Thoughts for the Day, September 8, 2025: It was a test and we failed miserably

We were tested and we failed miserably

Test 1: "We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat. And there's more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time ... These came out of Venezuela." Trump announcing the blowing up of Venezuelan boat in international waters of the Caribbean Sea

I can safely say that most U.S. citizens could care less about this illegal action by Trump. Who cares about drug dealers from Venezuela? Who cares if it was in international waters were the U.S. has no right to act such as this? Who cares if Congress should have been briefed prior to this happening? Who cares if Trump took an oath to obey the laws of our land and honor the Constitution. Who cares if Trump ignores international laws? Who cares if the normal course of action was to detain the ship, its crew and cargo until all the facts could be verified?

Clearly the Republican Congress doesn’t care. Clearly most people don’t care. Clearly the editorial boards of the major newspapers don’t care. If all these people don’t care, why should I care? Here is why.

Since when did Trump become judge, jury, and executioner? As a noted defense attorney told me once, even those guilty of murder are entitled to a fair trial. How do we know this was a boat full of drugs and drug dealers? Do we take Trump’s word for it? Do we take Hegseth’s word for it? I am not.

What if the situation was reversed, and it was an American ship with American crewmembers in international waters in the north Pacific and the ship was blown up and all the crew members killed at the order of Putin who was claiming they were drug dealers, but there was no evidence to refute his claim. How would you feel then? Would you think it was OK? Would you take Putin’s word that it was drug dealers? Would you take the same so what attitude we are taking with the Venezuelan ship? I doubt it.

What if the next time, Trump orders the blowing up of a ship owned and operated by Americans, that he says were full of drugs and drug dealers? Would that be OK for Trump to be the judge, jury and executioner? Would we take his word for it that the ship was full of drug dealers and drugs? Should it matter if they were entitled to a trial of their peers under the Constitution?

Test 2: “‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning...’ Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” “Chicapalypse Now”. President Trump late last week.

Trump is threatening one of our largest cities by bringing in the Department of Defense (which he now calls Department of War). This is not an idle threat. This was not a threat to bring in ICE and Homeland Security. This is a threat to bring in the Department of War. This is a threat to use the U.S. Military against one of our major cities.

Trump was able to get away with it in Washington D.C. because D.C. is not a state and the federal government has some constitutional authority over the city. Trump was able to bring federal troops into Los Angeles under the guise that they were protecting federal buildings and properties from the protests that were occurring against ICE.

In Chicago, there are no protests threatening federal property. There is no need to bring in federal troops to protect federal property. However, Trump sees Chicago as an out-of-control city run by Democrats where crime runs rampant. He is determined to fix it by taking control of the city.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to Trump as follows. ’The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution. We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump.” Illinois Governor Pritzker has expressed similar concerns.

Although Trump has since backed down from his threat of war on Chicago, ICE has now started a major operation in Chicago to increase detentions and deportations. On Sunday Trump said, “We’re not going to war, we’re going to clean up our cities. We’re going to clean them up so they don’t kill five people every weekend. That’s not war. That’s common sense.” That sounds like a threat much greater than bringing in ICE.

Most people don’t care if Trump sends the military into Chicago. I am sure they think “those people” deserve it. The city is out of control and the criminals, and the gang members need to be taken out. The Republican Congress doesn’t care because they see Chicago as a Democratic stronghold and welcome Trump going after Chicago. The major newspapers and media editorial boards are quiet, when they should be shouting to the rooftops. Even the Democrats in Congress have been relatively quiet on this threat. To the best of my knowledge, our military leaders have remained quiet in their push back of Trump on using the military against a major city. (This was not the case in Trump’s first term. He got rid of all those military leaders immediately after taking office January 20, 2025)

I will not be quiet. Threatening taking over a city is blatant abuse of power and goes directly against the constitution which provides protection from using the military against U.S citizens. In my opinion, this threat is an impeachable offense. It is a threat against an American city. If any U.S. citizen was to publish a threat against a city such as this, you can rest assure the federal government would be all over the person and bringing the person to court on a boatload of federal charges. Yet Trump can do it without concern.

Once again, we failed the test, and Trump continues to push the envelope closer to an authoritarian government.

SCOTUS has become Trump’s bodyguard and “cleaner”

When you had three judges in your pocket and you added three more so that you now have six guaranteed votes, there is nothing you cannot accomplish at the expense of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Per the NY Times, the Supreme Court on Monday lifted a federal judge’s order prohibiting government agents from making indiscriminate immigration-related stops in the Los Angeles area that challengers called “blatant racial profiling.”

The court’s brief order was unsigned and gave no reasons. It is not the last word in the case, which is pending before a federal appeals court and may again reach the justices…..

The court’s ruling for now allows what critics say are roving patrols of masked agents routinely violating the Fourth Amendment

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said she expected the ruling to have sweeping consequences. “I want the entire nation to hear me when I say this isn’t just an attack on the people of Los Angeles, this is an attack on every person in every city in this country.”

It is very disturbing that SCOTUS continues to allow Trump to run roughshod over the Constitution. This ruling, although not permanent, allows Trump to justify detaining anyone who is nonwhite and talks with an accent (defined by the ICE agent). Once they are detained there is no telling how long they will be detained even if they are U.S. citizens or in the country legally.

Once again, Trump is testing the limits of his power, and SCOTUS keeps expanding it every chance they get. I will be watching closely to see how Congress and the media respond to this ruling. In the meantime, I will call it like I see it. This is another example of SCOTUS greasing the skids for Trump’s expansion of power at the expense of the Constitution and non-white American citizens. It is another example of SCOTUS supporting Trump’s version of an America where white men are in control now and forever more.

It was a bad weekend for my sports teams

The Tigers lost 2 of 3 to the last place Chicago White Sox. Michigan lost to Oklahoma as Oklahoma’s quarterback made winning plays with his legs and arm, while Michigan put governors on Michigan’s freshman QB Bryce Underwood. The Lions were outplayed in nearly all phases of the game in their loss against the Packers. Both Michigan and the Lions were underdogs in their games, so the losses were not unexpected, but they were still disappointing.

The bright spot of the weekend was MSU’s double OT win over Boston College and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal’s masterpiece in Saturday’s 6-0 win against the White Sox. He is now tied with Adam Wainwright for the MLB record of scoreless starts with a minimum of six innings since the mound was lowered in 1969.

Quote of the Day: “We are hard pressed on all sides but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed.” Corinthians 4:8-9 from a friend.

Orchid of the Day: Tarik Skubal. He has all but locked up his second Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the American League.

Onion of the Day: SCOTUS one more time. I am sure it will not be the last

Question of the Day: Do you think it was OK for Trump to blow up the Venezuelan ship? Do you think it is OK for Trump to send the military to Chicago without being asked by the governor of Illinois or the mayor of Chicago?

Lyrics of the Day: Gotta get down to it soldiers are cutting us down. Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground how can you run when you know?

If you think you know the song and the artist, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for September 3, 2025: 19^th Nervous Breakdown by the Rolling Stone

Video of the Day: Miggy to make you laugh. The guy had fun at the old ballpark.

https://www.facebook.com/share/19urKa2PUT/

Feel free to share my blog with others. To receive the blog in your email, please use the subscribe button or send an email to me at thomasdbiggs@gmail.com and I will start the process for you.