On September 17, 1787, as Ben Franklin was leaving Constitution Hall, in Philadelphia, Elizabeth Powel asked him “What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Can we keep it or is it slipping away?

Pundits and historians alike believe we’ve already crossed the Rubicon between democracy and monarchy, and I agree. We have a de facto king in Donald (El Duce) Trump. Infamous King of France, Louis XVI, was crowned by Pope Innocent XI, and eventually beheaded during the French Revolution. King Donald was crowned by Justice Roberts the Guilty when he and his cronies decided that a whatever a president does while in office, is not against the law. It remains to be seen what Donald Trump’s ultimate fate will be.  

So now we have King Donald shredded the Constitution, ignoring  court orders, and unleashing terror on unsuspecting people by  masked storm troopers, like the KGB or Hitler’s SS Toops, who abduct people and send them away without due process. His latest tactic is in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which restricts the military from acting in civilian law. Posse Comitatus can only be bypassed with the permission of Congress or if the President invokes the Insurrection Act. We know from experience; Trump didn’t invoke the insurrection act when there was an actual insurrection.

In May 2020, violent protests erupted across America in response to the murder of George Floyd by rogue cop Derek Chavin. I’m not sure if anyone protested in front of the police station from which Chauvin reported but seems to me the most logical  place to express one’s anger, but instead several activist groups, like anti-fascist ANTIFA attempted to burn federal buildings, as if the Federal Government was responsible for the policies of the Minneapolis police departments or the behavior of one of its cops.  While I believe the protestors targeted the wrong places, I admire their resolve and determination.

However, I have a question for them:  Where are you now? Now that REAL fascism is becoming a fact of life and the norm in America. Oh, I know. Concerned citizens have been out in the streets protesting and carrying signs. Do you really think King Trump gives a shit about your signs?

Buffalo Springfield had something to say about the effectiveness of protest signs, during the seventies, with their song “For What it’s Worth”

“People carrying signs, mostly saying, hooray for our sign” 

These aren’t ordinary times. These are desperate times. I think something way more effective than protest signs would be a national strike. But apparently people are not mad enough to get behind that or are asleep at the wheel.

I repeat: These are desperate times.

“Desperate times require desperate measures.”

  --Hippocrates

“By Any Means Necessary”

---Malcolm X