A Tale Of Two Tyrants

Listed below, from the Declaration of Independence, is a handful of the 27 grievances the representatives of the 13 American colonies made in their case to dissolve the ties that held the colonies to the British Empire. The original spelling and style are retained. "He" is King George III.

• "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
• He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
• He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us. 

"In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

The 18th-century prose, vocabulary, and style of argument may seem foreign, but are applicable to our 21st-century situation if reduced to their simplest terms.

How might these grievances relate to the actions of unpresident Trump?

He has consistently vetoed Congressional resolutions that would remove American military personnel from harm's way in war zones in the Middle East; that would block the exportation of arms and military services to other nations including some potential adversaries; that would relieve closed and/or bankrupt postsecondary schools of the burden of repaying student loan debt; and that would lift his emergency declaration to provide funding for a border wall between the United States and Mexico.

He has repeatedly sought ways to close the country off to immigrants and to deport many individuals and families who have lived in the United States for years but who have not sought naturalization.

His actions clearly show that he has no interest in the welfare of the American people--only in furthering his own agenda, which includes suppressing rights and freedom. The clearest and most-witnessed recent abridgment of rights was the arrest in violation of First Amendment rights of Sheila Buck on June 20, 2020, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He has several times threatened to bring the U. S. military forces to bear against Americans, contravening the wishes of governors. He has urged the National Guard to ever-increasing offenses and police forces to barbaric acts.

He has divided the nation by glorifying combat and violence, setting those who believe violence to be the answer to everything against those who would seek peaceful conflict resolution. He spews hate and racism at every opportunity, vilifying people of color and those who differ with him.

And, as the Founders stated, "We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury."

King George III was a tyrant whose military forces fell to a force lesser in arms but greater in the belief of their cause. Donald Trump is of the same ilk.

We the people must demonstrate our belief in our cause: to dethrone Trump. We have the ultimate political weapon in a democracy: the vote; we need to work to be sure all our brothers and sisters whose voices could be suppressed have the opportunity to join us at the ballot box.


--- Diogenes, 6/21/2020