“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, 

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” 
The Declaration of Independence

Our country was founded with protests, boycotts and civil disobedience. All the social and political progress since has been achieved by involved citizens protesting the unfair and undemocratic policies of the government. 

As the historian and activist Howard Zinn said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  

As the No Kings rallies show, many of the governed are no longer consenting to the destructive policies and undemocratic behaviors of the current wannabe dictator. These citizens are exercising their right not only to protest but to attempt to “alter or to abolish” a government that has become “destructive” (via peaceful meas; organizing, legal actions, voting and, hopefully, impeachment). People are waking up to the fact that we are in a major constitutional crisis and all the checks and balances – the Congress, the courts and especially the Supreme Court – are not stopping what has all the hallmarks of a fascist coup. 

Clearly Trump is attempting to establish himself as dictator. From day one he has been ruling by executive order, taking actions that exceed his authority, breaking the law, ignoring court rulings and violating the Constitution. His administration is illegally taking a sledgehammer to the federal government and many important public services and activities. 

And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. 

He is also using a classic tactic of dictators – military force against citizens. He is ordering active duty military and national Guard troops to cities led by Democratic mayors to suppress dissent and implement his draconian immigration policies. 

Other authoritarian behaviors exhibited by this administration are scapegoating of immigrants and  attacks on his opponents. His illegal and cruel deportation and imprisonment of immigrants (many here legally) is intended to instill fear and expand his authoritarian power. 

Likewise branding protesters and his political opponents as  “terrorists” is an abuse of power and hallmark of dictatorial regimes.     

Although Trump gets (and deserves) the blame for what is happening, he is not the mastermind. Trump is not smart enough to be instigating the tsunami of destruction sweeping over every aspect of our government and country. 

There are behind the scenes anti-government ideologues manipulating Trump and working to implement the fascist, libertarian goals of Project 2025. It is Stephen Miller (Deputy Chief of Staff), Russell Voight (head of the Office of Management and Budget and author of Project 2025), Elon Musk (an openly fascist billionaire and instigator of the illegal “Department of Government Efficiency”) and numerous other billionaire appointees who are actually running the show. 

Insider reports tell us Trump doesn’t even read the executive orders he signs. 

As has been abundantly clear from the beginning of the Trump era, he cares only about himself, his image, ego stroking daily media attention, golfing and making money from his numerous grifts, tacky campaign merchandise and corrupt use of his office for personal gain. A conservative estimate is that of Trump (and his family) will make $3.4 billion from various forms of graft, conflicts of interests, influence peddling, business deals, and law-suit-shake-down schemes of businesses, and other profiting from his office (see “The Number: How much is Trump pocketing off the Presidency?,” The New Yorker magazine, David D. Kirkpatrick,  August 11, 2025). 

No president has ever engaged in this level of blatant corruption.

There is much about Trump and his chaotic administration that needs to be protested. So it is encouraging to see the massive turnouts last Saturday. News reports say there were at least 2,700 events in all 50 states with an estimated 7 million people attending. Many sources are saying it was one of the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in U.S. history. 

Despite the false claims of the administration, all these events have been overwhelmingly peaceful.
It is encouraging that this massive turnout was the third, huge protest since Trump took office. This is unprecedented. Also it is significant that the numbers of protesters are increasing and increasing even in red states. 

A study conducted before last Saturday by researchers at Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance say, “Protests in 2025 are likely the most geographically widespread in U.S. history.” 
The study shows protests have occurred in the most pro-Trump towns and counties in the country and the numbers of participants are increasing. 

Significantly, a number of the news stories interviewed life-long Republicans and former Trump voters who said this was the first protest they had ever attended. This is what is needed to end the Trump era. 
Opposing Trump is not about partisan politics. It is not about being liberal or conservative. It is about restoring some level of decency, democracy and the rule of law to our country. Opposing Trump and his dictatorial ambitions is patriotic. 

The current occupant first got elected on a promise to “make America great again.” But over both terms in office he produced only administrative chaos, continuous controversy, division, anger, ugliness and destruction of all we consider good about our country. Rather than greatness he has delivered shame, embarrassment and ridicule at home an abroad.   

There were times in the past when the United Sates was admired and emulated. The ideals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were an inspiration to other countries. We helped create the United Nations and the Declaration of Human Rights. America was once the destination for immigrants seeking opportunity and freedom. Despite many failures to live up to these ideals, we did make progress on civil rights, equal opportunity and expanding prosperity. 

We need goodness not greatness in our national behavior. Obviously to achieve goodness we must have good leaders who exhibit good values and behavior. Trump and his appointed sycophants clearly don’t meet this criteria. 

So it is the patriotic duty of all Americans, of all political persuasions, to elect in 2026 a Congress willing to impeach or to take action to stop Trump’s dictatorial abuse of power.