Clear and Present Danger
When Donald Trump talked about returning America to “the good old days,” we had no idea that he was referring to McCarthyism, but that’s exactly what Judge Beryl Howell had to say about Trump’s attacks on law firms he sees as having wronged him. Judge Howell is so ticked about this nonsense that reports say she is inclined to permanently block Trump’s executive order targeting law firm Perkins Coie. You could say the “hits keep coming” for Donald Trump and his attempts to “rule” the United States.
According to ABC News, Judge Howell repeatedly suggested that Trump’s unconstitutional actions sound like McCarthyism and the Red Scare. Donald Trump has repeatedly issued executive orders that are unconstitutional and, frankly, stupid. Trying to ban a law firm from doing business with the government because they represented Hillary Clinton in the past is ludicrous. All three judges presiding over these cases have temporarily blocked the executive orders. The federal government is not Trump’s personal sandbox where he can make other children go home if they cross him. The mere fact that the U.S. Attorney arguing this case tried to call it “free speech” reveals the true non-issues Trump’s orders represent. In fact, Judge Howell defined it well: “I’ll be honest-it struck me as sort of a temper tantrum… Worthy of a three-year-old, not the Department of Justice and OMB.” Making things even worse, Trump is now attempting to retaliate against the judges.
Judge Howell is speaking out about the campaign of intimidation being handed down by the Trump administration. She has received threats, and she’s not staying quiet about it: “What we’re experiencing goes beyond disagreement with our rulings-it’s an attempt to control judicial outcomes through fear. The pattern is unmistakable and deeply concerning.” Other judges are experiencing what they call a three-tiered intimidation strategy: public criticism from Trump, Musk parroting Trump’s claims on social media, and genuine threats that have required security interventions. Trump’s claim that these judges are “radical lunatics” is constantly being quashed by the very judges he appointed in his first term who are also ruling against him, like Judge Stephanie Gallagher who has ruled that yet another illegally deported immigrant must be returned to the U.S. In the case of this migrant, he had a settlement agreement with the government guaranteeing him due process.
It doesn’t matter how much Trump’s sycophants yell about Trump trying to make the country safer, he is doing just the opposite. The two immigrants who were disappeared had no criminal records whatsoever. Trump just wants them gone and is using all this as an excuse. There is, however, no excuse for Trump’s behavior and those of his enablers. They need to learn one thing: Democracy in this country does not rest in the hands of one man; we all hold a piece. As Perkins Coie’s counsel said: “Democracy may bend, it may get bruised, but what 250 years has shown is it will not break.” Neither will we. This is our country, and we’re not letting Donald Trump turn it to authoritarianism.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years