Will your vote still count in 2026 or in 2028? Trump’s attacks on elections go beyond anything that has been attempted in the United States. He even told Reuters news service in an interview: “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
This week’s firehose of news threatens to drown us all. I feel like I’m treading water, but even so, a few of the week’s stories stand out: more revelations of massive corruption in the Trump administration, dangerous escalations of electronic surveillance of all of us, a particularly nasty swatting attack on Pete Buttigieg’s family and four-year-old twins, and Timothy Snyder’s cogent analysis of “an alternative Nazi reality.”
Seems like every week brings more news of government surveillance. You’d think the right wing would be up in arms about this government overreach and invasion of privacy—but it’s their folks who are taking the photos and setting up the databases of protesters and immigrants and anyone else who happens to get captured on some law enforcement camera. The primary targets:
Protesters—captured on camera by local ICE and other federal agencies and some local police forces;
Travelers—captured on camera at airports;
Immigrants—anyone who applies for a green card, for asylum, for refugee status, plus anyone who is ever picked up by ICE or the Border Patrol, including children.
Are all of these fed into a gigantic federal database?
No, says ICE. We just take photos and names and other information and keep the records. For at least 15 years.
“Keeping the records” is just another name for maintaining a database.
On June 16, Kash Patel announced on social media that an alleged plot to mount a drone attack on Trump’s UFC fight had been “stopped cold.” And then the story went away. Why?
This attack was not international terrorism. Even Patel could not spin it as a left-wing plot. Those arrested came from home-grown, right-wing accelerationists. Federal authorities were alerted after the mother of 19-year-old Tycen Proper called local police with concerns about her son’s gun-buying and online associates.
Bombing schools and hospitals is a war crime. Deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime. Yesterday’s fulminations from the Führer in the White House go beyond war crimes to announce that he intends genocide: the wiping out of an entire people and civilization.
ICE is only one of the federal agencies surveilling people. Federal surveillance reaches far beyond immigrants. Federal agents use massive databases, facial recognition, cell phone photos, and license plate records. Beyond surveillance, they target and threaten people involved in protests, bringing the full weight of federal power to bear on individuals. Their actions often remain hidden from public view and from judicial restraint. With seeming impunity, they ignore and violate constitutional mandates protecting freedom of speech, press, and assembly.
Five years after the violent attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, the attacks on democracy and on elected officials continue. Yesterday, two politicians currently under attack by the Trump administration spoke out with anger and eloquence.
The New York Times today has plenty of coverage of who, how, when, and where the United States illegally attacked Venezuela and abducted its president and first lady. But that’s far from the whole story. A few easily overlooked but essential facts:
Trump claims that Vice President Delcy Rodriguez welcomes the intervention and will cooperate with whatever he plans—totally false. At the same hour that he made this preposterous announcement, she was speaking on Venezuelan television to denounce the U.S. actions, insist that Maduro is still the rightful president, and decry the “Zionist undertones” of the U.S. action.
Venezuela actually has a legitimately elected president who is NOT Nicolas Maduro. That is Edmundo González, who won the July 2024 election by a wide margin. Maduro refused to leave office and falsely claimed that he won the election. González is living in exile in Spain. Trump has not mentioned González or made any move to support him.
For informed insights on the consequences of Trump’s attack on Venezuela, see:
Robert Reich’s warning about oil companies, oligarchs, and the looting of both Venezuela and the United States;
Stephen Vladeck’s careful dissection of the legal issues involved in the law-breaking invasion and Trump cabal’s “deeply thuggish” approach to foreign policy.
It is the purpose of this chapter to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations.
(b) Congressional legislative power under necessary and proper clause
Under article I, section 8, of the Constitution, it is specifically provided that the Congress shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution, not only its own powers but also all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
(c) Presidential executive power as Commander-in-Chief; limitation
The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.
Over at Law Dork, Chris Geidner has a great column on the four key lessons we can and must take from 2025. The first: pushing back is essential — and it works. I won’t try to summarize his column, but encourage you to go and read it and, if you can, support the good work he does year-around by subscribing.
For a more humorous insight–grimly humorous, but still, laughing at tyrants is good for us and them–here’s Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent post on X [below] celebrating a big reduction in drug overdose deaths. Just one problem, which led her to quickly remove the post: the reduction took place entirely in the Biden administration. The chart she posted ends in October 2024.
Will your vote still count in 2026 or in 2028? Trump’s attacks on elections go beyond anything that has been attempted in the United States. He even told Reuters news service in an interview: “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.” This post has:
This week’s firehose of news threatens to drown us all. I feel like I’m treading water, but even so, a few of the week’s stories stand out: more revelations of massive corruption in the Trump administration, dangerous escalations of electronic surveillance of all of us, a particularly nasty swatting attack on Pete Buttigieg’s family and […]
Seems like every week brings more news of government surveillance. You’d think the right wing would be up in arms about this government overreach and invasion of privacy—but it’s their folks who are taking the photos and setting up the databases of protesters and immigrants and anyone else who happens to get captured on some […]
On June 16, Kash Patel announced on social media that an alleged plot to mount a drone attack on Trump’s UFC fight had been “stopped cold.” And then the story went away. Why? This attack was not international terrorism. Even Patel could not spin it as a left-wing plot. Those arrested came from home-grown, right-wing […]
Bombing schools and hospitals is a war crime. Deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime. Yesterday’s fulminations from the Führer in the White House go beyond war crimes to announce that he intends genocide: the wiping out of an entire people and civilization.
Mary Turck is a writer, editor, and blogger. She is also the former editor of theTC Daily Planet and of the award-winning Connection to the Americas and AMERICAS.ORG and a recovering attorney.
Mary Turck