Early in September, the president of the United States wrote this message on his social media platform: “I really like the odor of deportations within the morning. Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
The phrases have been accompanied by a picture from the Vietnam Conflict epic “Apocalypse Now,” with the president within the foreground, standing in for Robert Duvall’s napalm-loving character, and the background displaying all hell breaking unfastened on an American metropolis.
That any president would make a joke about going to battle in opposition to his personal residents would have been unthinkable earlier than Donald Trump, however now it’s our horrible actuality.
Over the weekend, armed and masked federal brokers in fight gear stalked the sunny streets of Chicago and made random arrests of people who merely looked like they might be lacking documentation proving their citizenship. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker – who earlier mentioned Trump’s social media publish was the sick screed of a “would-be dictator” – condemned the invasion of Chicago by what he known as “jack-booted thugs” in service to the president’s quest for unchallenged energy.
“What he plans to do with that energy now or through the 2026 elections ought to fear all of us,” Pritzker mentioned at a Monday afternoon information convention, including, “You can’t name this something besides an assault on the Structure of the US.”
In the meantime, within the Northwest, officers in Oregon are doing what they’ll to withstand Trump’s introduced intention to ship Nationwide Guard troops to “battle torn” Portland (Trump’s characterization). And, in Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown held a news conference to warn Trump in opposition to any try to put armed federal brokers on the streets right here.
Trump has gone full-on authoritarian with no pushback from the Republican-controlled Congress and with the complicity of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court docket. It’s only state and native officers – and customary residents – who’re resisting Trump’s vengeful and anti-constitutional assault on America’s liberal cities.
Welcome to the ramparts.
See extra of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View different syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Observe: An earlier model of this column incorrectly acknowledged the day Cal Raleigh surpassed Mickey Mantle’s file.
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