This: "Today, Trump wants to accustom the American people to the sight of federal troops performing law enforcement activity so that, when he ultimately pulls the trigger on the Insurrection Act, there is less public resistance to the idea."
LA is short for Louisiana. L.A. is short for Los Angelos. Knowing the difference keeps things in perspective, so it doesn't get lost in translation. But you are absolutely correct! We HAVE to resist. Take care.
No, there is no absolute 'correct'. LA for Louisiana is a postal code. I've never seen it used to refer to the state of Louisiana in any other context. As others have written here, no one is going to think Louisiana when LA is clearly used in a California context.
Remember back in the day, we were instructed to insert a comma between the city and the state when writing an address? How many years since that disappeared?
I live in CA and not many would think of Louisiana if they see LA. In Louisiana it’s probably the opposite. I Googled LA and Louisiana didn’t show up until the third page.
Another example, if someone here said they were from Washington, most here would assume they were from the state, not the capital. But when I was back east, it was the opposite.
But since this story is meant to be understood by everyone in the country, L.A. would be better I guess. There was a time when all stories were printed and had editors checking for spelling and grammatical errors. Then the Internet arrived and now the only editors are the spell checks on the Apps.
No matter where we live, I hope we push back and resist, but do it peacefully everyone. To overreact only plays into Trumps plans.
Offhand, I can't recall ever seeing Los Angeles shortened to L.A. As a Californian for many decades, living south of LA, I disagree that LA applies only to Louisiana. The latter is a postal code. The former is well understood standard practice when referring to Los Angeles. The context makes clear just which LA is being referred to.
Make no mistake about it: Trump is trying to provoke a situation where he can declare Martial Law and suspend the Constitution. Democracy is on the line today!
Trump has always waved around the Insurrection Act of 1807. This is key to become the dictator he dreams of.
Trump and MAGA’s hatred and racism is the cause of whatever happens.
No one elected him for economic reasons or foreign policies. MAGAs voted for Trump for: hatred, fascism, racism, sexism, gender discrimination, etc. They deserve every indignity now imposed on them.
How about wearing this "Keep the immigrants, deport the racists" t-shirt in front of bigots? 🤔 👇
I like the t-shirt idea! You are totally right, it's always been getting a White Supremist in so the Christian Nationals came move on up.. We can't let anyone get out of hand and allow him to have his way. Protest, yell, sing, dance and make sure no one gets violent.
What is to stop Trump from turning the parade soldiers and equipment on the crowd gathered there to protest him? What is to stop him from ordering these parade participants to shoot into the crowd upon his order on that day? There are plenty in the military who are MAGAts and would willingly, even gleefully, shoot into a crowd they thought was against Trump.
Trump is a sadistic psychopath whose most cherished dream is to mass murder his opponents right before his eyes. He wants to wave his tiny hand from the viewing stand and order "his" soldiers to execute the crowd who dares not to support him.
Yes, but the only thing stopping them from doing that are the oaths they took when they became soldiers. The soldiers have to obey their commander, but the commander can NOT issue an order that is against the Constitution, which means they CAN NOT commit an act that is against the Constitution - even if ordered by the POTUS. This was put into their oath for just such an event, to prevent a fascist takeover. Let's hope they remember that when the time is right. They can NOT be prosecuted for refusing an unlawful order.
Correction: *every* member of the U.S. military has the legal right to refuse an unlawful order. This is not limited to their commanders. Much depends on the choices members of our military may make if given an unlawful order.
Perhaps I am naive here, but to the extent that the crowd consists of Army families, veterans, and friends who wish to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Service I can't conceive of the troops harming them. NO ONE should attend for any other reason -- fuck Trump's birthday party. There are so many other opportunities to show our No Kings sentiment -- no need to get torqued about a parade. Pace yourself! (Gonna be a long hot Summer, especially for ICE in all that heavy gear....)
That should have been planned between November and January and set in motion at 12:01 pm Jan. 20. But here we are now and so, yes, Opposition Party and I like Jay for AG.
