A Tale of Two Governors: Confronting versus Dick-Wagging
In a column on an imagined split in the Democratic party over the word “distraction,” Ron Brownstein linked to this Molly Jong Fast interview with Gavin Newsom in support of his argument that Newsom was criticizing a focus on affordability.
In a recent interview with podcaster Molly Jong-Fast, Newsom implicitly criticized the instinct of other Democratic leaders to pivot back to economic issues whenever possible.
But Brownstein was misrepresenting the jist of the conversation with Newsom and Jong-Fast, and in so doing, wildly misunderstanding Newsom’s pivot. He’s not alone in missing the point. Brownstein’s column is among many from pundits who belatedly discovered Newsom’s trolling but wildly misunderstand it to be exclusively about a willingness to directly confront Trump.
The primary focus of Jong-Fast’s interview with Newsom was about him breaking through the news cycle. From the very start, she dated his breakthrough to two weeks earlier (so around August 9), while he described the shift in his messaging strategy first to Trump and Elon Musk’s disinformation during the fires,
Those first few days they were winning the messaging battle.
But as Newsom described, his state of mind changed when Trump invaded Los Angeles, back when I first profiled his trolling efforts.
And my state of mind radically changed at that moment. And our media shift [sic] changed. Our research, our clarity, the conditions changed, so we had to change. And we were no longer apologetic about things. I wasn’t trying to play nice.
And I know a lot of good people play nice. Talk about what you really focused on every day. And people will pay attention to your ten point plan on affordability. And talk about kitchen table issues. Well we’ve been doing that every damn day for years and years and years, with all due respect.
And that doesn’t get picked up. And then we’re chasing lies and misrepresentations and untruths.
And so about a few weeks ago, as it relates to redistricting, we decided yeah, we’re going to punch him back, and we’re going to put a mirror up to the absurdity that is Donald Trump.
Newsom’s comment was not about content — that ten point plan (indeed, he went on to lay out policies he dubbed progressive later in the interview).
It was about attention. That ten point plan “doesn’t get picked up,” which leaves you “chasing lies and misrepresentations and untruths.”
The import of attention can best be shown by Brownstein’s own invocation of JB Pritzker’s firey speech last week just before he invoked Newsom.
Pritzker has been unsparing in denouncing Trump as a “wannabe dictator,” as he put in a fiery news conference last week decrying the president’s threats to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. Surrounded by local business, religious and civic leaders, Pritzker struck a conspicuously more urgent tone than the party’s Congressional leadership. “If it sounds to you like I am alarmist, that is because I am ringing an alarm,” Pritzker insisted, before describing the prospect of troops on Chicago streets as “unprecedented, unwarranted, illegal, unconstitutional, un-American.”
Pritzker’s speech — as well as an appearance on Face the Nation — was precisely what Democrats want to see. It laid out how Trump is harming efforts to address crime and accused Trump of illicit motives for the invasion. But even though he implored the press not to both sides his comments about Trump’s invasion, many did (and by asking five questions about the 2028 presidential election, CBS’ Ed O’Keefe situated this as a 2028 conflict). Politico even did a story on how Pritzker is losing weight and Trump is taking notice.
And contrary to the claims of pundits who want this — a unified, firey press conference — to be enough, thus far it has achieved nothing more than Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s own comments about their success in fighting crime: a renewed request from the White House that he ask for help.
Indeed, every single day, Trump focuses on Chicago, raising the political stakes for Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The misunderstanding about Newsom’s success derives from the point I made here. Liberals and journalists understand language differently than fascists do. Liberals want to argue about truth, which Pritzker did exceptionally well. He laid out crime rates, he laid out how IL has addressed it, he laid out policy issues.
But right wingers want to grab and hold attention and mobilize emotion.
Compare how the two approaches work. In both his presser…
So in case there was any doubt as to the motivation behind Trump’s military occupations, take note: 13 of the top 20 cities in homicide rate have Republican governors. None of these cities is Chicago.
Eight of the top 10 states with the highest homicide rates are led by Republicans. None of those states is Illinois.
Memphis, Tennessee; Hattiesburg, Mississippi have higher crime rates than Chicago, and yet Donald Trump is sending troops here and not there? Ask yourself why.
And on Face the Nation, Pritzker factually described that Trump is focused on blue states when red states have worse crime.
Notice he never talks about where the most violent crime is occurring, which is in red states. Illinois is not even in the bottom half of states in terms of violent crime. Indeed, we’re in the best half of the states so- but do you hear him talking about Florida, where he is now from. No, you don’t hear him talking about that, or Texas. Their violent crime rates are much worse in other places, and we’re very proud of the work that we’ve done.
Newsom, by contrast, has relentlessly called out Republicans on Xitter every time they focus on blue state crime.
