood by its ruling after it made the correction required by the SCOTUS, Trump’s attorneys appealed the ruling, which will likely ultimately make its way back to the SCOTUS.  This already puts Trump in a direct standoff with the SCOTUS: a direct standoff with SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts, the man who, in no small part, is responsible for giving him all this power in the first place, which has emboldened him to defy the courts.  Time will soon tell who will be the victor in this unprecedented standoff.

Trump has already managed to subjugate all the Republicans in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.  It will be interesting to see if he can do the same to Chief Justice John Roberts and the SCOTUS.  Whatever happens, we the people must remain in the fight until justice prevails and we are sure that the American democracy, our democracy, is saved and safe.  While we are fighting though, we must continue to make our voices heard by way of our vote whenever that opportunity is available to us.  We must vote in local, state, and federal elections.  This will help prevent those who, like Trump, have an affinity for strongmen and dictators from gaining even a toehold to advance their desire to destroy our great democracy and replace it with an authoritarian leader.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line

Federal Politics, Local Politics, State Politics

Assault On Democracy – Five

Heads up Political Pawns and Puppets readers!  Keep your eyes and ears open for written comments by the media and verbal comments by talking heads on news shows, especially cable news shows, that make excuses for Republicans in congress who side with and support Donald Trump.  The core excuse is, Republicans see that the MAGA movement works; Trump has proven it time-and-time again.  And that is why Republican senators and representatives have fallen in line and decided to go with it: It’s politics.

If that is true and that is all that it is, politics; then the American people are in essence just chess pieces in a virtual board game to be moved about in any way that is most advantageous to each senator or representative to achieve their personal political or Party goals.  I have always hoped that our elected officials valued their constituents as more than inanimate objects to be manipulated simply for their personal gain.  I have always hoped that their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution holds real meaning to them.  It appears that it does not.

The Republican Party is forging ahead with dismantling government institutions and departments as fast as possible and rewarding the rich while none of its individual members will speak up and say that what their Party is doing is wrong.  They know that what the Trump administration is doing is wrong, embarrassing, an unprecedented insult to the American people, and an existential threat to democracy yet they remain silent!

These Republicans have no shame.  And while the Democratic Party has good intentions, want to preserve democracy and have America continue to be a country of laws that operates under the rule of law, they are waiting for what they perceive to be the right time to fight!  Well, surprise Democrats!  By the time that you perceive that the right time to fight has arrived it may be too late: there might not be anything left to fight for.  The Republicans will have completely destroyed what it has taken America almost 250 years to build.

Let’s look at some of the things that Trump and his Republican Party have already done and are trying to do as quickly as possible during Trump’s second term as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America; Trump has:

  1. Granted Putin his wish list of things that Putin would like to see enacted to help Russia achieve its goals in its war with Ukraine and in its goals to reestablish the Soviet Union. Many of the items on this wish list hurt the United States of America and make us less safe.
  2. Used the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, to attack numerous government departments and fire large numbers of staff members, without due process, all in the name of reducing fraud and waste. This has not only had, and continues to have, a negative impact on those individuals fired and the departments that employed them but has negatively impacted on people around the world.
  3. Via DOGE, had an existential impact on the Social Security Administration causing some experts to say that the system is in imminent danger of completely crashing if intervention is not taken soon.
  4. For frivolous reasons used executive orders to attack law firms that he does not like by threatening to restrict them from entering government buildings and take away their employees’ clearances, in effect, taking away their government contracts and preventing them from effectively serving many of the clients that they already have unless they agree to do pro bono work for his administration in the amounts of millions of dollars.
  5. Attacked institutions of higher learning via executive orders and threatened to withhold federal funds from them unless they agreed to make changes that he wanted them to make in areas such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
  6. Pushed the impeachment of judges who have made rulings that he didn’t like and…
  7. Done many other things, many of which some critics have called lawless, that are anti democracy.

The Democratic Party might be frozen in fear because they do not know what to do and so are waiting for their perceived right time to fight.  But the American people see what Trump and his Republican Party are doing and recognize that it is an imminent threat to democracy so they have chosen to fight now.  They are protesting in the streets all across America right now while working to determine the next steps strategy in their fight to save the American democracy and possibly struggling democracies around the world.  It is important that the American people and the Democratic Party stand up to Trump and his Republican Party now!

The fight must be taken to them now; there is no time to wait!  Trump and his Republican Party have already done irreparable damage to America with our allies and many other people around the world.  Most Americans likely believe that the Democratic Party is trying to fight back even though it is the minority Party.  Its members are talking about the things they are doing so that when the midterm elections arrive, they will trounce the Republicans: and the midterm elections are important.  However, I agree with the woman that was shouting from the balcony during a townhall meeting with her senator/representative when she shouted, “the house is on fire and you are talking about voting!

Again, to vote in the upcoming midterm elections is important just as it is to vote in all elections.  But the immediacy of America’s current situation demands that Americans act now!  Let’s take the fight to Trump and DOGE now while there is still a chance to save the American democracy.  The window is closing fast so find your niche and do what you can.  You do not have to have a big platform that can reach hundreds or thousands of people; if you reach and convince one person that now is the time to fight to save democracy then that is one more person who will be in the fight to save democracy.  Let’s get busy now while always keeping in mind that voting is important…

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line