The violence of the Trump fascist state is about to be exposed for all the world to see. Do not respond with violence. His hands are bloody. We must keep ours clean.
Yes, protest even more now. But peacefully. Follow Gandhi, follow MLK Jr., follow John Lewis. Raise our voices together but with clean hands. If you hold something, hold a sign or a flower. Not a gun. If violence from an agitator breaks out nearby you, sit down.
I was physically sick when I saw the videos of our own military attacking our own citizens. It reminded me very much of the anti-war protests in the 1960s.
But Robert is correct. We must keep our heads and we must protest peacefully, as John Lewis did and as Martin Luther King did. MLK lost his life to an assassin. But John Lewis lived to become a national hero throughout the rest of his life.
Trump wants us angry. Trump wants us to be violent. This is exactly how he pushes us to be. He wants us to be like him because that’s the only way he knows how to deal with other people.
That gives the military a reason to fire on its own citizens. But I don’t know how we will stop this. People are angry. They are upset to the core that their neighbors and friends are being rounded up this way. No due process. Snatched out of their jobs. Snatched off the streets. Pulled from their own homes. Pulled from their cars, sometimes leaving their children, alone and crying.
I often wondered what I would do as a teacher if military ever invaded our schools and tried to pull children out. I don’t know what I would do. Could I be brave enough to stand up to them? Could I be brave enough to say they cannot take children without their parents’ permission? This is what we are instructed to do in our everyday behavior as teachers. We are told not to let children leave without anyone who is not their parent or guardian. Could I be arrested for standing up to the military taking children? Probably.
But others have been arrested as well. That all just breaks my heart because I have never been pushed this far. I asked our parish priest what I can do to stifle my hatred. He said to be my better self. And to pray for people who are not their better selves. I don’t know if prayer works that way. But I know that the only person I can control is me.
A great post, Donna. A beautiful, thoughtful, honest post. I also lived through the 1960s. Fascism has risen again and is indeed armed and prowling the streets of Los Angeles.
This is a test case to see how much they can get away with. They want to terrorize us into submission. We must raise our voices even louder.
There are many ways of being brave. And I already know that you are one of the brave.
Thank you, Michael. I feel buoyed when I read posts from people like you. I don’t know what is going to happen to us or to this country. But I do know that I don’t want my children or my grandchildren to live like this. My father fought against the Nazis and the fascists in World War II. I am embarrassed that our own nation has become the very thing that he fought against 80 years ago.
How DARE these current, residing in this country, POS brown shirts/wannabe Waffen SS scumbags claim to be 'patriots' when they are demanding precisely what REAL TRUE patriots fought fiercely against, and died/were seriously injured fighting against some 85 years ago.
They are worse than desecrating the graves of those absolutely courageous, actual patriots!
The Brown Shirts, sorry I mean ICE and HSI must have already rounded up all the violent criminals which is surprising and are now going after the low hanging fruit in a more aggressive manner then they need to do. Who's next? Us real Americans that believe in the Constitution? Our response won't be so muted!💪⚔️👊🪖 If they start going in that direction they better think before they act.
'WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TROOPS EVERYWHERE' OK, Donald Trump picture millions of people moving toward you and no amount of forces being able to stop them. That's the picture you should get in your head, 1000 times worst then the insurrection you created. Somebody ought to take this guy off his high chair before he hurts himself!!!
2. Recruit ----------------- Any non-voter that you know and convince him or her why they should be protesting and voting.
3. Boycott ---------------- Companies of CEO's & Exec. Officers who attended the Inauguration: Tesla, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon/Amazon Prime, Apple Computer/Apple TV, TikTok, Google and others https://www.goodsuniteus.com/
4. Call/E-mail/Message -------------- all Republican Senators & Congressman and remind them how poorly their leader is polling and that they will never get another vote from you as long as this nonsense continues.
Because he is a documented traitor. He is a spy for Russia. Why do you think he had all those boxes of classified documents in his possession. I want to see what’s in Ivankas icoffin.
The 2 tyrants were drooling 🤤🤤 for this moment to happen. Bring in the National Guard, put the Marines on alert. What's next? Aim the nuclear warheads at Los Angeles. OVERKILL! I'm waiting for "Martial Law". If that happens look out!!!!
There are a handful of powerful Americans who could put an end to this authoritarian, fascist takeover and the escalating brutality. Yet, their silence is deafening. One can only conclude that these men and women are no longer interested in upholding democracy. They have implicitly embraced a different future, not only for their children and grandchildren but for all Americans. They are fine with the illegal and gruesome agenda that is the 'trump regime', they are okay with a madman, criminal dictator burning the country to the ground. They have the power to stop the insanity, stop the destruction, but they do nothing, say nothing.
Republicans in Congress: Fascists, collaborators, cowards and morons.
IF there is a 'history' to be written or told after this demonic regime gets through with this country!
It bewilders me that those said Repugnaf**ks actually believe that THEY will be safe once their power is totally obliterated by their putrid orange POS fuehrer, and his sadistic regime.
Are they THAT blinded by their current power, position/'status', and grifting wealth that they cannot see how this scumbag despot throws EVERYONE under the SCUMp CHUMP Train's wheels once they have served their purpose in aiding and abetting his crimes?!?
He may even follow his mentor (Hitler) and actually have them eliminated, just to make sure that they cannot gain secondary power and challenge him.
Not just scared sh*tless of the sadistic demon they helped promote and enable (he was 'created' long before them so they cannot claim 'credit' for that), but brain dead, and dumber than effing rocks, every single effing one of them!!
I am a lifelong Democrat who is disgusted with our so called leaders. Comments condemning the fascists and offering up amendments to bills that provide the completion of the fascist take over are not enough. Senators can hold the floor in protest until they are hauled out and then another senator takes his place. The people cannot be in the streets risking their lives while our representatives are sitting pretty in the senate.
And even their rhetoric is lame. Paragraphs instead of sound bites. The Dems have learned NOTHING about messaging.
Governors have power. They need to order their state guard to not comply with illegal orders out of DC.
Do not forget that federal law is the supreme law of the land. Only Congress and the federal courts have the authority to stop Trump. Dems in Congress are in the minority, and are powerless unless some Republicans join them. Giving in to anger and frustration is self defeating.
My understanding is that they way this was done, it was legal, even though Governor Newsom didn't request National Guard assistance. The local police had not said they could not handle the situation. I am worried about my neighbors. They are here to work. The crime rate for immigrants is reportedly lower than for non-immigrants. There is no border emergency.
Agree partly with what you said, “There are a handful of powerful Americans who could put an end to this authoritarian, fascist takeover and the escalating brutality. Yet, their silence is deafening. One can only conclude that these men and women are no longer interested in upholding democracy.”
No, they are just ignorant. Governor Newsom, the California attorney general, and the California legislature can create and enforce a new law in California, which is a state controlled by Democrats. In 3 months, California, by enforcing the new law, can begin to stop Trump and the Republican agenda by taking back the House in 3 months, stop the Big Beautiful Bill, stop the tax cuts, stop the Medicare cuts, and arrest ICE agents in California.
How? Newsom needs to recognize there is an insurrection underway not in California, but by Trump and Republicans.
In 3 months, California can enforce the law to arrest the 9 Republican representatives in the House from California, remove them, and enable Democrats to control the House.
Yes, Judith, they want to change the nature of the country, and that requires imposing their vision on the rest of the population, by brute force if necessary. What Trump is doing now was planned long ago.
I also have children and I want them to live long and happy lives and have children of their own. I am with you, Donna, every step of the way as we march in protest together against the fascist Trump regime.
I also protested in the 60's and can't believe we need to do this again and even much more so! Michael, you, Donna and Peggy so inspire me when I start to lose hope. I will be marching and protesting together with you three and hopefully millions of others on June 14th on No Kings Day against this fascist Trump regime. Thank you all for being here in our community of kindred souls fighting for freedom and our democracy. MLK and John Lewis are 2 of my heroes whom I so look up to.
Thank you, Lilla, both for being a witness and participant in our long history of resistance, and for being part of today’s protests that will help bring down this fascist attempt to overthrow our democracy, and then restore it with even stronger and better guarantees of freedom and liberty.
Lilly I’m right with you, protested in the 60s and 70s. Can’t believe in my 70s I’m doing it again, most important! I will be with you all and here in California, and hopefully millions nationwide and worldwide. Legacy media isn’t covering much of anything, but The Guardian does, and other overseas media. There is so much going on in the world that gets no press! And that is part of the feeling of isolation. WE ARE SEEN and heard outside the US, and we need to know that truth!
Exactly. My family didn't fight against them, they were burned in chimneys by them. So I have been fighting fascism my entire life. I never imagined it would infest and invade our country, but growing up in Kansas in the 50s I saw so much anti-semitism and racism and hatred of non-whites.
The ignorant people who avoid educating themselves about history, are the ones repeating it today.
We will rise up again. The storm is coming. June 14 is our new D-Day, Democracy-Day. I hope the world joins us.
It does pay to read and be aware of the world outside our borders. I recall the fascination of the MidWesterners we met on our camping trips in the 1980's with our 3 Kiwi kids and our strange accents. Simple, kind people, but aghast that we had come from over the sea. Might as well have been from outer space. Most had no passports and had never viewed the ocean. But then we have a great exception. Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin and didn't have a passport and never saw the sea during his formative years. But he left that cabin with the wisdom that changed America. What was the difference? He read everything he could get his great long hands on!
Thanks Beverley! I grew up in Kansas in the 50s. My parents wanted my sister and me to go to college, and out of state. We did. They used to bring in international students and we had people from India and elsewhere stay in our home for a few days from time to time. I collected stamps and loved the idea of all these other countries. Studied lots of languages as a kid.
Yes my parents emphasized education as the ticket to freedom and a good life, the conservative American values but with a liberalism unusual for the times. My classmates are all compassionate, open minded people.
So yes we were fascinated that you would, and could, come all the way across the ocean, as we Kansans were so landlocked. But it was the love of learning and the curiosity about what it is to be human, in all our diversity and promise, that is so missing in today’s younger generations.
That is what we have to keep alive, and that is what this regime is trying to take away — the beauty and the holiness of what it means to be human.
I wonder if there’s any evidence that right wing provocateurs are instigating or exacerbating the violence? We know trump wants to invoke martial law….
I agree and I'm 'afwaid, vewy vewy afwaid' that that is just what he'll do on 6/14, when (not if) WE THE PEOPLE protest massively & by the millions, all over this country, because he 'want's to and has been itching to do so~' to protect HIS view of Amerika ~ ~
All carry flowers and lie down, en masse, at the first sign of violence. holding your flower up. A sea of flowers. This will look fabulous on world television. It will be remembered as the floral revolution.
I have a sick feeling that most of the people aware of the danger of autocrats, oligarchs, theocrats are past the age of 55 years-old.
So many of writers on Meidas and elsewhere, people at protests, town halls etc. are gray haired.
Young people are protesting about their own individual issues-Palestine, LGBTQ, Unions, Immigrants while the institutions and laws that protect our rights and freedoms are attacked in every way possible.
We are not going to make a difference without passionate, relentless young people in the Resistance outnumbering the grandmas and grandpas.
Who will wake them up? Get them off their phones and computers? Make them look at the consequences of their inaction at this crucial test of our democracy and representation.
Yes we are older en masse — we’ve been through Vietnam, Kent State, Cambodia, MLK, Kennedy assassination … and mostly white.
We need this to be intergenational, or it won’t stick, it won’t be sustainable. You are absolutely spot on Becca. Get them out of their devices and into this world, or there will be no world for them to even reach our age.
That’s an excellent point, Becca. I’m gray haired myself, and, although my children are well aware of what is going on, I just cannot seem to get them to invest their time and energy into resisting the regime. They seem to live in a local bubble of personal denial.
Michael bless you for trying! Keep at it … at some point it will become personal for them, and you are obviously engaged and setting an example of what it means to be American. I’m sorry you are having to watch your own children not invest … because they very well may not reach our age if they don’t wake up soon. Not a dig at your children, but I see that generation in tremendous denial as well.
Dear Robert, I follow you, read you every day, and greatly respect you. I'm a member of your generation, protesting since the '60s. Of course we must stand up, and of course we must do it peacefully. But PLEASE don't tell people to sit down in front of armored vehicles. We have no reason to think T's secret police and military would hesitate to literally crush us. Let's be thoughtfu in our resistance.
We are NOT dealing with a rational or principled government anymore.
I doubt that he meant to sit down in front of armored vehicles. Rather, sit down on the ground so you don't appear to be aggressive. That's what the civil rights fighters did. Peaceful resistance. It's also what Gandhi did.
I’ve read in other Substacks that sitting down is the exact wrong thing to do, but I forget their argument. It’s easy to haul people away if they’re sitting down. I don’t have a solution because law enforcement is/can be lawlessness enforcement, as we see.
I agree with you, Ann, when armoured vehicles are employed. But we all still recall the man in front of the row of tanks in Tiananmen Square! He was standing, mind you.
Thank you, Donna, for getting us back on track. I would add -- don't inundate yourself watching his hateful and hate-filled face, his whiney voice -- we never want to become a trump .... but emulate John Lewis, making Good Trouble.
John Lewis was leading peaceful, well organized protests against the violation of American civil rights. The current LA protests, obviously spontaneous, have turned violent and disorderly, and they defend foreigners, most of them who evidently are here illegally. Do not confuse the two! Defending illegals is gifting Trump.
It is not illegal to request asylum. That was approved by Congress and signed by either Truman or Eisenhower. (I don't recall whether it was in late 1940s or early 1950s).
Furthermore, we need the immigrants who come to work. They are doing work that Americans do not want to do.
People also should not forget that Loser Taco Don is a COWARD. He never served his country. I bet, if physically confronted by someone clearly stronger than him, he would back down very quickly. You won’t find him out on the streets fighting with “his” troops, just as happened on January 6, even though he pretended to try. Robert Reich is absolutely right about demonstrating peacefully, and the idea of sitting in the ground when some other demonstrators become violent is an excellent one.
I believe Trump is no longer exercising policy control. He is a good puppet and performs well on camera (unless he speaks off-script). Vought probably controls economics (and profits from on-again off-again tariff impact on stocks and bonds). Lucifer wannabe Stephen Miller is the Man Slightly Behind the Curtain for immigration. If Hegseth is actually controlling DOD, we are the walking dead.
The Head Teacher/manager should not allow strangers on school premises so you as a class teacher are protected. Or should be. If the manager does not protect staff then staff must unite to protect students. This reign of terror will pass, and, when it does, you need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror. Courage!
The price that people who protest are having to pay is high and not just in the States. Environmental protesters are being hammered with unduly heavy sentences across Europe, including here in the UK.
Yes—I can’t believe this is happening in England! It’s appalling that we can’t protest against government policies we find objectionable without fear of arrest and imprisonment.
I agree that there should be right to protest. However, some people use this as an excuse to attack the police. I abhor this as well as locking people up for expressing their beliefs. Colin UK citizen.
Indeed—I’ve been reading about this. There have always been people among us who love violence and will use any excuse to justify it, and they deserve to be punished for that.
The previous Conservative government introduced harsh legislation against protests that even banned noisy protests. It was criticised by Labour politicians for its heavy-handedness but since they've been in power the Labour party has shown no inclination to repeal the legislation or at least amend it. Indeed, they have continued to implement its harsh penalties.
Then they shouldn't have voted for it. Ignorance and being "under informed" is the curse here. Folks spend more time watching the "Housewives" of whatever than they will read and learn. Here we are. I hope this engages people who other wise thought this could "never" happen.
Thank you Donna for sharing such a heartfelt and courageous reflection. Your words hold both deep sorrow and immense strength.
I think many of us are grappling with similar questions — how to stay grounded when everything feels like it is unraveling, how to keep our hearts open when fear and injustice are all around us. Your honesty about that internal struggle, especially as a teacher and protector of children, resonates so powerfully.
You are not alone in wondering how to be brave or how to stay compassionate when compassion feels like it might break us. But even asking these questions, even pausing to reflect, to pray, to choose care over hate, is already a powerful act of resistance. It is a step toward the kind of world we are all longing for.
