In June, the American people did the impossible: Millions of them took to the streets and declared that there was no king in the United States. The people lived up to their end of the bargain: They drowned out the coronation parade that President Donald Trump had planned for himself.
Such public demonstrations are not everyday events in America; hence, a nonprofit and for-profit entity, a nongovernmental organization that is not part of the government, takes over from there. It is very rare, but not totally unheard of, for an issue of the people to be taken up by a political party. Those high and mighty haughty politicians usually forget about the people whose feet they kiss right before the elections, but sometimes the issue happens to be so serious, significant and weighty that even a representative or senator wouldn’t mind flocking after the people.
Two days ago, millions of the same Americans rose again, chanting that America had no kings, and the power belonged to the people. At least not yet, they mean.
Last June, No Kings and the American Civil Liberties Union, a co-sponsor of the protests, claimed that more than 5 million people participated in more than 2,000 cities and towns across the country. Thanks to the person the No Kings organizers think is hellbent to be an American king, the number of protesters doubled, and now, according to the organizers of that protest, almost 80 million of the 175 million registered voters in America now hate that would-be king. Well, statistically speaking, Kamala Harris had gotten about 75 million votes in the 2024 elections, about 2 million less than King Don. (I love the sound of the last two words I typed! It reminded me of the Ring Ding – Ding Dong – Don King conflict of the late '80s.)
Statistics might not be necessarily accurate all the time, but the issues voiced in those nationwide protests are important enough because they are about “abuse of official power.” Only President Richard Nixon was accused of “abuse of power” in the form of “malfeasance in office." He resigned from office after the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve articles of impeachment, but before the full House had a chance to vote on impeachment. (Three federal judges and a state governor were impeached and removed from office.)
What makes the issue important is the fact that Donald Trump is the only president impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives and tried in the Senate. On Feb. 5, 2020, he was found not guilty. The votes for acquittal on the charge of abuse of power in the Senate were 48 against (45 Democratic senators, two Independent senators, one Republican senator) and 52 in favor (all Republicans).
Please do not misunderstand me: Millions of Americans taking to the streets does not mean that Trump is engaged in improper and unlawful acts in his official capacity affecting the performance of official duties. Even if all Americans happen to be of that opinion, he is still the president. But please remember that of those 48 votes cast to impeach Trump, 45 came from the members of the Democratic Party. But the question that bothers me is this: Why don't the representatives and senators of that same Democratic Party think that those millions of people who took to the streets might have a point? Yes, no U.S. president can declare himself as king. The U.S. Constitution created a federal republic; neither the president nor the political majority behind him could possibly dare to impose a constitutional amendment to that effect. Yes, all these millions know that.
There seems to be minor internal wars Trump is willing to start in Texas, California and Illinois. He ordered the National Guard to move to Chicago. Presidents do have that authority domestically. However, only a king can declare war and engage in armed conflict with other nations without the approval of his parliament (if he has one). I am not going to summarize the War Powers Resolution of 1973; it is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S. Congress.
Trump is about to start a war with Venezuela, where he has already approved covert CIA operations. A U.S. Navy ship hit an allegedly drug-carrying submarine. Trump says drugs are emanating from the “narco-state” of Venezuela. Is it not an important issue that Democrats should ask a question or two to the administration since the War Department does not entertain reporters' questions about such matters? So far, the U.S. military has launched six strikes on Venezuelan vessels that the Trump administration claims were involved in drug trafficking. Trump keeps claiming that illicit drugs being shipped from Venezuela are a potentially fatal threat to the lives of ordinary Americans. But so is a major war in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump claims Venezuelan drug cartels have been responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the U.S. over a period of decades. The House investigation shows that American authorities are not aware of any major increase in Venezuelan drug cartels operating within the country. Data from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration shows Venezuela is not a major cocaine producer. Have we heard one single question raised by the members of the opposition party?
Trump has shaken up diplomacy. He is doing things that would have been unthinkable only a year ago. He cannot tell the difference between a civilian Pakistani leader from Pakistan’s field marshals; he has not ended one of the eight wars he said he ended. But he is about to start a real war. It looks like it will be a full-fledged war against Venezuela as U.S. military action escalates.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs a war against Palestinians to postpone the possibility of his going to jail for breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud. Trump put the country in an endless spiral of armed soldiers suppressing peaceful protests, and against which more protests are taking place. Soon, we’ll be witnessing a very divisive and dangerous split of the country between pro-Trump governors and anti-Trump governors, and their reaction to Trump’s order to suppress protests. So far, we haven’t seen disagreement or hostility between the pro-Trump and anti-Trump people, but that is not a distant possibility given the nature of the American people we know.
The government shutdown keeps stretching on; Trump doesn’t mind, but neither do the Democrats.
Like Nixon did years ago, Trump refused to release money that Congress had directed him to spend, but then there was a real Congress and a real Democratic Party, not like those playthings we have today. Congress pushed back and enacted a law to protect its power of the purse. Now, Trump calls it “a disaster of a law, that is clearly unconstitutional!” Where are the Dems whose grandfathers passed that law in 1974?
The Saturday demonstrations should be a warning call for the Democrats to wake up from the slumber they have been in since the elections. Yes, Trump won the elections to be the president, not a king; the power still belongs to the people in America. It seems to be very difficult with leaders like Ken Martin, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, but the Democratic Party should shake off that pall of gloom it is under.
