Honoring Patriots
Paying tribute to two patriotic Americans, Julie DeLaurier and Martin Sheil, whose labors on behalf of democracy offer boundless inspiration on this day of No Kings
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There are people you meet along the way who keep you going, who remind you to push on when you’re feeling down… we all have them. It’s good to honor them. Here are two I’m thinking of today.
Julie DeLaurier, US Patriot
RadPod had the distinct honor of interviewing Julie DeLaurier, a veteran activist who is marshaling today’s No Kings, NYC.
Take time to listen to her interview, and be reminded what true patriotism looks like. She is fierce, inspiring, empathetic, and all the good things that embody the potential of what the US can be when it cuts out this fascist cancer. She is already planning what we build in the aftermath. Here are highlights from her interview from last night’s RadPod & (Not So Chill).
A member of Rise & Resist NYC and a founder of Truth Tuesdays, which has protested weekly in front of Fox’s New York headquarters for five years, DeLaurier has been arrested three times in recent months for her unwavering belief that a better America lies ahead.
Martin Sheil, US Patriot
Retired IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil needs no introduction on these pages — he is a frequent contributor to Bette Dangerous. But it’s worth recalling that night I was up researching Robert Mercer’s role in the liquidation of democracy and stumbling on the goldmine that is Marty’s Medium posts. Was it seven years ago? Time flies when you’re fighting fascism. I have been interviewing and learning from Marty ever since, who bravely continues to document the financial ties and misdeeds of the oligarchs of Trumplandia and the bandits from St. Petersburg.
Today, I’d like to share his thoughts on No Kings.
No Kings: Reasons to March
By Martin Sheil, published originally on Martin’s Substack, March 28, 2026
Some Basics
Fundamentally, the American Revolution against King George was based on the single premise, no taxation without representation.
King Donald, who won his last Presidential campaign on: (a) reducing costs; and (b) protecting the border, shortly violated those two campaign promises/premises after taking office for Trump, Part II, by:
1. Implementing without Congressional authorization, international tariffs which are in essence taxes, that are passed on by countries/companies until ultimately paid by the consumer/taxpayer who had no say in their imposition. King Donald used IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) as a legal basis to circumvent Congress, which is the only government branch authorized by the Constitution to legislate implementation of tariffs or taxes, for that matter. SCOTUS recognized this basic truth by declaring King Donald’s IEEPA tariffs unconstitutional.
2. King Donald unilaterally and illegally inflicted a paramilitary force called ICE, without Congressional approval on various American cities, e.g., Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis and most notably, Minneapolis, to most emphatically demonstrate his dedication to keeping his second most notorious campaign promise to secure the border while keeping such influential advisers as Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller happy in pursuit of the unstated but clearly signaled MAGA goal of Making America White Again. The imposition of a paramilitary force against selected innocent civilian citizens while backed up by actual military and National Guard units with no actual police training, resulted predictably in innocent civilian deaths.
Not sure whether King George would have approved, but Vladimir Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei must have smiled at this tyranny.
King Donald has recently ordered American military forces to the Middle East and started a war against Iran without Congressional approval/authorization. And now, Americans have been returned to the United States in body bags as an unintended consequence of King Donald’s impulsive unilateral decision to start a war based on a “feeling.”
Now the Pentagon wants $200 billion to fund further American military excursions/escapades? Iran? Cuba? Greenland?
Where will that money come from? Taxes! Did your Congressional Representative vote for that? Will they?
Taxation without Representation? King Donald just ordered DHS to pay TSA salaries without issuing any guidance on where that money will come from or what legal authority this executive order is based.
Again, with no Congressional approval, will taxes be raised to pay for additional DHS costs? Will Tariffs? Will Congress ever be informed? Will SCOTUS have to step in? Again? Does King Donald care?
Some signs/placards I expect to see in the NO KINGS March:
- No Taxation/Tariffs Without Representation
- NO WARS
- ICE OUT
- Put ICE on ice
- Send ICE to Greenland
Hey Congress, do your damn jobs!
The United States does not need a King now any more than it did in 1776. What the U.S. needs now is for Congress and SCOTUS to do their constitutionally mandated jobs!
King Donald is not listening to the people nor reading the polls. He is too busy plotting new wars and playing golf.
Time to march!
If the King will not listen, maybe Congress will . . .
Martin J. Sheil
During a terribly trying time in my decade in defense of truth, Marty sent me a poem, and it kept me marching onward.
Keep up the good fight!
Words are weapons
Words can destroy
Words can inform
Words can motivate
Words can change minds
Words can end wars
Words can create wealth
Words can change inequality
Words are seeds that can grow into beauty, meaning, clarity
Words are wisdom in an ocean of ignorance and you are the captain of a ship sailing steadfastly into the wind but you must never give up.
Words need you - your direction - your spirit - your vision
Words are soldiers and you must harness this army of knowledge and stand fast against all that oppose and shed light into darkness!
That is your destiny. Accept it and flow down the river of history.
Words are your legacy.
Just happy to have made your acquaintance
marty
I read that sometimes, and just keep going.
To all the patriots who read these pages and are painting signs, who do not accept a fascist America, here’s a reminder from Paris No Kings…
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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Carrying my sign from the first post-election march, November 12, 2016: “In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America.”