Reitz, formerly a key cog in Texas’ conservative legal pipeline, once said the AG’s office is at war with “the forces that want to destroy the American order.”
The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation Thursday to claw back two years of federal funding for public media outlets. The measure passed largely along party lines, 214 to 212.
Areas near Cloverleaf in east Houston detected up to 4.60 inches of rain Thursday morning, according to the Harris County Flood Warning System rain gauge map. Showers and storms should gradually taper off by Thursday afternoon, according to the weather service.
The Texas governor signed a $50 million bill into law on Wednesday to help bring ibogaine through FDA-approved clinical trials for opioid use disorders and other neurological and mental health conditions. Advocates said the legislation is the largest state-funded psychedelic research initiative in history.
In brief: We have expanded a Stage 2 flood alert to cover the entire region today as a storm system passes through. The greatest likelihood of flooding appears to be to the southwest of Houston, but all areas will be vulnerable this morning.
Unfolding flooding event
As we look at the radar this morning we have one band of persistent storms over eastern Houston which has dropped as much as 3 inches of rain over Channelview, Baytown, and other locations since midnight (a flash flood warning is in effect for these locations until 7:30 am today). Much of the rest of the region has been spared, but additional storms loom to the west of our area, and we expect the potential for flash flooding through about noon today. Not all areas will be affected, certainly, but please take care driving into stronger storms, and do not attempt to drive through high water.
Strong storms are firing up to the west of Houston and will move through this morning. (RadarScope)
The strongest storms should move into the Houston region during a time period from around 7 am to noon, after which the heaviest rains will likely reach the coast and begin to push off shore and well to the east of Houston. During this morning we now believe the heaviest rainfall will occur along and south of Interstate 10, and are particularly concerned about the southwest quadrant of the Houston metro area. Much of our modeling predicts that Wharton, Brazoria, and southern Fort Bend counties are at risk of picking up 5 to 10 inches of rainfall.
Closer to Houston, particularly within the city limits and to the east of Interstate 45, totals should be less. Generally, most locations should pick up 1 to 4 inches of rainfall, but there will be the potential for higher bullseyes. Given that this storm system has the ability to produce high rainfall rates, streets may back up quickly and flash flooding is possible. For this reason, we are expanding our Stage 2 flood alert to cover the entire Houston region, which includes all surrounding counties. We should be able to drop this flood alert back to Stage 1 this afternoon.
Thursday
As noted above, we are seeing an atmosphere laden with moisture interact with a potent disturbance this morning, creating favorable conditions for heavy rainfall. The strongest storms should end by noon, but some isolated showers could persist into this afternoon. As a result of the rain and cloud cover, high temperatures today should top out in the mid-80s. Lows tonight will drop into the 70s, with a slight chance of showers and storms.
Friday
Some additional storm development is likely on Friday, and conditions may be most favorable for this closer to the coast. However, we cannot be sure about this. Overall, the pattern is a little bit less supportive of strong storms on Friday, and I don’t expect things to be as widespread or significant as Thursday, but the threat of heavy rainfall will nevertheless be there. Highs will be around 90 degrees, as skies should be partly sunny.
Temperatures will return to the lower 90s in Houston by this weekend, with muggy nights. (Weather Bell)
Saturday and Sunday
The weekend will continue to see a chance of showers and thunderstorms, although at this point I expect them to be more isolated in nature rather than widespread. So they should be hit and miss, and there should be mostly sunny skies for much of the day. Expect high temperatures in the lower 90s. If you have outdoor plans, there’s a chance they may be fine, although you can expect soils and fields to be sodden from this week’s rains.
Next week
I expect this pattern to continue for much of next week, with a decent chance of showers and thunderstorms on a daily basis to go along with mostly sunny skies and high temperatures in the lower 90s. At this point I don’t see the potential for significant flooding, as these will more likely be passing showers driven by the sea breeze with lower accumulations. But we’ll see, as it is June, when we are prone to higher rainfall rates. I do expect a chance of rain to remain in our forecast for awhile, perhaps the rest of the month, rather than seeing a robust ridge of high pressure cover the area.
We will update this forecast as needed today. Please be safe in the wet and inclement weather.
