Published on Portside (https://portside.org/)

Tidbits – May 1- Reader Comments: Children Deported; Judge Arrested; Is America Pissed Off Enough for General Strike-Happy May Day; Labor for Democracy; RFK Jr Ends Narcan Program; Appealing to Military-National Guard Not Comply With Unlawful Orders

https://portside.org/2025-05-01/tidbits-may-1-reader-comments-children-deported-judge-arrested-america-pissed-enough
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Tatoo Trouble  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Nick Anderson

 


 

Three US citizen children — aged two, four, and seven — were deported to Honduras last week along with their undocumented mothers. One of the children, a four-year-old with Stage 4 cancer, was removed without necessary medication or access to doctors. Every day brings more due process violations.

Nick Anderson
April 28, 2025
Pen Strokes

 

She Was Carrying a Dangerous Weapon  --  Cartoon by Bill Bramhall

 

Bill Bramhall
April 28, 2025
New York Daily News

 

Aiding and Abetting  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Clay Jones

Trump's goons are helping him destroy America


 

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by the FBI and charged with obstructing an immigration arrest operation. This is a further step away from democracy and toward fascism.

FBI Director (sic) bug-eyed hatchet man Kash Patel announced the arrest on TwitterX, accusing her of “intentionally misdirecting” federal agents as they sought to detain an immigrant who was set to appear for an unrelated proceeding last week. Announcing this on social media makes it clear that this is political and is meant to set an example for other judges.

The regime has been publicly attacking judges who are delaying or halting Trump’s fascist moves, like deporting legal residents and canceling student visas. One GOP representative has even filed legislation to impeach judges who go against Trump. Kash Patel, another Trump appointee not qualified for his position, was more than happy to send thugs to arrest a judge.

This is another court fight that Trump should lose, and even be thrown out.

Attorney General (sic) and MAGA hack Pam Bondi said, “These judges think they’re above the law. They are not. We will come after you and prosecute you. We will find you.” She also called judges “deranged.”

Stephen “Baby Goebbels” Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, said on social media, “No. One. Is. Above. The. Law,” which is ironic coming from a guy who works for a felon.

While these fascist idiots are tweeting and yammering about arresting a judge, the judge can’t comment about it at all because the judicial code of conduct restricts judges from commenting on pending or impending matters in any court.

I expect that the regime will cut out the bullshit reasons and excuses and soon start arresting judges on the charges of “obstructing Trump.”

Clay Jones
April 26, 2025
Claytoonz

 

Re: Is America Pissed Off Enough at Trump and Musk for a General Strike?
 

Thank you Sara Nelson for once again telling it like it is. Individually pissed off gives you agita. Unitedly pissed off gets results. Transportation is a crucial part of the economy. And a union is the best instrument to turn pissed-off-ness into action. But a strike needs an endpoint, a goal or else may just meander and peter out. What do you think should be the goals? Constitutional like due process and voting rights, economic, or some kind of smorgasbord depending on your union or organization? Really, we have to start talking about these things right away. I have no idea.

Sonia Cobbins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

I think it will be a roaring fire ??

Maura Quinn-Stobie
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

DOGE disaster *AND* Tesla profit dive? Elon did Nazi this coming!  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

 

Lalo Alcaraz
April 25, 2025
https://www.pocho.com/

 

Re: Trump Harvests Autocratic Powers Planted by Bush and Cheney
 

Exactly! Remember extraordinary rendition!

Wendy Krasnoff
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

First 100  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Rob Rogers

 


 

Trump has only been in office for 100 days, but the damage will take years to repair, if it's not too late to fix it.

Rob Rogers
April 29, 2025
TinyView

 

Re: A Call for Constructive Engagement
 

I'm glad that Portside covered this Call, not only because my university president finally signed it (I teach part-time at Northeastern), but because so many universities have stood up to Trump.  However, it puzzled me when I couldn't find any of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the list.  A quick Google search brought me to the following:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/white-house-initiative-to-promote-excellence-and-innovation-at-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/

I'm trying to understand what the ulterior motive is behind this "White House Initiative".  Do you know of anyone who has written about this?  

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Lenore 
A Faithful Portside reader (who was proud to be quoted in the obituary of my dear friend Mark Solomon)

 

Re: Leonard Zeskind, Who Foresaw the Rise of White Nationalism, Dies at 75
 

Author of prescient “Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement From the Margins to the Mainstream”  dies.

