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Master List: Authoritarian and Anti-Constitutional Actions by Donald Trump (2025)
The last update to this was on May 24, 2025. Let me know if I forget to add to it. This post is a rolling chronicle of executive orders, proclamations, federal memoranda, and allied state-level initiatives that legal scholars, journalists, and watchdog groups have flagged as authoritarian, unconstitutional, or corrosive to democratic norms since President…
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Somebody is going to get a shit ton of socks out of this mayoral race
I just heard Rocky tell her friend Holly that on the phone. I’ve been told by several homeless people that they always need socks. Homeless people are constantly walking. Their socks wear out, get wet and get really dirty. If it’s socks they want, it’s socks they’ll get. Do you like socks? Are you…
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Intermission – The end of season 1
I bet most baseball players feel embarrassed striking out. “I should’ve let that ball go. “ “I could’ve focused more.” “I would’ve hit it if I didn’t have a headache.” Should’ve. Would’ve. Could’ve. Those words make me cringe. “If things just had been different.” When I was quitting drinking the group I belonged to…
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Day 106: I’m Out and I’m Sorry – On The Road To Mayor
The verdict was decided today by the Summit County Board of Elections: Not enough of my 1086 signatures were deemed valid. Most of the reasons were either because they: Weren’t registered. Not the correct address. That was the fatal flaw of my strategy. Most of my time was spent with the homeless. Apparently they have…
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Day 104 – Perpetual Not Knowing – On The Road To Mayor
Fortunately, the next chapter of this journey is near. This Wednesday, September 23, at 10am the Board of Elections will determine if any of the Independent Candidates will make it onto the November 3 General Election ballot. There are 3 possible Independents that potentially could get on the ballot. Me Bill Melver Stephen Muhammad Both…
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Day 100 – Guess who’s a Gigabit city. It’s not Akron. – On the road to mayor
The awesome news that Hudson is now going to officially be a Gigabit city came over yesterday: Hudson starts up high-speed gigabit internet service – Your Business – Ohio Hudsons city owned and operated Velocity Broadband as of Tuesday started offering internet connections up to a gigabit per second 1,000 megabits per second. To give you…
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Day 99: This is how change starts. – On the road to mayor
I missed a call and text last night about 10:15. When I woke up this morning I was able to put the whole story together through text, Facebook and some Facebook messages. A homeless guy I, and two other friends, Bill Wise and Jon Batten (who I met through Conservative News Authority), are friends with…
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Day 98 – Second Class Citizens – On The Road To Mayor
I think one of the most difficult human abilities to develop is empathy. Being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes is incredibly difficult. Maybe impossible, really. If you aren’t experiencing something it’s very common to feel like it doesn’t exist. Women are treated fairly in the workplace. African Americans are treated equally by…
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Day 96: Why there are so few great people. On The Road To Mayor
Do you remember the post (day 32) where I listed a few people who I thought would be cool to run for mayor? As you can imagine, there was no resounding thrill from them to run. The best people in our communities rarely have interest in running for office. Why? I don’t think it’s…
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Day 95: But he stole your iMac! On the road to mayor.
That picture pretty much says it all. That’s my newest friend walking out the front door of my office in the middle of the night this past Thursday with the iMac in my office. We had met earlier in the day, in my office, talking about many things. How the owner of the apartment…
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Day 94 – Dan Horrigan Already Outsourcing Akron Jobs – On The Road To Mayor
You can learn so much by looking at a candidate’s campaign finance reports. And what’s cool is they are all public record. As a candidate that gets or spends over a $1000 you have to file a campaign finance report before an election and after an election. So there will be another update coming soon.…
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Day 92 – Forget Mayor. I’m going to be a fortune teller – On The Road To Mayor
On Day 8 of this journey, June 17, I told you Dan Horrigan was going to win: Day 8 – Everybody knows this is Dan Horrigan’s Town – The Road To Mayor – Sage Lewis for Mayor of Akron Talk to an insider and they will tell you one thing: Dan Horrigan is going to…
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Day 91 – Primary Election Day! On The Road To Mayor
Did you know that the word “democracy” is never mentioned in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution? Democracy was feared by the founding fathers. James Madison expressed this attitude in Federalist #10: “…instability, injustice, and confusion …have in truth been the mortal disease under which popular governments everywhere perished…” But they knew one…
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Day 90 – A Zero Waste City – On the Road To Mayor
I read with great interest the New York Times article on zero waste communities. I am a firm believer that in order for Akron to grow and become a place young people want to live we must move forward bravely and boldly. We must become a beacon of light and inspiration for what 21st…
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Day 87 – 1086 Signatures! – On The Road To Mayor
I have a habit of becoming obsessed with things. I can’t just run a few miles a day. I have to run a marathon without ever running another race in my life. I can’t run just one marathon. I need to run 3 marathons to prove to myself that I actually can run marathons. When…
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Day 85 – A Gift of Vegetables – On The Road To Mayor