“Five Points Museum on Contemporary Art will host an exhibition by Houston artist Davey Eldridge featuring a survey of his landscapes examining the elemental structures and rhythm of nature and inspired by fleeting moments in time captured within those landscapes.
His approach is unique, visually mining a blend of traditional watercolor and assemblage while employing hidden or underlying geometries within his subjects. The result is ornately detailed paintings that transcend his media, ranging from representational to abstract nature-based compositions; Lookout is the result of Eldridge acting as both a guide and a sentinel for transient places in time and by documenting the extraordinary within them, protecting them.”
“Moody Gallery is pleased to present Earth’s Eye, an exhibition of new work by Liz Ward. This marks her eleventh solo exhibition with the gallery. Using watercolor, painting, drawing, printmaking, and collage, Ward exhibits thirteen mixed media works on paper and on panel which explore the meaning of landscape through layers of human, natural, and environmental history, memory, and experience.
Much of Ward’s work has concerned rivers, especially the Mississippi. Stopping at the St. Louis Art Museum on her annual summer migration to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, she was captivated by a painting, Marquette and Joliet on the Mississippi (1907) by Oscar Edward Berninghaus. Ward quotes this work, which features two of the Mississippi’s earliest European explorers, in several of the pieces in Earth’s Eye.”
3. Everybody Eats
Permanent Research Project (Dallas)
May 24 – June 24, 2025
“Clay is born of the soil, a mixture of different minerals and elements that bond to create the unique medium that can be molded when wet and fired (heated) in a kiln (oven) to give it a permanent shape. Artisans and artists take this malleable material and transform it into utilitarian products and into art that tells stories as old as the earth it’s found in. Stonewares embody a dual nature, being both paint and canvas, allowing ceramists’ hands to imprint histories and narratives that can be preserved for millennia. This distinct medium consists of various particles derived from rocks, minerals, plant life, and animal remains. Ceramics are a truly holistic art form created from every component of the Earth, telling the stories and histories of the people who shape it.
As the process of creating ceramics and pottery advanced, the tradition of using this art form to tell stories continued. Ceramics as art connects with the practice first introduced in the earliest utilitarian products and artifacts, where design and storytelling have always been inherent. These cultures have preserved windows into the lives of their people, turning clay into vessels and repositories of knowledge. Echoes in Earth: Stories Shaped by Hand presents the work of local artists inspired to tell their own stories and histories by shaping pieces of formless clay into narratives.”
“The Haven Artists Collective and the Marshall Regional Arts Council are thrilled to host a dual exhibition featuring Texas artists Rainer Bantau (son) and Karin Ingrid Bantau (mother).
Texas artist Rainer Bantau returns to his East Texas hometown of Marshall to share his visual art in a dual exhibition that also features the collective works of lifelong creative, Karin Ingrid Bantau, a longtime staple of the Marshall arts scene. In his exhibition, Rainer Bantau shares works exploring the breadth of human experience and emotion.
‘Being free to express yourself is a gift,’ Bantau says, ‘and a privilege not everyone everywhere gets.’ His exhibition includes works from his successful show When Your Days End In Why displayed in Richardson, Texas during the late summer of 2024. For her part, Bantau’s mom, Karin Ingrid Bantau, will share her Collected Works: 1975- 2025, featuring various artistic works she created in a wide array of mediums over the past fifty years. For the German native and longtime Texas resident, this exhibition of her work is a labor of love.”
Local events are planned for the June 19 holiday and during the days before and after. Some are free and open to the public, while others are ticketed events.
Advocates say the bills will give parents more power over their children’s schools. Critics say they don’t give parents anything they didn’t already have and will only strain their relationship with teachers.