And while none of us knows exactly how this will unfold, what gives me hope is that people like you are thinking, feeling, and standing up even when it hurts. That is how change begins.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. We have only to look back to Kent State. The National Guard are part time soldiers, who are not sufficiently trained for such duty. Each guardsmen come with their own biases and beliefs that can influence their response to the situation.
He has been itching for this. It is the project 2025 playbook. The cruelty is meant to induce fear, which is the whole point of this unnecessary action. A lot of the Latinos are especially angry because he played to them with his lies and some of them fell for it. As a teacher myself, I think we would be targeted as well in a situation like that. Usually, in authoritative regimes, professors and teachers are killed or silenced in any number of ways. They are a threat to the dictator's narrative. I hope we don't reach that point, but it is moving in that direction. We all need to prepare.
I'm reading this from the safety of my hideaway in the far north-west Scottish Highlands. It's a sunny day, but there's an unusually chilly westerly breeze, so it's no more than 10 degrees C, when 15-20 should be expected.
Your highly perceptive take and analysis has just made my own thermometer drop a few more degrees. I suppose I should be grateful to you, and I am, but you've just made me feel worse. Thanks a bunch!
I prayed at the prayers of the faithful at Mass today "that we may commit more deeply to non-violence as we protest injustice and try to help the vulnerable who need us most". There are many nonviolent models for us, including Dorothy Day, and The Berrigan brothers, and John Dear. We also can follow the Quakers' modeling. I have a great book I am reading about their witness over the past two centuries, in nonviolent ways. It is called Practicing Peace, by Catherine Whitmire.
What I want to ask here is, what would YOU do if masked and armed people came to YOUR community, when you've already SEEN that they consistently detain, imprison, and deport to horrific places WITHOUT any due process? Would YOU just "lock hands and chant"??? This is an EASY question for those of us not in their position.
In 1970, four students were killed and nine injured in the infamous Kent State shootings. At the time, over 70% of Americans blamed the students. And yet here we are again with a populist president using heavy-handed tactics against protesters. History shows us that eternal vigilance is required against reactionary forces.
I lived through that day and the next, when black students were murdered at Jackson State.
I remember, as if it were yesterday, the outpouring of horror and anger that followed. It was the catalyst that finally turned public opinion decisively against an unjust foreign war.
But evil doesn't want to die. And today we face the immeasurably more vile evil of a government preparing to go to war in its own land, against its own peoples.
We put our bodies on the line in 1970 as youths with our whole lives before us. Now, in my 70s, I have comparatively little to lose. My grandchildren are too young to stand against armed troops, but I'll gladly stand on their behalf to give them the life free from tyranny that is their birthright.
I also stand for nonviolence -- as I did then -- and pray it carries the day. Because if peaceful protest becomes impossible, violent revolution becomes inevitable.
YES! Four of us over 80's take our signs to the street three evenings a week 4:30 -6 and wave at the two job household cars with kids in day care, and the single occupant vehicles between job and kid pick up, who do not have time to protest, or make phone calls and write letters. We do this for them and they wave, toot horns, and yell out "thank you". We are all in this together and need to know others have our backs. We get an occasional IQ salute and remember to smile with compassion for those who know they have single digit wisdom.
Some people seem to want this sort of violent outcome. The January 6 2021 Capitol riot failed to develop into a full-blown insurrection. There were all kinds of gloomy prognostications of civil war before Trump upset the far right applecart by winning the 2024 election under an electoral system he and the far right had denounced as thoroughly corrupt. No such accusations of election tampering followed his victory, only the usual whining about what happened in 2020. Now far right extremism appears to have gone mainstream in America.
Russell, thank you for sharing this article which features the Southern Poverty Law Center showing how hate groups have worked effectively to normalize extremism in the U.S. Thinking people need to employ facts to countermand this program of fear and hate before this country self-destructs.
Thanks for the comment ! Admittedly, I didn't recall this incident as strongly as Kent State. A reminder of those years. Serving in the USN and onboard a ship we were sheltered a lot from the news. I always think of '68 being a good year to be out of the country as I was a 1000 miles away in Guam for half the year...Martin Luther, Robert F, riots in California!
The whole country was in turmoil then over the meaning of patriotism and the meaning of freedom, issues that you've never satisfactorily resolved. Now you're having to confront the same issues again.
I still remember the anguished protest of the father of one of the slain students calling out Nixon! Unfortunately the Maga goons (it was not called Maga then) shouted him down, and his cry for justice was drowned out!
Kent State lesson: don't demonize, disrespect the men in uniform, especially at the time when you protest the treatment of foreigners. If you do, you will be perceived as unpatriotic, or, even worse, as a traitor.
That's a good point, Laurie. Trump's politics are the politics of resentment and retribution. He reacts impulsively to events. But he's faced a number of stumbling blocks to his plans. His tariffs policy has caused consternation in capital markets and lowered investor confidence. His many lawless executive orders have foundered in the courts. His relationship with his and his party's biggest donor has imploded with serious implications for the midterms next year. These are all failures of one sort or another, but I agree with you that he doesn't do crafted policies so perhaps to describe them as policy failures was charitable on my part.
Reminded me of The Nixon Years “Four Dead In Ohio “ .
Perhaps If The ICE Nazis were Met With Rifles held By Citizens instead of rocks we could Get Some Relief …
Cops particularly cops (ice) are the People Most Afraid of Others With Guns… Governor Newsom Just Ended his Presidential Bid with a Call for The National Guard…
Neither rocks nor rifles. If we meet violence with violence, we will be shot down by the dozens, by the hundreds, and troops will move into every major city. The fascist Trump regime is just waiting for an excuse, an opportunity like that.
The Phrase “ By Any Means Necessary “ Comes To Mind History Doesn’t Repeat Itself But Sometimes It Rhymes…
If this keeps Up Taco Bell In Dodge Kansas will be out of Business along with The Largest Meat Packing Plant in the USA…. That Town and Industry were Heavily populated by non American citizens…
Trumpet 🎺 wants to Rule Like a King By Fiat ; Simply By Opening His Mouth and Signing his name on a piece of Paper Trumpet 🎺 Believes That’s How He Should Run The Country: His Way and No one Else Should Speak …
Plus he hopes to embarrass Newsom . Trumpet 🎺 is a Real Wanker …
I’m afraid civilians with guns would just provoke them to engage and kill people. If someone somewhere has a large organized militia committed to delicate operations, that’s a different story. 👹
If I was Shooter and wanted to Use Violence to Stop Violence I Would be trying to Disable people with masks and No Visible Badge Number no Warrent .
I would use Shots to Feet Knees Legs Arms to Protect MY Family and Friends from The Geheime Staatspolizei, abbreviated (Gestapo,)was the official secret police of Nazi Germany.
The Gestapo Has No Place In The America I Grew Up In…
Everyone has To Defend Themselves The Best Way They Know How The Rule Of Law seems to Be Dead … The Orange Deranged Man-Baby TACO 🎺 is KING AND HIS ROYAL COURT OF CRONIES ARE IN CHARGE of Congress, The Senate, The Supream Court the Dept of Justice Everywhere …
I will soon be (oh gulp) 90, getting a bit tottery in a crowd or on uneven pavements, and have only attended 1 demonstration back in the Eugene McCarthy days. That said, I will be out June 14th armed with a cane and your ACLU advice and hope there is no need for any of us to have to use it for our defense. This man is too ill to hold any office and we are all fools if we let him continue!
Might I suggest that you have a walker or rollator. You should find this much safer than a cane and will give you a seat to rest if needed. This is a tip from a friend with MS.
Beryl, I admire your courage and dedication but please stay home! I am 80 and recovering from surgery so i cannot be out protesting but even if I could, I wouldn’t. Stay home. Be active on social media. Donate to the ACLU, local organizations supporting our freedom, make signs for the protestors, donatw to your local Democratic Party, donate money for supplies. There’s a lot we oldies can do from home. We need to be smart in these times not at risk of injury to ourselves.
I agree. Those of us who are mobility impaired, have the potential to be a problem for those who feel a need to help us. Yes, I miss being able to participate in peaceful demonstrations, but I would be more of a problem than a help.
We need everyone who can be out to be out, but, yes, personal safety is essential. Find some people in your community to go with. Contact protest organizers about safety measures. For example, my local protests always ask people with mobility issues start near the front of the march so the rest of us can be alert and responsive to any emergencies.
The whole world is watching, this story led the news on this side of the Atlantic. Some actions speak for themselves, the pictures tell the story…
I’m no expert on the history of California, but my impression is that Spanish speaking Europeans were the first to settle/colonise the region. At the very least it suggests a little care should be shown on the question of who has the right to be there…
Care needs to be taken by countries with different populations and languages living within their borders. Canada learned long ago that the French speakers of Quebec should be given a greater degree of autonomy than the rest of Canada, they were literally a different people. Long after this administration is gone California will be a part of America whose history did not start with the Mayflower.
There are rumbles of California, Oregon and Washington joining Canada though I don’t know how they would achieve this. As a Former California resident for 57 years, I think that’s quite a nice idea. I’ve seen comments that many Canadians are open to this. I have Mexican-American in-laws in California and I’m scared for them now.
Yes, they are the First People even though disoriented migrants from Europe thought they were in South Asia. The First People were not initially hostile and did not attempt to deport them to...someplace else.
Totally agree, the region was settled long before any Europeans arrived - I tried to suggest that the Spanish arrived as settlers or colonisers, implying it was already populated. My point was that any government in N or S America needs to tread lightly when it comes to the original populations.
The unceded land has a history that predates any vessel with pilgrims from europe however the influence of European immigrants was different in California than it was in Massachusetts
Move away from outside agitators. Encircle them from a distance if you can. Isolate them. Sit down with empty hands. Call them out. Let everyone nearby know what is happening. Document their actions with photos and video. Capture their faces. Off the top of my head, these are some of the tactics that have been suggested. I’m sure there are more.
Know where the protest will be held. Reconnoiter it. Know where the security forces are and arrayed. be observant at all times. Understand that deliberate planned violence is a tactic used to provide a pretext for security to advance upon the protest and sew panic within it. Know the lines of advance of security forces. This will be from 2 or 3 sides. Know where the lines of retreat from it are. always have someone who does not attend and their phone number written on the back of your hand that you can call if you are arrested. Protection from tear gas is advised.
The intentions of this fascist president and his cronies are quite clear. They intend to suppress and oppress everyone who doesn’t totally submit.
They intend to totally overthrow our democracy and constitution and replace it with an imperial christian white supremacist dictatorship.
They intend to reduce the population by destroying our health care system, modern medicine and science. They intend to destroy public education, kill independent thought and art. They intend to rule by force and fear.
Yes, Michael, this is precisely what they hope to accomplish, but going back to the Dark Ages will result in chaos and failure. They count on Catholics and Evangelicals to provide stability, and this is why we must appeal to all religions in our resistance to fascism, which is secular in essence. Hopefully Pope Leo XIV will speak with authority and conviction.
"Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice." - Attorney General Robert F Kennedy
I will never forget the DNC in 1968. It was a fascinating time that influenced me and my friends for the rest of our lives. We had lost giants in Civil Rights and in politics to violence and the peaceful protest was giving way. From Weathermen to the Weather Underground.
I have learned that the best way, albeit more deliberate in its pace, is the way of the peaceful protestor.
The articles and comments provide excellent advice on what to do if/when the instigators appear at a peaceful demonstration.
Thank you for this powerful reminder. It resonates deeply. What’s unfolding in Los Angeles is not just a test of policy or politics—it’s a test of our collective conscience. The response we choose now will echo far beyond this moment.
Is this so banal that Miller motivated it in a fit of pique over his wife running off with Musk ‽ Or is Musk's departure is a lame effort to divert attention from this kind of thing? Once again, the timing of events is - or at least, seems - fishy.
Indeed, the most effective way to protest this unlawful occupation of Los Angeles is for 20 to 40 thousand Angelinos to surround the National Guard, members of ICE enforcement, and LAPD in total silence. Please do not give the opposition any reason to harm those peacefully and legally using their 1st Amendment rights. We have the "numbers" of people on our side. Trump has a few thousand California-raised National Guard soldiers, some of whom are not supportive of Trump and his hellions.
California is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger that Bunkerboy's "federal gub'ment." THEY will be okay with the support of us AMERICANS - 75%+ of the countryty - Bunkerboy and it's regime of exceptional children will NOT.
They may be watching us, but there’s nothing that can be done. And, now that the budget has been passed, we will be overrun with ICE agents and they’ll never leave!
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 agree, but I also think we can cause little ripples. I’m thinking staff members who hear the same thing over and over via voicemail, phone calls, letter after letter, email after email - maybe they’ll be a little more receptive each time they hear from us. Maybe they’ll talk more about our talking points to friends and family, maybeeee they’ll vote differently (if we get to vote again). I think we can cause ripples to push news organizations to be more honest and maybe even a bit accusatory about what’s happening. As a collective, our volume matters. And, at the end of the day, if we just annoy and overwhelm some staffers working for people hurting the average American, I’m ok with that too 🙃
Kudos to you, Laura! Know that we are behind you and support you! We are all big mad and will not back down to this tyrant! Keep protesting peacefully, Laura! Stay strong and stay safe!
What a terrible situation. Trump is an insane convicted criminal and we have him as president. I still cannot understand why 77 million people voted for him. Anyone paying attention knew that he should not be president and that if he was it would be total chaos. This country is a mess and we still have three years and five months to go. Awful.
The Fox faux news propaganda network indoctrinates. The MAGA folk hear lies
repeatedly. Shades of Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the nuclear codes are in the hands of a man who is mentally and psychologically diminished. Scary times. Please keep speaking out the truth, peacefully and nonviolently.
Ag, this video from Greg Palast with Thom Hartmann may be the most important entry since the real rigged election of 2024, the day that will live in infamy. Greg has the credentials of a bona fide statistical analyst and has assembled a folio of data to invalidate drumpf's spurious claims. This hearkens to the Wisconsin Supreme Court election of 2020 in which the liberal candidate won the vacating seat. With respect to the Wis. GOP's efforts to subvert the vote, Dem. Gov. Tony Evers wisely quipped "this is the Wild West",
Also look at Election Truth Alliance & SMART Elections, showing it went beyond voter suppression & purges, but likely included vote manipulation at the tabulation stage.
Three years and five months seems like a lifetime to me, Richard! I guess because I am old and don't have a lot of years left. Instead of looking at that timeline, I focus on the mid-term elections coming up and am working non-stop to help my candidates get elected. If we can win a majority in the House and Senate, we can stop the orange man in his tracks. Until such time as he is stymied, we must continue to resist and fight as hard as we know how! Write letters, sign petitions, make phone calls and PROTEST loudly! Make sure you tell everyone you know how important it is to get out there on June 14 and protest "NO KINGS"! Keep fighting America! Stay strong and stay safe!
I agree Peggy. I am old also, but find that my gas tank is pretty low now and don't have much energy or fight left. Take too many naps. Thought I could just rest and relax these last few years but watching this Trump disaster has ruined that.
I know! It ruined my golden years, too, Richard! Once again I found myself donning my "activist" shoes and getting back to work. Instead of being able to putter around in my garden, go to the theatre or any of the other myriad things I truly want to do, I am writing letter after letter to my congressmen, judges, the orange man, etc., making phone calls, signing petitions and taking my trusty sign to every protest I can find near me! We can protest and fight in our own way, Richard! Stay strong and stay safe!
Congress has the legal power and responsibility to pass laws and to represent the wants, needs and desires of the majority of their constituents. Congress can remove an errant POTUS from office. Congress can rewrite the Constitution.
The Congress of the past 45 years has been supporting a mostly right-wing agenda that favors the wealthy. Much of the current Congress enjoys the support of the sponsorship that also supports Trump. So, it should come as no surprise that Congress and the SCOTUS are allowing, if not enabling, Trump to do whatever he is doing.
The armed forces are not supposed to obey illegal orders. Congress makes the laws and the SCOTUS determines which laws are “legal” versus “unconstitutional”. The members of Congress and SCOTUS are civil servants that must bow to their masters— the people of the USA, not just the billionaires and mega-millionaires.
The point is that the masses must direct their anger at the billionaires, mega-millionaires and their lackeys in Congress. Trump is a distraction — a geriatric maniac whose days are numbered. Trump is near the end of his actuarial life expectancy. The billionaires, mega-millionaires and their legacies will live on. Trump’s corporate sponsors are theoretically immortal.
