DL Open Thread: Monday, June 9, 2025
“ARREST THE PEOPLE IN FACEMASKS NOW!”. Trump on Truth Social. Isn’t that what the protestors are calling for as well?
The Needless Confrontation Trump Wanted, Perhaps Needed:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the federal action “purposefully inflammatory” and said that it would “only escalate tensions.” The governor also noted this deployment of soldiers is “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.”
This followed two days of protests, in which police clad in riot gear fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades to quell the dissent after dozens of migrants were detained by ICE agents. David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union who was reportedly observing and documenting the ICE activity, was pushed to the ground, arrested and subsequently taken to the hospital to treat a head injury.
Trump’s directive yesterday stated, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
Note the words: “a form of rebellion.” And note the further escalation by Defense Secretary and Trump sycophant Pete Hegseth who posted this on social media: “The DeptofDefense is mobilizing the National Guard IMMEDIATELY to support federal law enforcement in Los Angeles. And, if violence continues, active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized—they are on high alert.”
Gov. Newsom’s response: “The Secretary of Defense is now threatening to deploy active-duty Marines on American soil against its own citizens. This is deranged behavior.”
The current confrontation is exactly what Trump wanted and promised. Recall his comments in October during the campaign: “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within…We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics…and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
This weekend’s actions also come in the wake of a mounting collection of humiliating failures for Trump, surely exacerbating his reckless desire for spectacular distraction. These include the growing criticism and trouble for his “big beautiful bill,” the public unraveling with and attacks by Elon Musk, the reignited focus on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the refusal of China’s Xi Jinping to kowtow to his foolish trade war. The bully in the White House needs to show off his power.
Call it what it is: A manufactured crisis. You just know that Trump wanted this ahead of his planned ascension as Glorious Leader at Saturday’s Military Parade. Let’s just hope he doesn’t stumble on the way to the podium.
Meanwhile, feckless Dems rally around…centrism:
This event was not the place to debate the finer points of policy. There was glancingly little discussion beyond what would sell with voters. If some called it the “CPAC of the center” — after the big right-wing confab — there was far less red meat, and more crudités (a platter of chopped peppers, carrots and cauliflower was served in the back).
Instead, the thrust of the day’s discussion was dismissing the party’s left wing as an anchor to Democratic chances to win national elections. Scattered potshots were aimed at the activist group Indivisible throughout the day, with Representative Jared Golden of Maine, who represents the most pro-Trump district of any Democrat in the House, calling it “a hyper-national organization with a very single-minded agenda.”
Hillary-bot Kos joins in. It’s all Rashaida Tlaib’s fault:
Just this past week, following the Boulder, Colorado, attack against people protesting for Hamas to release Israeli hostages, President Donald Trump announced a new travel ban targeting many Muslim-majority nations. Notably, Egypt—where the Boulder attacker was from—wasn’t on the list.
“It should come as no surprise that Trump’s racist travel ban overwhelmingly targets Black and brown people from countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean,” said Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib in a statement. “These policies are rooted in white nationalism and will only increase hate, xenophobia, and Islamophobia in our country.”
Tlaib, notably, refused to endorse Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president last year. And she wasn’t alone.
You know, the people who insisted that remaining silent in the wake of the genocide against Gazans was unconscionable are the people who cost Kamala Harris the election.
The Dem Chairman Cries Crocodile Tears Over David Hogg:
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin told party leaders in a recent private conversation that he’s unsure about his ability to lead the party because of infighting created by Vice Chair David Hogg.
“I’ll be very honest with you, for the first time in my 100 days on this job … the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,” he said in a May 15 Zoom meeting of DNC officers, according to a recording obtained by POLITICO.
The intraparty feud, Martin said on the recording, is making it more difficult for the party to do its work — and had ruined his ability to demonstrate leadership.
“No one knows who the hell I am, right? I’m trying to get my sea legs underneath of me and actually develop any amount of credibility so I can go out there and raise the money and do the job I need to to put ourselves in a position to win,” Martin said, addressing Hogg. “And again, I don’t think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So it’s really frustrating.”
What a wuss.
Delaware Legislators Propose Cigarette Tax Hike. Because, you know, making wealthy Delawareans pay their fair share requires more delay research. Stick it to the smokers instead. We see what you’re doing here.
Deb Heffernan Has Nothing Better To Do? The answer could be yes:
There’s gummies, chocolates, candies, oils, tinctures, softgels, beverages, creams, balms and smokable leaf products.
The items are cannabinoids, which include the nonintoxicating substance known as CBD and also ones that include a low but not intoxicating dose of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that produces the “high.”
Owner Jesse Ginefra, a laid-back 32-year-old who started Botana six years ago, says his customers, who must be adults, come from all walks of life.
