Military Deployment to Wherever Dissent Is Anticipated
Everywhere All At Once Protests Are The Rational Response
Protests against raids by federal agents costumed as military invaders continued yesterday from coast to coast, from the streets of New York to a meat packing plant in Nebraska to a soccer game in Los Angeles to the Texas State Capitol (where they chanted “LA lead the Way”) and beyond.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a nationwide address to call out President Donald J Trump’s inflammatory actions in Los Angeles as a deliberate scheme to suppress dissent everywhere.
While I’ve been less-than-thrilled about the Governor’s pandering podcasts and paranoia about trans humans, I’ll concede that this speech at least grabbed some of the spotlight away from our wannabe Generalissimo chief executive.
The language of the order asserting federal control over the national guard does not even mention the state of California. The President is claiming he can federalize any state’s National Guard “at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations.”
Worth noting about Newsom’s speech is how it was broadcast and the inclusion of a broader critique of the current administration’s degradation of institutions generally. The Governor actually said the emergency conjured up by Trump was a prelude to national military involvement in domestic politics.
Rather than request airtime with legacy media, Gov. Newsom opted to go with Meidas Touch via YouTube. One and a half million people viewed the speech, it was reported on by most legacy media, and millions more have been exposed through social media.
Personally, I think of Meidas as a podcast using a video newscast format. I find their content to be truthful, with an unabashedly progressive perspective. Much of their content is derived from accounts on social and legacy media that I’ve already encountered by the time it airs.
Sometimes Meidas makes me cringe in the sense that overly sweet snacks can make one shudder. I know I’m getting too much sugar, but that doesn’t stop consumption. Am I jealous? The reality is that in a world dominated by corporate-compliant media, they strip away the reactionary framing, and don’t act as stenographers.
The unconventional outlet started as a vehicle for videos critiquing Trump 1.0, and has evolved into calling itself a “pro-democracy news network.” Meidas has nearly 5 million subscribers and its content has been viewed 6.7 billion times. They average 94 videos a week, catering to viewers seeking in-depth coverage. Its audience is reported to be nearly evenly split gender wise, with a majority of viewers being 55 and older.
By going on Meidas Touch Network, California’s Governor was bypassing the “normal” channels of communication and speaking to an audience likely to be engaged and outraged. Given that other outlets are seemingly afraid of the Trump administration, viewers of the speech at least bypassed the talking head/two sides mush commonly aired after political addresses.
An excerpt from the New York Times transcript:
Look, this isn’t just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. he made that order apply to every state in this nation.
This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next.
Democracy is next.
Democracy is under assault right before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived. He’s taking a wrecking ball, a wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project: three coequal branches of independent government.
There are no longer any checks and balances. Congress is nowhere to be found. Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility.
The rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don.
The founding fathers didn’t live and die to see this kind of moment. It’s time for all of us to stand up. Justice Brandeis, he said it best. In a democracy, the most important office — with all due respect, Mr. President — is not the presidency, and it’s certainly not governor. The most important office is office of citizen.
There were terrible previews of the administration’s intentions on Tuesday. The President promised “very heavy force” against anybody protesting the June 14 dictator-flavored military parade through Washington DC. The message being sent amounts to: The military works for me, not in the service of the nation, but in the service of its supreme leader.
FYI- The National Weather Service is forecasting a 60% chance of rain in Washington DC on Saturday. A Politico survey of US lawmakers indicated that only 12% of Republicans on the Hill intended to stay in DC to watch tanks roll down the streets.
At a speech before specially screened (no fat people, no known dissenters) military personnel at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the President gave a warmed over version of his campaign stump speech, attacking his enemies, inventing history, and encouraging the audience to boo former President Joe Biden. He promised to “liberate” Los Angeles from the “animals” and “foreign enemy” protests.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requested that military troops be directed to detain alleged “lawbreakers” during protests “or arrest them.” She made the request in a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing protesters of being “violent, insurrectionist mobs” aiming to “protect invaders and military aged males belonging to identified foreign terrorist organizations.” Legal experts almost universally agreed it would be illegal under ordinary circumstances.