There is a man who has been a great help to me with my campaign so far. He spent over two decades in prison. Though thin, he has diabetes. His liver is failing. His feet hurt him immensely. He’s been a heroin addict. And, like many homeless or near homeless people, he has a…
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Day 85 – Stop Complaining! – On The Road To Mayor
As a middle aged, (used to be) blonde haired, blue eyed, 6’2″ white male I know nothing of what it means to be dismissed, segregated or marginalized. Truly, I am “the man.” But this mayoral campaign has given me the rare opportunity in my life to get a small taste of what it’s like to be…
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Day 83 – Mayoral Available Funds – On The Road To Mayor
The Akron mayoral candidates in the primary race needed to submit their financial information last week. I’ll be talking about this in greater detail over the next few days. But today I just wanted to show you the top line numbers. How much money each candidate has been given so far in the race. Dan Horrigan:…
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Fully Support Fight for $15
I am in complete support and will advocate for the Fight for $15 cause. We cannot live in a world where people work full time and can’t live. $15 minimum wage is realistic and fair. If you believe the government spend too much money helping people with food and living expenses you should support Fight for…
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Day 82: To Mike Williams Supporters – On The Road To Mayor
You probably don’t know me. And therefore you have no reason to trust me. And honestly, I’m not overly enthusiastic about Mike. But he definitely has strengths: He is incredibly knowledgeable about how the Akron government machine works. He’s smart. He’s polished and professional. His weaknesses are not important for this conversation. And you…
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Day 80: Horrigan – Public Enemy #1 – On The Road To Mayor
You probably think that title is extreme. “You’re just jealous he’s doing so well.” If I thought he was good for Akron I’d be pleased as punch he’s totally dominating this race. But I’m telling you this: no one is given this much absolute support without strings being pulled, promises being made, back office deals…
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Day 78 – Dan Horrigan Vaporware – On The Road To Mayor
His blog says: “Dan Horrigan has a very detailed, 15-part plan for the City of Akron, starting the day that he takes office as Akron’s new Mayor.” I was excited to dig into that. Truly, I’m all for ideas on making our city as great as it can be. But “very detailed” must mean something…
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Day 77: Akron Hunger Games – On The Road To Mayor
Granted, we aren’t offering up our children to fight to the death to appease the Capitol. But otherwise, there are a lot of similarities in how Panem, the nation in The Hunger Games, and Akron operate. Our UPS driver at work will often talk about the streets of Akron. As you can imagine, he is…
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Day 75 – The Homeless Army – On The Road To Mayor
I have a very difficult time getting signatures to get on the ballot to run for mayor. In Ohio, if your intention is to really run for political office, just swear your allegiance to the Democratic or Republican Party and you will have a much easier time of things. They need 50 signatures to…
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Day 73 – All 3 Candidates Bought and Sold – On The Road To Mayor
My heart sunk a little when I heard Eddie Sipplen decided to have Steve Albrecht to be his campaign manager. I really thought Eddie had a campaign manager who was really awesome. If you don’t know, Steve Albrecht is the chairman of the family-owned Acme Fresh Market. Acme operates 15 stores in Summit, Stark, Portage…
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The Socks On Every Feet Program
I have gotten to talk to a lot of homeless on this path to being mayor. These people, often forgotten or looked over, are intensely passionate about the City of Akron and it’s representatives. You might suspect that they are entirely self-indulgent or only caring about their own personal issues. You would be wrong. The…
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Day 72 – Kicked Out of Another Discussion – On The Road To Mayor
I was asked a few weeks ago to participate on a panel about the arts in Akron. I was really excited about that because I have a close relationship with the arts in Akron. I spent all my high school years in the Akron Youth Symphony. I played countless concerts on the E.J. Thomas Hall…
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Day 71 – Homeless Interview – On The Road To Mayor
You can’t stand on a street in Akron without meeting a homeless person. As I’ve been doing my signatures I’ve gotten to talk to a lot of homeless people. These conversations are the best part of running for mayor! I wanted to start sharing them with you so you could experience them too. These people typically…
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Day 67 – I Am Changed – On The Road To Mayor
This trip to the West has shaped me more than anything I can think of recently in my life. I’ve been trying to find the words to describe what I’m feeling. The word I keep coming back to is: Greatness. The land. The monuments. The battles. Even the missile silos. The visions and sheer…
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Day 64 – They’re Failing You – On The Road To Mayor
Frank Comunale has officially left the race. You now have 2 candidates for the Democratic primary. Dan Horrigan – the puppet of the 30 year old Dynasty of greed and corruption that won’t let go of Akron. Mike Williams – the candidate that hasn’t done anything significant in 20 years at city council. And…
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Day 63 – Do You Feel Free and Happy? On the road to mayor
Life. Liberty (freedom). And the pursuit of happiness. It’s very interesting that those three things are presented in that order. You can’t have one without the one before it. With all my heart, I believe many of our freedoms have been taken from us by the wealthy and powerful. A perfect example of this…
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