A Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to terminate the tenure of an official in government, decent respect requires that the causes should be declared.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that officials are elected to secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the people, and these officials govern according to the laws, deriving their just powers from the Constitution, the laws and the consent of the governed. If any officials become destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to remove them and replace them with others. Officials should not be removed for light and transient causes. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations aim to establish an absolute despotism, it is the duty of the people to remove such officials and install new ones.
The term of President Donald Trump has seen repeated injuries having the object of establishing a tyranny. To prove this, we submit these facts.
He claimed that there are no limits to his power other than his “own morality,” and Trump is the only president found guilty of multiple felonies and found civilly liable for sexual assault.
He signed an executive order revoking birthright citizenship in direct violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
He continues to deny the validity of the 2020 election in the absence of any credible evidence, even after he lost all 60 cases alleging fraud he brought in the courts.
He established several slates of fake electors that would vote for him in the 2020 electoral college, illegally representing states that he lost.
He pressured the governor of Georgia to falsify the 2020 election results in his favor.
He summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the 2020 election.
He assembled and incited a mob to assault the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with the object of overthrowing the election results and installing himself in power.
He initiated a “settlement” to establish a $1.8 billion fund of taxpayer money to pay people he alleges were unfairly treated by the last administration. “Unfair” would be decided by a board he controls, and could include those who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6. It would also bar the IRS from ever auditing the past tax returns of himself, his family or his business for possible fraud or error.
He illegally instituted tariffs without the consent of Congress, which has the entire power to lay taxes.
He illegally fired career officials in order to install people whose loyalty is to Trump rather than to the Constitution and the people.
He has directed the Department of Justice to use taxpayer money to charge his political opponents with frivolous charges that were rejected by grand juries and/or had no chance of getting a conviction.
He has nominated many incompetent people, and several people in violation of the law. The most egregious is Bill Pulte, nominated to head national intelligence. The law requires the nominee to have extensive experience in intelligence, and Pulte has none. The post requires Senate confirmation, but Trump called his appointment “acting” and refused to submit it to the Senate. Pulte used his previous office to launch frivolous charges against Trump’s political opponents.
He hired his daughter and son-in-law for sensitive government jobs without having them get a security clearance. He recently sent another son-in-law to attend a meeting with foreign officials about Iran, though he has no diplomatic experience nor security clearance.
He tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo-op holding a Bible (upside down) in front of a church.
He has arrested legal immigrants in violation of the 1st Amendment who made statements that he disagrees with.
He illegally arrested people without probable cause, detained thousands of people suspected (often erroneously) of being undocumented immigrants and deported many without due process.
He separated immigrants from their children, lost track of the parents and some children have still not been restored to their families.
His treatment of immigrants is in direct violation of the U.N. treaty on refugees. That treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate and the Constitution says that treaties are the supreme law of the land.
He illegally used the Alien Enemies Act to deport thousands of Venezuelans, though we are not at war with Venezuela.
His officers killed two U.S. citizens peacefully protesting immigration abuses, and he has denied the jurisdiction of local officials to investigate these crimes.
He illegally deployed the California National Guard, over the objections of the governor, to the streets of Los Angeles claiming an insurrection that didn’t exist.
He held up legally appropriated aid to Ukraine to pressure them to help his campaign against Joe Biden. For this he was impeached.
He threatened universities with withholding research funds already approved unless they changed their policies to suit him.
He illegally formed a “climate working group” of five climate change deniers to write a report saying that climate change caused by CO2 is not a threat to people, in direct opposition to established science.
He illegally cancelled many funds appropriated by Congress including foreign aid, Voice of America, Public Broadcasting, etc. and his DOGE group fired many people and cut many programs in violation of the law.
He threatened law firms unless they did free law services for him.
He threatened to withhold federal funds from states and cities that didn’t follow his illegal activities.
He pressured media companies to fire employees who were critical of him.
He tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him.
He threatened Denmark, a NATO ally, in an effort to annex Greenland. He threatened to withdraw from NATO unless they did his bidding; such withdrawal is illegal.
He held many campaign rallies at the White House in violation of the Hatch Act.
He used his presidency to enrich himself in many ways, e.g.: 1) he spent many days at his Mar-a-Lago resort and overcharged the government for the rooms of Secret Service agents. 2) he used the U.S. ambassador to the UK to lobby for moving the British Open golf tournament to a Trump golf course. 3) He bought large amounts of stock in specific companies then made public announcements that increased the stock prices. 4) He encouraged foreign dignitaries to stay in his D.C. hotel or lose favorable access. 5) He accepted a multimillion dollar plane from Qatar for his own use after his term ends.
He illegally had appointees add his name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts then illegally tried to close the center.
He refused to allow officials in his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas.
He has ordered the killing of people on the high seas who are suspected — without giving evidence — of carrying illegal drugs.
