{"id":15951,"date":"2025-03-30T12:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T16:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=15951"},"modified":"2025-03-31T13:57:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T17:57:53","slug":"trumps-gestapo-tactics-regarding-free-speech-undermines-any-good-he-is-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=15951","title":{"rendered":"<h2><b><span style=\"color: #003366;\">Trump&#8217;s Gestapo Tactics Regarding Free Speech Undermine Any Good He Is Doing!<\/span><\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more-->Sun City, AZ<br \/>\nMarch 30, 2025<\/p>\n<p>by Rich Scheck<\/p>\n<p>Trump&#8217;s stunning comeback victory last November represented the continuing disgust<br \/>\nby millions of Americans at our government&#8217;s abandonment of the Constitution across<br \/>\na wide range of issues, especially those pertaining to freedom of expression.<\/p>\n<p>The gestapo tactics on full display last week against a young Turkish woman doing graduate work at Tufts University should leave all&#8230;.ALL&#8230;.decent citizens outraged at the spectacle of masked agents literally kidnapping a helpless woman off the streets of a major city for having the temerity to express her concern about the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Irrespective of the merits of Israel&#8217;s conduct in that tragic conflict, the willingness&#8230;.<br \/>\neagerness&#8230;.of Trump&#8217;s minions led by Secretary of State Rubio to stoop to such<br \/>\nmean spirited behavior without any semblance of due process reeks of the worst<br \/>\nkind of bullying typical of authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n<p>Writing an article in the school paper expressing one&#8217;s views without calling for violence<br \/>\nis typical for opposing perspectives in the normal course of public debate. A heavy-handed<br \/>\nresponse by agents of the state accompanied by Rubio&#8217;s boasting about dispatching<br \/>\nhundreds of such &#8220;lunatics&#8221; is execrable to the max.<\/p>\n<p>I do NOT suffer from TDS like so many of those on the Left who are irrationally acting out<br \/>\nin over-reaction to the sweeping actions of the Unitary Executive platform Trump promised to his loyal MAGA base.<\/p>\n<p>Much of what he is doing pushes the boundaries of constitutional norms but in ways that<br \/>\nare arguably creative and no different in their scope than, say, Roosevelt&#8217;s New Deal or<br \/>\nJohnson&#8217;s Great Society&#8230;&#8230;although reflecting a different agenda.<\/p>\n<p>But when it comes to protected speech, this kind of behavior is totally lacking in merit and<br \/>\njustification and can only be explained by the unrelenting genuflection of this Administration to all things favorable to the Greater Israel Project.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, only Democrats and Independent lawmakers have so far expressed their concern<br \/>\nalthough Libertarians like Tom Massie and Ron Paul appear to also be deeply concerned.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theinteldrop.org\/2025\/03\/29\/dozens-of-us-lawmakers-condemn-disturbing-arrest-of-tufts-student-with-pro-palestine-views\/\">https:\/\/www.theinteldrop.org\/2025\/03\/29\/dozens-of-us-lawmakers-condemn-disturbing-arrest-of-tufts-student-with-pro-palestine-views\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I could go on much longer but have said enough for all with an open mind and an<br \/>\nappreciation of our long tradition of protected speech which we saw brutalized in<br \/>\na different fashion by Biden with his censorship, lawfare and surveillance tactics<br \/>\nthat also undermined the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Our country is hanging by a thread and this arrest did great harm to what remains of<br \/>\nthe little trust most have for the government today. Forgetting to evoke the War Powers<br \/>\nAct and\/or call on Congress to declare its support for bombing other nations is perhaps<br \/>\neven more serious although arguably its the other side of the same tyrannical coin.<\/p>\n<p>I pray Trump finds the courage to restrain himself and cease his reliance on brinkmanship. I urge him and his band of cabinet warmongers to slow down and cease going in search of &#8220;monsters to destroy&#8221; which was the other key pledge to his base before WW3 expands even faster and further beyond the areas already involved in kinetic action.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, I demand he obey any court order to release the woman involved and cease his<br \/>\ngestapo tactics that are undermining any good he is doing as well as the rule of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}