When I was in Prague several years ago, the most captivating tourist site for me was the statue of Franz Kafka, the great Austrian-Czech-Jewish writer who brilliantly chronicled the existential angst and anomie of the modern world and an individual’s helplessness in the face of the unfettered power of the state. This is the central theme of The Trial, where Josef K. is arrested and prosecuted by the all-powerful and inaccessible state, his alleged crime never revealed either to him or to the reader.
This is where we appear to be heading now in Donald Trump’s America, until so recently the shining star of democracy and the rule of law. We have our own Gestapo, called ICE, illegally yanking people off the streets for expressing their First Amendment free speech rights. These victims of Trump’s emerging police state have not been charged with anything, but are being punished nevertheless. Due process of law, arguably the most essential bulwark of democracy, has been swept aside by Trump’s forces of evil. Last week the Supreme Court issued a half-assed decision requiring that individuals facing deportation receive some level of due process. At the same time, however, they blessed Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, flying in the face of the Court conservatives’customary bow-down to “Originalism” and “Textualism.” Corruption of plain language appears to be the Roberts Court’s forte.
Trump’s invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act is an absurdly thin justification for these actions in contravention of the rule of law. This law, invoked only three times previously and then only in times of a declared war, has been stretched to an extreme by Trump and his band of thugs. If they can get away with ridding the country of people on the basis of tattoos, they can come for anyone of us next.
What is equally dispiriting is that polls show that the public generally supports Trump’s unlawful mass deportation policies. I am all for getting illegal alien criminals duly convicted of crimes committed here out of the country. But I want to see it done the right away. It is tragic to see that hallowed concepts such as due process mean so little to Americans. I suspect one reason for this is that so many people do not grasp its meaning and importance.
Immigration is the only issue where Trump’s otherwise tanking poll numbers are still above water. Americans quite rightly believe that (1) immigrants should come to this country legally, and (2) criminals should be deported. I would add, however, only after they have had their day in court.
It is crucial that we raise our voices against Gestapo tactics such as taking people off the streets and shipping them off to torture chambers in El Salvador without an opportunity to plead their case before a judge. Better keep your doors locked.
The demise of due process is only one facet of Trump’s attempt to transform America into a fascist state. Decimating the economy is another. Imposing tariffs should be something that only Congress can do. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution gives Congress the “power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among states, and with the Indian tribes.” In addition, it is Congress that has the power to impose taxes. A tariff is, of course, a tax. The President does not possess these authorities. Also, tariffs should be a highly selective weapon, not a blunderbuss. Trump is the poster child for the proposition that a Wharton education is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Both of these capricious acts weaken America and cause delight in our enemies. Add to this the abrupt firing of the Director and Deputy Director of the National Security Agency and six other senior National Security Council officials because an extreme lunatic fringe conspiracy theorist tells Trump they are disloyal to him, and you have the ingredients for a nation rapidly going down the fascist toilet.
I cannot believe that even die-hard MAGAts voted for this.
Dick Hermann
March 14, 2025
This is where we appear to be heading now in Donald Trump’s America, until so recently the shining star of democracy and the rule of law. We have our own Gestapo, called ICE, illegally yanking people off the streets for expressing their First Amendment free speech rights. These victims of Trump’s emerging police state have not been charged with anything, but are being punished nevertheless. Due process of law, arguably the most essential bulwark of democracy, has been swept aside by Trump’s forces of evil. Last week the Supreme Court issued a half-assed decision requiring that individuals facing deportation receive some level of due process. At the same time, however, they blessed Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, flying in the face of the Court conservatives’customary bow-down to “Originalism” and “Textualism.” Corruption of plain language appears to be the Roberts Court’s forte.
Trump’s invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act is an absurdly thin justification for these actions in contravention of the rule of law. This law, invoked only three times previously and then only in times of a declared war, has been stretched to an extreme by Trump and his band of thugs. If they can get away with ridding the country of people on the basis of tattoos, they can come for anyone of us next.
What is equally dispiriting is that polls show that the public generally supports Trump’s unlawful mass deportation policies. I am all for getting illegal alien criminals duly convicted of crimes committed here out of the country. But I want to see it done the right away. It is tragic to see that hallowed concepts such as due process mean so little to Americans. I suspect one reason for this is that so many people do not grasp its meaning and importance.
Immigration is the only issue where Trump’s otherwise tanking poll numbers are still above water. Americans quite rightly believe that (1) immigrants should come to this country legally, and (2) criminals should be deported. I would add, however, only after they have had their day in court.
It is crucial that we raise our voices against Gestapo tactics such as taking people off the streets and shipping them off to torture chambers in El Salvador without an opportunity to plead their case before a judge. Better keep your doors locked.
The demise of due process is only one facet of Trump’s attempt to transform America into a fascist state. Decimating the economy is another. Imposing tariffs should be something that only Congress can do. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution gives Congress the “power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among states, and with the Indian tribes.” In addition, it is Congress that has the power to impose taxes. A tariff is, of course, a tax. The President does not possess these authorities. Also, tariffs should be a highly selective weapon, not a blunderbuss. Trump is the poster child for the proposition that a Wharton education is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Both of these capricious acts weaken America and cause delight in our enemies. Add to this the abrupt firing of the Director and Deputy Director of the National Security Agency and six other senior National Security Council officials because an extreme lunatic fringe conspiracy theorist tells Trump they are disloyal to him, and you have the ingredients for a nation rapidly going down the fascist toilet.
I cannot believe that even die-hard MAGAts voted for this.
Dick Hermann
March 14, 2025
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