NEW YORK—Shedding light on the demographic shifts that have transformed the generation’s relationships, a Hunter College study published Monday revealed that more single millennials were settling for a parrot who could dial 911. “We’re finding that an increasing number of millennials are forgoing a serious romantic partner in favor of a cockatiel or macaw who can reliably peck out a number for emergency services,” said Sandra Brooks, a co-author of the study, which surveyed 12,000 Americans to determine that far more individuals born between 1981 and 1996 now saw scattering seed on their phone screen to train a parrot as their most realistic option if they wished to experience something that approached companionship. “Many respondents said they were excited to finally get off the grind of dating apps, and they explained that living with a colorfully plumed tropical bird who could get an ambulance sent to their apartment was, frankly, good enough. Some female participants even felt that they were happier with a parrot than a human partner, given that such birds could trill out a little song and would never ghost them. All the better if they could also screech, ‘She’s dying, she’s dying, she’s dying,’ to alert a neighbor.” The study added that many millennials who could not easily find a parrot were also perfectly fine with a street pigeon who could mistakenly tap out 9-3-9.
OTTAWA – Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu has said Canada should pursue European Union membership as part of the government’s plan to diversify trade away from the United States. When asked by reporters about the logistics of Canada joining the European Union when they are across the Atlantic Ocean, Sidhu replied that the French […]
In brief: Our confidence is increasing in the likelihood of heavy rain across the Houston metro area on Thursday morning, perhaps around sunrise or a few hours later. Flash flooding is possible in the strongest storms.
The overall forecast from the post we published this morning remains more or less on track. However, our confidence is now very high in impactful storms pushing into, and through, the entire Houston region on Thursday morning. Although we still have some questions about timing and placement, it is clear that a serious line of storms will go through.
The Houston area faces a risk of excessive rainfall on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. (NOAA)
Tomorrow morning, before dawn, there may be some isolated or scattered showers and thunderstorms across the western half of the Houston metro area. However, the main event is likely to be a line of storms that forms northwest of the region and sweeps into the city. In terms of timing, we think this mass of storms will impact areas such as College Station around 5 am to 8 am, before pushing into central parts of the region (including the area inside Beltway-8/Sam Houston Tollway) between 8 am and noon. After this the line will likely continue down to the coast and exit the area to the east.
The models disagree on where the most impactful rains will be: Brazos County, Montgomery County, or Western Harris County are all possibilities, for example. But the bottom line is that we are going to mix a potent disturbance with an atmosphere with a lot of moisture. This is fertile environment for high rainfall rates, which can quickly back up streets and lead to flash flooding.
As a result of this we are elevating our flood alert to Stage 2 for areas along and west of Interstate 45.
Although we cannot entirely rule out other forms of severe weather, flooding is the main threat from these storms. Most of the region will likely pick up 1 to 4 inches of rain in a couple of hours, but there will almost certainly be higher bullseyes where 5 to 8 inches could fall in a very short period of time. In short, be prepared for disruptions to travel plans on Thursday morning, and be weather aware. We will have a full update for you early tomorrow morning.
OTTAWA – A new federal mental health initiative has seen the opening of a 24/7 distress hotline that will provide emergency support for Canadians who have been forced to cheer for the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals. “Every year, Canadians dread the worst-case scenario of no Canadian teams making it to the Stanley Cup […]
Stephen Hackett has a list of the Intel Macs that MacOS 26 Tahoe supports, and the ones they’re dropping support for this year.
Apple has gone through three CPU architecture transitions in the Mac’s history:
68K to PowerPC starting in 1994
PowerPC to Intel starting in 2006
Intel to Apple Silicon, starting 2020
With the 68K–PowerPC transition, they supported 68K Macs through Mac OS 8.1, which was released in January 1998. With the PowerPC–Intel transition, they only supported PowerPC Macs for two Mac OS X versions, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (which initially shipped PowerPC-only in 2005) and 10.5 Leopard in October 2007. The next release, 10.6 Snow Leopard in August 2009, was Intel-only. (Mac OS X dropped to a roughly two-year big-release schedule during the initial years after the iPhone, when the company prioritized engineering resources on iOS. It’s easy to take for granted that today’s Apple has every single platform on an annual cadence.)
With next year’s version going Apple Silicon-only, they’ll have supported Intel Macs for five major MacOS releases after the debut of the first Apple Silicon Macs. I think that’s about the best anyone could have hoped for.
Four people ages 17 and 18, who reportedly were coworkers, visited the beach early Tuesday morning, according to the Galveston Island Beach Patrol, which said a 17-year-old boy died and an 18-year-old woman was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
I really appreciated your advice and the lovely comments – as I posted in the comments at the time, I do a lot of public speaking but that does not mean I’m not also a very anxious bunny by nature and that situation really threw me — it literally felt like an anxiety nightmare as it was happening! – but the nice comments and your response did help me breathe a bit easier.
