If we are honest about it, our country is being run by amateurs. By that I mean people who lack the judgment, discipline and constitutional understanding needed to hold office responsibly, and whose mistakes carry consequences for the rest of us. Nowhere is that more dangerous than in the presidency.
Donald Trump has governed like an amateur. He unilaterally and illegally started a war with a country that did not present an imminent threat to the United States; created and supported an armed, masked federal force that terrorized our communities under the false pretense of removing the “worst” illegal immigrants from the country; unconstitutionally imposed worldwide tariffs that disrupted world trade and raised the cost of goods and services; and has ushered in a resurgence of measles after 25 years of virtual elimination, because of vaccine hesitancy promoted by his administration.
The No Kings Day protests of March 28 brought some 8 million people into the streets to protest not only those actions, but the authoritarian way Trump created and imposed them. He brought to the presidency the same rude and insulting style he developed as the TV star of The Apprentice, essentially saying “you’re fired” to democratic norms and constitutional limits. In so doing, he revealed himself as what he still is: an entertainer governing like an amateur strongman.
Politics is a profession. To do it well requires more than instinct and aggression. It requires some understanding of the political process, foreign affairs, the Constitution and the way the three equal branches of government are supposed to check and balance one another. Trump has shown little evidence of that understanding. His governing style has been unilateral, erratic and deeply personal, and it has produced exactly what amateur rule so often produces: chaos, disorder and preventable mistakes.
There is, however, a political answer to this amateurism and the damage it is causing. The March 28 No Kings protests — and the millions who protested before them — showed the breadth of public opposition to Trump and his administration. Among the signs carried in all 50 states, and here in Santa Barbara, were calls for “No Kings,” for ICE to get out, for democracy to prevail, and for Trump to be impeached or removed from office. Those calls point toward the next step: elect Democrats in November and build a coalition capable of demanding accountability.
Coalition advocacy is among the most effective forms of political action because of its power to bring together a group large enough and politically diverse enough that it can no longer be ignored. As for the 25th Amendment, a declaration by the vice president and cabinet that Trump is incompetent is, realistically, not going to happen. But incompetence itself can and should become part of the public discussion, and if Democrats take control of the House, coalition pressure could help make impeachment politically unavoidable.
Santa Barbara is as ideal a place as any to help begin such a coalition. Santa Barbara’s No Kings march included more than 12,000 people, more than enough to draw from in building a local grassroots movement. Given Santa Barbara’s history of activist coalitions, such an effort could begin here and expand first along the Central Coast (Carpinteria, Solvang, Lompoc, and Santa Maria also drew large marches), then regionally and finally nationally. The internet and social media make this possible in ways earlier movements could only dream of.
Rep. Salud Carbajal would be an obvious local leader for such an effort. H. Res. 939, impeaching Donald Trump, has already been introduced in the House of Representatives, and Carbajal is on record calling for Trump’s impeachment. As an elected member of Congress, he would be in a position to recruit other members into such an effort and to help connect local outrage to national action.
Likely local grassroots participants would include groups already acting in de facto alliance against Trump and his administration, from Indivisible chapters to immigrant-rights and environmental organizations. The point is not the exact list of names, but the fact that the coalition already exists in embryonic form.
In building such a coalition, organizers should emphasize both Trump’s amateurism and the real costs of his decisions. His unilateral war against Iran, launched without the constitutionally required approval of Congress and without meaningful public support, should be central.
They should also emphasize what that war is costing ordinary people. In just the first days of the conflict, the cost to American taxpayers ran into the billions. Gas prices surged nationally and in California. Food prices rose along with them. Inflationary pressure increased. These are not abstract consequences. They are personal ones, and coalition organizing works best when it gives people personal reasons to join.
Another three years of Trump’s presidency can only lead to more amateur mistakes, more chaos and more destruction. With so many people already in the streets opposing him and his administration, the No Kings Day marches should be understood for what they were: not just a protest, but a call to elect Democrats in 2026 and make impeachment part of what comes next.
