Save Your Breath
You May Need It
The natives are restless. Election 2024 returned Donald John Trump to high office on the shoulders of deluded, fearful, and angry voters. In the first 100 days of his second term, he actively and aggressively moved against both immediate and expected opposition to his Time of Terror and Tour of Revenge.
Until successfully challenged and set aside, institutionalized thought control measures are in place from cradle to grave. Resistance is rising. Time to go to crowd control measures.
Crowd Control
On 28 Apr 25, Donald John Trump took time away from the links and the hustings to visit the White House. While there, he signed Executive Order 14288. It is the 142nd of the 143 presidential memoranda he placed into the Federal Register during the first 100 days of his second term in office. EO 14288 bears the grandiose and truly disturbing title of “Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law Enforcement To Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens.”
Do not be surprised if the Mad King extends a pardon to men jailed for actions taken to arrest and detain George Floyd.
Police Brutality
On 25 May 20, Derek Michael Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt for over 9 minutes on the neck of a 42-year-old black man named George Perry Floyd Jr. Chavin was one of four Minneapolis police officers responding to a call from a store owner bilked by Floyd with a counterfeit $20.00 bill. Floyd had a criminal record. While handcuffed and lying face down on the street, Floyd repeatedly called “I can’t breathe.” He died of a heart attack caused by asphyxiation.
The incident was captured by bystanders.
Their reports went viral. Protests of police brutality were held around the globe. The officers were suspended from active duty and taken to trial early in 2021 on three counts of unintentional murder and manslaughter. On 20 Apr 21, Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts. On 25 June 21, Jennepin County district judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chavin to 22.5 years in prison. Appeals for review by the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States were denied.
Pay to Pray
On 04 Jan 21, supporters of the Teflon Don’s unsuccessful bid for a second term in office stormed the Capitol Building.The insurrection defaced and despoiled the facility. Taxpayer dollars repaired the damage and returned the place to solemn glory.
On Monday, 28 Apr 25, Rev. Dr. William Barber II was one of three men arrested by U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., while praying aloud in the restored Capitol rotunda. The men were asking their God to intervene in a federal budget proposal which would disadvantage and harm vulnerable and marginalized persons.
The three were part of a group of 20 to 30 people who had gone to the Capitol after a larger “Moral Mondays” rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court building. Capitol Police directed the group to take their protest outside. Barber, Wilson-Hartgrove and Swayne did not comply with any of the three warnings given to the protesters. The officers closed the doors, then arrested and handcuffed them.
The men were charged with “crowding, obstructing, and incommoding”—a violation of a District of Columbia ordinance related to public demonstrations. By some unspecified law, it is illegal to demonstrate in any form inside the Congressional Buildings.
Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to, sitting, kneeling, group praying, singing, and/or chanting. A spokesperson for the administration said, “Basically they just have to pay a ticket” for the charges against them to be dropped.
The men have agreed to pay the fine for peacefully and respectfully praying in a public place despoiled by lawless mobs four years previously.
Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article305303081.html#storylink=cpy
Crowd Control
The first sentence of Section 1 of the EO 14288 lets the reader know just where this train is headed: “Safe communities rely on the backbone and heroism of a tough and well-equipped police force.” (Emphasis added.)
A promise follows:
“My Administration will therefore: establish best practices at the State and local level for cities to unleash high-impact local police forces; protect and defend law enforcement officers wrongly accused and abused by State or local officials; and surge resources to officers in need. My Administration will work to ensure that law enforcement officers across America focus on ending crime, not pursuing harmful, illegal race- and sex-based “equity” policies.
“The result will be a law-abiding society in which tenacious law enforcement officers protect the innocent, violations of law are not tolerated, and American communities are safely enjoyed by all their citizens again.” (Emphasis added.)
Here is a summary of the balance of the order.
· Section 2: Legal defense and indemnification of law enforcement officers accused of illegal actions taken during performance of their duties. The Attorney General is empowered to deploy the pro-bono services of white shoe law firms working off their tithe to the Mad King.
· Section 3: Empowerment of State and local law enforcement to:
1. Allow aggressive policing against all crimes;
2. Increase pay and benefits;
3. Strengthen and expand legal protections for officers;
4. Seek enhanced punishment for crimes against officers;
5. Promote investment in prison facilities; and,
6. Strengthen and expand crime data collection systems.
· Section 4: Using excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement in crime prevention activities.
· Section 5: Identification and prosecution of state and local officials willfully prohibiting law enforcement officers from carrying out approved duties. DEI initiatives that restrict law enforcement activity or endanger citizens are punishable.