"In the old days, protesters would be carried out on stretchers." In the tradition of Fascists, Trump has trained his followers to see violence in a positive light as long as HE is the one ordering it. He's always been denied the pleasure of inflicting physical harm - until now.
The courts have been our avenue of recourse thus far. Assuming that this national nightmare ends and the GOP is out of power at some point in the reasonably-near-future, there have been SO many laws broken and crimes committed that that Qatar 747 may end up with every seat taken up with former Trump administration officials and enablers fleeing the country.
Thank you, Jay, for taking so much of your precious time to educate us all. This is an extremely clear description of what is happening. For all of our children and grandchildren, we must peacefully protest this racist and misogynist Mad King.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to your own reps, as well as those in other states on a specific committee important to a topic you’re sharing. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
I can envision that Trump's display of brute force could easily result in another Kent State slaughter, for which Trump will have blood on his hands, though he would likely justify it as stomping out vermin.
Steve Vladeck also had a good explainer today, and he concludes:
"A lot depends on what happens next. For now, the key takeaways are that there really isn’t much that these federalized National Guard troops will be able to do—and that this might be the very reason why this is the step the President is taking tonight, rather than something even more aggressive."
Yes, that too. Hong Kong that was once a vibrant, fabulous city before Britain turned the keys back to China in 1997 has been cracking down on dissent. I weep for Taiwan. That will be next after Trump meets with Xi.
The other day Russia attacked Ukraine again, including on a playground. This after T had said we should let them fight it out on the playgrounds for a while. I can’t get this out of my mind.
Very clear writing about the very clear and unmistakable intentions of the ruling Republican regime. This is the moment they have been waiting for to justify their authoritarian policies and dictatorial impulses.
Wear a mask, sunglasses, a hat, a jacket or hoodie you don’t mind tossing, no logos on anything, a Faraday bag for your phone, which you have disabled both fingerprint/face ID, and a spare hat/sunglasses to alter your appearance quickly.
Pay attention to cameras, and change out of view of them.
And RECORD. It’s up to us to be the truth tellers because the Felon and his goons will confabulate the hell out of anything they can in order to meet their goals of total control.
I hardly think, or would like to believe that it'll never come down to an EMP from a few launched nuclear missiles into the atmosphere over the U.S. Why else would there be a need to a Faraday bag? I claim to naivete on my part when it calls for it, but in this case did I miss something? The likelihood of one's phone being fried from a magnetic pulse is far unlikely than someone who's a good shot with their handgun or rifle/carbine with or without a scope, which is the more likely scenario. Take care.
Well done, Jay, to lay out in relief the stakes here. But we always must remember that tRump, Miller, Hegseth, Noem, Homan, et al have ZERO regard for "the law", as this regime defines off its own bat what "the law" is or isn't. And if push comes to shove, we know where this crowd is capable of going...it becomes the question of: Will they really risk it? Will all of the protesting devolve into a Lafayette Park
situation where tRump's wishes of "shoot them in the legs" is actually taken up by the NG or Marines, or whoever is tasked with just that?
At this point we really don't know how far this thuggish fascism will go, but IMHO "the law" is no hindrance, as they've shown this time and time again since the day the fucking felon was sworn in.
And the 6 right-wingers on the court (no caps for them today) keep opening the gates. Remember there are at least two whose homes flew the insurrection flag @Jan 6.
It would be most helpful if we could keep ourselves focused on what we need to do under the current circumstances. How will we continue to resist this regime in spite of their worst intentions? We can continue to show up in the streets rather than cowering as they wish. We need to take action. Talking is insufficient.
It will require a more robust approach to movement discipline. Remember what we have seen again and again in our history. They will attempt to provoke us to violence. We will resist, and maintain our commitment to nonviolent resistance and refusal. We will not go away. We will not give up. If we’re smart, we’ll share tactics that we find helpful, and continue to encourage each other. But, we will win by keeping our eyes on the prize of restored democracy, and our focus on doing rather than talking.
This is just a precursor to the No Kings protests scheduled around the country next week. tRump wants to see how far he can go now, in preparation for calling Martial Law next week, call out all state's National Guards and military, and arrest thousands of protestors.
