Tag: Trump creating stormtroopers

Facing unrest on American streets, Trump turns Homeland Security powers inward

Washington Post logoIn Portland, Washington and other U.S. cities shaken by protests in recent months, the Trump administration has leaned on the considerable authority and assets of the Department of Homeland Security — an agency formed to prevent another Sept. 11, 2001, attack — to spearhead the federal response.

Images of militarized Border Patrol agents clubbing protesters and stuffing them into unmarked vehicles have alarmed civil liberties advocates and administration critics, and the displays of government power echo tactics long associated with authoritarian rule.

Legal analysts say that while the department has broad authority to enforce federal laws, officers’ actions — especially in Portland, Ore. — seemed to be pushing the boundaries and pulling DHS into a domestic policing role. Continue reading.

Legal experts slam Trump’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ attempt to corrupt the census

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a memorandum declaring undocumented immigrants are not to be counted when the number of U.S. Representatives for each state is allotted. That process, called “apportionment,” occurs every ten years after the official national census is conducted.

The U.S. Constitution mandates the census, which is being conducted this year, count “the whole number of persons in each state.” It makes no distinction as to their citizenship status.

What Trump is doing is claiming he has the authority to bypass the Constitution and declare undocumented immigrants are not “persons,” and therefore, literally, do not count. Continue reading.

Here’s the truth about America’s founding that Mike Pompeo doesn’t want you to hear

AlterNet logoIt is truly bizarre that, at a moment when the Trump administration is sending in federal stormtroopers to threaten peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon, conservatives are claiming that it is liberals who threaten the foundation of our democratic republic. It all started with Trump’s speech at Mt. Rushmore on July 4th.

Seventeen seventy-six represented the culmination of thousands of years of western civilization and the triumph not only of spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy, and reason.

And yet, as we meet here tonight, there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for, struggled, they bled to secure.

Continue reading.