Often, when he calls out those Republicans, he treats their focus on blue states as a confession of their own ignorance, a dick wag that will drive engagement. He accuses Lankford of being stupid because he doesn’t know (or, just as likely, won’t admit) that murder in Oklahoma is higher than in California.
But a more remarkable intervention is this press conference he did last week.
The first seven minutes or so focused on new teams focused on policing — that was the focus of straight news reports like this one and this one.
For the next several minutes, Newsom reminded that we’re still waiting on the decision on Posse comitatus from Judge Charles Breyer, a decision that will be appealed and will determine the course of invasions for some time. He laid out the stakes of this (a point he returned to).
Newsom then had his top law enforcement officials speak, for about seven minutes; Newsom nodded to the support from communities for the law enforcement efforts.
Newsom then took questions. The first question was about whether this announcement was a response to Trump’s threats to deploy the National Guard. Newsom noted that Trump is doing things to people, not with people (and nodded again to the upcoming Breyer decision).
At 17:50 — this is the part that has been picked up nationally — Newsom then moved to trolling.
But I should note, just on that, if he is to invest in crime suppression, I hope that the President of the United States would look at the facts. Just consider Speaker Johnson’s state. Just look at the murder rate that’s nearly four times higher than Californian’s, in Louisiana. This is Speaker Johnson. 4-ex. Higher. I’m just offering — again, you’ll not see this on Fox News so the President may not be familiar with these facts. So I want to present some facts to the President of the United States. I imagine this is alarming to the President, to learn these facts, particularly Speaker Johnson, he’s been such a strong partner, and ally, in these efforts, so the carnage in Louisiana is well defined.
Newsom then turned to Mississippi, “Murder rate’s out of control, carnage,” again presenting it in terms of interest to the President (and in the same emotional language that Stephen Miller uses to address crime). He focused on Missouri, Arkansas.
Again, these are just, not just observations. They’re stone cold facts. And the fact remains that if the President is sincere about the issue of crime and violence, there’s no question in my mind that he’ll likely be sending the troops into Louisiana, Mississippi, to address the unconscionable wave of violence that continues to plague those states.
Not only did Newsom’s serial focus — with props — on right wing states get picked up by influencers and state Democratic parties, it baited Fox News, which asked Johnson about the stat in a live appearance (though without including the bit where Newsom said Fox would never cover it!), which Newsom then used for two more viral posts, one reiterating that Louisiana has a higher crime rate, another laughing at Johnson’s word salad.
Back to the press conference, in response to the next question, Newsom talked about the assault on America, especially racial profiling. He addressed how he was mirroring Trump’s grift and hypocrisy to raise a mirror to it.
The next question raised Trump’s alternative facts. Newsom focused on the chatbots on Fox News. He returned to the comparison of state crimes.
Where’s the President of the United States. These are the folks — these are his states that voted for him. His state of mind doesn’t seem to be focused on the issue of crime and violence. It’s about expression of authoritarianism. He reflects and waxes, two out of the last three days, about being a dictator.
He was asked if he was mimicking the Oval Office by holding the presser in his office, which he dodged.
In response to a late question, Newsom then noted that CA’s cops had to protect the Guard Trump deployed.
I want to also compliment the Commissioner. It was the CHP working with LAPD that were protecting the National Guard and the military in LA. I want to thank them for that. The LAPD, in partnership with the CHP, had to protect the Federalized Guard and the United States military after Donald Trump federalized them.
The last question attempted to bait Newsom into saying that crime wasn’t a problem. He repeated, again, that he was working with others, rather than doing to.
JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom said, effectively, precisely the same thing. Both said they were addressing crime in their states, with positive outcomes, and so didn’t need any further intervention from Trump. Both noted that other states — red states — needed Trump’s help more. Both suggested that Trump was focusing on blue states out of an authoritarian plan.
But Newsom’s intervention worked differently for several reasons. Perhaps most importantly, Newsom focused the pressure on others, flipping the political script, on Speaker Johnson’s complicity in ignoring his own states to enable Trump’s invasions. When addressing Trump, Pritzker assumed a common understanding of factual data, simply stating that crime was higher in Florida and Texas. But Newsom pitched his discussion of variable crime rates on the presumption that Trump would have no idea of anything he didn’t see on Fox News (and for whatever reason, baited Fox into covering precisely that data). Newsom also appealed to tribalism, suggesting that Trump was neglecting the states that voted for him. As noted, Newsom also adopted the alarmist language used by Miller — but he did so to describe right wing states.
A big part of the difference, in my opinion, is audience. Pritkzer seemed to address the press or Democrats. Even while Newsom provided a news hook for local coverage, he also aimed to address Trump and right wing politicians and audiences — even baiting Fox News!! — in the kind of dick-wagging power language that is meaningful to them.