If military commanders go along, it will truly be the end of civil disobedience and the end to democracy.
Under Martial Law, tRump can suspend elections (the GOP is losing in most all special elections now), arrest any protestors, and put military on the streets.
We are now entering a phase in politics that I never thought I'd see in 75 years. This orange man-child needs to be stopped. When will Congress wake up and FUCKING DO SOMETHING?
This: "Today, Trump wants to accustom the American people to the sight of federal troops performing law enforcement activity so that, when he ultimately pulls the trigger on the Insurrection Act, there is less public resistance to the idea."
Exactly. 81 years ago, brave Americans stormed Omaha beach to fight the Nazis. Now the Nazis have taken power in America. We must resist in the streets, from LA to Harvard: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/harvard-is-defending-democracy
LA is short for Louisiana. L.A. is short for Los Angelos. Knowing the difference keeps things in perspective, so it doesn't get lost in translation. But you are absolutely correct! We HAVE to resist. Take care.
I'm not sure anyone would infer that "LA" refers to Louisiana if its used in the context of resisting Trump.
Still, correct is correct.
No, there is no absolute 'correct'. LA for Louisiana is a postal code. I've never seen it used to refer to the state of Louisiana in any other context. As others have written here, no one is going to think Louisiana when LA is clearly used in a California context.
Remember back in the day, we were instructed to insert a comma between the city and the state when writing an address? How many years since that disappeared?
Thank you, Joelle. Los Angeles is under duress, and we must stand up with the Angelenos!
I live in CA and not many would think of Louisiana if they see LA. In Louisiana it’s probably the opposite. I Googled LA and Louisiana didn’t show up until the third page.
Another example, if someone here said they were from Washington, most here would assume they were from the state, not the capital. But when I was back east, it was the opposite.
But since this story is meant to be understood by everyone in the country, L.A. would be better I guess. There was a time when all stories were printed and had editors checking for spelling and grammatical errors. Then the Internet arrived and now the only editors are the spell checks on the Apps.
No matter where we live, I hope we push back and resist, but do it peacefully everyone. To overreact only plays into Trumps plans.
You are correct of course. However I will note that we also refer to Northwest Florida as LA -- "Lower Alabama" (although usually without pride).
Just like Washington is a state. Too often Washington DC gets referred to as Washington.
I know and since that’s my birthplace, it bugs the shit out of me! It’s Los Angeles and it is L.A. not LA Louisiana.
Thank you!
Offhand, I can't recall ever seeing Los Angeles shortened to L.A. As a Californian for many decades, living south of LA, I disagree that LA applies only to Louisiana. The latter is a postal code. The former is well understood standard practice when referring to Los Angeles. The context makes clear just which LA is being referred to.
Yes, Beth. And we the people see right through his mendacity. We will not normalize his attempts to be a dictator.
Make no mistake about it: Trump is trying to provoke a situation where he can declare Martial Law and suspend the Constitution. Democracy is on the line today!
Trump has always waved around the Insurrection Act of 1807. This is key to become the dictator he dreams of.
Trump and MAGA’s hatred and racism is the cause of whatever happens.
No one elected him for economic reasons or foreign policies. MAGAs voted for Trump for: hatred, fascism, racism, sexism, gender discrimination, etc. They deserve every indignity now imposed on them.
How about wearing this "Keep the immigrants, deport the racists" t-shirt in front of bigots? 🤔 👇
https://libtees.dashery.com/products/34623496-keep-the-immigrants-t-shirt
They are not the ones having indignities imposed upon them.
I like the t-shirt idea! You are totally right, it's always been getting a White Supremist in so the Christian Nationals came move on up.. We can't let anyone get out of hand and allow him to have his way. Protest, yell, sing, dance and make sure no one gets violent.
Yes….I also think he is getting ready for his disgusting authoritarian military parade because there are going to be protests.