All members of Congress know this, but only a few “Progressives” have been willing to poke at this. As a result, they have been castigated by the DNC. The DNC has been an opponent of the working class since at least 1944, but not as blatant as the RNC that gave them Trump.
There was an article in the NYTs about a meeting the Dems had where they seem to believe the answer was to be more moderate or even conservative to embrace the Blue Dogs and to refute the progressives. We forget that we would not have SS, Medicare,Medicaid, ACA, Civil Rights or a myriad of other programs without the pesky Progressives.
All of those programs were opposed by many Democrats.
The ACA, unfortunately, was written by the insurance industry to satisfy the Republicans. It is nowhere near FDR’s vision of healthcare coverage for all Americans.
Too many Americans are ignorant of the related history. The billionaire-owned mass media — including the NYT — and the public schools deliberately don’t inform them.
ACA in that form was all they could get. There were far more blue Dogs then. Some of the more progressive Dems wanted more and tried to oppose the conservative package.
Do you have the inside scoop on this, CK?? Someone sent me a response listing the substances Trump takes, or did take. But I could not find my way back to that comment and I had never heard of them. Does he take legally prescribed drugs?
I’m not privy to Trump’s medical conditions or intake substances other than public information about eating at McDonald’s.
As the POTUS, he has access to some of the most advanced medical care in the world, if he wants or needs it. As a billionaire, he has access to any legal or illegal substances that may suit his fancy.
As a geriatric male who doesn’t appear to be in good physical condition, he may be experiencing any of a variety of physical ailments that are very common to any American of his age. As such, he probably is on some regimen of medications. Literally all of my associates— male and female— at my local Senior Center are taking some kinds of prescription medications.
“As of 2023, the average life expectancy for males in the United States is approximately 75.8 years.” He has already exceeded that number of years. He’ll be celebrating his 79th birthday, next week. His younger brother died at the age of 71 years. His biological clock is running out of time.
His general public behavior and incoherent speech indicate that he is not “all right” despite what his handlers may be telling the world.
Of course, we can say the same about Joe Biden and about many members of Congress over the age of 70 years. Bernie Sanders is a rare exception.
If someone takes Trump out, I would think that would put a "little bit" of the fear of God in the rest of them too!!! And there are always going to be more of us than them as well!
Your assessments are spot on, Richard, except that this country will not have anything but rigged elections by 2028, as drumpf and his minions are seeing to it. Note the post by Agnotologian a few entries along which references the video from Greg Palast about voter suppression. The 2024 election was ripped from us by drumpf, pure and simple.
No the 2024 election was not ripped from us by drumpf. It was lost because of Americans’ stupidity, bigotry and laziness. No one listened to what Harris was saying. When I spoke to people, nobody had looked up, checked any info on what her programs were. They couldn’t say why they didn’t like her, but there was just “something”. Many said they didn’t really like trump but they liked his policies, although they could not name any. I live in a farm area, we are dependent on immigrants, documented, undocumented, illegal, we would be up the proverbial creek without them. But the people here are too dumb to understand, they buy into the garbage being spewed. The irony is that if these immigrants stayed, settled in became citizens, the country would probably move more conservative. Just look at the Latino population who thought trump was great (so macho) until he went after their own families.
Kathleen, I agree with most of your points, but I am compelled by keen witnesses to current events as well as by my personal observations to stand with my statement with a clarification: The 2024 election was ripped from us by trump and his key players like Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, and Russell Vought, and by dark money, pure and simple. The rip is twofold. First, in swing states like Wisconsin where I live, the most vicious and libelous ad campaign I have ever seen was waged by trump's big backers against Harris. The weak of mind were easily played by this tactic, which constitutes a form of voter theft and is one reason that big money should be barred from politics. Second, a statistical analysis of the systematic purging of minorities from voter rolls has been performed by the investigative reporter Greg Palast as he reviewed the voting results in swing states respective to race. Please look at his interview with Thom Hartmann from Feb. 2025 which you may find to be informative. This smacks of the type of voter manipulation which may have allowed for G.W. Bush to be installed into the presidency by his brother Jeb in the 2000 election. The predators who operate behind the scenes of election dynamics will do anything to win.
I understand where you are coming from. My family was military. I was the youngest and only girl among all cousins. We were raised to take responsibility for your actions or inaction. You were expected to look after those younger, weaker or anyone in your charge. When as a callow 21 year old I was bemoaning how cruelly I was treated by an ex boyfriend to my favorite uncle. His response was, Honey, you are free, white and 21, DO NOT blame anyone else for your poor choices. It was a bucket of cold water, just what I needed. My former mother-in-law was German who loved to cry they (the Germans) were the real victims. This was a working class woman who had fur coats and took vacations during the 1930’s. I guess that I am tired of the excuses. When you screw up own it. Do not blame others. Am in my 80’s and can not help but wonder if this is where we have messed up with our kids and perhaps boys have a hard time growing up. By the way. My oldest retired after 25 plus years as a SEAL and my youngest is still in the service as a colonel. He has been a mentor to a number of his young soldiers because as he put it, they do not have parents at least in the sense that they took the responsibility to actually raise them to be able stand on their own
Thank you for your reply, Kathleen. Also, thank you for raising two fine men who are and have been of great service to this country for sure. It seems strange that a well-off woman as you describe would suggest that the Allies victimized the Germans in WWII. It is well known that Hitler's platform for waging WWII centered upon the supposed mistreatment of the Germans by the Allied victors after WWI, as well as upon his hatred for Jews. My dad and two of my uncles served as combat soldiers on the Western Front on and after D-Day and I will forever revere their memories in gratitude. As far as the arsonist drumpf and his minions, I fully expect them to whine to their last breaths as they go down in flames as to how the terrible liberals brought them to such an ignominious end.
I must reply to my own comment. Since writing it, I have that horrible feeling that this country is beyond turning it around, that it has already transformed into a fascist dictatorship and the people have no power to stop it, because those in power, including the Republican Party, will rig the elections and declare victory no matter what, just as they did in Germany when Hitler took over.
Trump did not win the 2024 election fairly. He cheated as always, this time bigtime, with the help of MAGA operatives, billionaire technofascists like Musk & Thiel, & his puppetmaster Putin, using voter suppression, purges, ballot removals, vote manipulation, tampering of voting machine software & bomb threats. Kamala won.
I just tried to watch "Vigilantes, Inc.," but it takes a long time to get into the main thrust of the film.
If we had an upright, upstanding justice system in place in this country, Trump would NEVER have been allowed back into office no matter what. We have a DOJ that does not uphold or enforce the laws, and a "Supreme Court" in name only! The five conservatives are in it for the prestige, apparently. ACB acts much more independently and votes with the liberals at times. She has a mind of her own.
I’ve spent most of my life in the service of this country—four decades under oath, through intelligence briefings and national crises, with a front-row seat to the daily workings of a constitutional democracy. I say this not to center myself, but to clarify the weight behind my words when I say: I am disgusted. I am revolted. And I am deeply, profoundly heartbroken that we are here.
We now have a president—let’s call him what he is, a caesar-in-waiting—deploying federal troops not to defend liberty, but to stifle dissent. Against his own citizens. In Los Angeles. For daring to gather, to speak, to protest. It’s not lost on me that this deployment is legally permissible. So were the Fugitive Slave Acts. So was Japanese internment. Legality is not morality. And every autocrat starts by reaching for the legal levers.
I support the spirit behind your post. I share your call for civil disobedience over chaos. But I won’t lie: part of me doubts its long-term efficacy against a man like Trump. Not because it lacks power—but because it lacks the kind of immediate visual obedience he feeds on. Civil disobedience, by nature, deprives him of his favorite narcotic—conflict. And I think you’re right—he wants violence. He needs it. Without it, his overreach becomes plain. With it, he gets to brand his enemies as rioters, declare martial necessity, and march toward open tyranny draped in law and order.
But we’ve been here before.
• Gandhi walked into batons and broke an empire’s back.
• The lunch counter sit-ins exposed the lie of “separate but equal.”
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott nearly bankrupted a system.
• Tahrir Square. Solidarity in Poland. The Singing Revolution in Estonia.
Civil disobedience doesn’t always succeed in weeks. It doesn’t always prevent pain. But it does something that violence cannot—it builds the moral authority required to outlast tyranny.
That’s the wager we’re making. Because let’s be brutally clear: if we play by his rules, we lose. If we give him the chaos he craves, he’ll seize the moment and write the next chapter in blood and flags.
This is a trap. And it reeks of the Reichstag Fire strategy. He wants to provoke. And too many Americans, worn down, angry, hopeless, may be ready to give him exactly what he needs.
But here’s the paradox of American strength: it’s never just been in our weapons. It’s been in our restraint. Our dignity. Our stubborn refusal to become what we fight.
We don’t need to break windows. We need to break narratives. We need 10,000 citizens surrounding a courthouse in silence. We need military families with folded flags standing in formation at state capitols. We need civil servants, veterans, nurses, artists—ordinary people refusing to cooperate with extraordinary cruelty.
And we need to document it all. Broadcast it all. Archive the truth before they try to bury it.
Trump isn’t strong. He’s brittle. A man so insecure he needs a military parade to feel powerful is already afraid. What he fears most is a nation that won’t flinch, won’t run, and won’t break the way he wants.
So I stand with you. In support. In anguish. In a place I never thought I’d be in my lifetime. Not watching the descent of a foreign land, but the slow suffocation of the republic I swore to defend.
We must resist—with honor, with intelligence, with relentless moral force.
And with the same whispered reminder that outlasted Rome, outlived the tyrants of the last century, and will outshine this man, too:
Dino, I was so moved by your words, I have shared it quite a few times this morning! What you have said about the American spirit is so powerful! It won't happen overnight - nothing good ever does - but it will happen. Our strength is knowing and understanding what America truly is. We are the greatest nation when we follow our Constitution, when we work together for the betterment of all of us and when we stand and protest against what we see as wrong for our country. It is my fervent wish that everyone who is going out to protest today, tomorrow and June 14 would read what you have written and follow your instructions. Thank you so much for this post. Thank you so much for your service.
Dino, thank you for this moving post & thank you for your service! I would love for everyone of us protesting on June 14 to read & use your words of wisdom, especially those of us here in LA!
Fascists succeed by draping themselves in the national flag, and accusing opponents as being unpatriotic, beholden to foreign interests. Trump is appealing to xenophobia to crush those who stand for universal human values. We must be careful in who we defend, and we must not countenance rock throwers..
Thank you Dino for your inspiring post! I pray everyone who reads it and everyone in LA joins a protest next Saturday June 14th, the No Kings Protest. Especially in Washington DC where Trump is having his military/birthday parade. They are being held all across the country.
Trust me, Oya, we believe you! We know who and what the orange man is and we also know that he wants so badly to have the military crush all of us who would dare to protest against him! In the words of my nephew, "He's about to fuck around and find out"!
I think the parade is actually just a way for trump to move a lot of heavy military gear to marshall law the north east. He also said he wants to shoot protesters and he will use any excuse to start this stuff. I think we need to escalate a lot further than we have been.
As for each and every time I see any questions being asked of these republicans and kkkaroline, they cannot and will not answer a tough question or a yes or no question but while their tactic works, I am figuring and hoping it just works for now.
They can break and will break. But they are waiting for enough trump law to get set in place so they can stop holding out because his law will enable them to not have to answer anyone anymore.
The amount of stress they are under is increasing and
incredible but keep at them and they will break. But we have to amp it up and fast because it is a battle of time! It is because some of them have an ounce of human in them that we must keep trying to get them to break because if we don’t get them to break before trumps plan to silence everyone works, then it’s all over.
Peaceful resistance. Ghandi. MLK. John Lewis. No violence please because he is just waiting for someone to be violent so they can be violent in return.
He is no longer waiting. Our own military, that we paid for in taxes, is being deployed by the biggest criminal on the Planet, "right" now. He is treating free speech as a crime, against the rule of law.
I feel sympathy for the military. They did not join to fight against their own people and must be suffering now from pangs of conscience - their idealism being exploited by a corrupt man who dodged the draft twice, he was so cowardly. And they could suffer serious consequences if they don’t obey orders. All you can do is not offer resistance to them. Like protestors who placed flowers in their gun barrels all those years ago.
Elizabeth Racki ; While I admire your concern for the military, who are given orders by a man who is unfit for his job and level of power, I will point out to you that I come from a military family , and am actually against what the military is being ordered to do, not the military members themselves. I was a young woman protesting back in the days when four students were shot dead in Ohio and flowers were placed in a gun barrel by a protester, all those years ago. It is beyond sad that those with too much wealth have been allowed to buy our government, and ironic that it was the Supreme court that ok'd "Citizens United" and more recently, it gave a complete criminal convicted felon the seemingly unlimited immunity against being prosecuted for his actual crimes, while he is judge, jury and executioner to anyone who displeases him. We need a miracle.
The partial elimination of conscription and transition to the “all volunteer” armed forces hasn’t helped the cause. It has insulated most families from the fear of being drafted into military service.
CK ; My family served before the "All volunteer " armed services, years ago. I think the "All volunteer" armed services is a misnomer, since many who have joined recently, or since the advent of "All volunteer", have been pressured by poverty to the "backdoor draft", because that was a way to make a living and receive healthcare in addition to training and a paycheck. When a kid who can't afford college graduates from High school without the funds to get training or college, and rents are a thousand $ per month, for a modest apartment, joining the military looks like a good bet, especially if it is not active war time.
During the Vietnam War era, a disproportionate number of voluntary enlisted soldiers were poor young black men — and some white — from the impoverished South, desperate for jobs and possible career opportunities. Many of them could barely read or write. Army training manuals were written for comprehension at the level of 5th grade of elementary school.
The Navy and Air Force were more selective because of the technical complexity of the equipment that sailors and airmen had to operate and maintain. Naval submariners were, and still are, among the technical elites who are still sought by the defense contractors and the nuclear power industry when they leave the service. Pilots and aircraft mechanics from any of the services are still in demand by commercial airlines.
An unfortunate consequence of Dick Cheney’s vision of privatization and outsourcing of many military support functions is that the armed forces no longer promise to provide skilled trades education and training to enlistees. Today’s military troops are trained to kill people and/or destroy buildings, bridges, infrastructure, etc. Much of the cooking, cleaning, construction, maintenance, administrative and logistics work the used to be done by military personnel is now performed by private contractors.
Hence military personnel leaving the service have fewer marketable skills for private industry. Some go into law enforcement— which is a bad idea because they have been conditioned to view everyone who doesn’t wear their uniform as the enemy. Some go into private security or mercenary jobs. Others try to get into colleges or universities to start new lives, with no guarantees of future employment.
I don't feel bad for them at all. They signed up to murder people of color in other countries for resources. You can leave at any time if you have half a backbone, but most of them are cowards who will turn on their own citizens before they will defect. Sickening.
It remains to be seen if the military forces— all volunteers — will turn against their fellow Americans.
One problem with the “all volunteer” armed forces is that the recruitment process may eliminate “people of conscience” and may entice psychopaths.
Many young people enlist in quest of employment or the promise of scholarships.
As for leaving at any time, deserters can face time is the federal slammer at Fort Leavenworth. That comes with a life sentence of stigma that will prevent them from getting meaningful employment, home mortgage loans, student loans, etc. Some soldiers who come to realize that they “don’t belong”, choose suicide. General Lloyd Austin’s job in the Army, before he retired, was to figure out how to stop military suicides. He tried but didn’t succeed.
I think many sign up because of poverty and few options. Others to defend home are idealistic. There are bound to be psychopaths but the screening process should weed them out. They don’t make for team players. Hopefully, there will be fewer who sign up voluntarily now the President is a double draft dodger!
throwing rocks at cars is not speech, and it is not even a protest. When you go to a protest do so with a cool head, fully in control of your emotions, otherwise you may end up doing Trump a favor.
Victor Kamendrowsky , hopefully, most participants in a protest know these things. There used to be "teach-ins", where strategies were taught, to keep people safe from those provocateurs who want to disrupt from being successful, and peaceful. disruptors were violent and wanted to make the protesters look bad.
