If you really believe in what America stands for, then you will stand up against what is happening now.

What is happening now is the opposite of everything our nation’s founders believed in and intended, and what so many defenders across many generations sacrificed to protect.

What is happening now is the authoritarian capture of our democracy. The executive branch is taking power from the legislative branch, which the Constitution clearly says is not its power to have, and the executive branch is ignoring and threatening the judicial branch that is trying to stop it.

The executive branch is illegally impounding funds authorized to be spent by Congress. It is illegally deporting people without due process. It is illegally setting tariffs. It has accepted a multimillion dollar jet from a foreign country. The president himself is profiting from a cryptocurrency scheme that the government is supposed to be regulating.

The executive branch, along with Republicans who have the majority in Congress, are stripping away not just our democratic institutions, but all of the rights, liberties  and services our government is supposed to provide us.

No matter your political affiliation, come to a “No Kings” rally on Saturday, June 14. These are peaceful, non-violent, family-friendly events. Locally they will be held in Astoria and Seaside, and regionally in Long Beach, Washington, Manzanita and Tillamook. Go to nokings.org for times and locations.

Now is the time. Authoritarians win when people don’t resist. Ever since 1776, there are no kings in America.

ERIC HALPERIN

Gearhart