That week, before I could do anything, I received a very nice message from a person from the PR team apologizing for putting me in “an unfortunate situation” and thanking me for my “consummate professionalism and care” and for my “graceful handling of a delicate and challenging situation.” They gave a few more details that I won’t share but their apology and thanks was very heartfelt and appreciated, and I believe Lee is fine generally and it was just a very bad night. They also sent me an invoice outline to fill out and paid me quickly which was appreciated.
Since then, I’ve bumped into a few people who were at the event who did bring it up, and they were all nice about it, laughing a bit and saying that obviously the guest was a disaster and they felt bad for me but that I handled it as well as I could. And in fact, another very high-profile event with someone I really admire was happening in town, and a friend of me recommended me to the event organizer by telling them both about my general experience but also by referencing the Lee disaster and using it as an example of me handling any and all situations like “a pro.” I got the gig, and it was the best event I’ve ever hosted in my life. I’ve received so many direct compliments about it (which is not the norm, people might say “well done” at the event but I had people emailing me a week later complimenting me which was very nice!). I also received some more jobs directly from it.
When the Lee disaster happened, a friend told me that “that was the best training you’ll ever have” and I now do think there was a lot of wisdom in that — not only do I feel more prepared to handle the unexpected, but I figure that most events have to go better than that one did which makes me feel more relaxed doing them which helps!
Thanks again to you for your advice and for all the nice comments!
Once I’m finished with you, I’ll return to the Institute with proof – PROOF! – that it was they who were mad… mad for not seeing the potential behind my grandest experiment!
Demonstrations against immigration raids began in Los Angeles last week and have spread across the country, including to Texas. More are planned this weekend.
“President Donald Trump is celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary—and his own 79th birthday—with a massive, multimillion-dollar military parade Saturday in Washington.” — Politico
- - -
Dear neighbors,
It’s been a long time since my birthday. Almost a year, in fact. That’s why I’m excited to announce that I’ll be celebrating another turn around the sun with a military parade through our neighborhood. You and your families are all invited. If you can’t make it, no worries. Not a big deal! Just RSVP “no,” and I will simply have you arrested.
For those attending, here’s what you can expect:
First and foremost, I’ll be rolling up and down our street in a tank. Why? Because this parade isn’t just in observance of my birthday—it’s also the anniversary of when I got this tank. I’ll be joined by several thousand paid armed forces, about fifty helicopters, a few dozen horses, two mules, and a dog. No, Susan, the dog will not be on a leash. As HOA president, I’ve issued an executive order that dogs are no longer required to be on leashes. My dogs, specifically. If your chickens keep disappearing, maybe they just don’t like being cooped up.
I want to be upfront: This parade is going to cause a lot of damage. As Jerry keeps pointing out when he passes me on his morning power walk, our street is not very wide, nor is it built to accommodate a battalion. Flower beds will be trampled. Sidewalks will be razed. Don’t worry, I’m going to pay for any necessary repairs with all of your money. That’s a promise.
Speaking of finances, everyone’s been asking me how much this parade is going to cost. My team did the math, and we’ve been able to obtain a very accurate and specific number. This price tag is not an estimate—it’s very real, because I’m all about transparency. Don’t roll your eyes, Cecelia. I always stick to a budget. This parade is going to run us all exactly somewhere between fifty and two hundred million dollars. Now, I understand that may seem like a lot of money. But that’s only because it is.
I know I’ve led the charge on budget cuts around the neighborhood lately, and many of you feel that this parade is spitting in the face of all that. Like when you all did a fundraiser for Denise and I reallocated that money to a secret, unnamed project. That project was this parade. And trust me when I tell you: Denise didn’t need surgery so she could live; she wanted surgery so she could live. That comes out of your own pocket, Denise. This parade, on the other hand, is necessary to demonstrate to the rest of the town that we have more tanks than they do. They actually don’t have any tanks at all—they just have school buses. What good are those?