Non-violent, yes. Civility has limits, though. Civility allowed Trump to float to the top because most people were too civil to say: "Hanging a goddam fucking minute, buddy. You CAN'T do that."
Trump and his supporters do not deserve civility. I think it's time my sane American cousins stopped being so goddamned polite all the time and started being honest.
Those who support Trump should be ridiculed, humiliated and verbally eviscerted at every opportunity. Make them feel as bad as they want millions of perfectly decent citizens to feel.
SHAME is a very powerful weapon. Do not be afraid to deploy it on an industrial scale.
From my perspective, it is not about civility, from my essay ( https://dialector.substack.com/p/e-pluribus-unum ): "When those seeking to restore the Constitution as the supreme law of the land become violent against superior force, it not only justifies government violence, and also allows that superior force to crush the resistance...If patriots take up arms in anger or engage in chaotic violence of any kind, they will not defeat tyranny, they will justify it. Even though we are the most well-armed civilian population in history, we are still outmatched by the overwhelming force of the state. To respond to the death of the Constitution with violence against a vastly superior force is not a rebellion, it is surrender. Surrender is not the only path. History has already shown us a greater weapon, one that is extremely effective against superior physical force: nonviolent resistance."
Exactly. To my mind, telling witless morons with no capacity for critical thought that they really ought to give it a try constitutes "nonviolent resistance". If they object, telling them that they are idiots also constitutes "nonviolent resistance". Laughing at them is "nonviolent resistance". Partying and celebrating life in general and highlighting just how dark and dingy their sad little lives are, in defiance of their constant abuse, is also "nonviolent resistance".
If they refuse to listen, telling them to GROW UP AND SHUT UP AND FUCK OFF qualifies as "nonviolent resistance", too.
Hahahahahaha! I guess you could send them to Congress with the explanation that you helped get rid of TACO! Thanks for the humor, Martin! It is definitely needed!
You're welcome again but, if addressing me, could you please spell 'humour' correctly. Same goes for all your other dropped 'U's and other typographical infelicities. It's just bloody lazy. Speak English, damn you!
That “outmatched… overwhelming force of the [American] state” was defeated by poor fishermen and farmers of Vietnam and by “ragtag” militia forces of Afghanistan and Iraq. Those victims of US military oppression paid a high price but were not defeated. Israel has been deploying the power of US-made weapons of mass destruction against the Palestinians, for decades. But, the Palestinians have not yet been defeated.
The US armed forces are comprised of approximately 1% of the US population. US law enforcement personnel are compromised of less than 0.22% of the US population. Their combined numbers are vastly outweighed by those of the civilians, many of whom are military veterans who do not support the current regime.
Good point, CK, but do note that the oligarchs are counting on Catholic and Evangelic support to cement their power. We must address all religious people in this struggle against fascism/tribalism, for It is a struggle against the unholy. As for Trump himself, he is even anti-American.
Catholics and Evangelical who support Trump and genocide are not Christians. They are hypocrites. Actual Jews do not support Trump and genocide, but hypocrites and Zionists do.
True Christian Catholics will follow the Pope’s condemnation of Trump, Vance, Biden and the genocidal Zionists. The Muslims are opposed to Trump and genocide.
It comes down to how many MAGA hypocrites will continue to support Trump. Most of them are in for big surprises from the destruction of governmental aid that they depend upon.
Trump is a domestic enemy of the Constitution and the majority of the people of the USA. The armed forces must decide if they will honor their oath to defend the Constitution and the people versus following the orders of the Criminal-in-Chief.
Much of the nonviolent resistance, e.g. Gandhi, was successful because it was nationalistic in nature. To resist Trump we must show to others how he is hurting America. We must wrest the flag from him.
Mind you, from the same era, I think these days we're all Yossarian: carry on and we risk destruction, stop and we are destroyed...... Catch 22 usually applies somewhere along the line these days, I find......
Catch 22 is often confused for a lot of things. Some call it 'freedom'. We're all fully signed up to Catch 22 whether we like it or not. Milo Minderbender is in charge of trade policy, too, so, not good.
A coordinated general strike could shutdown the country in a matter of days or weeks. If only 10 million workers called in “sick” or simply didn’t go to work, that would get some attention. There are enough immediate “replacements” for that many workers, especially if those workers are air traffic controllers, longshoremen, railroad engineers, hotel and restaurants workers, electrical linemen, garbage collectors, etc.
For the sake of civility, employees of Emergency Rooms, Urgent Care centers and hospitals could continue to work.
Thank you, Martin. When I do sometimes go on the news feeds and read the comments, I find there are more and more people replying to maga comments with some cold hard truths! It is happening.
Trump complains that Musk would be disrespectful hahaha! This jerk keeps insulting everyone who doesn’t share his views, knowing that he changes them constantly, but he doesn’t accept people who have a functioning brain, unlike his own. What is very serious in this country is that the justices of the Supreme Court, whose motto is 'equal justice under law,' lack the courage and integrity necessary, for some of them, to think and decide independently of the power that appointed them. This gives the idiot in chief the feeling that he owns the USA (sometimes other parts of the world) and that no one has the authority or competence to challenge him. It is time for other democratic heads of state to tell him to go screw himself and to stop dodging like some do out of fear of offending him. You don’t negotiate with a furious madman.
The staggering hypocrisy of the man who demands respect for the presidency but only when he's the president. His savage attacks on sitting and former presidents and his behaviour in office show that it is he who is disrespecting the office of the president and may be forever casting it into disrepute. After Trump, who will respect an American president at home or abroad?
Professor Reich: how on EARTH is this arming of the national guard against peaceful protestors not the actions of a fascist dictator? how is the threat of using the american military against american civilians not the actions of a fascist dictator? and how long do you think the military REALLY will remain in WaDC after the upcoming military parade?
wondering if apathetic ameriKKKans are finally getting the memo: the orange rapist cannot be trusted. he is planning to enslave or kill us all.
From your allies across the world, a message of unwavering solidarity.
America, you find yourselves in unfamiliar territory—facing the very authoritarianism that many of us have known for decades. What feels shocking to you is grimly familiar to us.
In Asia, many of us still live under dictatorships today. We've learned that when tanks roll and batons swing, citizens must lock arms and stand firm. We've paid in blood for every inch of democracy we've won—and continue to fight for what we've yet to achieve.
In Europe, our streets echo with the sound of strikes and protests. We've faced riot shields and tear gas, because we know that freedom demands confrontation with power—even when that power comes armed and ready.
Now it's your turn. The America we've long admired is under siege from within. Your democratic traditions, your institutions, your very ideals—all under assault.
We see your Democrats offering clever soundbites that only expose their own weakness while the house burns around them. We see a polarised nation with 51% of last election voters bearing responsibility for unleashing what comes next. But we also see millions of you awakening to a harsh reality: this is no longer about politics, this is about survival of democracy itself.
Now , The Hard Truth
This won't be quick. This won't be clean. This won't be resolved by the midterms or the next election cycle—if there are any as we know them.
Prepare for a long fight. Prepare for sacrifice. Prepare for the kind of sustained resistance that has defined freedom movements across the globe.
Lock arms. Face down tyranny. Expect the cost to be heavy—in blood, in tears, in years of struggle. But remember: every democracy that has survived authoritarianism has done so because ordinary people refused to bend their knees.
You are not alone in this fight.
From Hong Kong to Warsaw, from Santiago to Kyiv—we who have faced the darkness stand with you.
The road ahead is long and brutal. But democracy is worth the fight.
Your friends across the world are watching. We believe in the American citizens who respect their Constitution and fight for freedom for all—not the temptation of autocratic America.
Thank you, Frank, for such strong, encouraging words! You are so right when you say we are facing something we never imagined we would have to face. It is scary. We are angry and we are also divided. This fight will definitely NOT be quick, but we will also NEVER give up! Democracy is worth the fight. It is extremely comforting to know that friends around the world are supporting us, encouraging us and standing with us. Thank you so much.
'THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."
I live in SoCaL, an hour south from LA and I'm disgusted, these masked thugs gestapo wannabes have no place here.. and, I❤️LA !!! We've been peacefully protesting tirelessly for months and we will keep going, Orange County fights fascism. We are not going to succumb to tyranny !!! We already defeated hitler, we will defeat trump 💙✌️✊️👊💪💙 8647
This business in L.A. gives me the shivers. I think it both highlights and symbolises a critical difference between the UK and US.
We have a police force to deal with civil disorder. Then we have an army for existential threats.
We don't have this intermediary heavily armed militia to hand for aspiring despots to deploy at their whim when political winds are blowing against them.
Correct. The felon is saving his own ass by suppressing our voices. America’s “soft coup” now has jackboots and an iron fist. This is all new to us too. Pray for us please.
Self-preservation demands we pray for you. Your crises have a nasty habit of become our crises, more rapidly than ever in the internet age. Fire spreads very quickly when everything is tinder-dry and packed with explosives.
It baffles me how so many in YOUR country actually promote, even DEMAND outright fascism when their ancestors died under DIRECT, 'personal' bombardment from evil fascists 85 years ago.
Do you not teach history (or civics) in your schools there either, as it seems we do not here??
Or is your populace just that distracted, and totally, willfully forgetful, also like here?
Tragically, your final sentence is becoming more apt by the day here. It was always lurking there, I suspect, but now we have political parties legitimising behaviour and attitudes considered abhorrent a generation ago. and so creating a political dynamic that is new and unfamiliar and that our system, which like yours was designed with to polarised opposing forces in mind, not a pluralist system like in Europe, cannot cope with.
This place is a bit of a runaway train, too, but without the track, or the locomotive, and no driver either, no signals and no brakes.
The whole world is watching Los Angeles.
The violence of the Trump fascist state is about to be exposed for all the world to see. Do not respond with violence. His hands are bloody. We must keep ours clean.
Yes, protest even more now. But peacefully. Follow Gandhi, follow MLK Jr., follow John Lewis. Raise our voices together but with clean hands. If you hold something, hold a sign or a flower. Not a gun. If violence from an agitator breaks out nearby you, sit down.
“As long as we keep our heads.” — Robert Reich
I was physically sick when I saw the videos of our own military attacking our own citizens. It reminded me very much of the anti-war protests in the 1960s.
But Robert is correct. We must keep our heads and we must protest peacefully, as John Lewis did and as Martin Luther King did. MLK lost his life to an assassin. But John Lewis lived to become a national hero throughout the rest of his life.
Trump wants us angry. Trump wants us to be violent. This is exactly how he pushes us to be. He wants us to be like him because that’s the only way he knows how to deal with other people.
That gives the military a reason to fire on its own citizens. But I don’t know how we will stop this. People are angry. They are upset to the core that their neighbors and friends are being rounded up this way. No due process. Snatched out of their jobs. Snatched off the streets. Pulled from their own homes. Pulled from their cars, sometimes leaving their children, alone and crying.
I often wondered what I would do as a teacher if military ever invaded our schools and tried to pull children out. I don’t know what I would do. Could I be brave enough to stand up to them? Could I be brave enough to say they cannot take children without their parents’ permission? This is what we are instructed to do in our everyday behavior as teachers. We are told not to let children leave without anyone who is not their parent or guardian. Could I be arrested for standing up to the military taking children? Probably.
But others have been arrested as well. That all just breaks my heart because I have never been pushed this far. I asked our parish priest what I can do to stifle my hatred. He said to be my better self. And to pray for people who are not their better selves. I don’t know if prayer works that way. But I know that the only person I can control is me.
A great post, Donna. A beautiful, thoughtful, honest post. I also lived through the 1960s. Fascism has risen again and is indeed armed and prowling the streets of Los Angeles.
This is a test case to see how much they can get away with. They want to terrorize us into submission. We must raise our voices even louder.
There are many ways of being brave. And I already know that you are one of the brave.
Thank you, Michael. I feel buoyed when I read posts from people like you. I don’t know what is going to happen to us or to this country. But I do know that I don’t want my children or my grandchildren to live like this. My father fought against the Nazis and the fascists in World War II. I am embarrassed that our own nation has become the very thing that he fought against 80 years ago.
My father also faught againt tyrrany in WWII. He would be appalled at what is going on now.
^^THIS!!
How DARE these current, residing in this country, POS brown shirts/wannabe Waffen SS scumbags claim to be 'patriots' when they are demanding precisely what REAL TRUE patriots fought fiercely against, and died/were seriously injured fighting against some 85 years ago.
They are worse than desecrating the graves of those absolutely courageous, actual patriots!
WE NEED MORE U.S. FLAGS AT OUR PROTEST!!!
The Brown Shirts, sorry I mean ICE and HSI must have already rounded up all the violent criminals which is surprising and are now going after the low hanging fruit in a more aggressive manner then they need to do. Who's next? Us real Americans that believe in the Constitution? Our response won't be so muted!💪⚔️👊🪖 If they start going in that direction they better think before they act.
'WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TROOPS EVERYWHERE' OK, Donald Trump picture millions of people moving toward you and no amount of forces being able to stop them. That's the picture you should get in your head, 1000 times worst then the insurrection you created. Somebody ought to take this guy off his high chair before he hurts himself!!!
WE NEED MORE U.S. FLAGS AT OUR PROTEST!!!
1. Protest -------------June 14th No Kings https://www.nokings.org/? 💪
2. Recruit ----------------- Any non-voter that you know and convince him or her why they should be protesting and voting.
3. Boycott ---------------- Companies of CEO's & Exec. Officers who attended the Inauguration: Tesla, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon/Amazon Prime, Apple Computer/Apple TV, TikTok, Google and others https://www.goodsuniteus.com/
4. Call/E-mail/Message -------------- all Republican Senators & Congressman and remind them how poorly their leader is polling and that they will never get another vote from you as long as this nonsense continues.
5. Donate ---------------- If you can afford it donate to the organizations that are doing the legal fights. https://www.aclu.org/ - https://democracyforward.org/ - https://www.citizen.org/ - https://www.citizensforethics.org/ These groups are suing the Trump administration virtually every day.
6. Join -------------------- https://www.country1st.com/ - https://indivisible.org/ - https://www.commoncause.org/ - https://pol-rev.com/
7. Attend -----------------Town Hall meetings
8. Tesla Takedown ------- Is he totally gone? No, his servers are still there gobbling up all our info🤔https://www.teslatakedown.com/
9. I hope we never have to get to this option because it's the worst option of all, which I won't mention here. "Freedom Isn't Free" Vietnam Veteran
My Mother lived to be 100. (1922-2023) She was horrified by Jan 1. 2021. Trump was an absolute traitor in her eyes!
Because he is a documented traitor. He is a spy for Russia. Why do you think he had all those boxes of classified documents in his possession. I want to see what’s in Ivankas icoffin.
Your mother saw it all, and as such, had a firm grip on the truth. Bless her.
The 2 tyrants were drooling 🤤🤤 for this moment to happen. Bring in the National Guard, put the Marines on alert. What's next? Aim the nuclear warheads at Los Angeles. OVERKILL! I'm waiting for "Martial Law". If that happens look out!!!!
Look what happened in South Korea when their Leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, tried that lark!
We all are!
There are a handful of powerful Americans who could put an end to this authoritarian, fascist takeover and the escalating brutality. Yet, their silence is deafening. One can only conclude that these men and women are no longer interested in upholding democracy. They have implicitly embraced a different future, not only for their children and grandchildren but for all Americans. They are fine with the illegal and gruesome agenda that is the 'trump regime', they are okay with a madman, criminal dictator burning the country to the ground. They have the power to stop the insanity, stop the destruction, but they do nothing, say nothing.
Republicans in Congress: Fascists, collaborators, cowards and morons.
Six Republicans. They could stop all of this immediately. History will damn them.
IF there is a 'history' to be written or told after this demonic regime gets through with this country!
It bewilders me that those said Repugnaf**ks actually believe that THEY will be safe once their power is totally obliterated by their putrid orange POS fuehrer, and his sadistic regime.
Are they THAT blinded by their current power, position/'status', and grifting wealth that they cannot see how this scumbag despot throws EVERYONE under the SCUMp CHUMP Train's wheels once they have served their purpose in aiding and abetting his crimes?!?
He may even follow his mentor (Hitler) and actually have them eliminated, just to make sure that they cannot gain secondary power and challenge him.