He initiated a war against Iran with no approval of Congress and with no imminent threat, a violation of international law.
We have petitioned against these usurpations and have been ignored, insulted, subjected to malicious prosecution, repeatedly lied to, even killed. Journalists critical of the president have been called “enemies of the people” and their work “fake news,” and some have been denied access to briefings or news conferences. Judges who have ruled against him, many appointed by Trump himself, have been insulted and threatened. An official whose character is that of a tyrant is unfit to govern a free people. We have appealed to Congress, and they have been mostly deaf to the voice of justice. The Supreme Court has ruled his official acts are above the law.
We, therefore, the people of the United States, declare that we are absolved of any allegiance to Donald Trump and any duty to obey him is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. We call on Congress to impeach Donald Trump, convict him and remove him from office. We resolve to vote only for U.S. Representatives and Senators who will do so. For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
Submitted in the spirit of July 4th, and in the form of one of our most important and brilliant documents.
Jim Eliason, Storm Lake
We just got home from a three week trip to Maine, giving me a chance to catch up on the print versions of your paper. I noticed a recent article about Thomas Walpole as the first Editor of the Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune. This had me worried for a bit until I took in the word “Tribune.”
The first Storm Lake newspaper was the Storm Lake Pilot, which started in October 1870, with Vestal & Young as editors.
At the beginning of 1896, Storm Lake had three newspapers: the SL Pilot, the SL Tribune and the Vidette. In May 1896, the latter paper reported that A.C. Smith had become owner of the Pilot. A little later Thomas Walpole joined him to buy the SL Tribune from L.H. Henry, taking possession Aug. 15. The same information was reported three days later by the SL Tribune, including the prices paid: $3,000 for the Pilot, and $3,500 for the Tribune.
The Vidette also noted they were pleased that two Republican papers, often in dispute, were combining, and that should appeal to the better class of people in Storm Lake(!) After mid-August for the rest of the year, only the Democrat-leaning Vidette was available to the people of Storm Lake.
The first copy of the SL Pilot-Tribune I can find is dated 1/1/1897, with Walpole & Smith as owners. Walpole sold out his interest in the paper to his partner H. J. Mitchell in 1910.
Jon Hutchins, Storm Lake
Art Cullen’s June 19 editorial cuts straight through the campaign spin to the reality facing small-town and rural Iowa. The $120 pickup fill-up, climbing fertilizer costs and shuttered rural clinics aren’t abstract debates. They hurt. Yet, some politicians are banking on a flood of October ads and finger-pointing to trick us into forgetting who caused this mess.
This expectation relies on keeping us isolated, cynical and susceptible to misinformation repeated often enough to sound true. We see this strategy in the lockout of independent reporter Laura Belin (Bleeding Heartland) from the state Republican convention. When Republican party insiders circle the wagons and bar the press, that is not Iowa. They are betting that if they control the room, they can distract us from lies, exaggerations and their failures on healthcare, clean water and small-town support.
Cullen and Belin don’t need me to defend them; their work stands on its own. But Iowa citizens desperately need the transparency they provide.
We have a responsibility to do more than wait for an election cycle to save us. I don’t expect Iowans to suddenly all switch to Democrats. I do expect the honest, hard questions I used to get when I served six terms in the legislature representing small-town Iowa and Ames — whether walking in parades in Colo, Collins, Maxwell and Cambridge, or door-knocking in Nevada.
We must reject the lie that we are separate factions destined to pull apart. The economic and civic degradation of our state impacts every single one of us across every county line.
I will defend the independent voices delivering the truth right now — because we are all in this together, and a threat to one community’s right to know is a threat to us all.
Ralph Rosenberg, Ames
The US Congress is preparing to give Israel unprecedented privileges via the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. Section 219 of the draft NDAA directs the Secretary of Defense to expand integration of the U.S. and Israeli military sectors. If Section 219 becomes law, U.S. and Israeli militaries will be joined at the hip. The measure directs the Department of Defense to appoint a senior “executive agent” to integrate Israeli defense technology directly into sensitive U.S. weapons systems, including artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, autonomous systems and quantum computing.
Nothing like this has ever been done before in U.S. history. No other nation has ever been given the access to US military resources that Section 219 proposes to give to Israel. It is an affront to U.S. sovereignty, and is frankly absurd. The U.S. and Israel are allies, but it has been a contentious relationship, with that contentiousness amplified right now.
There are so many reasons to oppose the draft 2027 NDAA effort (e.g., an over 40% increase in an already bloated, unaudited military budget), but the inclusion of Section 219 is uniquely egregious. Please study this for yourself, and make your opinion known to your employees in D.C. The Armed Services Committees of both the House and Senate have approved the NDAA draft, including Section 219. The House may begin voting on the NDAA before the 4th of July. The Senate will be taking a two week vacation, so no action there before July 13.
Ed Flaherty, Iowa City
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here