A warning: If any of you are planning to protest my parade, you might want to think twice. I’m looking at you, Frank and Carol. I’ve made a second executive order (after the amazing and beloved leash ban) that our entire block is a no-protest zone. Any gathering of any kind will be considered a violent insurrection, something I happen to be an expert in and am actually really, really good at. If you want an example of this, I’ve instituted the same policy a few towns over. Did I have the authority to do that? No. But was it necessary? Definitely not. Did I do it anyway? Yes. If you’d like to lodge a complaint, please do so by speaking with one of the other HOA board members who also happen to be my family members. And before you say anything, Todd, there is no minimum age requirement to be on the board. They are all highly qualified individuals, even my six-year-old son.
Sincerely, Your Supreme HOA Leader Who Definitely Will Be Remembered Fondly in This Town’s History, Douglas J. Trundle
PS. If this goes well, we’ll be doing one of these every month.
This weekend, Donald Trump pulled off something that’s happened exactly once before in US history: federalizing a state’s National Guard over the state governor’s objections without invoking the Insurrection Act. And he did it to deal with what the LAPD itself described as peaceful protests that were “under control.”
The constitutional implications here are important. Trump bypassed California Governor Gavin Newsom entirely, ordering Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to directly command 2,000—then another 2,000—California National Guard members under 10 USC 12406, a statute that explicitly requires such orders to go “through the governors of the States.”
This isn’t just another Trump tantrum. It’s a fundamental violation of the constitutional balance between federal and state authority that the Founders specifically designed to prevent military rule. In the last few months we’ve seen so many attacks on the basic constitutional underpinnings of America that it’s easy to brush this off as just another one. But this attack on the American way is the most serious one yet.
It’s fundamentally removing some of the most basic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and making the US into a full-on authoritarian police state.
On Monday, Gavin Newsom officially sued Donald Trump and the US government over the National Guard deployment, likely the first of multiple attempts to fight this egregiously unnecessary authoritarian attack on the people of California:
The Governor of the State of California and the State of California bring this action to protect the State against the illegal actions of the President, Secretary of Defense, and Department of Defense to deploy members of the California National Guard, without lawful authority, and in violation of the Constitution.
One of the cornerstones of our Nation and our democracy is that our people are governed by civil, not military, rule. The Founders enshrined these principles in our Constitution— that a government should be accountable to its people, guided by the rule of law, and one of civil authority, not military rule.
President Trump has repeatedly invoked emergency powers to exceed the bounds of lawful executive authority. On Saturday, June 7, he used a protest that local authorities had under control to make another unprecedented power grab, this time at the cost of the sovereignty of the State of California and in disregard of the authority and role of the Governor as commander-in-chief of the State’s National Guard.
The lawsuit gets to the heart of what makes this so dangerous: Trump manufacturing a crisis to justify expanding executive power. The protests in Los Angeles were, by all accounts—including from the LAPD—under control. The few incidents that did occur (some Waymo cars getting tagged and burned, apparently in response to ICE agents arriving in Waymos) hardly constitute the kind of emergency that would justify federal military intervention.
The complaint also details how the mechanism Trump used for this, 10 USC 12406, is entirely inappropriate for this situation:
The vehicle the President has sought to invoke for this unprecedented usurpation of state authority and resources is a statute, 10 U.S.C. § 12406, that has been invoked on its own only once before and for highly unusual circumstances not presented here. Invoking this statute, the President issued a Memorandum on June 7, 2025 (Trump Memo), “call[ing] into Federal service members and units of the National Guard.” Secretary of Defense Hegseth, in turn, issued a Memorandum (DOD Order) that same day to the Adjutant General of California, ordering 2,000 California National Guard members into federal service. And on June 9, 2025, Secretary Hegseth issued another Memorandum (June 9 DOD Order) ordering an additional 2,000 California National Guard members into federal service.
These orders were issued despite the text of section 12406, which, among other things, requires that when the President calls members of a State National Guard into federal service pursuant to that statute, those orders “shall be issued through the governors of the States.” 10 U.S.C. § 12406. Instead, Secretary Hegseth unlawfully bypassed the Governor of California, issuing an order that by statute must go through him.
