'Catastrophe': Trump uses 'phony energy emergency' to 'illegally' destroy state laws
Last weekend at the Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, at a uniform-mandatory commemoration of the Navy’s 250th anniversary, Donald Trump addressed the troops as if it were a MAGA rally. He told hundreds of sailors, SEALS and Marines that the nation had to “take care” of this “little gnat on our shoulder called the Democrats,” then proceeded to disparage Democrats to cheers and applause from the assembled troops.
His comments drew criticism because the US military is a non-political fighting force, kept that way to protect the nation. But his Norfolk appearance followed a similar speech in Quantico, Virginia, where he informed 800 ranked officers from all fighting units that they’d soon be let loose on “the enemy within,” meaning, again, Democrats.
It is extraordinary, but not hyperbole, to say that Trump is conditioning all branches of the US military to devalue citizens who do not support him politically. As he sends red-state National Guardsmen into blue states against their wishes, Civil War style, Trump is reshaping historically apolitical forces into his own image, turning armed soldiers against Americans they have sworn an oath to protect.
The rule of law is holding. Barely and unpromisingly.
Trump’s authorization for the use of excessive force in ICE raids in Chicago, LA, and DC—resulting in severaldeaths—is well documented. In Portland, a Trump-appointed judge cited the disconnect between violence Trump claims is happening on the ground, and the largely peaceful protests occurring in reality.
It is clear to everyone outside the Fox News bubble that Trump is trying to destabilize Democrat-run cities, as he encourages the use of tear gas and pepper spray to create the appearance of mayhem. His goal is to provoke violent reactions and civil unrest, which will allow him to declare martial law to keep himself in power.
Legal challenges to these actions are stacking up across the country, and so far, judges at the federal district court level are holding the line. However, after the Supreme Court just eviscerated the 4th Amendment by allowing Trump’s masked agents to harass and detain people based on race, the hope that the judiciary will save us is fading.
Whether the same Republican justices will let Trump continue to terrorize the nation with armed military forces is unclear, but so far, in Trump 2.0, they have sided with Trump on 21 out of 23 emergency applications. It does not look good. However they ultimately rule on Posse Comitatus, they have already enabled a rogue president with malice and criminal intent toward half the nation.
Trump has broken the social contract under which law-abiding citizens pay their federal taxes
Trump’s violence against Democrat-run cities is consistent with his goal of strangling them financially. Although it is grossly unconstitutional to condition the receipt of federal tax-funded resources on political affiliation, Trump weaponizes government resources like a mob boss. Small wonder some taxpayers question whether they should fund their own destruction.
After already withholding billions from states governed by Democrats, Trump is now using the government shutdown as a pretext to withhold even more federal funds from them, even though blue states disproportionately fund the federal government compared to red states. Last week he threatenedto use the shutdown to cut “many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM.”
Senator Chris Murphy summed the situation up frankly: “Let’s open our eyes. This isn’t a functioning democracy any longer when — in the middle of a high stakes funding fight — the President illegally suspends federal projects in states run by Democrats as a way to punish the political opposition.”
Why buy the guns aimed at our heads?
By all indications, Trump wants to cleave our nation in half to stay in power past his expiration date. But by withholding federal resources from Democrat-run states as political retribution, Trump is also building a permission structure for people living in those states to question their own federal taxation, asking why they should pay for the guns pointed at their own heads.
No lawyer worth their salt would advise people to break the law by not paying federal taxes that are due. However, while tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance is not.Trump, who calls himself “smart” for his own history of tax avoidance, is now literally waging war on Democrats as they foot the bill for the violence.
Americans pay federal taxes under a social and legal contract. While we often disagree with our presidents, every 8 years, there’s a new one. Some will be conservative, some will be liberal, and over time, it balances. But now we have a president teasing a 3rd term after he tried to violently block the transfer of power the last time he lost an election, backed by a corrupt Supreme Court as he turns cities into war zones to stay in power.
Ezra Klein, no fan of Democrats, writes, “Democrats, morally speaking, should not fund a government that Trump is turning into a tool of personal enrichment and power… The machinery of the state is being organized to entrench Republican power … to create a masked paramilitary force roaming the streets and carrying out Trump’s commands. Do you just let that roll forward and hope for the best?”
Do you?
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.