Not just scared sh*tless of the sadistic demon they helped promote and enable (he was 'created' long before them so they cannot claim 'credit' for that), but brain dead, and dumber than effing rocks, every single effing one of them!!
If history doesn't condemn them, I certainly do in the present!
I am a lifelong Democrat who is disgusted with our so called leaders. Comments condemning the fascists and offering up amendments to bills that provide the completion of the fascist take over are not enough. Senators can hold the floor in protest until they are hauled out and then another senator takes his place. The people cannot be in the streets risking their lives while our representatives are sitting pretty in the senate.
And even their rhetoric is lame. Paragraphs instead of sound bites. The Dems have learned NOTHING about messaging.
Governors have power. They need to order their state guard to not comply with illegal orders out of DC.
Do not forget that federal law is the supreme law of the land. Only Congress and the federal courts have the authority to stop Trump. Dems in Congress are in the minority, and are powerless unless some Republicans join them. Giving in to anger and frustration is self defeating.
My understanding is that they way this was done, it was legal, even though Governor Newsom didn't request National Guard assistance. The local police had not said they could not handle the situation. I am worried about my neighbors. They are here to work. The crime rate for immigrants is reportedly lower than for non-immigrants. There is no border emergency.
Judith,
Agree partly with what you said, “There are a handful of powerful Americans who could put an end to this authoritarian, fascist takeover and the escalating brutality. Yet, their silence is deafening. One can only conclude that these men and women are no longer interested in upholding democracy.”
No, they are just ignorant. Governor Newsom, the California attorney general, and the California legislature can create and enforce a new law in California, which is a state controlled by Democrats. In 3 months, California, by enforcing the new law, can begin to stop Trump and the Republican agenda by taking back the House in 3 months, stop the Big Beautiful Bill, stop the tax cuts, stop the Medicare cuts, and arrest ICE agents in California.
How? Newsom needs to recognize there is an insurrection underway not in California, but by Trump and Republicans.
Read my post.
https://williamlmiller.substack.com/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and
In 3 months, California can enforce the law to arrest the 9 Republican representatives in the House from California, remove them, and enable Democrats to control the House.
What's stopping them? What do legal scholars have to say about this plan?
I sent this to all my Calif representatives and Gov. Newsom. Not a word from any of them.
Many, I suspect, are expecting to personally profit from the oligarchy’s policies.
Yes, Judith, they want to change the nature of the country, and that requires imposing their vision on the rest of the population, by brute force if necessary. What Trump is doing now was planned long ago.
I also have children and I want them to live long and happy lives and have children of their own. I am with you, Donna, every step of the way as we march in protest together against the fascist Trump regime.
I also protested in the 60's and can't believe we need to do this again and even much more so! Michael, you, Donna and Peggy so inspire me when I start to lose hope. I will be marching and protesting together with you three and hopefully millions of others on June 14th on No Kings Day against this fascist Trump regime. Thank you all for being here in our community of kindred souls fighting for freedom and our democracy. MLK and John Lewis are 2 of my heroes whom I so look up to.
Thank you, Lilla, both for being a witness and participant in our long history of resistance, and for being part of today’s protests that will help bring down this fascist attempt to overthrow our democracy, and then restore it with even stronger and better guarantees of freedom and liberty.
Lilly I’m right with you, protested in the 60s and 70s. Can’t believe in my 70s I’m doing it again, most important! I will be with you all and here in California, and hopefully millions nationwide and worldwide. Legacy media isn’t covering much of anything, but The Guardian does, and other overseas media. There is so much going on in the world that gets no press! And that is part of the feeling of isolation. WE ARE SEEN and heard outside the US, and we need to know that truth!
I don’t think our country ever stopped being fascist. Maybe Trump made it more visible.
Have you ever noticed the decorations flanking the speaker's desk in the US HOR? https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F7f%2Fe4%2Fee4256d1455484fb4adc33b82293%2Fscola-virtual-image7.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=56e3a26dcfeb87b05077159e9db2d0ab1fd288c7f07831905a20373a467e60d3
Exactly. My family didn't fight against them, they were burned in chimneys by them. So I have been fighting fascism my entire life. I never imagined it would infest and invade our country, but growing up in Kansas in the 50s I saw so much anti-semitism and racism and hatred of non-whites.
The ignorant people who avoid educating themselves about history, are the ones repeating it today.
We will rise up again. The storm is coming. June 14 is our new D-Day, Democracy-Day. I hope the world joins us.
It does pay to read and be aware of the world outside our borders. I recall the fascination of the MidWesterners we met on our camping trips in the 1980's with our 3 Kiwi kids and our strange accents. Simple, kind people, but aghast that we had come from over the sea. Might as well have been from outer space. Most had no passports and had never viewed the ocean. But then we have a great exception. Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin and didn't have a passport and never saw the sea during his formative years. But he left that cabin with the wisdom that changed America. What was the difference? He read everything he could get his great long hands on!
Thanks Beverley! I grew up in Kansas in the 50s. My parents wanted my sister and me to go to college, and out of state. We did. They used to bring in international students and we had people from India and elsewhere stay in our home for a few days from time to time. I collected stamps and loved the idea of all these other countries. Studied lots of languages as a kid.
Yes my parents emphasized education as the ticket to freedom and a good life, the conservative American values but with a liberalism unusual for the times. My classmates are all compassionate, open minded people.
So yes we were fascinated that you would, and could, come all the way across the ocean, as we Kansans were so landlocked. But it was the love of learning and the curiosity about what it is to be human, in all our diversity and promise, that is so missing in today’s younger generations.
That is what we have to keep alive, and that is what this regime is trying to take away — the beauty and the holiness of what it means to be human.
Like you, I had forebears who fought against tyranny and genocide in World Wars I and II. I feel exactly as you do.
I wonder if there’s any evidence that right wing provocateurs are instigating or exacerbating the violence? We know trump wants to invoke martial law….
I agree and I'm 'afwaid, vewy vewy afwaid' that that is just what he'll do on 6/14, when (not if) WE THE PEOPLE protest massively & by the millions, all over this country, because he 'want's to and has been itching to do so~' to protect HIS view of Amerika ~ ~
All carry flowers and lie down, en masse, at the first sign of violence. holding your flower up. A sea of flowers. This will look fabulous on world television. It will be remembered as the floral revolution.
World, not US television. It’s up to independent media, and overseas media, to cover what most legacy US media will not cover.
But they cannot hide forever.
We are the storm.
I have a sick feeling that most of the people aware of the danger of autocrats, oligarchs, theocrats are past the age of 55 years-old.
So many of writers on Meidas and elsewhere, people at protests, town halls etc. are gray haired.
Young people are protesting about their own individual issues-Palestine, LGBTQ, Unions, Immigrants while the institutions and laws that protect our rights and freedoms are attacked in every way possible.
We are not going to make a difference without passionate, relentless young people in the Resistance outnumbering the grandmas and grandpas.
Who will wake them up? Get them off their phones and computers? Make them look at the consequences of their inaction at this crucial test of our democracy and representation.
Yes we are older en masse — we’ve been through Vietnam, Kent State, Cambodia, MLK, Kennedy assassination … and mostly white.
We need this to be intergenational, or it won’t stick, it won’t be sustainable. You are absolutely spot on Becca. Get them out of their devices and into this world, or there will be no world for them to even reach our age.
That’s an excellent point, Becca. I’m gray haired myself, and, although my children are well aware of what is going on, I just cannot seem to get them to invest their time and energy into resisting the regime. They seem to live in a local bubble of personal denial.
Michael bless you for trying! Keep at it … at some point it will become personal for them, and you are obviously engaged and setting an example of what it means to be American. I’m sorry you are having to watch your own children not invest … because they very well may not reach our age if they don’t wake up soon. Not a dig at your children, but I see that generation in tremendous denial as well.
Dear Robert, I follow you, read you every day, and greatly respect you. I'm a member of your generation, protesting since the '60s. Of course we must stand up, and of course we must do it peacefully. But PLEASE don't tell people to sit down in front of armored vehicles. We have no reason to think T's secret police and military would hesitate to literally crush us. Let's be thoughtfu in our resistance.
We are NOT dealing with a rational or principled government anymore.
Ann Dalton
I doubt that he meant to sit down in front of armored vehicles. Rather, sit down on the ground so you don't appear to be aggressive. That's what the civil rights fighters did. Peaceful resistance. It's also what Gandhi did.
I’ve read in other Substacks that sitting down is the exact wrong thing to do, but I forget their argument. It’s easy to haul people away if they’re sitting down. I don’t have a solution because law enforcement is/can be lawlessness enforcement, as we see.
I agree with you, Ann, when armoured vehicles are employed. But we all still recall the man in front of the row of tanks in Tiananmen Square! He was standing, mind you.
Thank you, Donna, for getting us back on track. I would add -- don't inundate yourself watching his hateful and hate-filled face, his whiney voice -- we never want to become a trump .... but emulate John Lewis, making Good Trouble.
John Lewis was leading peaceful, well organized protests against the violation of American civil rights. The current LA protests, obviously spontaneous, have turned violent and disorderly, and they defend foreigners, most of them who evidently are here illegally. Do not confuse the two! Defending illegals is gifting Trump.
It is not illegal to request asylum. That was approved by Congress and signed by either Truman or Eisenhower. (I don't recall whether it was in late 1940s or early 1950s).
Furthermore, we need the immigrants who come to work. They are doing work that Americans do not want to do.
People also should not forget that Loser Taco Don is a COWARD. He never served his country. I bet, if physically confronted by someone clearly stronger than him, he would back down very quickly. You won’t find him out on the streets fighting with “his” troops, just as happened on January 6, even though he pretended to try. Robert Reich is absolutely right about demonstrating peacefully, and the idea of sitting in the ground when some other demonstrators become violent is an excellent one.
I believe Trump is no longer exercising policy control. He is a good puppet and performs well on camera (unless he speaks off-script). Vought probably controls economics (and profits from on-again off-again tariff impact on stocks and bonds). Lucifer wannabe Stephen Miller is the Man Slightly Behind the Curtain for immigration. If Hegseth is actually controlling DOD, we are the walking dead.
To be effective, protests must be peaceful, and to be peaceful they must be organized and supervised by well know individuals.
We have to be brave and we have to be resolute. This is the point where peaceful disobedience is the order of the day. tRump and tyranny must not win.
Well said, Donna!
The Head Teacher/manager should not allow strangers on school premises so you as a class teacher are protected. Or should be. If the manager does not protect staff then staff must unite to protect students. This reign of terror will pass, and, when it does, you need to be able to look at yourself in the mirror. Courage!
From a fellow educator.
Do they have mirrors in your prisons?
Marge, what's the point of having mirrors if you don't want to see yourself? Besides, mirrors do not allow you to see what's behind your skin.
The price that people who protest are having to pay is high and not just in the States. Environmental protesters are being hammered with unduly heavy sentences across Europe, including here in the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/18/five-just-stop-oil-supporters-jailed-over-protest-that-blocked-m25
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/19/not-acceptable-un-expert-condemns-sentences-given-to-just-stop-oil-activists
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/sep/10/climate-rights-report-draconian-measures-protest
Yes—I can’t believe this is happening in England! It’s appalling that we can’t protest against government policies we find objectionable without fear of arrest and imprisonment.
I agree that there should be right to protest. However, some people use this as an excuse to attack the police. I abhor this as well as locking people up for expressing their beliefs. Colin UK citizen.
There were already laws that covered this sort of criminal behaviour.
Indeed there were. The Tories were heading towards fascism when they were kicked out of office.
Indeed—I’ve been reading about this. There have always been people among us who love violence and will use any excuse to justify it, and they deserve to be punished for that.
Like the KKK (mostly in the past) and now the "Proud Boys" (newer version of the KKK ?)
The previous Conservative government introduced harsh legislation against protests that even banned noisy protests. It was criticised by Labour politicians for its heavy-handedness but since they've been in power the Labour party has shown no inclination to repeal the legislation or at least amend it. Indeed, they have continued to implement its harsh penalties.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/29/punishment-without-trial-britain-civil-injunctions-climate-activists
This is shocking. Conspiracy to commit a nuisance?!!! Seriously??!!!
It is crazy. The whole point of street protests is to be noisy. It's a while since I've been on one, but they're usually great fun.
Then they shouldn't have voted for it. Ignorance and being "under informed" is the curse here. Folks spend more time watching the "Housewives" of whatever than they will read and learn. Here we are. I hope this engages people who other wise thought this could "never" happen.
Thank you Donna for sharing such a heartfelt and courageous reflection. Your words hold both deep sorrow and immense strength.
I think many of us are grappling with similar questions — how to stay grounded when everything feels like it is unraveling, how to keep our hearts open when fear and injustice are all around us. Your honesty about that internal struggle, especially as a teacher and protector of children, resonates so powerfully.
You are not alone in wondering how to be brave or how to stay compassionate when compassion feels like it might break us. But even asking these questions, even pausing to reflect, to pray, to choose care over hate, is already a powerful act of resistance. It is a step toward the kind of world we are all longing for.
And while none of us knows exactly how this will unfold, what gives me hope is that people like you are thinking, feeling, and standing up even when it hurts. That is how change begins.
Brava. The world is watching.
“He wants us to be like him.”
This is a disaster waiting to happen. We have only to look back to Kent State. The National Guard are part time soldiers, who are not sufficiently trained for such duty. Each guardsmen come with their own biases and beliefs that can influence their response to the situation.
Donna,
He has been itching for this. It is the project 2025 playbook. The cruelty is meant to induce fear, which is the whole point of this unnecessary action. A lot of the Latinos are especially angry because he played to them with his lies and some of them fell for it. As a teacher myself, I think we would be targeted as well in a situation like that. Usually, in authoritative regimes, professors and teachers are killed or silenced in any number of ways. They are a threat to the dictator's narrative. I hope we don't reach that point, but it is moving in that direction. We all need to prepare.
Donna,
I'm reading this from the safety of my hideaway in the far north-west Scottish Highlands. It's a sunny day, but there's an unusually chilly westerly breeze, so it's no more than 10 degrees C, when 15-20 should be expected.
Your highly perceptive take and analysis has just made my own thermometer drop a few more degrees. I suppose I should be grateful to you, and I am, but you've just made me feel worse. Thanks a bunch!
Martin
I prayed at the prayers of the faithful at Mass today "that we may commit more deeply to non-violence as we protest injustice and try to help the vulnerable who need us most". There are many nonviolent models for us, including Dorothy Day, and The Berrigan brothers, and John Dear. We also can follow the Quakers' modeling. I have a great book I am reading about their witness over the past two centuries, in nonviolent ways. It is called Practicing Peace, by Catherine Whitmire.
What I want to ask here is, what would YOU do if masked and armed people came to YOUR community, when you've already SEEN that they consistently detain, imprison, and deport to horrific places WITHOUT any due process? Would YOU just "lock hands and chant"??? This is an EASY question for those of us not in their position.
You can beat us with wires
You can beat us with chains
You can run out your rules
But you know you can’t outrun the history train
— Paul Simon, Peace Like a River
In 1970, four students were killed and nine injured in the infamous Kent State shootings. At the time, over 70% of Americans blamed the students. And yet here we are again with a populist president using heavy-handed tactics against protesters. History shows us that eternal vigilance is required against reactionary forces.
I lived through that day and the next, when black students were murdered at Jackson State.
I remember, as if it were yesterday, the outpouring of horror and anger that followed. It was the catalyst that finally turned public opinion decisively against an unjust foreign war.
But evil doesn't want to die. And today we face the immeasurably more vile evil of a government preparing to go to war in its own land, against its own peoples.
We put our bodies on the line in 1970 as youths with our whole lives before us. Now, in my 70s, I have comparatively little to lose. My grandchildren are too young to stand against armed troops, but I'll gladly stand on their behalf to give them the life free from tyranny that is their birthright.
I also stand for nonviolence -- as I did then -- and pray it carries the day. Because if peaceful protest becomes impossible, violent revolution becomes inevitable.
Perhaps it is for us the grandparents(in my 80’s) to take our place, to give our grandchildren a future they deserve.
YES! Four of us over 80's take our signs to the street three evenings a week 4:30 -6 and wave at the two job household cars with kids in day care, and the single occupant vehicles between job and kid pick up, who do not have time to protest, or make phone calls and write letters. We do this for them and they wave, toot horns, and yell out "thank you". We are all in this together and need to know others have our backs. We get an occasional IQ salute and remember to smile with compassion for those who know they have single digit wisdom.
