What If They Gave A Parade....
And the counter protests crushed it
Much like the Big Beautiful Bill, a name that still conjures up a focus group of kindergarteners asking to name something, the Felon’s military parade on Saturday was not met with the support that he might have expected. I have not heard any White House claims of it being the biggest or best military parade ever, but the spin should be coming. I am sure that the Felon still has crowd envy (among other envies) because Obama’s inauguration crowd…inauguration crowd, was so much bigger than his. What probably got under the Liar in Chief’s skin more than anything was the millions of Americans that raised collective voices to remind us that we are not a monarchy; No Kings, indeed!
I purposely used the word “Americans” because the No Kings events was more about those that believe in the promise of America, not the dystopian, verging on the Handmaid’s Tale world, that this current administration and its bible, Project 2025, think the word means. Are those that can or do carry a US Passport, Americans? That one is an easy “yes.” What about green card holders? What about valid visa holders? What about all of those millions that came to this country to work, to build families, to follow the law and to pay taxes, the direct benefits of which they can never claim? To me, those are Americans, too. Unfortunately, under the unyielding guidance of Pee Wee German the definition of “American” can also be read to read “white.”
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times notes how many legal US Citizens of Hispanic origin have taken to carrying valid US Passports. Yes, guilty while being brown has become a reality. Even more alarming is that fact that ICE agents are being sent into cities, especially Los Angeles with a huge illegal immigrant population, armed as if there is war, real war, in the streets. The twice impeached President promised to rid our shores of the violent criminals that he claimed were flooding into our country, notwithstanding the fact that he lied about the problems, including, but not limited to blaming people fleeing the Madura regime in Venezuela, or from the President’s pal in El Salvador, for bringing fentanyl into the US. Not only was this a prime example of fear-mongering, it simply had no relation to the truth. Those drugs were not being carried across the border by families fleeing oppression; law enforcement knew and knows that the biggest violators are the cartels sending contraband via traditional shipping resources.
Just because the Felon says something, does not make it true. Yet, his lies seem to be amplified by his handpicked cabinet (begging the question of who is the puppet master selecting this rogues gallery of unqualified cabinet secretaries) and other senior advisers. And the lies come at us like a snow storm, yes, a white out! Simply stated, dictators (he is on his way!) always target political opponents with intimidation and violence. They lie about what they are doing and they always blame victims. Sound familiar?
This dictatorial spectre is further evidenced by the administration's vow to get rid of elected officials in States via military force. Yes, the zephyr has become more of a hurricane as threats were made to arrest the governor of California. Could these folks be that arrogant, or just plain stupid? Moreover, consider that impact that the words and obscene actions being used by the administration have on its supporters. If the January 6, insurrectionists can be pardoned, then what actions taken against the opposition (you know, the radical left, communist, socialist, whatever-ist) will actually be met with punishment. What happened in Minnesota this past weekend gave us a terrifying peak into what may be coming. And don’t be surprised by some professional distancing from this administration.
Throughout all of this, sometimes one of those inside the White House shines a ray of hope on keeping our country from turning into some democratic wasteland. Trump’s handpicked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, told the Senate that the US is not “being invaded by a foreign nation.” This may seem like a throwaway line, but it provides a glimmer of hope that the military may keep us from not simply invading another nation, but from exercising its might against US citizens and the rest of the Americans that reside here.
Under the guise of the Felon’s alter ego, TACO Man, it appears as though militarization is no longer about deportations. Late last week, Trump posted on social media: “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!” Words need action to have any real meaning. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by words, because while those sounds come out of his mouth, it is the actions being taken that matter, and when you take a parent, a hard-working, caring parent, away in handcuffs/zip ties and leave the child, the child that was born here, to fend for themselves, what sort of human are you? If you thought Bill Clinton stretched language during the Lewinsky scandal, somebody ought to see what the Liar in Chief thinks of what “criminal” means!
So if it is no longer administration policy to engage in the sweeps that are causing such chaos and sparking protests, why are Republican authorities still mobilizing troops? Here in Los Angeles, our Chief of Police made it very clear that we did not and do not need the National Guard, the Marines or any other support; the LAPD, the LA County Sheriffs, the police departments of other municipalities in the county and even the Highway Patrol would have been sufficient. The arrival of combat-ready ICE agents inflamed the response, which is what the Felon wanted so he could flex his tough guy ethos, claim that the lit match was a conflagration, and send in the Gold Shirts, his over-the-tip ICE strike force.
Representative Jamie Raskin, a constitutional scholar, stood in front of the Capitol last week and reminded Americans: “We have no kings here, we have no queens here, we have no emperors, we have no dictators, we have no despots, and we have no serfs and no slaves and no subjects, and none of us is a subject to Donald Trump. None of us is a subject to Mike Johnson. We are all citizens, those of us who aspire and attain to public office are nothing but the servants of the people. And the minute that somebody in public office thinks that they're a king, they're a queen, they're an emperor, they're a dictator, that is time for the people to evict, eject, reject, impeach, try, convict, and start all over again, because the most important words of our Constitution are the three first words of the Constitution: ‘We the people.’”
Throughout history, crackdowns like these have always been justified as efforts to stop extremists or protect national security. The Trump White House followed that pattern, falsely claiming that Senator Padilla failed to identify himself as a senator and lunged at Noem, facts that video prove to be a total fabrication (that’s grown up for “lying”). Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson—one of Trump’s most loyal allies—called for Padilla to be censured for what he described as “wildly inappropriate” behavior, even saying he should be “tarred and feathered.” I know, a guy from Louisiana calling for “tar and feathering” brings up some very troubling images.
Is it reasonable to compare then Felon in Chief to fascists like Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini? Consider that in their early years, both men targeted dissenting political leaders and eventually jailing thousands and outlawing opposition parties. The same authoritarian playbook is being used today in countries that we historically pilloried, e.g., Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea. Is this what we as a Nation should be becoming?
Get up. Stand up.