Sen. Steve Daines: We participated in the No Kings Protest on Oct. 18 in downtown Billings. More than three thousand Montanans, your constituents, joined us in Billings. We were united with over 7 million protesters who participated in No Kings events across the country, the largest single-day protest in our nation’s history. Before the protest even occurred, you called it a “We Hate America Rally” in an interview on Fox News. Nothing could be further from the truth. We protested because we love America!
Many people shared many opinions at the protests and we do not endorse all of the views expressed. However, the unifying theme was concern about the overreach of the executive branch of the U.S. government under President Donald Trump and Congress’s failure to check the executive branch.
Protest against abuse of power by the executive first united the 13 colonies as one people in defiance of King George III of England. Our national identity was first expressed by our founding fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence – primarily a list of abuses of power by the English monarch.
To protest abuse of government power is to be American. To accept abuse of government power against the people or for enrichment of government officials is to be un-American.
Many Montanans are concerned by the behaviors of President Trump and his executive branch. We observe a pattern of disregard for the rule of law and the constitution of the United States that, if unchecked, will have grave consequences for our nation and its people. While the President has the right to exercise the powers vested in him by the people as established in the constitution, the taking of additional powers from the people and from the other branches of government and the states exceeds his mandate. These include detention of American citizens without trial, infringement on Congress’ exclusive power to appropriate funds, the deployment of the military in American cities, the receipt of unconstitutional gifts from foreign powers for the personal benefit of the President, and Donald Trump’s public desire for an unconstitutional third term in office.
We declare that it is our shared and indivisible commitment to democracy and the rule of law, not conservative or liberal policies or the successes of individual leaders, that has made America succeed. We declare that no man is above the law. Our democracy, based on participation, compromise, and trust in each other, built a nation able to defeat fascism and violent nationalism in the second world war; a nation that has provided opportunity and freedom for hundreds of millions of Americans and others – something we should all celebrate.
Because we love America, we feel we must stand up, unite, and speak out against the erosion of our democracy and our constitution.
We invite all Americans to join us in speaking up for democracy and the constitution which both establishes and limits government power.
We hope you now see that we, your constituents, love America enough to speak up when she is threatened and we hope you will do the same.
This commentary was written by a number of Montana residents who participated in the “No Kings” rally. They are: Julie Hippler, Carol Blades, Priscilla Bell, John Smillie, Darci Colbrese, Lisa Buckman, Rebecca Reidel, Julie Betts, Pat Habein, Barb Crawford.