Not all of it worked. I haven’t seen anyone pick up the detail that the LAPD had to defend the Guard (that may be one reason the Guard in DC is armed).
But it used the idea of a press conference (albeit seemingly mocking Trump’s Cabinet Meetings) to provide different points of access for the straight press, for lefty influencers, and for right wing media.
This isn’t just about confrontation, which his what many pundits think it is. Both Pritzker and Newsom were confronting Trump directly. Brownstein misunderstands virtually everything that is going on (not to mention misunderstanding that members of Congress necessarily play a different role here).
This is about confronting Trump in a way that undercuts his basis of power, even while embarrassing the press of all stripes to stop normalizing Trump’s authoritarianism.
Update: Judge Breyer just enjoined Trump from violating the Posse comitatus act.
By the standards of this comparison, JB Pritzker comes off as the lesser of two Democrat assailants because of his appeal to “truth,” based on facts. Another way of seeing the approaches of these two governors is that they complement each other, with each one responding to a different stage of Trump administration overreach in a different way.
Newsom rages back (brilliantly, I think) with the zeal of someone whose state has already been invaded and occupied by federal forces. Pritzker, due to shifting judicial winds and potential changes in political will, is trying to stave off the next phase, not just for his own state but for the others Trump and Miller have targeted. In effect, he is making both a public and a legal argument against any such further overreach.
I felt Pritzker’s speech got overplayed on TV (MSNBC), more than it deserved. But if it serves to re-rally flailing Democrats at the close of a long and very dispiriting summer, then keep right on playing it. And may Gavin Newsom’s shop provide us with their Trump “mirror” until the need for it ends.
Newsom was just as grounded in the truth.
He just delivered it differently.
Excellent: Judge Breyer out and out biatch-slapped Trump with Posse Comitatus.
Breyer’s ruled that sending in the Guard is illegal.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/trump-s-use-of-national-guard-during-los-21026364.php
The gist of your argument is that Brownstein misrepresented the jist of Jong-Fast’s conversation with Newsom? :-)
with liberty and jist us for all.
No, your honor, you’re out of order, you’re out of order.
This:
“But right wingers want to grab and hold attention and mobilize emotion,” not argue facts, however exceptional those arguments might be.
YES !!!!
This is true, but it neglects to mention that Republicans almost always argue in bad faith, resorting to gaslighting, diverting, derailing, or just straight-up lying their fucking asses off. Spit facts to create a bedrock as my gov has, but breathe fire as Newsom has as well. We’re arguing over who’s more qualified to take Guinevere to the Fair simply because almost no one else of consequence is making any noise.
What I take from this great post is that EW is outlining two different communication styles from two different Dem governors and showing which had the most impact outside of the usual Dem circle. Seriously terrific post. And thank you for continuing to explain what Newsom is doing and the effect it is having. It seems most people still don’t get it.
This is why I cringe every time I see some poll or another comparing party “enthusiasm”: Democrats poll that they hate their party, because they do. Republicans poll that they love their party, because that’s what they are told to do.
One can only hope that “journalists” will increasingly read Emptywheel and slowly begin to learn how to journalist.
Both Pritzker and Newsom confronting the bully, however differently.
One detail I meant to include is that when Pritzker “confronted” Trump on Xitter, he did so by screencapping his Truth Social attack on Chicago. It’s another way his “confrontation” reifies Trump’s own power.
Yes, I much prefer it when Trump’s posts are re-posted with Marcy’s “English teacher-style” corrections all over them. It makes for striking imagery —a visual way of confronting the administration’s lies.
Of the MANY things emptywheel does, “English teacher-style corrections” is the one that pleases me most.
I hope that is MUCH more widely adopted!
One thing I learned (actually re-learned) in briefing audiences of major city officials in the US, senior US military officers, and mixed audiences of US and UK military officials along with US and UK civil (from the national down to the local level — Gold, Silver, Bronze) officials: People intake, process, and act on your information in different ways. The actual information needs to be consistent (but not identical), and with the delivery tailored at different receptors.
Confession: Years ago when I first started commenting here, I found the experience exasperating. There seemed to be some kind of tribal requirement, spoken in code, and a lot of piling on. It was like a hazing experience, an edict to walk a gauntlet.
I found it so frustrating that I almost gave up. And were it not for Eureka, timbo, and someone named Alan, I would have. I knew I had some significant things to share and I couldn’t understand why that was so hard to do.
That’s when I stumbled upon a way to break through with cheesy poetry. And I found, almost immediately, that some of it resonated with people from all walks of life. I won’t bore you with how I know this. But I know that it had emotional appeal across the board, with a variety of political persuasions. And maybe some of it still does.
