Pieter Friedrich Profile picture
Apr 14, 2020 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Tweeters in America are trending "Amendment X," a reference to the 10th amendment of the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution, which says powers not delegated to the Fed Govt are reserved to states. They're also trending "#KingTrump" because Trump wants to #ReopenAmericaNow.
The problem is, these people are defaulting to a constitutional defense against the president compelling states to reopen their economies — but they've been dead silent for a month as those same states violated Amendment I, which guarantees the people's right to assemble freely.
Americans can call him "#KingTrump" all they want. I remember the days I was calling President Bush as "#KingGeorge." Presidential overreach and abuse of power has been a major problem for decades.
But when you attack Trump for allegedly violating the constitution by suggesting, implicitly, that states end policies which are indisputably violating other aspects of the constitution, what else can it be but either 1) ignorance or 2) hypocrisy?
If you think that #KingTrump should follow the Constitution and be held to Amendment X, then what about the governors? What about #KingGavin (ie, CA Governor @GavinNewsom), who has imposed an INDEFINITE #lockdown that violates the Bill of Rights in a myriad of ways?
Many of these are likely the SAME people who were angrily tweeting that #KingTrump failed to put ALL of America on #lockdown, a power that the US president does NOT possess — because of Amendment X.

My guess? Their arguments are based in pure partisanship, not actual principle.

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More from @FriedrichPieter

Jun 15, 2023
What will it take for America to wake up and see that, indeed, Prime Minister #Modi is wearing no clothes whatsoever and that our nation must stop providing him — and his zealots — platforms from which to claim otherwise? #ModiNotWelcome

countercurrents.org/2023/06/modis-…
In 2022, raising concerns about the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in India, Representative @IlhanMN asked: “What will it take for us to outwardly criticize the actions that the Modi administration is taking?”
Certainly, no one could imagine Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, China’s Xi Jinping, or Russia’s Vladimir Putin being so feted and honored by the US government.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 20, 2023
Multiple India-based followers have informed me via screenshots that my entire Twitter account was just blocked in India in the past 12 hours or so. @TwitterIndia, this is outrageous. Moreover, you have failed to even formally notify me of this.
What’s the reason? I can only speculate, but it appears to be (considering the timing and mass banning in India of many other accounts of journalists touching on the same subject) this benign thread in which I affirm the need to uphold basic civil liberties in Punjab.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 19, 2023
Whatever your opinion of Amritpal Singh, a man about whom I know very little, the mass crackdown on basic civil liberties in #Punjab is a totalitarian nightmare. Internet & mobile service banned, assembly banned, media censorship. From Kashmir to Punjab, where is the azadi?
This is not an endorsement of Amritpal Singh, about whom I hadn’t even heard until yesterday, but a denunciation of a governmental system which strips away the civil liberties of everyone in its efforts to arrest a single person. This is not justice. It’s a witch hunt.
Freedoms of speech, of assembly, of press, of communication, and more are inalienable rights which reign supreme in any democratic nation. No situation justifies suspending them. Ever, anywhere, at all.
Read 6 tweets
Jan 27, 2023
Information for the masses which, if digested with empathy, may save the lives of many in days to come.
The sad and sordid story continues....
The plot thickens.
Read 7 tweets
Jan 13, 2023
The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) will vehemently protest against being linked to India’s fascist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) when its ties are exposed (especially in front of local governments in the US). However, some basic research reveals a radically different story.
Let’s take a look at what mainstream Indian media says.
India’s Zee News — an outlet actually owned by a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member — calls the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) the “overseas unit” of the RSS.
Read 25 tweets
Sep 27, 2022
Short weeks after a worker of Hindu nationalist #RSS confessed the paramilitary ran bomb-making camps to attack Muslims, RSS-backed ruling BJP is sweeping up 100s of members of largest organized Indian Muslim group on flimsy allegations.

ndtv.com/india-news/pop…
One of the worst allegations is that Popular Front of India (PFI) was plotting to assassinate RSS-BJP PM Modi. This is the same allegation levied against the Bhima Koregaon 16, a collection of academics/activists known for dissenting against RSS-BJP policies.
These PFI members, across multiple states, are being rounded up and held under draconian legislation that allows for arrest and indefinite detention without charges. This comes as international experts warn the RSS-BJP is on the verge of staging an anti-Muslim genocide in India.
Read 8 tweets

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