What is to stop Trump from turning the parade soldiers and equipment on the crowd gathered there to protest him? What is to stop him from ordering these parade participants to shoot into the crowd upon his order on that day? There are plenty in the military who are MAGAts and would willingly, even gleefully, shoot into a crowd they thought was against Trump.
Trump is a sadistic psychopath whose most cherished dream is to mass murder his opponents right before his eyes. He wants to wave his tiny hand from the viewing stand and order "his" soldiers to execute the crowd who dares not to support him.
Yes, but the only thing stopping them from doing that are the oaths they took when they became soldiers. The soldiers have to obey their commander, but the commander can NOT issue an order that is against the Constitution, which means they CAN NOT commit an act that is against the Constitution - even if ordered by the POTUS. This was put into their oath for just such an event, to prevent a fascist takeover. Let's hope they remember that when the time is right. They can NOT be prosecuted for refusing an unlawful order.
Correction: *every* member of the U.S. military has the legal right to refuse an unlawful order. This is not limited to their commanders. Much depends on the choices members of our military may make if given an unlawful order.
Perhaps I am naive here, but to the extent that the crowd consists of Army families, veterans, and friends who wish to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Service I can't conceive of the troops harming them. NO ONE should attend for any other reason -- fuck Trump's birthday party. There are so many other opportunities to show our No Kings sentiment -- no need to get torqued about a parade. Pace yourself! (Gonna be a long hot Summer, especially for ICE in all that heavy gear....)
It's a prelude to June 14
That sentence certainly struck me as well.
We should start a “shadow government” as Thom Hartmann suggests and YOU should be in it! We could have you head the DOJ. Interested?
That should have been planned between November and January and set in motion at 12:01 pm Jan. 20. But here we are now and so, yes, Opposition Party and I like Jay for AG.
"In the old days, protesters would be carried out on stretchers." In the tradition of Fascists, Trump has trained his followers to see violence in a positive light as long as HE is the one ordering it. He's always been denied the pleasure of inflicting physical harm - until now.
It is in moments like these that your extensive legal background is a treasure to us all. Thank you for this breakdown.
I would like to see lawsuits mounted against Trump for what he is doing. Along with Hegseth for his crazy statements.
The courts have been our avenue of recourse thus far. Assuming that this national nightmare ends and the GOP is out of power at some point in the reasonably-near-future, there have been SO many laws broken and crimes committed that that Qatar 747 may end up with every seat taken up with former Trump administration officials and enablers fleeing the country.
Nice to see this clear eyed view of the legal machinations being employed by our criminal president. It won’t end well for him.
I believe trump is trying to scare us off the streets before June 14th. I’m hoping this will make the turnout even bigger.
I think so too
Thank you, Jay, for taking so much of your precious time to educate us all. This is an extremely clear description of what is happening. For all of our children and grandchildren, we must peacefully protest this racist and misogynist Mad King.
Call. Write. Email. Protest peacefully. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to your own reps, as well as those in other states on a specific committee important to a topic you’re sharing. Use your voice and make some “good trouble.”
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
Thank you.
You’re welcome! Thanks for speaking up right now!
I can envision that Trump's display of brute force could easily result in another Kent State slaughter, for which Trump will have blood on his hands, though he would likely justify it as stomping out vermin.
Let us hope not. But certainly he is upping the stakes and the risks considerably.
Steve Vladeck also had a good explainer today, and he concludes:
"A lot depends on what happens next. For now, the key takeaways are that there really isn’t much that these federalized National Guard troops will be able to do—and that this might be the very reason why this is the step the President is taking tonight, rather than something even more aggressive."
Too hopeful? Time will tell.
https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/156-federalizing-the-california-national?utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
I immediately thought of Kent State yesterday.
I thought of Tiananmen (June 5 1989).
Yes, that too. Hong Kong that was once a vibrant, fabulous city before Britain turned the keys back to China in 1997 has been cracking down on dissent. I weep for Taiwan. That will be next after Trump meets with Xi.
I remember watching it as it happened in my Far East class in high school. Still brings me to tears when I think back on it.
First thing that went through my mind, L.D.
