Donald Trump and maga Republicans must stop the failures in the unpopular Trumpzi cruelty agenda

Editorial: Homicide on the high seas published in The Times Union newspaper in New York state.

Donald Trump is seriously mentally ill.  

"Trump clearly has his eye on projecting power". 

He is is ordering extra-judicial killings of suspected drug dealers; Congress needs to make clear that he lacks the power to declare war.

Donald Trump is sending U.S. military forces into the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean to blow up small boats suspected, without evidence, of transporting drugs.

And, in a style entirely befitting an administration run by a former reality show star and a military led by a preening ex-Fox (Fake❗) News personality, the Trump administration released video of the obliteration of the small craft for viewers to enjoy or recoil from, depending on one’s thirst for blood and stomach for state-sanctioned homicide.

Donald Trump claims his authority allows him to declare a state of armed conflict with drug cartels, which he designated as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” in an executive order on his first day in office and has since expanded. He says these groups “present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

Rather than treat drug trafficking as an international criminal matter and work cooperatively with foreign governments to interdict traffic outside the U.S., Donald Trump is deploying the military to go after suspected traffickers in international waters, and possibly even in other nations’ territorial waters. More than 50 people have been murdered in such strikes so far — for allegedly committing a crime that is not a death-penalty-eligible offense.

The strategy drew condemnation from Columbian President Gustavo Petro after the death of a man he said was a lifelong fisherman on a boat that was adrift. Mr. Petro called it murder; rather than offer evidence to defend his actions, Donald. Trump said he would cut U.S. assistance to and impose new tariffs on Columbia.

U.S. officials have presented no substantial proof to the public that the people being killed are drug traffickers. We’re to take the word of an administration that’s notoriously lax with facts as it cites “intelligence.”

The broader picture here can’t be ignored. Donald Trump has deployed warships, fighter jets and troops to the Caribbean as he tries to force out Venezuela’s president, Nicholas Maduro. 

In fact, Donald Trump is actually planning a 💲20 billion bailout for Argentina — contingent on his favored political candidates remaining in power. To the north, Mr. Trump has been hostile to Canada and talked about annexing Greenland.

Donald Trump clearly has his eye on projecting (illegal❗) power — that morally neutral commodity — throughout the Western hemisphere, regardless of the alliances and friendships it risks. He's enabled by an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in a government (and more specifically a military establishment) that the president and his lieutenants have been purging of career lawyers, inspectors general and other officials and watchdogs who would normally warn against potentially illegal actions.

Enablers of evil Donald Trump also includes a Congress controlled by Trump’s party that has been timid when it comes to even questioning his violations of laws such the Constitution's vesting the power to declare war with Congress, not with the president.

But, Congressional Republicans seem as unbothered with Donald Trump’s violation of that document, because he is eager to trample it. They had best remind him about who declares war in this republic — and pronto, ❗ before he starts a much bigger one than the military equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel.

#ImpeachTrumpAgain #Impeach25thAmendment NOW❗

Christians respond to Tax Cuts for the Rich ~ GOP and Zacchaeus

Tax cuts for the rich are paid for by the middle class.

An echo letter to the editor, published in the Jacksonville Times-Union newspaper.

Donald Trump signed into law a tax bill that cut taxes for large corporations and America’s wealthiest individuals by slashing trillions of dollars over the next decade from programs that serve low-income and middle-class families.

The law puts Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and nutrition assistance programs at risk.

While millions of Americans file their taxes, it’s important for them to reflect on why we must fight to preserve social programs that feed our kids and keep our communities healthy.

As a pastor, I can say with certainty that Jesus cares about taxes. 

As a man who walked the Earth feeding the hungry and healing the sick, Jesus would decry a cruel, immoral tax plan.

A just society will make sure that everyone pays their fair share to protect working families. The Republican tax cuts for the rich punishes people for being poor.

The tax plan also destabilizes the health insurance markets, making it more difficult and expensive for our most vulnerable citizens to access the health care that they need.
This breaks one of the two core commandments of my faith: to love your neighbor as yourself. That love means we must have compassion, not a cruel tax bill.

As a person of faith, I believe in forgiveness and repentance.

The tax bill that this Congress passed is cruel and unjust, but that doesn’t mean it is irreversible.

Just as Zacchaeus, a tax collector in the Bible, repented and gave back to people what he had stolen from them, so Congress needs to recognize that the legislation it passed will hurt people.

The gospel of Luke doesn’t go into detail about what Zacchaeus did after his encounter with Jesus.

I like to think that he went back to his job changed, with a renewed focus on what is right for the poor — and a new commitment not to steal.

Will Congress have a Zacchaeus moment and commit to doing what is right? (MaineWriter ~ Reject tax cuts for the rich! America can change this greedy law by voting all Republicans out of office!)

Mt. Olive Primitive Baptist Church,

Jacksonville, FL
Elder Lee Harris, pastor,