#handsoff2025

SING THE SONG, BOYYYS! SING THE SONG, BOYYYS!

Sharing to anyone able to attend any of these via Tumblr, Godspeed you fellow filthy liberals 🫡

Jennifer Rubin at The Contrarian:

It’s well past Day One, and Donald Trump seems to be continuing to embrace the role of dictator. He and his minions have asserted the power to snatch anyone off the streets under the pretext of a wartime statute and ship them off to a hellish foreign prison; to ignore or (at the least try) to outfox federal judges; to call for judges’ impeachment if they cross him; and to intimidate into silence critical reporting of all of this. The New York Times reported on Tuesday, “President Trump attacked a federal judge who ordered a pause in deportations being carried out under an obscure wartime law, calling him a ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ in a social media post as administration lawyers asserted that the judge had no power to stop the ejections.” This follows a series of statements and actions seemingly designed to egg on the courts toward a constitutional crisis. Indeed, that latest outburst garnered an extraordinary public rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. “For more than two centuries,” the chief justice wrote in an issued statement, “it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Before the case concerning invocation of the Alien and Enemies Act reached the court, border czar Tom Homan declared, “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think — I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.” Once in court, the “Justice” Department attorneys denied the court had any business interfering with Trump’s deportation. When that didn’t work, they tried a premature appeal, which was swiftly rejected. It soon became evident the flights had not stopped, despite having been ordered to do so by the judge. Secretary of State (again, Secretary of State) Marco Rubio retweeted the El Salvadorian president’s cruel boast (“Oopsie… too late”), confirming that the prisoners had been delivered.

When it was brought to the court’s attention that the “Justice” Department may have failed to comply with the court’s TRO, the judge ordered the parties back. The Trump regime gave District Court Judge James Boasberg conflicting reasons (to grossly understate them) for their failure to comply fully:

The judge could not order a plane over international waters to return. (Utterly preposterous.)

Even if barred by the AEA, Trump has power directly under Article II to conduct this unprecedented action. (If so, why invoke the AEA at all?)

The judge’s oral order to turn planes around wasn’t really valid, so they were waiting for the written opinion. (What?! A court order is a court order. Period.)

[...]

There’s no magic rabbit about to be pulled out of a hat to push back against powerful anti-democratic forces. Targeted boycotts, consistent mass protests, and, eventually, coordinated general strikes—along with political organizing that puts pressure on complicit politicians while laying the groundwork for a future electoral surge—remain the tried and tested tools of effective pro-democracy opposition. Fortunately, a host of protest actions will take place this week, and a day of national protest, dubbed Hands Off, has been set for April 5. Pushback to the lawless Trump team must come from all segments of society—business and labor, elected leaders, ordinary citizens, lawyers, librarians, former officials, etc.—of whatever political persuasion. We need to unite on a single issue: Will we have a Constitution that protects democracy?