1 week Ago
You had to be there, at the Hands Off! protests last Saturday in Augusta and 20 other locations around Maine. That’s partly because few reporters are still assigned to cover events in person. For everyone who was in attendance, the day won’t be forgotten.
At the State House, there were more than 3,000, the largest gathering I’ve seen in 40 years, and it was rowdy, occasionally rude but entirely orderly. A lone heckler who got out of hand was gently escorted out by Capitol Security, and there was plenty to observe, appreciate and laugh at (especially depictions of the man in charge). Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor, columnist and reporter for 40 years.
He is the author of four books, most recently a biography of U.S. Chief Justice Melville Fuller, and welcomes comment at drooks@tds.
net. The variety was extraordinary. There were canines in “Dogs Against DOGE” regalia.
There were imaginative re-creations of our still-inspiring statements of national purpose, including the First Amendment right “of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” — the Constitution in action. Afterward, marchers circled nearby streets, stopped traffic with permission on Western Avenue and dispersed to bring the news back home. In Concord, New Hampshire, 2,000 attended.
In every state capital and dozens of towns and cities, there were peaceful assemblies. In President Donald Trump’s first term, protesters focused on Washington and produced big numbers, but this is better because it’s a popular rising. It will only grow in appeal and participation as we go deeper into the second term.
While you may have supported Trump over immigration and inflation-fighting promises, did you expect your Social Security check to be threatened, or imagine you might not get your tax refund anywhere near on time? The Social Security Administration and the IRS are among dozens of agencies that DOGE is chain-sawing, with thousands of employees fired or put on leave in the name of “efficiency.” Then there are the tariffs. Donald Trump has declared a trade war on the world, using an utterly bizarre and irrational theory about “trade deficits.
” It seems that the only way to make sense of them — tariffs on Israel and the Canada, but not on Russia and North Korea — is that they’re designed to “eliminate” the amount by which U.S. imports from those countries exceeds our exports, i.
e., Russia provides nothing we actually want. Using this wacky sledgehammer, Trump imagines all major economies will surrender, rather than what they’ll actually do: levy steep tariffs against the U.
S., producing a worldwide recession and possibly worse. The tariffs have brought Senate Republicans out of their months-long torpor, when they objected to almost nothing the administration did.
A widely supported bill charging Congress to reclaim tariff-writing authority from an out-of-control executive wouldn’t likely survive a veto, but it’s an important marker that here at least Trump has gone too far. Democrats are moving, too. The spark was Sen.
Cory Booker’s 25-hour floor speech , without departing the podium, to protest against administration policies far and wide; it was doubly notable because it broke the record held by arch-segregationist Strom Thurmond denouncing the modest 1957 Civil Rights Act. The conclusion to Booker’s speech was featured on countless signs Saturday: “This is a moral moment. It’s not left or right; it’s right or wrong.
” Even Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, absent from recent budget debates, may come around. The most dismal performance came from the U.S.
Supreme Court, packed by Trump with three appointees in four years, only one of whom seems willing to hear an argument not made by the government. While district courts and courts of appeals have been finding numerous violations in Trump’s executive orders and immigration crackdowns, the Supreme Court brushed most aside on technical grounds. Thus mass unemployment and unpaid grants can continue until the high court gets around to ruling on the merits.
When it does, there’s no question what it should decide. Since the 1880s it’s been illegal to fire civil service employees without cause, and the administration shows no cause. After the struggle between Congress and President Nixon in the 1970s over Nixon’s more modest attempts to “impound” money appropriated by Congress, it’s been illegal and unconstitutional — thanks to earlier Supreme Court’s rulings — to do what Trump is doing, threatening Maine and many other states.
Nothing has changed except this administration’s behavior, but just as the court is in no hurry to make decisions, Trump doesn’t seem eager to defy judges, reversing course until the Supreme Court suspended its rulings. In time, we’ll get there. Meanwhile, the people are ready, and Congress is awakening.
It may be painful to look at your 401(k), but the next time the opportunity arises, go out and assemble with your neighbors. You, too, will find it unforgettable. We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers.
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