One of the hallmarks of wanna be dictators is trying to seize control of the military to intimidate the civilian population. That’s where the term "crossing the Rubicon” comes from. When Julius Caesar led a Roman Legion across the Rubicon River, the ultimate result was the end of the Roman Republic.
Well, Donald Trump has crossed back and forth over the Rubicon like it’s a jump rope. Fortunately, he’s been repeatedly tripped up by courageous state and local officials, litigators, the courts—and you Contrarians. Though the jury is still out (literally), I believe that he’s likely to stay tangled up in the rule of law and fall short in his leap to dictatorship.
Take Trump’s loss this week in a California federal court. It held that Trump violated the law barring the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement, known as the Posse Comitatus (“power of the county”) Act. As you can gather from the name, the idea is that Trump can’t use the military as his personal posse to enforce the law within the U.S.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles violated the act. Breyer’s decision also prohibits future use of military forces for domestic law enforcement in California. This ruling serves as an important warning to Trump as he sets his sights on deploying federal troops in other cities.
It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this column that you Contrarians helped support that outcome. Because we at the Contrarian are owned by nobody, all profits go to support my litigation and related efforts. Thanks to you, my colleagues and I were able to file a pro bono legal brief in the case explaining why Trump was breaking the law. Your paid subscription makes our work possible. If you’re not a paid subscriber, please consider becoming one.
That case is not the end of Trump’s national security abuses—or of you, Contrarians, checking them. He has famously invoked the 1789 Alien Enemies Act to declare that the country is being invaded by the Venezuelan Tren De Aragua gang, and therefore that he can use that law to deport members of the gang. The problem is that there is no such invasion. (Just look out your window; do you see any tanks being driven down the block by gang members?). Moreover, many of the people Trump apprehended were not gang members at all–just Venezuelan day laborers and makeup artists who might have happened to have had a tattoo that confused the president and his regime.
On Tuesday, that was repudiated by the conservative 5th Circuit. It rejected the administration’s ludicrous claim, with a George W. Bush-appointed judge writing, “A country’s encouraging its residents and citizens to enter this country illegally is not the modern‑day equivalent of sending an armed, organized force to occupy, to disrupt, or to otherwise harm the United States.”
Here again, you Contrarians were a part of defending our democracy. We filed a brief in the case and here is what that court had to say about it: “A quite useful overview of what else is available to the Executive Branch was set out in the amicus brief jointly provided by the Democracy Defenders Fund and several former government officials….We consider the description in the brief to identify the most significant relevant procedures under the Immigration and Nationality Act. We repeat next some of what is in that brief.”. You should be very proud of that, Contrarians, because you helped make it possible with your paid subscriptions.
A third important front is the District of Columbia, where D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is building on his earlier successful court pushback stopping Trump from taking over the DC police that you also supported. Now he’s going back again, this time to block Trump’s deployment of more than 1,000 National Guard troops in D.C. We will have the District’s back as it takes on the administration and defends against the unlawful imposition of federal control.
That includes not only in the court of law but in the court of public opinion. We hope Contrarians will show up on Saturday at 11a.m. ET, when Free DC is spearheading a rally called “We Are All DC: A National March.” It will commence in Malcolm X Park (a.k.a Meridian Hill Park) and proceed from there to Freedom Plaza downtown. This is an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder as we demand an end to the occupation of D.C. and an end to the occupation of all our great cities. Here is a video of Jen and me explaining more about what this event will entail:
While you’re getting ready to march or resting up afterwards, check out my recap below of this week’s incredible coverage in the Contrarian. My colleagues really outdid themselves…
The would-be police state
The military cannot be used for policing
Erwin Chemerinsky of the Berkeley School of Law explained how a federal judge got it exactly right when he declared Trump's military deployment to Los Angeles illegal: per the Posse Comitatus Act, no one, not even the president, can use the U.S. military for community policing.
The Nation Cannot Afford Silent Generals
Brian O’Neill wrote on the need for our retired military leaders—aka the ones who served in functional administrations—to condemn Trump’s loyalty tests, purges, and domestic deployments. “What is required is not partisanship but an organized, collective effort to affirm that the military belongs to the nation, not to any one man.”
We can't normalize rampant deportation: April Ryan & Vanessa Cárdenas on ICE raids
April Ryan spoke with America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas about the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deportation of individuals who have no criminal record, and the need for legal, efficient pathways towards immigration. "Everybody who understands what is best for America's economic interest, understands that we need to have a functional immigration system."