Some people seem to want this sort of violent outcome. The January 6 2021 Capitol riot failed to develop into a full-blown insurrection. There were all kinds of gloomy prognostications of civil war before Trump upset the far right applecart by winning the 2024 election under an electoral system he and the far right had denounced as thoroughly corrupt. No such accusations of election tampering followed his victory, only the usual whining about what happened in 2020. Now far right extremism appears to have gone mainstream in America.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/22/white-nationalist-hate-extremist-groups
Russell, thank you for sharing this article which features the Southern Poverty Law Center showing how hate groups have worked effectively to normalize extremism in the U.S. Thinking people need to employ facts to countermand this program of fear and hate before this country self-destructs.
You're welcome, Denis. The SPLC is a beacon of light in these dark days.
Others, African American students in Jackson, MS also were shot
Jackson State student deaths never received the publicity or the sentiment like Kent State
Thanks for the comment ! Admittedly, I didn't recall this incident as strongly as Kent State. A reminder of those years. Serving in the USN and onboard a ship we were sheltered a lot from the news. I always think of '68 being a good year to be out of the country as I was a 1000 miles away in Guam for half the year...Martin Luther, Robert F, riots in California!
Not surprising given our Jim Crow history.
The whole country was in turmoil then over the meaning of patriotism and the meaning of freedom, issues that you've never satisfactorily resolved. Now you're having to confront the same issues again.
And “patriotism” seems to change with who’s in charge.
I still remember the anguished protest of the father of one of the slain students calling out Nixon! Unfortunately the Maga goons (it was not called Maga then) shouted him down, and his cry for justice was drowned out!
Kent State lesson: don't demonize, disrespect the men in uniform, especially at the time when you protest the treatment of foreigners. If you do, you will be perceived as unpatriotic, or, even worse, as a traitor.
That's the narrative Trump is trying to sell and he will do so relentlessly. It's a useful distraction from his many policy failures.
But does he even have a policy? Does he know what policy means?
That's a good point, Laurie. Trump's politics are the politics of resentment and retribution. He reacts impulsively to events. But he's faced a number of stumbling blocks to his plans. His tariffs policy has caused consternation in capital markets and lowered investor confidence. His many lawless executive orders have foundered in the courts. His relationship with his and his party's biggest donor has imploded with serious implications for the midterms next year. These are all failures of one sort or another, but I agree with you that he doesn't do crafted policies so perhaps to describe them as policy failures was charitable on my part.
💯💯💯💯💯💯👏🤡🤡👏
Reminded me of The Nixon Years “Four Dead In Ohio “ .
Perhaps If The ICE Nazis were Met With Rifles held By Citizens instead of rocks we could Get Some Relief …
Cops particularly cops (ice) are the People Most Afraid of Others With Guns… Governor Newsom Just Ended his Presidential Bid with a Call for The National Guard…
Newsom did not call for the National Guard. Trump nationalized them over the governor's objections and refusal.
Get your facts right.
Correct as I replied
Neither rocks nor rifles. If we meet violence with violence, we will be shot down by the dozens, by the hundreds, and troops will move into every major city. The fascist Trump regime is just waiting for an excuse, an opportunity like that.
Of Course it could Trigger a
“ Bunker Hill “ Response From The Country…
Ŵe Will See …
Governor Newsom did NOT call for the National Guard, Trump did!
Renee
You are 100% correct about Newson NOT CALLING FOR FEDERAL TROOPS.
The call up of National Troops In California was a Colossal TRUMPET 🎺 INTERFERING WITH CALIFORNIA STATE AFFAIRS.
Normally The local asks for the state to provide backup and then the governor ask the president for Federal Level troops.
TRUMPET 🎺 ON HIS OWN HAS ONCE ASSERTED the KING 🤴 method of governance.
The Phrase “ By Any Means Necessary “ Comes To Mind History Doesn’t Repeat Itself But Sometimes It Rhymes…
If this keeps Up Taco Bell In Dodge Kansas will be out of Business along with The Largest Meat Packing Plant in the USA…. That Town and Industry were Heavily populated by non American citizens…
He did not do that
Governor Newsom did not call the National Guards. Trump brought them out for no reason. Watch the video of Adam Kinzinger. He explains it very well.
Trumpet 🎺 had a reason !!!
Trumpet 🎺 wants to Rule Like a King By Fiat ; Simply By Opening His Mouth and Signing his name on a piece of Paper Trumpet 🎺 Believes That’s How He Should Run The Country: His Way and No one Else Should Speak …
Plus he hopes to embarrass Newsom . Trumpet 🎺 is a Real Wanker …
I’m afraid civilians with guns would just provoke them to engage and kill people. If someone somewhere has a large organized militia committed to delicate operations, that’s a different story. 👹
If I was Shooter and wanted to Use Violence to Stop Violence I Would be trying to Disable people with masks and No Visible Badge Number no Warrent .
I would use Shots to Feet Knees Legs Arms to Protect MY Family and Friends from The Geheime Staatspolizei, abbreviated (Gestapo,)was the official secret police of Nazi Germany.
The Gestapo Has No Place In The America I Grew Up In…
Everyone has To Defend Themselves The Best Way They Know How The Rule Of Law seems to Be Dead … The Orange Deranged Man-Baby TACO 🎺 is KING AND HIS ROYAL COURT OF CRONIES ARE IN CHARGE of Congress, The Senate, The Supream Court the Dept of Justice Everywhere …
when the "history train" has derailed and is headed toward chaos we must remain in control of our emotions, lest we be crushed.
This may be of some use.
https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights
I will soon be (oh gulp) 90, getting a bit tottery in a crowd or on uneven pavements, and have only attended 1 demonstration back in the Eugene McCarthy days. That said, I will be out June 14th armed with a cane and your ACLU advice and hope there is no need for any of us to have to use it for our defense. This man is too ill to hold any office and we are all fools if we let him continue!
I'll be 79 very soon and I'll be out there protesting too Beryl! Be safe as we all make "Good Trouble" peacefully!
Might I suggest that you have a walker or rollator. You should find this much safer than a cane and will give you a seat to rest if needed. This is a tip from a friend with MS.
Be safe as possible, Beryl. Thank you.
Beryl, you are an inspiration. Thank you and be safe.
Beryl, I admire your courage and dedication but please stay home! I am 80 and recovering from surgery so i cannot be out protesting but even if I could, I wouldn’t. Stay home. Be active on social media. Donate to the ACLU, local organizations supporting our freedom, make signs for the protestors, donatw to your local Democratic Party, donate money for supplies. There’s a lot we oldies can do from home. We need to be smart in these times not at risk of injury to ourselves.
I agree. Those of us who are mobility impaired, have the potential to be a problem for those who feel a need to help us. Yes, I miss being able to participate in peaceful demonstrations, but I would be more of a problem than a help.
We need everyone who can be out to be out, but, yes, personal safety is essential. Find some people in your community to go with. Contact protest organizers about safety measures. For example, my local protests always ask people with mobility issues start near the front of the march so the rest of us can be alert and responsive to any emergencies.
Sharing! I’m going to transcribe to an index card to carry in protests. Really helpful, thank you!
The ACLU has them already printed on card that you can carry around. Call your local ACLU office.
Thank you Nicole! Didn’t know that!!!
Excellent, Michael! We all need to share this with others so they know their rights!
Many many thanks Michael for attaching the ACLU’s critically important guidance at this terrifying time.
Thank you! Printed it out and re stacked it
The whole world is watching, this story led the news on this side of the Atlantic. Some actions speak for themselves, the pictures tell the story…
I’m no expert on the history of California, but my impression is that Spanish speaking Europeans were the first to settle/colonise the region. At the very least it suggests a little care should be shown on the question of who has the right to be there…
Care needs to be taken by countries with different populations and languages living within their borders. Canada learned long ago that the French speakers of Quebec should be given a greater degree of autonomy than the rest of Canada, they were literally a different people. Long after this administration is gone California will be a part of America whose history did not start with the Mayflower.
There are rumbles of California, Oregon and Washington joining Canada though I don’t know how they would achieve this. As a Former California resident for 57 years, I think that’s quite a nice idea. I’ve seen comments that many Canadians are open to this. I have Mexican-American in-laws in California and I’m scared for them now.
I’m in California and we’d love to join Canada 🇨🇦 as do many in Oregon & Washington
Would love for NJ to join Canada 🇨🇦!!!!
We all have a right to plant our feet anywhere in the world. No one owns the earth. It owns us.
Actually, Cali was well settled long before the Spanish, or even the Chinese, arrived.
Yes, they are the First People even though disoriented migrants from Europe thought they were in South Asia. The First People were not initially hostile and did not attempt to deport them to...someplace else.
Totally agree, the region was settled long before any Europeans arrived - I tried to suggest that the Spanish arrived as settlers or colonisers, implying it was already populated. My point was that any government in N or S America needs to tread lightly when it comes to the original populations.
The unceded land has a history that predates any vessel with pilgrims from europe however the influence of European immigrants was different in California than it was in Massachusetts
The First people are now last ;
Some Crooks Steal Your Stuff with a gun ; Some Crooks Use Fountain Pens …
What shall we do about those people present in a crowd of otherwise peaceful protesters whose purpose is sabotage by violence?
Move away from outside agitators. Encircle them from a distance if you can. Isolate them. Sit down with empty hands. Call them out. Let everyone nearby know what is happening. Document their actions with photos and video. Capture their faces. Off the top of my head, these are some of the tactics that have been suggested. I’m sure there are more.
Know where the protest will be held. Reconnoiter it. Know where the security forces are and arrayed. be observant at all times. Understand that deliberate planned violence is a tactic used to provide a pretext for security to advance upon the protest and sew panic within it. Know the lines of advance of security forces. This will be from 2 or 3 sides. Know where the lines of retreat from it are. always have someone who does not attend and their phone number written on the back of your hand that you can call if you are arrested. Protection from tear gas is advised.
Thank you for that.
Florence, I didn’t want to post a direct link from the Trump regime, so here is a link that discusses this particular executive order.
https://racism.org/trump-admin/12668-executive-order-14288-01
The intentions of this fascist president and his cronies are quite clear. They intend to suppress and oppress everyone who doesn’t totally submit.
They intend to totally overthrow our democracy and constitution and replace it with an imperial christian white supremacist dictatorship.
They intend to reduce the population by destroying our health care system, modern medicine and science. They intend to destroy public education, kill independent thought and art. They intend to rule by force and fear.
Yes, Michael, this is precisely what they hope to accomplish, but going back to the Dark Ages will result in chaos and failure. They count on Catholics and Evangelicals to provide stability, and this is why we must appeal to all religions in our resistance to fascism, which is secular in essence. Hopefully Pope Leo XIV will speak with authority and conviction.
Unfortunately, I have to agree.
Collateral Damage; The High School Football Players that didn’t get to college ( the Law Enforcement LEO) Don’t care it’s better than factory Work…
They get to carry Guns wear Sunglasses 🕶️ and hope someday to shoot hopefully unarmed people…
"Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice." - Attorney General Robert F Kennedy
This chant from the 1968
Democratic Convention in Chicago is due for a revival:
THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING!
I will never forget the DNC in 1968. It was a fascinating time that influenced me and my friends for the rest of our lives. We had lost giants in Civil Rights and in politics to violence and the peaceful protest was giving way. From Weathermen to the Weather Underground.
I have learned that the best way, albeit more deliberate in its pace, is the way of the peaceful protestor.
The articles and comments provide excellent advice on what to do if/when the instigators appear at a peaceful demonstration.
Heed their warnings.
Thank you for this powerful reminder. It resonates deeply. What’s unfolding in Los Angeles is not just a test of policy or politics—it’s a test of our collective conscience. The response we choose now will echo far beyond this moment.
Of special interest. Note what happened to the guy trying to reenact the Tiananmen Square standoff with a tank: https://youtu.be/Ngj25Slq3LU?si=3M4T8L0HnnFodPNK
Is this so banal that Miller motivated it in a fit of pique over his wife running off with Musk ‽ Or is Musk's departure is a lame effort to divert attention from this kind of thing? Once again, the timing of events is - or at least, seems - fishy.
Indeed, the most effective way to protest this unlawful occupation of Los Angeles is for 20 to 40 thousand Angelinos to surround the National Guard, members of ICE enforcement, and LAPD in total silence. Please do not give the opposition any reason to harm those peacefully and legally using their 1st Amendment rights. We have the "numbers" of people on our side. Trump has a few thousand California-raised National Guard soldiers, some of whom are not supportive of Trump and his hellions.
I found a very interesting post by Mr. William M Miller who was actually proposing A Solution!
He seems like someone who is very knowledgeable to offer this considering his background:
https://open.substack.com/pub/williamlmiller/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1pypb7
It's tear gas today...It was firehoses yesterday...
https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?phrase=birmingham+fire+hoses
I would just like someone to acknowledge that, by all reports, these people targeted by ICE have already been protesting peacefully!
California is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger that Bunkerboy's "federal gub'ment." THEY will be okay with the support of us AMERICANS - 75%+ of the countryty - Bunkerboy and it's regime of exceptional children will NOT.
https://open.substack.com/pub/meidastouch/p/urgent-message-from-meidastrump-declares?r=3cubt1&utm_medium=ios
They may be watching us, but there’s nothing that can be done. And, now that the budget has been passed, we will be overrun with ICE agents and they’ll never leave!
Call. Write. Email. Protest. 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
Nice spreadsheet - thanks.
You’re welcome! Thanks for speaking up right now!
Wow - good work on the spreadsheet!
💕👌💯💯💯💯💯💯
💙
Thank you!!
At this point calling and writing do nothing. Protesting is the only hope. Relentless protesting. Peaceful yet bold. Peaceful does NOT mean silent!
All tactics are important and necessary. We need a full tactic approach. And we can rely on people who aren’t able to protest for these other tactics.
I agree, but I also think we can cause little ripples. I’m thinking staff members who hear the same thing over and over via voicemail, phone calls, letter after letter, email after email - maybe they’ll be a little more receptive each time they hear from us. Maybe they’ll talk more about our talking points to friends and family, maybeeee they’ll vote differently (if we get to vote again). I think we can cause ripples to push news organizations to be more honest and maybe even a bit accusatory about what’s happening. As a collective, our volume matters. And, at the end of the day, if we just annoy and overwhelm some staffers working for people hurting the average American, I’m ok with that too 🙃
This is amazing, thank you!
You have. Been warned about chimp.
Megan how about this ??
It seems like this might be the KEY to rid of all this insanity and get the country back ❤️🩹🙏
https://open.substack.com/pub/williamlmiller/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1pypb7
Proud Californian here. We’re not backing down. We will peacefully resist. But I’m big mad.
Be careful out there.
Kudos to you, Laura! Know that we are behind you and support you! We are all big mad and will not back down to this tyrant! Keep protesting peacefully, Laura! Stay strong and stay safe!
Heroes, the rest of the country is with you ✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽
https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights
💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪
Power to you all 💜🕊️
Be prepared. Trump will go at California any way he can, legal, financial. His disdain for the state is well known.
I’m with you, my Cali sister! 🫶🏼
What a terrible situation. Trump is an insane convicted criminal and we have him as president. I still cannot understand why 77 million people voted for him. Anyone paying attention knew that he should not be president and that if he was it would be total chaos. This country is a mess and we still have three years and five months to go. Awful.
The Fox faux news propaganda network indoctrinates. The MAGA folk hear lies
repeatedly. Shades of Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the nuclear codes are in the hands of a man who is mentally and psychologically diminished. Scary times. Please keep speaking out the truth, peacefully and nonviolently.
If you've not seen it, watch Greg Palast's video from Feb this year:
https://www.gregpalast.com/the-voting-trickery-that-elected-trump/
Ag, this video from Greg Palast with Thom Hartmann may be the most important entry since the real rigged election of 2024, the day that will live in infamy. Greg has the credentials of a bona fide statistical analyst and has assembled a folio of data to invalidate drumpf's spurious claims. This hearkens to the Wisconsin Supreme Court election of 2020 in which the liberal candidate won the vacating seat. With respect to the Wis. GOP's efforts to subvert the vote, Dem. Gov. Tony Evers wisely quipped "this is the Wild West",
as in vigilante vote rigging at its most Nazi.