This isn’t some arcane procedural rule Trump’s team missed. The requirement that federal activation orders go through governors exists precisely to prevent exactly this kind of federal overreach:
The Constitution reserves to the States power over their respective state militias— now the National Guard— unless the State requests or consents to federal control. Only under the most exigent of circumstances can the President, over the objections of a State, call the National Guard into federal service. The balance the Framers struck between the State’s power to control its own militia and the very narrow circumstances in which the federal government may take command and control of the militia serves as a vital check against federal overreach. Section 12406 does not provide the authority Defendants have claimed and cannot be the vehicle for their actions.
The Constitution grants the States—not the federal Executive—the authority to conduct ordinary law enforcement activities and to determine how their own state laws should be enforced.
Reflecting the Founders’ distrust of military rule, the U.S. Constitution and the laws of our Nation strictly limit the domestic use of the military, including the federalized National Guard. The Posse Comitatus Act codifies these strict rules, prohibiting the military from engaging in civil law enforcement unless explicitly authorized by law. The authority to use the military domestically for civil law enforcement is reserved for dire, narrow circumstances, none of which is present here. Defendants have overstepped the bounds of law and are intent on going as far as they can to use the military in unprecedented, unlawful ways
What we’re seeing here is the classic authoritarian escalation pattern: manufacture a crisis, claim existing authorities are insufficient, then grab unprecedented power to “solve” the manufactured problem. Stephen Miller, who’s been openly fantasizing about using military force against domestic protests, has found his test case—and the fact that it’s so obviously a manufactured crisis shows just how desperate they are to normalize military intervention in civilian law enforcement.
Multiple videos show people dancing in the streets, rather than anything resembling a “riot.” This is what Trump claims requires 4,000 National Guard troops:
This is the spirit of Los Angeles.This is California.Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.#FreeDavidEndRaids
This isn’t a riot. It’s certainly not an insurrection. It’s a protest in the grand tradition of American protests: calling out authoritarian abuse of power and showing solidarity those victimized by it. It’s American as apple pie.
The whole goal here is normalizing military intervention in civilian law enforcement while establishing precedent for bypassing state authority entirely. If Trump can federalize California’s National Guard over peaceful protests that local authorities had under control, what else will he demand the military do for him?
The most damning part of all this? For years, we’ve heard MAGA world shriek about hypothetical martial law and federal tyranny. Now, faced with actual federal seizure of state military assets over manufactured emergencies, they’re cheering it on. Turns out their “principled” opposition to government overreach only applied when it wasn’t their guy doing the overreaching.
And yes, MAGA Trump fans will still try to justify this, posting pictures of a couple of Waymos on fire, screaming about how LA is violent (it’s not) and needs “order” restored (again, even the cops say that’s nonsense). They all know that’s bullshit. Yes, your dumb uncle with a brain pickled by Fox News propaganda may believe some of it, but everyone who matters knows that this is all for show.
California’s lawsuit represents more than just pushback against Trump’s latest power grab. It’s a test of whether our constitutional system still has any teeth left when it comes to checking such extreme executive overreach. If Trump can get away with this—federalizing state National Guard units over the objections of governors for non-emergencies—then the balance of power between federal and state authority that’s existed since the founding is effectively dead.
As is the entirety of the American experiment.
That should terrify anyone who gives a damn about constitutional government and the concept of the United States of America, regardless of what they think about ICE or immigration protests.
On the latest episode of the always excellent “The Bugle” podcast, comedian Alice Fraser amusingly describes the horror of what’s happening in Los Angeles the following way:
So let’s just clarify: this is arguably unlawful deployment of military force to enforce peace on peaceful protests over illegal arrests of illegal immigrants.
Here’s what actually happening in LA: Trump’s racist advisor Stephen Miller deliberately manufactured this controversy, directing ICE officials to raid Home Depots where migrant workers pick up day labor jobs, knowing it would provoke protests.
Direct orders from Stephen Miller ignited the Los Angeles protests, leading to the precarious, highly militarized situation the city is currently facing.
The plan from the beginning was to create confrontations that could justify crushing dissent with military force—even though the LAPD itself has repeatedly said the protests are peaceful and they don’t need military backup. But hey, why let reality get in the way of a good authoritarian power fantasy? Trump and his cronies are gonna fabricate “riots” whether they exist or not because they’ve been dreaming of using the military on Americans for years.