Mark C. Rosenzweig
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Real Man vs. Economy  --  Cartoon by Jen Sorenson

 

In case you missed it, there’s been a substantial propaganda campaign from MAGA elites to convince the masses that Trump’s destructive economic policies will make men more “masculine.” The dialogue coming from the TV in the first panel of this cartoon is taken directly from a Fox chyron, “TRUMP’S TARIFFS WILL MAKE YOU A MAN?”

We see a lot of talk about mining these days while Trump is actually dismantling rules that protect miners from silica exposure. Far from creating strong “alphas,” these jobs make men sick.

Jen Sorensen
April 30, 2025
https://jensorensen.com/

To support this work and receive my weekly newsletter with background on each cartoon, please consider joining the Sorensen Subscription Service! Also on Patreon.

 

RFK Jr. to End 'Godsend' Narcan Program That Helped Reduce Overdose Deaths Despite His Past Heroin Addiction

 

M.B. Mack

April 29, 2025
Latin Times


 

Despite his own history of overcoming heroin addiction, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is backing plans to end a federal Narcan distribution program credited with helping drive a steep drop in U.S. overdose deaths.

Narcan, the widely-used overdose reversal drug, has played a major role in reducing opioid-related deaths, particularly amid the fentanyl crisis.

A $56 million annual grant program through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has funded the distribution of Narcan to first responders across the country, training over 66,000 individuals and distributing more than 282,500 kits in 2024 alone. Recent CDC data shows a nearly 24% drop in overdose deaths for the 12 months ending September 2024, the sharpest one-year decline in decades—an achievement partly attributed to widespread naloxone access.

Speaking at the Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville on Thursday, Kennedy reflected on his personal struggle with addiction and emphasized the importance of community, treatment, and hope in solving the drug crisis, USA Today reported. However, behind the scenes, the Trump administration's draft budget includes major cuts to addiction programs, including the termination of the Narcan grant, according to The Independent.

"Narcan has been kind of a godsend as far as opioid epidemics are concerned, and we certainly are in the middle of one now with fentanyl," Donald McNamara of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. "We need this funding source because it's saving lives every day."

Though Kennedy has previously praised interventions like Narcan as critical to saving lives, he now frames the crisis as one requiring deeper, spiritual and societal change rather than relying solely on "nuts and bolts" medical solutions.

The proposal has drawn swift condemnation from addiction specialists and public health advocates, who warn that cutting Narcan funding could reverse the progress made against overdose deaths. Critics argue that removing life-saving tools while broader societal fixes are slowly pursued would leave vulnerable communities at risk.

While national overdose deaths have declined, experts warn the epidemic is far from over, especially in states still experiencing surges. Ending federal Narcan support could slow or even reverse recent gains.

 

12 Unions Have Just Launched Labor for Democracy.

 

 

L4D stands in firm opposition to the Trump administration’s extreme anti-worker agenda. Specifically, L4D seeks to spotlight the administration’s attacks on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, the targeting of immigrant workers, the shredding of union rights for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, and the role of employers in enabling Trump’s campaign of repression. At May Day actions around the country, members of L4D unions will carry signs reading, among other slogans, “Protest rights are workers’ rights,” emphasizing that the administration’s assault on core freedoms poses an acute threat to workers’ ability to organize.

L4D includes:

Labor Demands an End to the Assault on the Right to Organize and Protest
 

The labor movement holds one value above all others: solidarity. Labor demands an end to the Trump administration’s assaults on immigrant workers, freedom of speech, the right to organize and bargain, and federal government workers, their unions, and the services they provide.

We will not stand by as President Donald Trump terrorizes immigrant workers with abduction, detention, and confinement without due process in unmarked facilities, far-flung detention centers, and a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The attacks are ramping up, and we need to act fast. In Washington state, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents smashed a car window and detained farmworker Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez, a leader in the berry-pickers union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, on his way to drop off his partner at work. They locked up SEIU Local 925 member Lewelyn Dixon, a lab tech at the University of Washington, when she returned from a family trip. They raided a roofing company where workers recently went on a safety strike, and arrested 37 people.

