No Kings

My spouse and I, a neighbor, and friends from different parts of town attended the No Kings rally in Louisville in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. Basically, peaceful protesters lined Frankfort Avenue for several blocks between 3 and 4 pm -- and numerous drivers tooted their car horns in support as they drove by. There were a few Trump supporters in vehicles that went by as well, but no one provoked violence on either side as far as I know. 

Based on the signs, people obviously had very different reasons for protesting. Many signs focused on Donald Trump's immigration policy, reflecting anti-ICE sentiment and support for due process for all. There were a lot of signs about the Epstein files. 

I didn't carry a sign but I'm quite disturbed by the masked immigration raids and deportations (again, without due process) of individuals to places like El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.  In Chicago recently, masked and heavily armed ICE agents allegedly broke down the doors in an apartment building while residents were sleeping and took everyone into the streets at gunpoint (including children). Dozens of citizens were zip-tied together, separated by race and ethnicity, and then interrogated. Eventually, people were bused away to determine if they were criminals. In the words of one resident, "They didn’t treat people like they were American.”

Local politicians have reacted with outrage:

“This raid wasn’t about public safety,” [Chicago] Mayor Brandon Johnson said several days later. “It was certainly not about immigration. This was about a show of authoritarianism, a forceful display of tyranny.”

I am even more concerned about the President's extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean (talk about lack of due process). This undermines the rule of law with the President effectively acting as judge, jury, and executioner. We don't even know if those killed have committed capital crimes. The President has labeled them as drug runners and thus narco-terrorists. The most recent attack has apparently killed an innocent fisherman. That's murder and the Department of Justice is not doing anything to address this. The Supreme Court may have made the President immune from crimes he commits as part of his official acts (as commander in chief, for example), but those firing the weapons are likely guilty of war crimes. The former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is in the Hague awaiting his trial for "crimes against humanity" for similarly ordering summary executions of alleged drug criminals.  

Trump is also usurping congressional power of the purse, arguably the most potent power of Congress in the American system of checks and balances. He's ended programs that were authorized (funded) explicitly by Congress (such as solar energy grants) and has lately started spending revenues that Congress has not authorized (he did this in his first term with regards to the border wall). America's founding fathers wanted Congress to be the most important branch of government.  If congressional Republicans want to end these programs, they could do it legally in the budget. The House is accountable every 2 years in elections, with one-third of the Senate also vulnerable every 2 years. 

Trump's tariffs are also a blatant misuse of presidential power as the so-called Commerce Clause of the US constitution explicitly grants Congress the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations." Congress did pass some laws during the Cold War granting the chief executive power to enact so-called "national security" tariffs (or embargoes), but Trump has been using tariffs to generate revenues, punish states for non-security policy reasons, and as leverage in various negotiations. That's all illegal. If the Republican Congress wants tariffs, pass a law implementing them.

I took some photos, including several of the inflatable costumed critters and one of the main corner of the protest at Bauer. There were more people surrounding the Walgreens across the street from me than there were on my side. 

    

There was a much larger and better-attended event in downtown Louisville Saturday -- it was scheduled for 3 hours and there were speakers (as there were at other events around the US). My group of friends opted for the neighborhood choice. 

President Trump responded to these protests with a despicable AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown and bombing protesters (see below). CNN reports that 7 million people attended over 2700 events across the US on Saturday. Every state had a rally and many were in smaller towns -- not just cities. Kentucky is a red state of course and there were plenty of rallies in other states Trump won. 

CNN notes police reports of zero arrests in either Portland or NYC. 

 

Visit this blog's homepage.

For 280 character IR and foreign policy talk, follow me on Bluesky.

Dictators vs. Democrats

OK, so my picks are not doing very well in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It is what I deserve for putting Missouri in the Final Four. Oy!

So far, however, I'm 8-for-8 in the first round of Foreign Policy's Dictators vs. Democrats Challenge. This is my bracket.

A lot of people must be perfect since I'm not even included on the current leaderboard. But just wait and see what happens when Christine Lagarde starts kicking butt implements her game plan.


Visit this blog's homepage.
For 140 character IR and foreign policy talk, follow me on twitter.
Or for basketball, baseball, movies or other stuff, follow this personal twitter account.

Power of the purse?

Before everyone gets very excited about the ability of the congressional "power of the purse" to limit the Iraq war (or to prevent an Iran war), it might be worth remembering that the current Bush administration has already played fast and loose with public funds to make war unsupported by authority from the legislative branch.

On September 22, 2006, the Congressional Research Service published the latest update of its report, "The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11" by Amy Belasco. Warning: that's a pdf.

Belasco includes an interesting item about the costs of the Iraq war, on page 9:

From the initial $2.5 billion tapped from previous appropriations to prepare for the invasion, Iraq costs may rise to $100.4 billion in FY2006 to continue current military operations, foreign aid programs, embassy support, and VA benefits.9

Initial costs, you ask?

Footnote 9 helps:

9 This initial funding generated controversy in 2004 because it appears that few in Congress were aware that DOD used $2.5 billion from funding appropriated before the resolution [p. 10] authorizing the use of force was passed. A note in a DOD table listing monthly obligations for Iraq from the FY2003 and FY2004 supplementals stated that an additional $2.5 billion for Iraq was available from “prior year funds” (presumably P.L. 107-38, P.L. 107-117, or P.L. 107-206, the previous two supplementals). CRS could not obtain details on this spending.

As recent public hearings have demonstrated, it's easy to lose track of a billion dollars or two (or 20) in the midst of a big war.


Hat tip to Jonathan Schwarz, who first noted this discrepancy in late 2005.

Visit this blog's homepage.