Also look at Election Truth Alliance & SMART Elections, showing it went beyond voter suppression & purges, but likely included vote manipulation at the tabulation stage.
Three years and five months seems like a lifetime to me, Richard! I guess because I am old and don't have a lot of years left. Instead of looking at that timeline, I focus on the mid-term elections coming up and am working non-stop to help my candidates get elected. If we can win a majority in the House and Senate, we can stop the orange man in his tracks. Until such time as he is stymied, we must continue to resist and fight as hard as we know how! Write letters, sign petitions, make phone calls and PROTEST loudly! Make sure you tell everyone you know how important it is to get out there on June 14 and protest "NO KINGS"! Keep fighting America! Stay strong and stay safe!
I agree Peggy. I am old also, but find that my gas tank is pretty low now and don't have much energy or fight left. Take too many naps. Thought I could just rest and relax these last few years but watching this Trump disaster has ruined that.
I know! It ruined my golden years, too, Richard! Once again I found myself donning my "activist" shoes and getting back to work. Instead of being able to putter around in my garden, go to the theatre or any of the other myriad things I truly want to do, I am writing letter after letter to my congressmen, judges, the orange man, etc., making phone calls, signing petitions and taking my trusty sign to every protest I can find near me! We can protest and fight in our own way, Richard! Stay strong and stay safe!
Me too,just hope I live long enough to see him punished or dead
Amen!
He is a stooge. His sponsors deserve to be punished.
Same here. I don’t expect to outlive the Loser Taco Don administration. I’m not sure I even want to!
You are one of my role models, Peggy. Thank you for being here.
Always, Michael! Let's do this for our country and our kids! Fight on! Stay strong and stay safe!
Congress has the legal power and responsibility to pass laws and to represent the wants, needs and desires of the majority of their constituents. Congress can remove an errant POTUS from office. Congress can rewrite the Constitution.
The Congress of the past 45 years has been supporting a mostly right-wing agenda that favors the wealthy. Much of the current Congress enjoys the support of the sponsorship that also supports Trump. So, it should come as no surprise that Congress and the SCOTUS are allowing, if not enabling, Trump to do whatever he is doing.
The armed forces are not supposed to obey illegal orders. Congress makes the laws and the SCOTUS determines which laws are “legal” versus “unconstitutional”. The members of Congress and SCOTUS are civil servants that must bow to their masters— the people of the USA, not just the billionaires and mega-millionaires.
If only it was working like that.
The point is that the masses must direct their anger at the billionaires, mega-millionaires and their lackeys in Congress. Trump is a distraction — a geriatric maniac whose days are numbered. Trump is near the end of his actuarial life expectancy. The billionaires, mega-millionaires and their legacies will live on. Trump’s corporate sponsors are theoretically immortal.
All members of Congress know this, but only a few “Progressives” have been willing to poke at this. As a result, they have been castigated by the DNC. The DNC has been an opponent of the working class since at least 1944, but not as blatant as the RNC that gave them Trump.
There was an article in the NYTs about a meeting the Dems had where they seem to believe the answer was to be more moderate or even conservative to embrace the Blue Dogs and to refute the progressives. We forget that we would not have SS, Medicare,Medicaid, ACA, Civil Rights or a myriad of other programs without the pesky Progressives.
All of those programs were opposed by many Democrats.
The ACA, unfortunately, was written by the insurance industry to satisfy the Republicans. It is nowhere near FDR’s vision of healthcare coverage for all Americans.
Too many Americans are ignorant of the related history. The billionaire-owned mass media — including the NYT — and the public schools deliberately don’t inform them.
How many Reps vote for ACA. Remember that many Dems were conservative southern until the Civil Rights Act then they became Republicans.
The ruling class is not called that in vain. Don't let wishful thinking blind you to unpleasant realities. More often than not you have to compromise.
ACA in that form was all they could get. There were far more blue Dogs then. Some of the more progressive Dems wanted more and tried to oppose the conservative package.
See Election Truth Alliance and watch Vigilantes Inc.
They cheated from every angle to stay out of prison.
An algorithm changed Kamala votes into votes for him.
They have all the data and evidence.
They're criminals of course they cheated.
Will we survive 4 years of this!. 😨 scary indeed!
HE'S NOT GOING TO BE IN OFFICE ANOTHER 3.5 YEARS!!!! HE'LL BE LONG DEAD BY THEN BECAUSE SOMEBODY IS GOING TO OFF HIM!!! I GUARANTEE YOU!!!
He is the most despicable person I have ever seen.
Mother Nature is calling him, too.
Do you have the inside scoop on this, CK?? Someone sent me a response listing the substances Trump takes, or did take. But I could not find my way back to that comment and I had never heard of them. Does he take legally prescribed drugs?
Klare K.
I’m not privy to Trump’s medical conditions or intake substances other than public information about eating at McDonald’s.
As the POTUS, he has access to some of the most advanced medical care in the world, if he wants or needs it. As a billionaire, he has access to any legal or illegal substances that may suit his fancy.
As a geriatric male who doesn’t appear to be in good physical condition, he may be experiencing any of a variety of physical ailments that are very common to any American of his age. As such, he probably is on some regimen of medications. Literally all of my associates— male and female— at my local Senior Center are taking some kinds of prescription medications.
“As of 2023, the average life expectancy for males in the United States is approximately 75.8 years.” He has already exceeded that number of years. He’ll be celebrating his 79th birthday, next week. His younger brother died at the age of 71 years. His biological clock is running out of time.
His general public behavior and incoherent speech indicate that he is not “all right” despite what his handlers may be telling the world.
Of course, we can say the same about Joe Biden and about many members of Congress over the age of 70 years. Bernie Sanders is a rare exception.
Please remember who will replace him. Some one more ideological, disciplined and has Thiel as his patron.
If someone takes Trump out, I would think that would put a "little bit" of the fear of God in the rest of them too!!! And there are always going to be more of us than them as well!
The “attempt” on trump just helped to make him more popular. Think what would happen if you make him a martyr.
Your assessments are spot on, Richard, except that this country will not have anything but rigged elections by 2028, as drumpf and his minions are seeing to it. Note the post by Agnotologian a few entries along which references the video from Greg Palast about voter suppression. The 2024 election was ripped from us by drumpf, pure and simple.
Just awful.
No the 2024 election was not ripped from us by drumpf. It was lost because of Americans’ stupidity, bigotry and laziness. No one listened to what Harris was saying. When I spoke to people, nobody had looked up, checked any info on what her programs were. They couldn’t say why they didn’t like her, but there was just “something”. Many said they didn’t really like trump but they liked his policies, although they could not name any. I live in a farm area, we are dependent on immigrants, documented, undocumented, illegal, we would be up the proverbial creek without them. But the people here are too dumb to understand, they buy into the garbage being spewed. The irony is that if these immigrants stayed, settled in became citizens, the country would probably move more conservative. Just look at the Latino population who thought trump was great (so macho) until he went after their own families.
Kathleen, I agree with most of your points, but I am compelled by keen witnesses to current events as well as by my personal observations to stand with my statement with a clarification: The 2024 election was ripped from us by trump and his key players like Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, and Russell Vought, and by dark money, pure and simple. The rip is twofold. First, in swing states like Wisconsin where I live, the most vicious and libelous ad campaign I have ever seen was waged by trump's big backers against Harris. The weak of mind were easily played by this tactic, which constitutes a form of voter theft and is one reason that big money should be barred from politics. Second, a statistical analysis of the systematic purging of minorities from voter rolls has been performed by the investigative reporter Greg Palast as he reviewed the voting results in swing states respective to race. Please look at his interview with Thom Hartmann from Feb. 2025 which you may find to be informative. This smacks of the type of voter manipulation which may have allowed for G.W. Bush to be installed into the presidency by his brother Jeb in the 2000 election. The predators who operate behind the scenes of election dynamics will do anything to win.
https://www.gregpalast.com/the-voting-trickery-that-elected-trump/
I understand where you are coming from. My family was military. I was the youngest and only girl among all cousins. We were raised to take responsibility for your actions or inaction. You were expected to look after those younger, weaker or anyone in your charge. When as a callow 21 year old I was bemoaning how cruelly I was treated by an ex boyfriend to my favorite uncle. His response was, Honey, you are free, white and 21, DO NOT blame anyone else for your poor choices. It was a bucket of cold water, just what I needed. My former mother-in-law was German who loved to cry they (the Germans) were the real victims. This was a working class woman who had fur coats and took vacations during the 1930’s. I guess that I am tired of the excuses. When you screw up own it. Do not blame others. Am in my 80’s and can not help but wonder if this is where we have messed up with our kids and perhaps boys have a hard time growing up. By the way. My oldest retired after 25 plus years as a SEAL and my youngest is still in the service as a colonel. He has been a mentor to a number of his young soldiers because as he put it, they do not have parents at least in the sense that they took the responsibility to actually raise them to be able stand on their own
Thank you for your reply, Kathleen. Also, thank you for raising two fine men who are and have been of great service to this country for sure. It seems strange that a well-off woman as you describe would suggest that the Allies victimized the Germans in WWII. It is well known that Hitler's platform for waging WWII centered upon the supposed mistreatment of the Germans by the Allied victors after WWI, as well as upon his hatred for Jews. My dad and two of my uncles served as combat soldiers on the Western Front on and after D-Day and I will forever revere their memories in gratitude. As far as the arsonist drumpf and his minions, I fully expect them to whine to their last breaths as they go down in flames as to how the terrible liberals brought them to such an ignominious end.
I must reply to my own comment. Since writing it, I have that horrible feeling that this country is beyond turning it around, that it has already transformed into a fascist dictatorship and the people have no power to stop it, because those in power, including the Republican Party, will rig the elections and declare victory no matter what, just as they did in Germany when Hitler took over.
Trump did not win the 2024 election fairly. He cheated as always, this time bigtime, with the help of MAGA operatives, billionaire technofascists like Musk & Thiel, & his puppetmaster Putin, using voter suppression, purges, ballot removals, vote manipulation, tampering of voting machine software & bomb threats. Kamala won.
Most depressing.
I just tried to watch "Vigilantes, Inc.," but it takes a long time to get into the main thrust of the film.
If we had an upright, upstanding justice system in place in this country, Trump would NEVER have been allowed back into office no matter what. We have a DOJ that does not uphold or enforce the laws, and a "Supreme Court" in name only! The five conservatives are in it for the prestige, apparently. ACB acts much more independently and votes with the liberals at times. She has a mind of her own.
They voted for him because they were biased against a woman in the White House!
And a black woman at that.
I’ve spent most of my life in the service of this country—four decades under oath, through intelligence briefings and national crises, with a front-row seat to the daily workings of a constitutional democracy. I say this not to center myself, but to clarify the weight behind my words when I say: I am disgusted. I am revolted. And I am deeply, profoundly heartbroken that we are here.
We now have a president—let’s call him what he is, a caesar-in-waiting—deploying federal troops not to defend liberty, but to stifle dissent. Against his own citizens. In Los Angeles. For daring to gather, to speak, to protest. It’s not lost on me that this deployment is legally permissible. So were the Fugitive Slave Acts. So was Japanese internment. Legality is not morality. And every autocrat starts by reaching for the legal levers.
I support the spirit behind your post. I share your call for civil disobedience over chaos. But I won’t lie: part of me doubts its long-term efficacy against a man like Trump. Not because it lacks power—but because it lacks the kind of immediate visual obedience he feeds on. Civil disobedience, by nature, deprives him of his favorite narcotic—conflict. And I think you’re right—he wants violence. He needs it. Without it, his overreach becomes plain. With it, he gets to brand his enemies as rioters, declare martial necessity, and march toward open tyranny draped in law and order.
But we’ve been here before.
• Gandhi walked into batons and broke an empire’s back.
• The lunch counter sit-ins exposed the lie of “separate but equal.”
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott nearly bankrupted a system.
• Tahrir Square. Solidarity in Poland. The Singing Revolution in Estonia.
Civil disobedience doesn’t always succeed in weeks. It doesn’t always prevent pain. But it does something that violence cannot—it builds the moral authority required to outlast tyranny.
That’s the wager we’re making. Because let’s be brutally clear: if we play by his rules, we lose. If we give him the chaos he craves, he’ll seize the moment and write the next chapter in blood and flags.
This is a trap. And it reeks of the Reichstag Fire strategy. He wants to provoke. And too many Americans, worn down, angry, hopeless, may be ready to give him exactly what he needs.
But here’s the paradox of American strength: it’s never just been in our weapons. It’s been in our restraint. Our dignity. Our stubborn refusal to become what we fight.
We don’t need to break windows. We need to break narratives. We need 10,000 citizens surrounding a courthouse in silence. We need military families with folded flags standing in formation at state capitols. We need civil servants, veterans, nurses, artists—ordinary people refusing to cooperate with extraordinary cruelty.
And we need to document it all. Broadcast it all. Archive the truth before they try to bury it.
Trump isn’t strong. He’s brittle. A man so insecure he needs a military parade to feel powerful is already afraid. What he fears most is a nation that won’t flinch, won’t run, and won’t break the way he wants.
So I stand with you. In support. In anguish. In a place I never thought I’d be in my lifetime. Not watching the descent of a foreign land, but the slow suffocation of the republic I swore to defend.
We must resist—with honor, with intelligence, with relentless moral force.
And with the same whispered reminder that outlasted Rome, outlived the tyrants of the last century, and will outshine this man, too:
Memento mori.
He will fall.
We must not.
What an inspiring post, Dino! Everyone needs to read it. Thank you.
Very moving, thank you.
Beautiful! This brought tears to my eyes!
Dino, I was so moved by your words, I have shared it quite a few times this morning! What you have said about the American spirit is so powerful! It won't happen overnight - nothing good ever does - but it will happen. Our strength is knowing and understanding what America truly is. We are the greatest nation when we follow our Constitution, when we work together for the betterment of all of us and when we stand and protest against what we see as wrong for our country. It is my fervent wish that everyone who is going out to protest today, tomorrow and June 14 would read what you have written and follow your instructions. Thank you so much for this post. Thank you so much for your service.
I, too, found it an inspiring comment. My first reaction was to subscribe to your Substack.
Thank you for this profoundly true and eloquent post
Dino, thank you for this moving post & thank you for your service! I would love for everyone of us protesting on June 14 to read & use your words of wisdom, especially those of us here in LA!
Fascists succeed by draping themselves in the national flag, and accusing opponents as being unpatriotic, beholden to foreign interests. Trump is appealing to xenophobia to crush those who stand for universal human values. We must be careful in who we defend, and we must not countenance rock throwers..
Thank you Dino for your inspiring post! I pray everyone who reads it and everyone in LA joins a protest next Saturday June 14th, the No Kings Protest. Especially in Washington DC where Trump is having his military/birthday parade. They are being held all across the country.
How about this action???
https://open.substack.com/pub/williamlmiller/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1pypb7
You had the necessary experience, thought it through and got this just right!
Now I can see what I’ve been looking at!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Dino, Excellent! As Gandhi said, "The tyrants always fall". We will be strong, like his foot soldiers.
The liar in the WH is a fascist we have pictures and videos that we were peacefully protesting and they fired upon us! That’s the truth
Yes we know and we also know that these people place plants in these protests to use violence as a reason to call in troops, national guard, etc.
Be Aware of that so you can walk away from it quickly, it is a set up.
Protect yourselves.
Trust me, Oya, we believe you! We know who and what the orange man is and we also know that he wants so badly to have the military crush all of us who would dare to protest against him! In the words of my nephew, "He's about to fuck around and find out"!
I’m sorry you experienced this first-hand. I am mentally preparing for ‘No Kings’ on June 14th. I believe it is worth the risk. Thank you, OA.
I think the parade is actually just a way for trump to move a lot of heavy military gear to marshall law the north east. He also said he wants to shoot protesters and he will use any excuse to start this stuff. I think we need to escalate a lot further than we have been.
As for each and every time I see any questions being asked of these republicans and kkkaroline, they cannot and will not answer a tough question or a yes or no question but while their tactic works, I am figuring and hoping it just works for now.