· Section 6: Use of the Homeland Security Task Forces (formed in accordance with EO 14159 signed on Day One to protect the American people against invasion) to coordinate and advance this order.
· Section 7. No one can bring action against this EO or any person implementing it.
Anthem
It is ironic and distressing to have a black cleric with a bad spine and a good heart taken into custody behind closed doors on the same day as EO 14288 went into effect. For praying in a public place. In a peaceful manner.
It is not disputed the three men were praying aloud in the vast rotunda. Who were they “crowding, obstructing, and incommoding? Why was it necessary to clear the area of all persons other than the protesters and the police? Why was the rotunda sealed away from public view of arrest operations?
This incident likely will not garner the attention and stoke the protest events that put law enforcement on its back foot when Chavin brutalized Floyd. Still, its furtive nature and shaky basis for arrest give one pause.
It seems a bit of a stretch to charge the three clerics for criminal conduct related to sitting, kneeling, group praying, singing, and/or chanting in the People’s House. Are we to understand that First Amendment rights are suspended within buildings housing congressional activities? Well, that’s a problem. Republican representatives are refusing to meet with their angry constituents at home. And now such access as may be granted to legislative activities is tightly constrained? Democracy is not a game of “Mother, May I?”
The Mad King is okay with toddlers born on American soil being deported without due process. Empty shelves at the grocery store and pharmacy are an inconvenience patriots will understand, accept, and weather. A disappointing holiday season is just a little bump in the road to a new Golden Age of prosperity for all.
He is so out of touch. Little girls who will get only two, rather than 30, new dolls this Christmas? And those two dolls will cost more than of yore?
Reportedly, there are 800,000 people sleeping unhoused every night in America. Some of them are little girls who need food, shelter, and security more than a doll.
His lack of concern or empathy does not excuse the governed from caring. Right here. Right now. Everywhere all at once. We the People dissatisfied with the results and consequences of Election 2024 have a responsibility to resist his Time of Terror and Tour of Revenge in every instance of illegal overreach and constitutional abuse. It is not too soon. And it is not too late. It absolutely is THE time to care. Let us withdraw our consent to be governed by a wannabe tyrant and his bumbling court of fools and frauds. Let us continue to be faithful, strategic, and strong in our resistance to the fact and effects of Trump 2.0.
Hats off to those who are planning, supporting, and attending visible signs of a growing resistance to Trump 2.0. And all honor and glory to the educational institutions, lower court justices, politicians, lawyers, journalists, and media spokespersons defying implementation of the illegal aspects of the Project 2025 playbook.
The early strengthening of Resistance 2.0 is a precious and fragile early spring flower. It needs constant care and close attention to survive and thrive. Peaceful protests held on 01 May 25 spread courage like a happy plague upon unresponsive legislators and lick-spittle courtiers in the unholy Court of the Mad King.
These are interesting times. We the People now must wait for the next exciting chapter in the Clash of the Titans (between the imperial executive and his corrupt high court). Will the 7-2 margin of sanity and sound jurisprudence hold? Will Thomas and Alito be allowed to continue to participate? Stand by time on these questions likely will be brief.
It is important to remember that Donald John Trump believes “only the weak will fail.”
Let us continue to pull up our socks and step into the breach now, every Power of One person dissatisfied with the results and consequences of Election 2024.
Let us continue to put into play our persons and our purses to demand:
A return to positions of principle those persons, institutions, and organizations betraying a public trust in their integrity when bending a knee, kissing the ring, funding the personal wealth, or furthering the ambitions of Donald John Trump.
The bringing of criminal charges against Musk and articles of impeachment against Trump.
Resumption of support of Ukraine, NATO, WHO, IMF and related international organizations and accords dedicated to the proposition of global peace, health, and prosperity.
The bringing of articles of impeachment against corrupt justices now contaminating the opinions of the high court.
Referendum and recall of congressional representatives not faithful to their oath of office and/or unresponsive to the concerns and wishes of their constituents.
Creation of a Shadow Cabinet charged with daily briefings of administrative assaults upon the rule of law, the health, safety, and welfare of We the People, and simple decency.
Course correction on the conduct of matters related to national security.
Denial of passage of the SAVE act.
I truly believe that right is might.
Resist. Persist. Prevail.
In a world where “only the weak will fail,” let us continue to be strong.
Let us care deeply, constantly, and effectively about life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equity, and the rule of law in a constitutional democracy.
We cannot, we will not, fail.