It might be time for me to post my latest count of Declaration of Independence grievances Mr. Potato Head is committing. I count 19 out of 27. (I have provided why I think these grievances apply to Mr. Potato Head. Some may disagree, but this is my count.) Cases can be made for others.
1. ‘He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.’ Trump has, either personally or through his underlings, refused to assent to laws that Congress passed. For example, he torpedoed a bi-partisan Act on immigration.
2. ‘He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.’ Trump blocks states from enacting laws he doesn’t like.
7. ‘He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.’ Trump is proud of hating immigrants.
8. ‘He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.’ Trump has fired, and is attempting to fire, federal judges.
9. ‘He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.’ Trump owns the Supreme Court of the United States.
10. ‘He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.’ Trump established DOGE and militarised ICE to repress the People and to steal their money.
11. ‘He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.’ Trump sent troops to Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland… Without the consent of mayors and governors.
12. ‘He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.’ Trump is trying to make the U.S. military loyal to him, and not to the United States Constitution.
13. ‘He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.’ Trump violates the United States Constitution every day. This is foreign to us.
15. ‘For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States.’ Trump is protecting his private ICE army from consequences of their crimes.
16. ‘For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.’ Trump has certainly done that! Just ask the farmers who are unable to sell their crops because of his tariffs.
17. ‘For imposing taxes on us without our consent.’ Tariffs are taxes on consumers. The American People did not consent to the Trump Tax.
18. ‘For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Jury Trial.’ Trump has imprisoned thousands of people without due process.
19. ‘For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses.’ Trump is transporting people, without trial, to foreign lands. If they want justice, they must (impossibly) seek it from outside of the United States.
21. ‘For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.’ Trump is actively trying to abolish parts of the United States Constitution, such as the 1st Amendment and the 14th Amendment, he has suggested that the 22nd Amendment does not apply to him, and the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments are pretty much nullified.
22. ‘For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.’ Trump is effectively suspending our legislature with his illegal Executive Orders.
23. ‘He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.’ Trump has declared that anyone who opposes him is a terrorist.
24. ‘He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.’ Trump is stealing millions – perhaps billions – of dollars from the American People, and keeping it for himself.
27. ‘He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.’ Trump incited the January 6th Insurrection.