Caffeinated Politics

“I am completely astounded that England, which is a very tiny bit of Europe, is dominant. One might reply that it is a fact; I must concur; but as it is impossible, I shall continue to hope that what is incomprehensible will not be eternal.” –Duc de Choiseul, Louis XV’s foreign minister in 1767.

I came across this quote Friday morning while reading some history while enjoying a cup of coffee. The Seven Years War was the topic, but the quote seemed to be offered for readers needing to find guidance and hope in the tumultuous and dangerous times unleashed by Donald Trump.

Meanwhile in my news roundup this morning was another notice about a most troubling and highly National Security Presidential Memorandum, (NSPM-7) signed by Trump directing federal law enforcement and other agencies to investigate and disrupt any and all left-of-center nonprofit organizations that oppose his agenda. So, First Amendment-protected political beliefs now can be viewed by the federal government as “domestic terrorism.” These include how the Trump administration wishes to label others as “anti-American, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity”, “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” and opposition to “traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

Well, sign me up for a court date. Oh, forget that as Constitutional rights are no longer a requirement in the United States. Why I am angry about this madness is likely for the same reason that a wide swath of the nation feels the same.

Make no mistake about what this is. It is a partisan political weapon. Its has one mission and that is to investigate and disrupt nonprofit organizations deemed sympathetic to left-of-center causes. This is not a national security measure. It is an autocratic bully club and one of the most un-American acts of executive overreach in Trump’s many such strikes at our laws and norms as a nation. (And that is saying a lot given what we have witnessed with his disregard for American values.)

We are much aware that the data proves over the recent years that political violence in this nation is far more common coming from the right wing and conservative males who cannot adjust to life, than from the liberal or left leaning groups.

Policymakers and the public need reliable evidence and actual data to understand the reality of politically motivated violence. From our research on extremism, it’s clear that the president’s and Miller’s assertions about political violence from the left are not based on actual facts.

Based on our own research and a review of related work, we can confidently say that most domestic terrorists in the U.S. are politically on the right, and right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism.

So it is factual to state that NSPM-7 does not target violence but rather targets dissent. Which is wholly un-American.

The memorandum’s language is deliberately vague, invoking “organized political violence” without defining what constitutes such violence or who decides what ideology is suspect. In the wake of the shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, the Trump Administration has seized on ginning up public grief to justify a crackdown on civil society. But here is a fact that this White House might wish to embrace. Grief is not a license to gut the First Amendment. More than 3,000 nonprofit organizations have already signed an open letter condemning the directive. They, along with you and me, are right to be alarmed.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, assembly, and association. These are not privileges granted by Trump, but rather the rights inherent to us all from the Constitution. This White House wishes to turn that principle on its head. It treats advocacy as somehow being subversive. public protest as inciting provocation, and grassroots organizing as insurrection. It criminalizes ideology and that is wholly unacceptable.

Readers of history well understand that what Trump is trying to implement is not the first time our nation has flirted with repression in the name of security. From the Palmer Raids of the 1920s to the absurd McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, we have seen what happens when fear is weaponized against political opponents. It is ugly. It runs counter to the Constitution. Counter to our American values. History has judged those episodes as shameful betrayals of our democratic ideals. If Trump understood our national narrative or cared about our American values, he would be aware that what he is doing is shameful. Yes, if Trump were educated…..

What makes this moment especially dangerous is the erosion of institutional guardrails. In the past, courts, Congress, and the press served as checks on executive overreach. Today, those institutions are under siege. The judiciary is increasingly deferential akin to lap dogs. Congress is paralyzed by partisanship and the gutless wonders within the GOP fear their own shadows. Most distressing from my perspective is that the press, though vigilant and strong for the most part, is often drowned out by disinformation and purposefully-driven distractions by Trump. The lies from Trump and his sycophants are undermining the very fabric of our democracy.

For those of you who have landed at the end of a long opinion article let me conclude with what we know, but what many of our fellow citizens from the right recklessly disregard. Our Constitution is a living covenant, and it demands our defense.