He may try to justify it that way, but that isn't how it will be seen or remembered.
The other day Russia attacked Ukraine again, including on a playground. This after T had said we should let them fight it out on the playgrounds for a while. I can’t get this out of my mind.
He’s a monster, backing another monster.
Yes and all that is good,
Both against the good in our world.
FFS. That seems to be an internet shortcut I use about every 15 minutes these days.
The irony, double standard and absurdness of Pete’s middle paragraph is incredible. Clearly that sentiment didn’t apply to Jan 6.
Fantastic explanation, as always, Jay. I am very thankful for your work.
Very clear writing about the very clear and unmistakable intentions of the ruling Republican regime. This is the moment they have been waiting for to justify their authoritarian policies and dictatorial impulses.
They do seem to be all testosteroned-up, don’t they?
Wear a mask, sunglasses, a hat, a jacket or hoodie you don’t mind tossing, no logos on anything, a Faraday bag for your phone, which you have disabled both fingerprint/face ID, and a spare hat/sunglasses to alter your appearance quickly.
Pay attention to cameras, and change out of view of them.
And RECORD. It’s up to us to be the truth tellers because the Felon and his goons will confabulate the hell out of anything they can in order to meet their goals of total control.
Wondering what the traffic cameras are capturing- will they be erased so can't be used as evidence if things get to the point of lawsuits?!
I hardly think, or would like to believe that it'll never come down to an EMP from a few launched nuclear missiles into the atmosphere over the U.S. Why else would there be a need to a Faraday bag? I claim to naivete on my part when it calls for it, but in this case did I miss something? The likelihood of one's phone being fried from a magnetic pulse is far unlikely than someone who's a good shot with their handgun or rifle/carbine with or without a scope, which is the more likely scenario. Take care.
Perhaps the Faraday bag is to prevent tracking of one's phone? Or the phone's recording any location data?
Yes
Thank you for this detailed, and thoughtful, explanation of the situation we all (not just the people of LA) face.
Thank you for this. It is useful.
Well done, Jay, to lay out in relief the stakes here. But we always must remember that tRump, Miller, Hegseth, Noem, Homan, et al have ZERO regard for "the law", as this regime defines off its own bat what "the law" is or isn't. And if push comes to shove, we know where this crowd is capable of going...it becomes the question of: Will they really risk it? Will all of the protesting devolve into a Lafayette Park
situation where tRump's wishes of "shoot them in the legs" is actually taken up by the NG or Marines, or whoever is tasked with just that?
At this point we really don't know how far this thuggish fascism will go, but IMHO "the law" is no hindrance, as they've shown this time and time again since the day the fucking felon was sworn in.
And the 6 right-wingers on the court (no caps for them today) keep opening the gates. Remember there are at least two whose homes flew the insurrection flag @Jan 6.
It would be most helpful if we could keep ourselves focused on what we need to do under the current circumstances. How will we continue to resist this regime in spite of their worst intentions? We can continue to show up in the streets rather than cowering as they wish. We need to take action. Talking is insufficient.
It will require a more robust approach to movement discipline. Remember what we have seen again and again in our history. They will attempt to provoke us to violence. We will resist, and maintain our commitment to nonviolent resistance and refusal. We will not go away. We will not give up. If we’re smart, we’ll share tactics that we find helpful, and continue to encourage each other. But, we will win by keeping our eyes on the prize of restored democracy, and our focus on doing rather than talking.
This is just a precursor to the No Kings protests scheduled around the country next week. tRump wants to see how far he can go now, in preparation for calling Martial Law next week, call out all state's National Guards and military, and arrest thousands of protestors.
If military commanders go along, it will truly be the end of civil disobedience and the end to democracy.
Under Martial Law, tRump can suspend elections (the GOP is losing in most all special elections now), arrest any protestors, and put military on the streets.
We are now entering a phase in politics that I never thought I'd see in 75 years. This orange man-child needs to be stopped. When will Congress wake up and FUCKING DO SOMETHING?
Thank you for giving us such a clear understanding about the issue. And I will protest loudly and often.