Americans declared independence from a tyrant once. And we must do that again

[marmar]

Americans declared independence from a tyrant once. And we must do that again
Claire Finkelstein

America’s founding 250 years ago was a warning cry against leaders like Trump. Our past is a guide for how to handle our present


(Guardian) As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, marking the official birth of the new nation, it is worth remembering some of the reasons the document offers as just cause for making war on the British monarchy.

“No taxation without representation” is the slogan that is best known as the core complaint of the colonists, a reference to the colonists’ objections to the 1765 Stamp Act and a series of taxes levied by the British crown thereafter over which Americans had no means of objecting in parliament. But such taxes were not the only provocation to war.

....(snip)....

This list of complaints is striking in light of events of the present day. Substitute ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the British officers sent to harass the people; substitute federalization and deployment of the national guard and the marines to US cities in 2025 for keeping standing armies; substitute using federal troops over the objections of Democratic governors; and substitute portraying protests in Portland in 2020 and Minnesota in 2026 as violent civil unrest warranting federal force, and the pictures are dismayingly similar.

Given the oath members of the US military swear to defend the constitution upon enlistment, and their general adherence to that oath, the campaign critics say presses federal troops into service against political opposition and weakens checks and balances has not been entirely smooth sailing for Donald Trump. ...................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/05/declaration-of-independence-trump