Opinion
Will the Middle Please Stand Up? By Christine Mahoney
Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia as one of the first institutions of higher education in the United States to center reason instead of religion. Built around the Rotunda, a library of learning, rather than a church, Jefferson wanted to show physically what he knew intellectually: that critical thought, scientific research, discovery and innovation were vital to driving our young nation forward, toward an ever greater union.
He drafted the Declaration of Independence to firmly declare Americans’ right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and layout a litany of grievances the colonies had against the King of England.
As the nation nears its 250th birthday, the need to layout our grievances against a new Tyrant in Training has come.
In the first 6 months of the Trump administration, and in the currently debated “Big Beautiful Bill,” American liberty, American due process, and American rule of law are under assault.
Today, Republicans in the Senate have capitulated and rubber-stamped his dangerous budget plan. It is now up to Republican patriots in the House, who stand as our last line of defense, to stop the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans (the projected losses from the proposed healthcare and nutrition cuts), hundreds of millions of dollars of lost economic activity in our communities and trillions of dollars of debt weighting down our nation for years to come.
It is up to moderate Republic patriots in the public, Independent patriots in the public and moderate Democrats, that have not yet spoken out, to start speaking up, before it is too late, and free speech is something only for the history books.
The history of the Trump administration is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world:
Trump has refused Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has refused to implement other Laws that were passed and deploy funds appropriated by a rightly and fairly elected Legislature, directly in breach of the Constitution and stealing the power of the purse from Congress.
He has threatened Members of Congress with primary competition if they do not blindly follow along, and rubber stamp his decrees.
Trump has bullied and threatened corporate, university, foundation and non-profit leaders to kowtow or face the destruction of their institutions, an approach followed by tyrants only.
He has ignored due process and engaged in mass deportation from these States; in breach of international law and long-standing commitments of the United States, he has sent migrants to warzones.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by using the Department of Justice as a tool for coercion rather than the administration of justice.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass people, with I.C.E agents pulling U.S. citizens from their places of work, and throwing hard-working long-residing fathers and mothers in detention.
He has affected to render the Military politically polarized and aligned only to his will.
He has threated our economy and damaged our Trade with all parts of the world, and imposed Tariffs on us without our Consent.
And now with his new proposed budget, rubber stamped today by the Senate, plans to ravage our rural communities, destroy the lives of families by stripping them of access to health care and food, undermine industries that do not line his pockets, and usher in a new era of mass surveillance on American citizens, to further tighten the tyrannical stranglehold of his administration.
These are acts totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation, and our Republican compatriots, that consider themselves Patriots, must stand up.
This is not acceptable. The middle must stand up and speak out. Moderate Democrats, moderate Republicans, Independents, Greens, Social Democrats, the non-aligned, we must all stand up and say “Not on our watch!”
By politicizing everything, Trump has driven the middle out of politics. The middle, the moderates, the reasonable, have quietly stepped back from public life. Reasonable, non-partisan people, will not say anything anymore in a public forum – whether online or in a town hall – lest they be drug into the partisan street fight. They are small business owners, they are church goers, they are teachers, they are construction workers, they want to live a life of happiness and not be in the political quagmire. But if we do not all stand up and start speaking up, advocating for Reason, for Liberty, for Rule of Law, and start loudly speaking against Tyranny, Cronyism, Extortion, and Harassment we will have no country left to live in.