No Kings Day, citizens across the US demand attention.

It’s been nearly three weeks since Trump ordered the Oregon National Guard to deploy to Portland, Oregon. Declaring Portland, a metro area with over 2 million people, a war torn city. That order was stayed by a federal judge. The stay was recently extended.

Since that initial decision, while tensions between the federal government and the citizens of Oregon have remained high, no one on either side has died due to the impasse. There has been more than one non life threatening injury, with the citizens of our state receiving the most injuries.

As the legal issues are decided, we are watching in real time, all of the reasons that Trump wanted to send in troops disappear, like the proverbial fart in the wind. We have not yet had a court date yet where the Federal attorneys show the court why they need troops in Portland, and the state’s attorneys show why they don’t. The burden of proof is on the federal government to show that Portland is lawless, that federal agents can’t be safe, and that Portland is literally a war ravaged city.

In my considered opinion, after three weeks where the federal officers have inflicted more harm than the citizens of Oregon, no burning buildings, very few injuries on the federal side, and numerous reports of federal agents deploying chemical agents and other non lethal rounds at protestors, there is no justification for Trump deploying any troops from any state to Portland.

The reality is the government is our servant, not our master. It must have the authority to enforce laws, but we have the power and the responsibility, to change those laws when they are unjust. The government must operate within the bounds of the US Constitution.

Many people mistake the government enforcement of laws to protect all, as infringing on the individual. I’m reminded of a quote from Mr Spock, “When the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

We should all be operating with those principles and remember that none of us can really thrive without the society that supports all of us.