It’s time to consider postponing the April celebrations at Lexington and Concord — maybe just until federal troops no longer patrol the nation’s capitol and anonymous, armed agents stop terrorizing our cities. Perhaps hold off until we’ve reinvigorated and reinforced our constitutional rights under the First and Fourth Amendments. Freedom Trail celebrations held under the eye of a tyrant will ring as hollow at Boston, Bennington and Philadelphia, as they will in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Mexico City, London and beyond.
This White House seeks only to divide us — treating states as colonies and running roughshod over constitutional guarantees. A spoiled, proclaimer assails whole cities with scattershot chaos, fear and rolling military-style deployments. Faced with endless threats, swarming ICE raids and manufactured violence, citizens respond in rearguard standouts at each assault. Then another city comes under occupation and all run to battle that fire while Congress and an abetting Supreme Court fail our Constitution. It all serves a tyrant’s objective: fanning flames of hatred, terror, racism and misogyny.
In truth the world is waiting on us, “the People of the United States,” to prove we’re not a failed democracy. To demonstrate our commitment to human rights, justice, human dignity. They’re asking can we be trusted: in friendship, alliance, rule of law; treaty? Given the current state of our democracy, fireworks don’t seem appropriate. These next months might best be spent rescuing our Constitution, perhaps assembling on the National Mall in a dignified, resolute display of our First Amendment rights in honor of our history.
An enabled, Donald Trump is today’s de facto 24/7 “anchor” of local, national and world news and social media — the firehose flooding the internet with threats, lies, and AI-propelled slop. Emboldened, he acts as sole arbiter of language, history, trade, banking, treaty and law; a shadow seventh male court justice — accuser and summary judge. Questioned on limits to his power under international law, he told the New York Times, “My own mind. My own morality. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” No peace prize, no peace! Welcome to the “Gulf of America” on the Planet of the Dupes.
We’ve been decreed subjects, to be ruled by smartphones and tweets — abetted by soulless lawyers and crypto-grifting tech billionaires happy to cook the planet while cities are invaded and our neighbors disappear. How did this grim despotism descend? Forget Project 2025. It appears Trump looked to the inspired words of our Declaration and simply reread them from the back — deconstructing its reasoned, dignified demands to for freedom, civil governance, and rule of law. He traced it back to a blueprint for absolute monarchy.
Here in reversed order are some key indictments from our Declaration of Independence:
“A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant,
Is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.”
“He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us,”
“For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World.”
“He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.”
“He has erected a Multitude of new Offices and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People and eat out their Substance.”
“He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices,”
“A History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny of these States.” I’ll stop there.
The Boston Massacre is mirrored in the Minneapolis killings, the abuses of the Stamp Act, Tea Tax, and the Intolerable Acts tarrifs echo in current attacks on neighbors, friends and allies from Washington to LA, Chicago to Atlanta, all the way to Canada, the UK and U.N.
And not only are vulnerable working immigrants targeted. Trump continuously denigrates journalists venturing into harm’s way among courageous citizens to file stories of masked ICE raids, racist, warrantless, so-called Kavanaugh Stop searches, child abductions, and citizen killings. Reporters have been arrested, jailed; phones and documents seized.
Sam Adams and Thomas Paine were journalists, bulwarks in the fight to end tyranny. It’s time for all of us to stand up for journalists and civil rights. Publishers and editors have a unique opportinuty to shine the light indicting a new tyranny, to re-trumpet our solemn rights to speech, a free press, peaceable assembly, prohibitions on search and seizure. As guardians of truth grounded in facts, all have an exceptional bullhorn to defend the Constitution that cherished free speech platform: the editorial. It’s a sacrosanct First Amendment space that exists to support and protect the rights of all.
And in truth all of us now must stand together, in justice and human dignity, to rescue our embattled democracy. The courage and “sacred honor” of those patriots can unite us to stand up as a free people and reject a cruel and soulless tyranny — and pass on our cherished civil freedoms to generations that follow.
Karl Meyer is a journalist who lives in Greenfield.