Latest news with #UnitedStatesBillofRights
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Free speech and freedom of the press under assault
Replica of the United States Bill of Rights, documenting the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. (Leezsnow/Getty Images) On June 4, 2024, an op-ed I penned (Project 2025's threat to democracy) was published in The Fulcrum, a national bipartisan social media platform. It received over 74,000 views and landed as one of the top 10 most read op-eds – out of 1,460 – published in 2024. The op-ed identified how the right-wing extremist Heritage Foundation think tank had prepared a 900-page blueprint of actions Donald Trump should implement – if elected — in the first 180 days of being America's 47th president. Dozens of op-eds were spun off from the op-ed by a multitude of cross-partisan freelance writers and published in The Fulcrum, identifying – very specifically – what Trump and his appointees would do by following Heritage Foundation's dictum of changing America from a democracy to an authoritarian, fascist-like country. We're about 1/3rd of the way through Heritage Foundation's 180-day blueprint and have witnessed 129 executive orders resulting in – no surprise to people who completed a high school U.S. government class and understand America's distinct three levels of government — 113 legal challenges (Litigation Tracker). 2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL Five books were cited in the June 4 op-ed to assist readers better understand how an authoritarian-dictator acts and can – rather quickly — convert a democracy into a totalitarian and oppressive ruled country. Four of the books were written by the contemporary authors' Anne Applebaum, Barbara McQuade, Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder. The other book was George Orwell's dystopian novel '1984.' You might like to know the #1 most banned book by right-wing agents is Orwell's '1984,' which warned against autocracy's reign of terror. After Donald Trump made unprovable and 'alternative fact' statements in 2017, sales of '1984' soared 9,500 percent. After Trump's 2024 election victory, '1984' sales went 'soaring off the shelves' (Axios, Nov. 8). In Orwell's '1984,' Big Brother and his acolytes installed the practice of eliminating words, called `Newspeak.' `The Party' was the name of the totalitarian government that used Newspeak to delete words, discourage free thought, limit people's ability for critical thinking and control its citizens. Jump to 2025 and the term `Newspeak' is now being applied to a portion of our 47th president's administration. Despite Mr. Trump claiming to be the 'champion of free speech,' The New York Times found hundreds of words used in Trump 2.0 documents have disappeared on hundreds of federal document websites and on more than 5,000 pages. A partial list of words that have being eliminated by Mr. Trump from America's lexicon include: advocacy, biologically female, Black, clean energy, climate science, cultural heritage, disability, discrimination, diversity, equal opportunity, equity, female, females, feminism, gender, hate speech, Hispanic minority, inclusion, Latinx, LGBTQ, mental health, minority, multicultural, Native American, pregnant person, race, sex, social justice, transgender, tribal, under represented, victims and women. Notice what words are not on Trump's banned list: male, man, men and White. Another example of Orwellianism in Trumpism exists … In George Orwell's '1984,' several citizens in the authoritarian country Oceania work for the Ministry of Truth, whose job was to alter historical records to fit the needs of `The Party.' On the sixth day of Trump's 47th presidency, he ordered 'the U.S. Air Force will no longer teach its recruits about the Tuskegee Airmen, the more than 15,000 Blacks pilots (first Black aviators in the U.S. Army), mechanics and cooks in the segregated Army of World War II.' Trump's very own `Ministry of Truth' is attempting to erase history of active Black fighters from 1940 to 1952, who flew in over 15,000 sorties and destroyed more than 100 German aircraft. Recall one of the words Mr. Trump has eliminated from U.S. documents is … Black. Orwell's Big Brother also wanted to destroy the literature of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Bryon, etc. so he could control the way people could think, how much they could think and what they could think about. In a similar literature vein, Donald Trump has controlled what news agencies can work at the Pentagon; CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, War Zone, NBC News, NPR, New York Times and Politico have been kicked out (AP, Feb. 7). Four news agencies (i.e., Associated Press, Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel) have been barred from attending Trump cabinet meetings. Americans are being controlled over what media can report to us and therefore how much to think and what to think about. Evidence is replete Mr. Trump is not only following Heritage Foundation's authoritarian-oriented playbook with his multitude of executive orders but many of the actions employed by the fascist rulers and tenants of George Orwell's '1984.' Call your two Senators and U.S. House Rep. (202-224-3121) to remind them that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press and demand it is their job to put a stop to Trump's 2.0 anti-free speech and anti-freedom of the press dystopian movement.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The law vs. the lawless: A showdown at the MAGA corral
Replica of the United States Bill of Rights, documenting the 10 amendments to the US Constitution. It's not hard to remember what happens in Marty Robbins' Western ballad, 'Big Iron,' when Texas Red, 'the bad outlaw' wreaks havoc on the good citizens of town. 'The Law,' in the persona of an Arizona Ranger, rides in with 'the big iron on his hip.' Come high noon, the showdown takes place and Texas Red winds up face down in the dust of Main Street, having 'never cleared leather' as justice triumphs over lawlessness. The days of the Western shootout in the street between the law and the outlaw are gone. But, it's safe to say a lot of the 'good citizens' are feeling more than a little threatened by what's now emanating from the MAGA Corral, where another bad outlaw, 'Florida Orange,' is on a tear without precedent in the Oval Office, ignoring the law, the Constitution, and of course, his Oath of Office to defend both. It won't be the Arizona Ranger, but the law is coming for Florida Orange … and rest assured, good citizens, the law will prevail for the simple and basic reason that society, much less civilization, cannot exist without some form of law other than 'the guy with the biggest club wins.' As the illegal executive orders roll out, the countermanding lawsuits roll in. Every day more judges side with the citizens all across the nation and there's no end in sight since 'the showdown' is now whether or not the highest office in the nation is subject to the Constitution and laws which the rest of us must both respect and abide. The blowback shows no signs of slowing and is now coming from a host of those impacted by Florida Orange's illegalities. No, you cannot fire public employees without cause despite the attempt to insert your own minions in their stead. No, you cannot usurp the Constitutional duty of Congress to appropriate the funds and write the laws by issuing executive mandates. And no, you cannot simply decide to break existing contracts with businesses, individuals, state and local governments, and educational institutions. Likewise, it's a lot easier to blather about all the perceived problems with long-standing commitments to allies and neighbors than it is to callously upend those legal commitments without regard to the severe and increasingly widespread consequences. Indeed, the consequences are now 'trickling down' to the populace as the phony promises to bring inflation under control on 'Day One' fall by the wayside as foolish, self-inflicted measures load ever-rising financial burdens on huge portions of the population. It's gotten so bad that even the Pope has waded into the fray, giving Florida Orange a warning from the Vatican that 'this will end badly' — a move that has upended the faux Christianity charade so fervently espoused by MAGA's minions. Closer to home, the Montana Legislature and governor are unfortunately trying their own version of MAGA madness. Here, it's about gutting the bedrock laws that protect the environment 'for present and future generations of Montanans' as mandated by the state's Constitution. And again, they can try to pry open the door to the ever-greedy robber barons, but we in the West have plenty of experience fighting those, too — as well as the long-lasting and extremely expensive consequences of deregulation. So take heart, fellow citizens — the blitzkrieg from Florida Orange may seem overwhelming right now, but this nation hasn't existed for 250 years based on any cult of personality or twisted desire for absolute power. We are, and we will remain, a nation of laws — or we will not remain a nation.