In Massachusetts, federal immigration agents snatched Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University on a student visa and an SEIU Local 509 member, on her way to break her Ramadan fast. She had written an op-ed in the student newspaper in support of Palestine. 

In Baltimore, they arrested sheet metal worker Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a SMART Local 100 apprentice and father of a disabled child, and sent him to El Salvador’s nightmarish prison—then they called it an “administrative error” and said they could not get him back.

In New York, they abducted Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and United Auto Workers Local 2710 member, for protesting Israel’s assault on Gaza. They have also taken many others whose names aren’t public yet. 

This administration attacked these members of our communities on their way to work, on their way to worship, on their way home. They locked them up after speaking their minds. And they did that on purpose.

They have also threatened and intimidated university administrations in an effort to enlist them in suppressing dissent. Sadly, many have acquiesced to these demands, making a mockery of the concept of “academic freedom” and the free exchange of ideas. Students have been suspended and expelled. Faculty members have been disciplined and discharged.

Further, the mass firings of federal workers and the attempt to abolish their collective bargaining rights are attacks also on the services they provide and the very function of our government. Trump wants a government that only serves the interests of corporations and oligarchs. Rather than a government of, by, and for the people, he would create one by and for the privileged rich. He wants to create a culture of fear. 

We must not bow to any of it. 

We must not be passive or silent in the face of this authoritarian assault on our rights, the Constitution, and democracy itself. An injury to one is an injury to all!

Please sign this call and add your name to a growing list standing up to Trump’s campaign of terror.

 

Call to Courage: Appealing to Our US Military and National Guard Members to NotComply with Unlawful Orders.
 

Organizing civilians, veterans and active duty military to refuse fascist orders

We are facing an unprecedented attack on our Constitutional Democracy from a President who took an oath to protect and defend it. President Trump has repeatedly talked of invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which would give him the power to deploy US military on domestic soil. This is a major step toward martial law and a possible Trump dictatorship. 

As people committed to collective liberation both at home and abroad, we must be prepared to counter this plan. We have an advantage on our side: for Trump’s plan to work, it requires that members of the armed forces follow illegal orders. Article 90 and Article 92 of the US Military Code make it clear that soldiers do not need to follow unlawful orders from a President or Commanding Officer, especially if those orders violate the US Constitution. Trump’s plan to install a military dictatorship and stifle civilian resistance is blatantly unconstitutional, and his faith that soldiers will simply follow orders is a major crack in his plan. 

Members of the military and National Guard will likely soon be forced to choose between following orders and upholding their oath to the Constitution. It is not easy to refuse an unlawful order alone. But we believe most active duty personnel did not join the military seeking to enact violence on civilians. People in uniform can organize collective resistance too- by refusing to turn on protestors or comply with unconstitutional orders. Now is a time to help support them in making the courageous choice to protect everyday people and defend democracy.

Resources for Active Duty Folks

Do Not Turn On Us

 

60 Years Since the April Revolution in Santo Domingo  --  Virtual Event  --  May 3  (Marxist Education Project)

 

 

Sixty years ago, on April 24, 1965, tens of thousands of ordinary people in Santo Domingo (also known as the Dominican Republic) joined a popular revolt which sought to restore President Juan Bosch to power after he was overthrown in a US-backed, right-wing military coup in September, 1963. Posing a threat to both local elites and Washington’s geopolitical expansion in the Caribbean, the April Revolution, and the subsequent anti-imperialist resistance that sprang up against US military occupation, contributed to the development of anti-imperialist politics in Santo Domingo and beyond.

Join us on May 3 for a panel to commemorate the 6oth anniversary of the April Revolution and discuss its political implications, the role of working-class Afro-Dominicans, women, LGBTQ people, Haitian internationalist fighters, socialists, writers and artists, as well as the worldwide international solidarity movement that ensued in the face of imperialist onslaught.

Génesis Lara is a scholar of Caribbean and Afro-Latinx Studies. Raised in both the Bronx and Miami, her research focuses on gender, Blackness, social movements, human rights, and diaspora world making. She explores the ways Afro-Caribbean women mobilized grief and mourning as ways to contest state violence in the twentieth century. Her work poses larger questions of ways Black people have conceived and fought for human rights. Génesis Lara completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida and her PhD at the University of California, Davis.

Get Tickets - Free
 

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