The First Amendment guarantees Americans freedom of speech, religion and the press, “the right to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government to redress grievances.” The Trump administration is degrading those rights daily before our eyes.
News organizations and individual journalists perceived as having wronged him are threatened, sued and have lost Congressionally-approved funds including: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS and NPR.
Major universities are being extorted by Trump withholding federal grants, threatening investigations of hiring and admission practices, curriculum and discriminating against free speech on campuses.
Large, profitable law firms having represented Trump’s political opponents have been denied access to federal buildings and had government contracts canceled. Their response? Nine firms have agreed to provide $940 million in pro bono services.
National parks, monuments and museums are charged with sanitizing language and displays describing historical events and personages. Throw out references to slavery as a stain on our past, the tragedy of forcing Indigenous people onto reservations and placing their children in boarding schools, and Japanese Americans’ incarceration in World War II detention camps. Now ICE and DHS grab supposed undocumented immigrants off our street, detain and deport them without due process.
After the senseless killing of Charlie Kirk, Trump took the stage at his memorial service to rant about his personal grievances, punctuating his remarks with “I hate my opponents.” He could have chosen words that would encourage healing and unification. Instead, he chose to continue his campaign of retribution against his enemies. What a missed opportunity …
Sandra Francik
Durango