They can break and will break. But they are waiting for enough trump law to get set in place so they can stop holding out because his law will enable them to not have to answer anyone anymore.
The amount of stress they are under is increasing and
incredible but keep at them and they will break. But we have to amp it up and fast because it is a battle of time! It is because some of them have an ounce of human in them that we must keep trying to get them to break because if we don’t get them to break before trumps plan to silence everyone works, then it’s all over.
Now is the time. This is the crest.
I am worried
Peaceful resistance. Ghandi. MLK. John Lewis. No violence please because he is just waiting for someone to be violent so they can be violent in return.
He is no longer waiting. Our own military, that we paid for in taxes, is being deployed by the biggest criminal on the Planet, "right" now. He is treating free speech as a crime, against the rule of law.
I feel sympathy for the military. They did not join to fight against their own people and must be suffering now from pangs of conscience - their idealism being exploited by a corrupt man who dodged the draft twice, he was so cowardly. And they could suffer serious consequences if they don’t obey orders. All you can do is not offer resistance to them. Like protestors who placed flowers in their gun barrels all those years ago.
Elizabeth Racki ; While I admire your concern for the military, who are given orders by a man who is unfit for his job and level of power, I will point out to you that I come from a military family , and am actually against what the military is being ordered to do, not the military members themselves. I was a young woman protesting back in the days when four students were shot dead in Ohio and flowers were placed in a gun barrel by a protester, all those years ago. It is beyond sad that those with too much wealth have been allowed to buy our government, and ironic that it was the Supreme court that ok'd "Citizens United" and more recently, it gave a complete criminal convicted felon the seemingly unlimited immunity against being prosecuted for his actual crimes, while he is judge, jury and executioner to anyone who displeases him. We need a miracle.
The partial elimination of conscription and transition to the “all volunteer” armed forces hasn’t helped the cause. It has insulated most families from the fear of being drafted into military service.
CK ; My family served before the "All volunteer " armed services, years ago. I think the "All volunteer" armed services is a misnomer, since many who have joined recently, or since the advent of "All volunteer", have been pressured by poverty to the "backdoor draft", because that was a way to make a living and receive healthcare in addition to training and a paycheck. When a kid who can't afford college graduates from High school without the funds to get training or college, and rents are a thousand $ per month, for a modest apartment, joining the military looks like a good bet, especially if it is not active war time.
During the Vietnam War era, a disproportionate number of voluntary enlisted soldiers were poor young black men — and some white — from the impoverished South, desperate for jobs and possible career opportunities. Many of them could barely read or write. Army training manuals were written for comprehension at the level of 5th grade of elementary school.
The Navy and Air Force were more selective because of the technical complexity of the equipment that sailors and airmen had to operate and maintain. Naval submariners were, and still are, among the technical elites who are still sought by the defense contractors and the nuclear power industry when they leave the service. Pilots and aircraft mechanics from any of the services are still in demand by commercial airlines.
An unfortunate consequence of Dick Cheney’s vision of privatization and outsourcing of many military support functions is that the armed forces no longer promise to provide skilled trades education and training to enlistees. Today’s military troops are trained to kill people and/or destroy buildings, bridges, infrastructure, etc. Much of the cooking, cleaning, construction, maintenance, administrative and logistics work the used to be done by military personnel is now performed by private contractors.
Hence military personnel leaving the service have fewer marketable skills for private industry. Some go into law enforcement— which is a bad idea because they have been conditioned to view everyone who doesn’t wear their uniform as the enemy. Some go into private security or mercenary jobs. Others try to get into colleges or universities to start new lives, with no guarantees of future employment.
The Draft forced people to pay attention to politics.
I don't feel bad for them at all. They signed up to murder people of color in other countries for resources. You can leave at any time if you have half a backbone, but most of them are cowards who will turn on their own citizens before they will defect. Sickening.
It remains to be seen if the military forces— all volunteers — will turn against their fellow Americans.
One problem with the “all volunteer” armed forces is that the recruitment process may eliminate “people of conscience” and may entice psychopaths.
Many young people enlist in quest of employment or the promise of scholarships.
As for leaving at any time, deserters can face time is the federal slammer at Fort Leavenworth. That comes with a life sentence of stigma that will prevent them from getting meaningful employment, home mortgage loans, student loans, etc. Some soldiers who come to realize that they “don’t belong”, choose suicide. General Lloyd Austin’s job in the Army, before he retired, was to figure out how to stop military suicides. He tried but didn’t succeed.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3964785/department-of-defense-releases-its-annual-report-on-suicide-in-the-military-for/
I think many sign up because of poverty and few options. Others to defend home are idealistic. There are bound to be psychopaths but the screening process should weed them out. They don’t make for team players. Hopefully, there will be fewer who sign up voluntarily now the President is a double draft dodger!
throwing rocks at cars is not speech, and it is not even a protest. When you go to a protest do so with a cool head, fully in control of your emotions, otherwise you may end up doing Trump a favor.
Victor Kamendrowsky , hopefully, most participants in a protest know these things. There used to be "teach-ins", where strategies were taught, to keep people safe from those provocateurs who want to disrupt from being successful, and peaceful. disruptors were violent and wanted to make the protesters look bad.
Ghandi and MLK Jr. were assassinated, as were JFK and RFK.
yes, but their legacies live on.
Non-violent, yes. Civility has limits, though. Civility allowed Trump to float to the top because most people were too civil to say: "Hanging a goddam fucking minute, buddy. You CAN'T do that."
Trump and his supporters do not deserve civility. I think it's time my sane American cousins stopped being so goddamned polite all the time and started being honest.
Those who support Trump should be ridiculed, humiliated and verbally eviscerted at every opportunity. Make them feel as bad as they want millions of perfectly decent citizens to feel.
SHAME is a very powerful weapon. Do not be afraid to deploy it on an industrial scale.
From my perspective, it is not about civility, from my essay ( https://dialector.substack.com/p/e-pluribus-unum ): "When those seeking to restore the Constitution as the supreme law of the land become violent against superior force, it not only justifies government violence, and also allows that superior force to crush the resistance...If patriots take up arms in anger or engage in chaotic violence of any kind, they will not defeat tyranny, they will justify it. Even though we are the most well-armed civilian population in history, we are still outmatched by the overwhelming force of the state. To respond to the death of the Constitution with violence against a vastly superior force is not a rebellion, it is surrender. Surrender is not the only path. History has already shown us a greater weapon, one that is extremely effective against superior physical force: nonviolent resistance."
Exactly. To my mind, telling witless morons with no capacity for critical thought that they really ought to give it a try constitutes "nonviolent resistance". If they object, telling them that they are idiots also constitutes "nonviolent resistance". Laughing at them is "nonviolent resistance". Partying and celebrating life in general and highlighting just how dark and dingy their sad little lives are, in defiance of their constant abuse, is also "nonviolent resistance".
If they refuse to listen, telling them to GROW UP AND SHUT UP AND FUCK OFF qualifies as "nonviolent resistance", too.
These are all good ideas for our peaceful protestors to use! Thanks again, Martin!
Yet again, you're welcome! I'm keeping accounts, naturally. To whom should I address my invoice once you've sorted yourselves out? :-)
Hahahahahaha! I guess you could send them to Congress with the explanation that you helped get rid of TACO! Thanks for the humor, Martin! It is definitely needed!
You're welcome again but, if addressing me, could you please spell 'humour' correctly. Same goes for all your other dropped 'U's and other typographical infelicities. It's just bloody lazy. Speak English, damn you!
Yes!
That “outmatched… overwhelming force of the [American] state” was defeated by poor fishermen and farmers of Vietnam and by “ragtag” militia forces of Afghanistan and Iraq. Those victims of US military oppression paid a high price but were not defeated. Israel has been deploying the power of US-made weapons of mass destruction against the Palestinians, for decades. But, the Palestinians have not yet been defeated.
The US armed forces are comprised of approximately 1% of the US population. US law enforcement personnel are compromised of less than 0.22% of the US population. Their combined numbers are vastly outweighed by those of the civilians, many of whom are military veterans who do not support the current regime.
Good point, CK, but do note that the oligarchs are counting on Catholic and Evangelic support to cement their power. We must address all religious people in this struggle against fascism/tribalism, for It is a struggle against the unholy. As for Trump himself, he is even anti-American.
Catholics and Evangelical who support Trump and genocide are not Christians. They are hypocrites. Actual Jews do not support Trump and genocide, but hypocrites and Zionists do.
True Christian Catholics will follow the Pope’s condemnation of Trump, Vance, Biden and the genocidal Zionists. The Muslims are opposed to Trump and genocide.
It comes down to how many MAGA hypocrites will continue to support Trump. Most of them are in for big surprises from the destruction of governmental aid that they depend upon.
Trump is a domestic enemy of the Constitution and the majority of the people of the USA. The armed forces must decide if they will honor their oath to defend the Constitution and the people versus following the orders of the Criminal-in-Chief.
Much of the nonviolent resistance, e.g. Gandhi, was successful because it was nationalistic in nature. To resist Trump we must show to others how he is hurting America. We must wrest the flag from him.
Or you could try the Woody Allen approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptxkVhDYog8
Ha! You could also try "Bananas"....... Don't fancy playing the lead role in a contemporary take on 'The Sleeper', though. That would be too much.
'Bananas' is right!
Mind you, from the same era, I think these days we're all Yossarian: carry on and we risk destruction, stop and we are destroyed...... Catch 22 usually applies somewhere along the line these days, I find......
Catch 22 is often confused with the concept of a viscous circle but it's more subtle than that. One of the great ideas of the 20th century.
Catch 22 is often confused for a lot of things. Some call it 'freedom'. We're all fully signed up to Catch 22 whether we like it or not. Milo Minderbender is in charge of trade policy, too, so, not good.
A coordinated general strike could shutdown the country in a matter of days or weeks. If only 10 million workers called in “sick” or simply didn’t go to work, that would get some attention. There are enough immediate “replacements” for that many workers, especially if those workers are air traffic controllers, longshoremen, railroad engineers, hotel and restaurants workers, electrical linemen, garbage collectors, etc.
For the sake of civility, employees of Emergency Rooms, Urgent Care centers and hospitals could continue to work.
Thank you, Martin. When I do sometimes go on the news feeds and read the comments, I find there are more and more people replying to maga comments with some cold hard truths! It is happening.
So let's keep it happening and keep telling people to help make it happen and keep at it until we can make things happen differently.
Absolutely!
Addendum to abov post: I wrote "Trump and his supporters do not deserve civility". I should have added, "because they don't respect civility."
Trump complains that Musk would be disrespectful hahaha! This jerk keeps insulting everyone who doesn’t share his views, knowing that he changes them constantly, but he doesn’t accept people who have a functioning brain, unlike his own. What is very serious in this country is that the justices of the Supreme Court, whose motto is 'equal justice under law,' lack the courage and integrity necessary, for some of them, to think and decide independently of the power that appointed them. This gives the idiot in chief the feeling that he owns the USA (sometimes other parts of the world) and that no one has the authority or competence to challenge him. It is time for other democratic heads of state to tell him to go screw himself and to stop dodging like some do out of fear of offending him. You don’t negotiate with a furious madman.
The staggering hypocrisy of the man who demands respect for the presidency but only when he's the president. His savage attacks on sitting and former presidents and his behaviour in office show that it is he who is disrespecting the office of the president and may be forever casting it into disrepute. After Trump, who will respect an American president at home or abroad?
Professor Reich: how on EARTH is this arming of the national guard against peaceful protestors not the actions of a fascist dictator? how is the threat of using the american military against american civilians not the actions of a fascist dictator? and how long do you think the military REALLY will remain in WaDC after the upcoming military parade?
wondering if apathetic ameriKKKans are finally getting the memo: the orange rapist cannot be trusted. he is planning to enslave or kill us all.
How about this for a plan to action ?
https://open.substack.com/pub/williamlmiller/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1pypb7
From your allies across the world, a message of unwavering solidarity.
America, you find yourselves in unfamiliar territory—facing the very authoritarianism that many of us have known for decades. What feels shocking to you is grimly familiar to us.
In Asia, many of us still live under dictatorships today. We've learned that when tanks roll and batons swing, citizens must lock arms and stand firm. We've paid in blood for every inch of democracy we've won—and continue to fight for what we've yet to achieve.
In Europe, our streets echo with the sound of strikes and protests. We've faced riot shields and tear gas, because we know that freedom demands confrontation with power—even when that power comes armed and ready.
Now it's your turn. The America we've long admired is under siege from within. Your democratic traditions, your institutions, your very ideals—all under assault.
We see your Democrats offering clever soundbites that only expose their own weakness while the house burns around them. We see a polarised nation with 51% of last election voters bearing responsibility for unleashing what comes next. But we also see millions of you awakening to a harsh reality: this is no longer about politics, this is about survival of democracy itself.
Now , The Hard Truth
This won't be quick. This won't be clean. This won't be resolved by the midterms or the next election cycle—if there are any as we know them.
Prepare for a long fight. Prepare for sacrifice. Prepare for the kind of sustained resistance that has defined freedom movements across the globe.
Lock arms. Face down tyranny. Expect the cost to be heavy—in blood, in tears, in years of struggle. But remember: every democracy that has survived authoritarianism has done so because ordinary people refused to bend their knees.
You are not alone in this fight.
From Hong Kong to Warsaw, from Santiago to Kyiv—we who have faced the darkness stand with you.
The road ahead is long and brutal. But democracy is worth the fight.
Your friends across the world are watching. We believe in the American citizens who respect their Constitution and fight for freedom for all—not the temptation of autocratic America.
Thank you, Frank, for such strong, encouraging words! You are so right when you say we are facing something we never imagined we would have to face. It is scary. We are angry and we are also divided. This fight will definitely NOT be quick, but we will also NEVER give up! Democracy is worth the fight. It is extremely comforting to know that friends around the world are supporting us, encouraging us and standing with us. Thank you so much.
Frank, you speak with a clear, wise mind. Thank you for your comment.
'THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."
https://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/c-01.htm
I was thinking of these words from Thomas Paine as I read the comments.
I live in SoCaL, an hour south from LA and I'm disgusted, these masked thugs gestapo wannabes have no place here.. and, I❤️LA !!! We've been peacefully protesting tirelessly for months and we will keep going, Orange County fights fascism. We are not going to succumb to tyranny !!! We already defeated hitler, we will defeat trump 💙✌️✊️👊💪💙 8647
Well stated, my SoCal sister! I am 2 hours NE of Los Angeles. Stay safe. 🫶🏼
Could you call your democratic representatives or try to get this word to the Governor ?
Here is The Key to stop this madness!!
https://open.substack.com/pub/williamlmiller/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1pypb7
Hitler was a foreigner. Trump is an American, a crucial difference.
This business in L.A. gives me the shivers. I think it both highlights and symbolises a critical difference between the UK and US.
We have a police force to deal with civil disorder. Then we have an army for existential threats.
We don't have this intermediary heavily armed militia to hand for aspiring despots to deploy at their whim when political winds are blowing against them.
Deeply sinister.
Martin, we used to have that too. BT (Before Trump).
Yes, but few presidents ever called the NG out, and never for purely political purposes.
Correct. The felon is saving his own ass by suppressing our voices. America’s “soft coup” now has jackboots and an iron fist. This is all new to us too. Pray for us please.
Self-preservation demands we pray for you. Your crises have a nasty habit of become our crises, more rapidly than ever in the internet age. Fire spreads very quickly when everything is tinder-dry and packed with explosives.
It baffles me how so many in YOUR country actually promote, even DEMAND outright fascism when their ancestors died under DIRECT, 'personal' bombardment from evil fascists 85 years ago.
Do you not teach history (or civics) in your schools there either, as it seems we do not here??
Or is your populace just that distracted, and totally, willfully forgetful, also like here?
Tragically, your final sentence is becoming more apt by the day here. It was always lurking there, I suspect, but now we have political parties legitimising behaviour and attitudes considered abhorrent a generation ago. and so creating a political dynamic that is new and unfamiliar and that our system, which like yours was designed with to polarised opposing forces in mind, not a pluralist system like in Europe, cannot cope with.
This place is a bit of a runaway train, too, but without the track, or the locomotive, and no driver either, no signals and no brakes.
He is acting like other dictators before him!!