Weekly Member Update - March 9, 2026

Written By Indivisible Albany Team

The Constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the Legislature.

  • James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, April 2, 1798

When we next gather together by the thousands, on and around Central and Colvin Avenues on March 28 in order to mark No Kings 3, we will be showing up with a host of disparate grievances. Some of us will undoubtedly be there in defense of our neighbors and to show solidarity with communities across the Nation who have been terrorized by the Orange King’s masked stormtroopers under the guise of immigration enforcement. Still others will be protesting our floundering economic reality, with affordability ravaged by the King’s unconstitutional tariffs and the American Dream becoming increasingly out of reach thanks to mass concentration of wealth in and for the King’s friendly oligarchs and their unrestrained corporate interests. Others will be there to stand against the erosion of our liberties, insisting on the preservation of our 1st Amendment rights of speech, peaceable assembly and the press, and demanding to be free from the unreasonable searches coming from the rapidly expanding federal surveillance state. Some may be demonstrating against the desecration of our public institutions by the Mad Tyrant; from the wanton destruction of the East Wing of the White House, to the King’s megalomaniacal insistence that he be imprinted upon every facet of American civic life, to the haphazard hollowing-out of our public health, education and welfare bureaucracies. Maybe some will be on Central and Colvin to defend our democracy and our voting rights from unprecedented attack. And, a great many of us will be at No Kings to demand accountability for the Regime’s open, obvious and ostentatious corruption, and to insist that there be no impunity for the disgusting predators —the King himself included — who appear in the Epstein Files. But it is also increasingly clear that many of us will be carrying an anti-war banner at No Kings 3, because Donald Trump’s authoritarian and monarchal caprices are at their most existentially dangerous when manifested in his unrestrained impulse to wage war across the Globe.

Notwithstanding last week’s acquiescence by spineless Congressional Republicans — and a handful of complicit Democrats — it is abundantly clear that the Trump Regime’s impetuous War on Iran is contrary to the explicit intent of the Founders and is therefore an unconstitutional exercise of unauthorized power by a wannabe King. Article I, section 8 of the Constitution is plain as day that the power to declare war is vested with Congress alone and, while Congress has inverted the Constitutional design by statute for the last half century via the Nixon-era War Powers Resolution, the Constitution still says what it says. And for good reason. Lest we forget, this Country’s putative founders were in open rebellion against the excesses of an English King, and that perspective clearly informed the Constitutional design. As one 19th century scholar observed, the right to make war in England was vested with the King and, under a monarchal system, “[t]he personal claims of the sovereign are confounded with the interests of the nation over which he presides, and his private grievances or complaints are transferred to the people; who are thus made the victims of a quarrel in which they have no part, until they become principals in it, by their sufferings. War would be banished from the face of the earth, were nations instead of princes to decide upon their necessity. Injustice can never be the collective sentiment of a people emerged from barbarism. Happy the nation where the people are the arbiters of their own interest and their own conduct! Happy were it for the world, did the people of all nations possess this power.” We have No Kings in this Country and, where making war is concerned, the US Constitution is intended to restrain the President of the United States from acting like one.

In this aerial handout picture released by the Iranian Press Center, mourners dig graves during the funeral for children killed in a reported strike on a primary school in Iran's Hormozgan province in Minab on March 3, 2026.

The actual conduct of the Iranian War by Trump and his ridiculous, crusading “Secretary of War” only underscores the wisdom of the Constitutional design. It’s been clear from the beginning that King Trump and his band of miscreants have had no clear objective, no long-range plan and no exit strategy for this war. With justifications ever shifting, it appears that the only real purpose is to liberate the Iranian people by bombing them into submission. When the war began, the Regime left Americans abroad to their own devices, yet still managed to prioritize the evacuation of right-wing influencers. The first day of the war hadn’t even concluded before our Country committed its first war crime, bombing an elementary school apparently targeted by an AI with out-of-date information and killing 160+ schoolgirls. Another war crime soon followed, when our Navy torpedoed an unarmed Iranian frigate in International waters as it returned from a multinational exercise, and left the frigate’s shipwrecked sailors to drown. As Pete Hegseth struts like a bantam rooster, cocksure with glee over the American military might that he somehow gets to control, it’s also now been alleged that American forces have attacked an Iranian freshwater desalination plant.  If true, that’s a crime against the humanity of the Iranian people, and one that threatens the vital water infrastructure of the entire Persian Gulf. Indeed, as of this writing, Bahrain has already suffered a retaliatory attack on its own freshwater infrastructure. This chaotic War already costs American taxpayers $1 billion a day — nearly $42 million an hour — and the average price of gasoline has risen nearly 27 cents per gallon in just over a week. Meanwhile, the prospect of American troops being put on Iranian soil continues to look more likely and, on Sunday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to rule out the reinstitution of the draft. Oh, and Trump’s bestie Vladimir Putin is providing his Iranian allies with intelligence about the location of American assets for Iran to attack, and just publicly congratulated the 56-year-old hardliner tapped to replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 87-year-old cleric assassinated by American/Israeli forces at the War’s inception.

Can anyone seriously question that, had Trump and his sycophants in the Republican Party adhered to the Constitution that they routinely claim to revere, we would not be in this rapidly escalating quagmire? Where war is concerned, the Constitution establishes a presumption of peace that can only be overcome by the deliberation, debate and approval by majority vote of the elected representatives of the People. As we’ve witnessed time and again over the past year, this Orange King’s refusal to abide Constitutional constraints and that pesky rule of law leads inexorably to terrible consequences. Only this time, the King’s lawlessness will kill thousands and imperil global stability.

So add anti-war signage and chants to your plans for No Kings Day on Saturday, March 28. This latest iteration of No Kings Day promises to be even bigger than what you all pulled off last June and October, and we’re planning on giving you a variety of ways to make your voice heard this time around. If a good old sidewalk protest is your thing, you’ll have plenty of opportunity as we take over Central Avenue from Colvin to North Allen. If you want to incorporate a protest against corporate complicity into your program, Home Depot, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Flock cameras are proximate to the action location. At our past No Kings actions, hundreds of you showed up for impromptu car caravans, and the multiple lanes of Central Avenue will feature your decorated autos at No Kings 3 as well. Finally, this No Kings will feature a March up Colvin Avenue from Washington Avenue to the intersection of Central, so if you’re part of a group and want to join us in the street, we have room for you there too. The Capital Region has shown up in spades at past No Kings events, and we expect this time to be no different as we take to the streets with millions nationwide. We can’t wait to see you there!

Odd & Ends:

Finally, a reminder to join us tonight for our March Member Meeting, starting at 6 at The Love Albany Center. In addition to more discussion of the upcoming No Kings 3 festivities, we’re also fortunate to be hosting some interesting guest speakers. UAlbany Professor Ashley Fox will discuss the New York Health Act and the prospect of single-payer healthcare in New York. We’ll also be hearing about electoral reform, including ranked choice voting, from Dorian Solot, the Co-Chair of RCV Albany, and Ian Cummins, the volunteer leader at Unite NY. It should be a fascinating and informative discussion; we hope that you can join us!

Indivisible Albany Team
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Weekly Member Update - March 2, 2026