Split Screen: The visuals of a military takeover
Azza Cohen analyzed government portrayals of the military operation in D.C., showing how photographs can normalize the absurd. “Photographs of military personnel as protectors of civilian spaces tell one story. Photographs of them as disruptors of civilian normalcy tell another"
Our public health emergency
The 'charlatan' at HHS is a public health emergency
Jeff Nesbit wrote on RFK Jr.’s testimony this week at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, during which he failed to answer for his decimation of vaccine policy, conspiracy-mongering, or dismal approval within HHS. “The rot at the top is metastasizing, crippling the nation’s ability to respond to health threats and fueling dangerous policy at the state level.”
Sen. Mark Warner gave Jen his own account of the hearing. There is nothing like the view from the dais. Senator Warner shared his perspective on the shocking developments
The Public Health Approach to Prevention
Seth Limmer of PERIL explained how all-in public health approach could address the scourges of intolerance and polarization that are rupturing relationships and communities. “The task before us is massive; but so is the societal disease of targeted violence.”
Texas loves its bounty hunters and hates its women
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf wrote on how Texas keeps finding new ways to target women's reproductive health and autonomy and inspiring other states to enact their own draconian laws—all with a measurably deadly toll. “Maternal deaths are rising, cases of sepsis are more common, and infant mortality has increased."
The GOP’s hypocritical politics
The Most Communist President Ever
Jen Rubin wrote on how Trump’s increasingly heavy thumb on the scale of the U.S. economy, complete with data-meddling, firing of neutral experts, and loyalty-test cronyism, looks less like triumphant capitalism than communist dictatorship. Recession or stagflation will follow, she writes.
Tom Malinowski shared Jen’s wavelength this week, writing on how Project 2025 is the most communist document ever to guide the GOP. “Republicans used to rail about state-owned enterprise. Now they celebrate it.”
MAGA’s counterculture attack on public libraries
Also on the strange bedfellows beat, Austin Sarat wrote on how an ultra-conservative Kentucky church is encouraging its members to steal (LGBTQ+-friendly) library books in what they call “civil disobedience”—taking a page, ironically, from hippie icon Abbie Hoffman.
Guarding the guardrails
Wendy Weiser and Thomas Wolf of the Brennan Center for Justice wrote on Trump’s pledge to develop a “new” census that would exclude undocumented Americans, threaten the distribution of over $2 trillion in federal funding and form the cornerstone of a nationwide gerrymandering campaign. “Just because this is illegal doesn’t mean the administration won’t try it.”
Mo Ivory and Dana Barrett, two commissioners who refuse to confirm election deniers to the GA Election Board, joined Norm Eisen to talk about their choice. “We stood up for what we believed in and were willing to face whatever consequences because it’s that important. It’s our democracy at stake.
The Contrarian covers the Democracy Movement
This week we featured coverage from Labor Day protests and rallies held across the nation. Our own Labor Day Live event featured conversations with union leaders and activists Liz Shuler, Fred Redmond, and Randi Weingarten: watch the archived livestream here. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.
Fun stuff—Cartoons, Culture and Pet of the Week
This week our cartoonists took on potent symbols of the moment, from Calder Robinson’s tribute to the D.C. sandwich thrower (Hero), to Nick Anderson’s not-so-reverent take on the Cracker Barrel logo crisis (Picking your battles), to Michael de Adder’s suspicion that the latest military flyover may have been a distraction from something else…(Operation Squirrel).
Culture recs: The Paper Satirizes the Sorry State of Journalism in 2025
Culture columnist Meredith Blake brought us a stellar slate of comfort watches for fall, from long-awaited-The Office spinoff The Paper, to the return of The Great British Baking Show, to Helen Mirren in a cozy murder mystery. She also recommends something a little farther from home: ABBA Voyage.
This week’s Pet of the Week is the lovely Rex Borschow Cohen, a 13 years young Chihuahua/Pitbull/Dachshund/Pug mix. Rex loves barking at any and all threats that deign walk by, snuggling 20/7, and eating anything in sight.
It was another amazing week here at The Contrarian, and for the rule of law as it pushed Trump back across the Rubicon again and again. You make that all possible with your paid subscriptions, we thank you for that, and if you haven't taken one out please consider doing so. Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you at 9:15 AM ET on Monday morning for Coffee with The Contrarians. Warmly, Norm
Yesterday, on my way to the bank, I saw a lone woman with a handmade sign saying stop the coup standing at an intersection at 10:00 in the morning. It’s brave individuals like her, our fellow Contrarians and the good folks at The Contrarian who will stop the coup.
PS: traffic be dammed I stopped, rolled down the window and shouted out a thank you. She saluted me with a raised fist. This is what resistance looks like.
I love it, I love it, I love it!……. You all have worked so hard to protect us, you’re wonderful people !!!!!! Now if this old, sickly, mentally, confused body who calls himself “el Presidente”, can be taken out of the Oval Office, maybe we can get things back to normal!!!