What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[The Minsky Moment]

Trump now apparently states this is a rebellion and authorized the use of regular military forces nationwide. What's the legal relevance of a "memorandum"?

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/department-of-defense-security-for-the-protection-of-department-of-homeland-security-functions/

The President has the statutory authority to nationalize and call out the National Guard if "the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."

The memorandum is just a written record that the President has exercise that authority along with the purported basis.

That said, it is striking how weak and vague the memo is in justifying the action.  It starts with the vague passive voice: "Numerous incidents of violence and disorder have recently occurred"   It then moves to the conditional: "To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion  . . ."  And it concludes with more vague generalities: "In light of these incidents and credible threats of continued violence . . . I hereby call into Federal service."

I didn't follow the Cali protests that carefully but they didn't seem to reach the point where federal law enforcement ceased to function; ICE sent out press releases boasting of their large number of arrests.  Seems very weak and pretextual.

18 U.S.C. § 1385 aka the "posse comitatus act" - prohibits the Guard from participating in the execution of federal law inside the United States.  The memo indirectly acknowledges this; the Guard's functions are limited to providing protection to ICE.

This is a show for the media and a troll to prompt liberal criticism to be replayed and twisted on Fox News etc.

[Valmy]

This was a pretty small and weak sauce protest. If they are going to blow all this political capital on weak sauce protests we should do more of them.

Just go home once all the National Guard units show up.

[viper37]

Cool. Does this also apply for Confederate flags, considering it stood for armed insurrection against the United States?

a foreign fag  

nice misspoked there 

[Zanza]

Vandals burning cars while waving Mexican flags is of course playing into the cards of the fascists. This will not end well.

[Syt]

[Syt]

It feels a bit like they watched the Ghorman Massacre arc of Andor and thought, "That's a great idea, actually."

[Tamas]

Whoever was protesting with a Mexican flag sure did a huge favour to the fascists.

[garbon]

Whoever was protesting with a Mexican flag sure did a huge favour to the fascists.

Yes because that's what precipitated them acting like this...

[Tamas]

Whoever was protesting with a Mexican flag sure did a huge favour to the fascists.

Yes because that's what precipitated them acting like this...

Obviously not but why make PR even easier for them?

[garbon]

Languish: Americans should be out in the streets resisting

A small fraction of the population resists in Los Angeles

Also Languish: No not like that. You shouldn't be antagonizing the administration!!

[Tamas]

Languish: Americans should be out in the streets resisting

A small fraction of the population resists in Los Angeles

Also Languish: No not like that. You shouldn't be antagonizing the administration!!

Fair point but waving Mexican flags have nothing to do with defending democracy. The person waving it makes it about their (non-US) national identity, which is precisely what the fascist claim are the danger in letting those people stay.

[garbon]

Languish: Americans should be out in the streets resisting

A small fraction of the population resists in Los Angeles

Also Languish: No not like that. You shouldn't be antagonizing the administration!!

Fair point but waving Mexican flags have nothing to do with defending democracy. The person waving it makes it about their (non-US) national identity, which is precisely what the fascist claim are the danger in letting those people stay.

Is that so because NYT seems to highlight a relevant reason to use the flag.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/mexican-flag-protest-los-angeles.html

The Mexican Flag Has Become a Potent Protest Symbol

Trump officials have cast demonstrators waving the Mexican flag as insurrectionists, but for many protesters who are Mexican American, the flag represents pride in their heritage.

Elizabeth Torres, 36, held a Mexican flag outside the detention center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

"I am a very proud American," said Ms. Torres, whose grandparents immigrated to the United States. "But I have to show support also for our Mexican brothers and sisters."

...

But for many protesters who are American citizens, the flag signifies pride in their roots, as well as solidarity with immigrants who are being targeted for deportation.

"They're the children and grandchildren of immigrants," said Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied the immigrants rights movement in California. "They have no doubt in their own citizenship or their own belonging here, but they understand the racial undertones of the attacks on immigrants," he said.

"So you're getting this reaction of 'We're not going to let you make us be ashamed of where our parents and grandparents came from,'" Mr. Zepeda-Millán added.

On Saturday afternoon in Paramount, Eric Torres, 30 and no relation to Elizabeth Torres, waved a Mexican flag in front of sheriff's deputies in riot gear. Mr. Torres wore an oversized white T-shirt and baggy jeans, typical attire for many Chicanos in Los Angeles.

"I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from," Mr. Torres said. "My parents are immigrants. Most of the people right here have immigrant parents, so I'm here to support, show them our love."

The appearance of foreign flags at immigration protests is not new, nor is the outrage by those who deem it un-American. But American flags have been flown by protesters in Los Angeles, too, as they have in past protests against immigration crackdowns. And in Los Angeles this week, fusions of the American flag with that of another country, such as Mexico or Guatemala, have regularly been seen waving among the demonstrators.

Some immigrant coalitions in the past have discouraged the waving of foreign flags, lest it feed anti-immigrant backlash. But Alfonso Gonzales Toribio, an ethnic studies professor at the University of California, Riverside, who has written about Latino immigrant rights movements, said that right now, immigrants "feel attacked."

He added, "I don't think we are going to be able to dissuade people" from flying the flag of their homeland. "It gives people a sense of pride."

[Oexmelin]

Obviously not but why make PR even easier for them?

Do you remember "eating cats and dogs?"

There will always be some excuse being manufactured. Either from someone, somewhere in a protest, or made up of lies.

[Maladict]

Languish: Americans should be out in the streets resisting

A small fraction of the population resists in Los Angeles

Also Languish: No not like that. You shouldn't be antagonizing the administration!!

Fair point but waving Mexican flags have nothing to do with defending democracy. The person waving it makes it about their (non-US) national identity, which is precisely what the fascist claim are the danger in letting those people stay.

It's a symbol of the protest. It will antagonize the opposing side no matter what it is.

[crazy canuck]

Languish: Americans should be out in the streets resisting

A small fraction of the population resists in Los Angeles

Also Languish: No not like that. You shouldn't be antagonizing the administration!!

Fair point but waving Mexican flags have nothing to do with defending democracy. The person waving it makes it about their (non-US) national identity, which is precisely what the fascist claim are the danger in letting those people stay.

In my neighbourhood there a number of Ukrainian flags on display. It is a signifier of solidarity, not about the person displaying the flag being non-Canadian.