Now we have the manufactured result: Trump has sent both the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles in what California is correctly suing over as illegal federal seizure of state resources. Make no mistake about what’s happening: MAGA Republicans are declaring war on anyone who disagrees with them, and they’ll use military force against Americans to silence dissent.
And on Tuesday, Senator Tom Cotton underscored the point, rehashing his controversial, horrifying New York Times op-ed from five years ago for the Wall Street Journal, advocating for the use of the US military on American protesters. Cotton has literally recycled the same authoritarian playbook, using nearly identical language to justify military force against protesters—proving this has nothing to do with the specific circumstances in LA and everything to do with a long-standing terrifying authoritarian desire to illegally use the US military to crush dissent coming from the American citizenry.
Some of you will likely recall that almost exactly five years ago, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, the warmongering, hate-filled Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas took to the pages of the NY Times to advocate for bringing in the US military to shoot at American protesters and to silence them for their speech.
That 2020 op-ed caused a massive controversy when the NY Times published advocacy for using the US military against US citizens. Some very stupid people tried to turn it into a “censorship” debate when people criticized the Times for platforming such dangerous ideas. But as we pointed out then, the Times’ editorial decisions are their own free speech, not censorship.
The real issue that got lost in that debate was why bloodthirsty MAGA leaders are so eager to turn the US military on American protesters. Then, as now, Cotton’s justification was based on wildly exaggerating isolated incidents amid largely peaceful demonstrations to justify military intervention.
But Cotton obviously kept that op-ed in his pocket all these years, just waiting until he could run it again, this time with an assist from Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal. And it’s just as horrific as last time.
Violent insurrectionists turned areas of Los Angeles into lawless hellscapes over the weekend, withanarchistssetting fire to vehicles, throwing scooters and debris at police, and looting businesses—all while waving foreign flags.
Here’s where Cotton’s entire argument immediately falls apart: the LAPD itself—historically no friend to protesters—has directly contradicted his claims. The department issued an official statement calling the protests peaceful, and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell explicitly said they didn’t need military assistance and that deploying Marines would likely make the situation worse.
When even the LAPD—an agency with a long history of aggressive tactics—says military intervention is unnecessary and counterproductive, Cotton’s premise is exposed as pure fiction.
What we’re seeing from Cotton is textbook fascist authoritarian rhetoric: take isolated incidents from largely peaceful protests and paint them as citywide chaos. The reality is that protests were confined to a few blocks of downtown LA, with the most significant “violence” being some Waymo cars set on fire (which were likely as much about protesting “big tech” as about protesting ICE). Cotton transforms this into “lawless hellscapes” by non-existent “anarchists” (MAGAs’ favorite imaginary boogeyman) to justify military deployment.
The protests all began and remained mostly peaceful, with music playing, people dancing, vendors selling food and more. The only “violence” tended to come when law enforcement showed up in threatening military gear and provoked responses.
Again, this was entirely part of the plan. And Stephen Miller and Tom Cotton know that this is nonsense, and they don’t care. Their entire goal is to provoke and incite violence in order to justify much worse violence that they’ve wanted to inflict for years. The fact that Cotton is recycling nearly identical language from 2020 proves this isn’t about current circumstances—it’s a pre-written template for justifying military force against any protest he dislikes.
Despite the rising chaos, Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose officelikenedthe riots to a Philadelphia Eagles playoff victory celebration, and Mayor Karen Bass, whorefusesto support federal law enforcement, haven’t taken sufficient action to restore law and order.
Oh, fuck all the way off on that. There’s a very, very simple way to “restore law and order” which is to stop sending militarized federal cops into LA and provoking confrontations. Again, Los Angeles didn’t have any problems (or even protests) before Miller sent these goons into a Home Depot parking lot.
Meanwhile, incredibly, Democrats and the liberal media have again called this outbreak of violence “mostly peaceful protests,” while in the same breath blaming the riots, arson, and looting on President Trump for enforcing immigration law. The New York Timesdescribed“largely peaceful” riots with fireworks fired at police, cars set on fire, and more than 150 arrests.