“It’s mothers that are stressed out from having too much on their plate,’’ Ginefra said. “It’s elderly clients who are looking for relief from chronic pain, from maybe car accidents, or chronic inflammation, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety.”
Gretchen Cirwithian is a Botana regular. The warehouse manager and former pharmacy technician says she’s gravitated over the years to cannabinoids and away from prescription drugs to deal with anxiety and aches and pains and to achieve overall well-being.
While Ginefra and other store owners say their products are legal under federal law because they contain less than 0.3% of THC, some lawmakers and state officials say products that have undergone chemical processes that raise the THC level are being sold by some smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores.
State Rep. Deborah Heffernan, the prime sponsor of the bill, said hemp products usually get tested at harvest to ensure they are below 0.3% for THC, but then are altered.
“Part of the problem is because a lot of the products that are being sold have higher intoxicating levels,’’ Heffernan told WHYY News.
But during a legislative hearing last month, several CBD store owners described how the bill, if enacted, would devastate their operations.
“Passage of this bill would put us out of business. We are educated and trained at how to tell people to use the product and what to use. We actually have physicians referring patients to us for products to help them. Hemp should be separated from marijuana.”
What do you want to talk about?
“the people who insisted that remaining silent in the wake of the genocide against Gazans was unconscionable are the people who cost Kamala Harris the election.”
Certainly didn’t win her the election, did they? Actions have consequences. Live with yours.
I can. The voters in that part of Michigan turned against Harris b/c, like Humphrey on Vietnam, she wouldn’t make a clean break from Biden on Gaza.
Her actions, her consequences.
There is no single group to blame for Harris’s loss. Elections are won or lost on the margins. Like a firing squad, everybody can tell themselves their rifle had the blank.
What a convenient self-pardon.
It didn’t cost her the election but it hurt the Democrats’ chances. Don’t pretend otherwise, and stop absolving yourself. You had an election where Republicans criticized the Democrats and Democrats criticized the Democrats. Gee, I wonder who would win in such a scenario?
You’ve had a Democratic Party that has actively sought to minimize the voices of those willing to really take the fight to Trump.
This has been going on since at least when Hillary chose a nobody for Veep instead of Bernie. She CHOSE to lose rather than have a progressive who galvanized the electorate on the ticket with her.
Who won in THAT scenario? Yet all we get is a national Party, such as it is, determined to rally around stand-for-nothing centrists.
Besides, a self-pardon? I voted for both of them–one reluctantly and one enthusiastically.
Gaza was far from the only issue in that election. And even if that’s the only one you care about, if you stayed home in November, you made a really dumb decision. You shot yourself in the foot with an RPG.
I’m with you on the argument that Harris was the worst candidate for the moment, aside from maybe Biden. She was probably the worst candidate for ANY moment. And yet I still can’t respect a refusal to stand in the way of the openly racist candidate coming from someone who tells me they’re outraged about a genocide. Everybody is responsible for their own decisions.
Which is quite easy for someone not living in THAT community, not literally, in some cases, having skin in the game, to say. Like a comfortable pundit named Kos.
Harris could have come out and said that she would reign Netanyahu in, cut off weapons shipments, but instead, she responded to protestors with, “We can have that discussion, but right now I’M speaking.”
Her choice. Too bad the rest of us have to live with it.
“cut off weapons shipments”
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.
These ‘dangerous immigrant invaders’ being targeted?
Among others, day workers at Home Depot:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/06/08/ice-los-angeles-home-depot-raid-trump/
Yes, it’s been obvious for quite some time that, having promised mass deportations and not having nearly enough “bad hombres” to fill that quota, they are rounding up the people easiest to access, which by definition includes the unsuspecting and innocent.
Just as it’s been obvious for quite some time that they don’t actually care about inflation, they don’t give a fuck about post-birth fetuses, and so on down the list of bullshit Republican “concerns.” They also don’t really believe that after they die they’re going to paradise if they were good or hell if they were shitty, or they wouldn’t be so shitty.
Plus, it’s real easy to round them up at work.
Pretty much the equivalent as to how Dick Cheney (and John Sigler) used to ‘hunt’.
Fish in a barrel.
Yes, actions have consequences. And Democrats better soon figure out what kind of actions gave us Trump and might give us more MAGA in the future. Not sure if Newsom’s comments over the weekend will help or hurt, although it felt good to hear him denounce Trump’s fascist tactics so forcefully. If other prominent Democrats express that kind of anger it might galvanize and unify the Trump resistance. Or not. Lots to think about.
Re: Bernie – I think he generally has the right idea about economics. I’m a fan. But his viewpoint was/is never going to win a national election. We need people who can. Best, of course, if they can do it while incorporating some of his ideas. Worst: MAGA wins again.
What part of his viewpoint wouldn’t win a national election?
the view point that its coming from a 143 year old.