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported on how the White House ‘sparked’ the protests in Los Angeles through masked agents carrying out “warrantless arrests” of undocumented immigrants, and “disappearing” people into federal detention “without notice to families or lawyers.” The administration then used the largely peaceful protests they instigated to deploy the military, despite local authorities urging him not to.
It’s obvious at this point that we’re seeing a well-documented authoritarian strategy, where manufactured crises are used to normalize illegal power grabs. What begins as “temporary” emergency powers will become the new baseline for presidential authority.
The Trump administration is being egged on by extremist social media types who are now urging deportations of naturalized citizens and bans on travelers from non-European countries. With the announcement that 9000 detainees are being transferred to Guantanamo Cuba, it looks like they’re having a hard time keeping up with what’s actually happening on the ground.
The organizers of the No Kings protests, now slated to occur in 1800+ locations (there’s even one in Ensenada), wisely decided early on to avoid organizing for a Washington DC march or rally.
Instead of allowing this military parade to be the center of gravity, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day: people coming together in communities across the country to reject strongman politics and corruption.
Now is the time for all decent Americans to join peaceful protests throughout the nation. The more of us that protest more often, the less chance that the hateful and authoritarian agenda will succeed. It only takes 3.5% of the population regularly exercising their rights to stop this kind of madness.
I’m going to No Kings day at Waterfront Park and my family is coming with me. I’ll have the dozen or so other locations in the Resistance Calendar published this space on Thursday.
Standing Up Against the Strongman by Brad Willis at Perspectives
Calling Los Angeles a “city of criminals,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated on Fox TV, “We’re gonna hit them back, and we’re gonna hit them harder than ever before.”
This, even though the January 6 insurrectionists, who assaulted police at our nation’s Capitol, carried Confederate flags, chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” threatened to kill Nancy Pelosi, desecrated the Capitol Building, and defecated in its hallways, were recently pardoned by Trump.
Despite a growing concern over an increase in right-wing extremism during his presidency, the president has also taken steps to weaken the federal government's focus on right-wing domestic terrorism, including the activities of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, many of whose members participated in the insurrection.
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How to Take Greenland - A CIA ops veteran offers a droll take on how Greenland can be taken without a shot by Luis Rueda at SpyTalk
Along with the propaganda campaign, the CIA will clandestinely create, train and fund a Greenland MAGA-type party—let’s call it “Make Greenland Great Again.” The sudden rise of the MGGA party would add to the divisions and hatred generated by our psyops information campaign, potentially culminating in an attack on, and seizure of, the 31-member Greenland parliament, leading to a vote for annexation by the U.S.
We can probably stop right here and call it a victory, unless of course, Denmark and some European countries like France send troops (technically required by the NATO treaty). But no matter: At that point we would form a breakaway republic, à la South Vietnam or South Korea, and form a “democratic” government that would invade the rest of Greenland at a later date.
I have to say, Mr. President, this should be a walk in the park. Greenlanders will clamor for the better life that America can provide. They can throw off the oppressive shackles of government-provided healthcare and education, fire up the economy with tariffs and massive borrowing, and give out guns for everybody (except, of course, the Inuits).
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Seattle Police Chief Barnes says he expects to be jailed for resisting Trump's orders by Stephen Howie at KUOW Radio
Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes told City Council members Tuesday that he plans to stand up for the First Amendment rights of Seattle residents and expects to be jailed at some point for making that stand.
“I will do everything in my power to protect anyone in Seattle from anyone who comes to this city with the intention to hurt them or inhibit their First Amendment rights,” Barnes told Council members during a Public Safety Committee meeting that is part of his confirmation process. “What that means is at some point I will probably go to jail and be in prison because we have an administration that has threatened to jail politicians… and has threatened to jail a governor.”
Barnes was responding to a question about the federal response to protests in Los Angeles over the weekend. President Donald Trump called up National Guard troops and deployed Marines to quell protests in response federal immigration raids, despite the objection of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
I'm heading my creaking bones to No Kings Day in Seattle. I guess I better figure out how to do a video on my phone in case we all get labeled criminals.