Yes, because they have been mostly peaceful.
The threat from the radical left is clear: Don’t enforce immigration laws. If you do, left-wing street militias will burn down cities, and Democratic politicians will back the rioters. The president is absolutely right to reject this threat, enforce immigration laws, and restore civil order.
No, that’s not what is being said. Tom Cotton is stoking fear and nonsense because he’s trying to provoke outrage to get what he wants: the chance to use the US military on the American public. No city is being burnt down. There are no riots. No one is backing “rioters.” What they want is for the US government to stop grabbing people off the street for no reason other than the color of their skin.
From there, Cotton continues the myth-making, pretending that because these sweeps picked up a small number of actual criminals it means that everyone they’re arresting are murderers and child beaters.
Again, Cotton is playing the typical MAGA game of fearmongering by using the rare example to pretend it’s representative, just like I could point to the fact that the leader of Cotton’s party is a convicted criminal (on 34 counts!). Should we thus assume that everyone in the Republican party is a felon who should be sent to jail? It’s one or the other. Either Cotton thinks it’s okay to cherry pick a few people with criminal records and tar everyone associated with them with a broad brush, or he doesn’t.
But, of course, Tom Cotton lives by the motto “it’s okay for Republicans to do this, not anyone else.” Indeed, it’s even worse, because for everyone else he doesn’t even want basic rights or constitutional protections. He wants to send in the military:
The solution now is the same as I said then: an overwhelming show of force to end the riots.
THERE ARE NO RIOTS.
This is just blatant propaganda used to justify the force Cotton has always wanted to use against Americans he doesn’t like. They manufactured every bit of this. They provoked unnecessary confrontations, sending in heavily armed, militarized law enforcement where none was needed, following months of extreme policies and attacks on due process.
Once there, once people started to protest, they ramped up the provocation. And when there were a few rare examples of violence, they falsely labeled them as riots and used them as justification to ramp up the provocation even further.
It’s the “why are you hitting yourself?” school of governance, except with Marines.
There are no riots. No cities are burning. And sending in the military won’t stop the protests, because the protests are about this horrific and dangerous abuse of power.
As always, local police are the first line of defense, but when the police can’t restore order—or aren’t allowed to by Democratic mayors—the National Guard must be called out.
Again, the police have said everything’s fine. The protests have been mostly peaceful. They don’t need to “restore” order, because there is order. They’re not being held back by the mayor or the governor. The only parts of the government they’ve complained about are the federal government sending unnecessary military personnel without any attempt at coordination.
Ask yourself this: to whose benefit is it to pretend that the LAPD has lost control and to blame it on Democratic politicians? Is it to the people of LA? Not at all. It is to Tom Cotton and his fascist buddies.
Cotton wastes no opportunity to further lie:
Mr. Newsom—incompetent and ideological all at once—refused to mobilize the National Guard, leaving Mr. Trump little choice but to federalize the California Guard to protect federal law-enforcement agents and restore order.
This is another outright lie. Reports indicate that Trump called Newsom late Friday night/early Saturday morning, and when Newsom asked about the National Guard, Trump changed the subject. Newsom was never formally asked to mobilize state forces. Trump simply seized control of California’s National Guard without going through proper channels—hence California’s lawsuit over the illegal federal takeover.
So again, you have to ask, why is Cotton lying, other than to get what he wants: the US military to conduct operations on American protestors? It’s pure blood lust against people calling out his bloodthirsty campaign of vengeance.
This is the fascist playbook. Lie, generate controversy, provoke people to protest, insist that their protests are “violent riots,” use that to justify an overly aggressive violent response completely out of proportion to what’s happening.
The end goal is not peace. It’s subjugation and suppression of speech—turning America into the kind of place where questioning Dear Leader gets you a visit from the 82nd Airborne (who, coincidentally, Trump addressed today, an event he used to mock California and cheer on military occupation of an American city).
And the worst part? They’re doing this while wrapping themselves in the flag and calling themselves patriots. Real patriots don’t send Marines after Americans holding signs. But these aren’t patriots—they’re just fascists who figured out red, white, and blue makes better branding than brown shirts.
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