I am especially grateful to you, Marcy, for giving me an opportunity to break through. And for not giving up on me. Your e-feuilleton is inspirational. And, honestly, I’m glad a Democratic politician has finally figured out how to meld facts with emotions, on a level that people can relate to. It’s about time!
SL …
I luff yer cheesy poetry stuff!
We LOVE your poetry!!!
You are one of the reasons I keep coming back here.
I won’t try and name everybody else or it’ll sound like an Oscars speech ;-)
Thanks, Stephen and Marcy! I think the point I was trying to make is that Democrats should not hesitate to breach communication barriers by finding more emotional and pointed ways to use language (and visuals) So, I agree with you, Marcy. I think Newsom found a way. Hopefully others will take note.
I dig your poetry ;) And appreciate your comments and insights. TY!
In appreciation for your contribution to EW, here’s a bit of poetry from Bruce Cockburn that does what you describe and what you pull off yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzx_zSG3WVU
https://genius.com/Bruce-cockburn-call-me-rose-lyrics
And weirdly apropos for today?
Cheers, SL!
Newsom’s aping of Trump on socials has also served to call out the mainstream media who will ask him about his bombastic style when they’ve learned to ignore and launder Trump’s. It’s a twofer! I think if he honestly believes trans folks should be thrown under the bus, he’s not the one for ’28, but I’m enjoying his fight right now.
Newsom’s trans statements, like his “come let us reason together” podcasts with the likes of Bannon and Kirk, were pure Consultant. Newsom has always been willing to try on a new political suit to see how it fits, so given his history I’m pretty sure those were not “deeply held beliefs”.
Definitely from consultants.
Newsom’s anti-trans statements seem to me almost exactly like the undermining of trans rights that HIllary Clinton was doing in 2007-08 when it was obvious that a political calculation had been made that there were more votes to be gained from *not* backing up transfolk than there were from helping them.
And it will mean the same thing from me — I won’t vote for them if I have a choice (the primaries) but will hold my nose and vote for them if necessary in the general.
Yeah I tend to agree with that. One thing that scares me about Newsom is I really think the way to break through is to be unafraid of your beliefs and say them with your chest. I’m looking at Platner in Maine and I’m loving what he’s doing. You can tell he just believes this stuff!
https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3lxsoruavbs2m
His environmentalist creds only exist in his PR. So…
According to APM Research Lab, about 54% of all Americans read below a 6th grade level. https://www.apmresearchlab.org/10x-adult-literacy
Democrats have to learn how to reach them, because the only reaching them now is one of them, and he is president. The game is afoot with Newsom leading the charge.
To understand the right, you have to understand evangelicals, particularly Southern Baptists.
Southern Baptists really don’t care if you drink, smoke, fornicate with the same sex or are trans provided you keep it on the down low, on the hush hush. Republicans win when Democrats oversell their support for these cultural differences rather than staying on point with jobs, the economy, and helping the working class like Joe Biden did in 2020.
Speaking of the South. I just finished a book about the beginnings of the Civil War as told through the story of Fort Sumter (The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson). It reminded me, too much, of today’s America. The sentiments and actions of the secessionists, including the belief in the rightness of slavery, resonate today in the hatred that some have for “different” people, the belief such people are not born equal. The so-called “chivalry”, the landed class in the South, were willing to tear apart the Union because their privilege was going to be taken away: church in the morning, beat your slaves in the afternoon.
And such sentiments persist through time, as I was reminded on the car radio yesterday, hearing Barry McGuire describing the world, a full hundred years after that terrible war, in his classic Eve of Destruction: “You can bury your dead, but don’t forget to say grace”. That song was No. 3 on the pop charts sixty years ago today; what has changed, all these years later? Are we just a bunch of red states and a bunch of blue states?
I don’t know. Kamala never really defended trans people in 2024 and yet the right acted like she gave full-throated defenses of policies that were actually implemented in Trump 1 (gender affirming care in federal prisons). This was to 0 concerted pushback from the press. You may as well say what you believe and let the chips fall. Letting the other side define you on an issue they think is to their advantage is not the way.
My experience (having grown up in rural Texas) is that it is an in-group/out-group thing. They don’t care about your idiosyncracies *if you are one of them*.
And I don’t mean that in a political way — if you are someone they know and like, or you are from the same town, or play the same sports, then they will accept a lot of things about you as “eccentricities” that they would not abide from strangers.
I’m currently experiencing this personally as my 40th HS reunion is coming up, and a few days ago I posted on Facebook that I would not be attending due to the anti-trans legislation that just passed — and people came out of the woodwork to assure me that they would make sure there would be no issues *for me* if I attended. I know that several of those people were staunch Republicans who supported the legislation, but it’s okay because they know me.
(I haven’t decided if I’m going to go yet or not. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back, and this may be my last chance to see some of my elderly relatives. Tough choices.)
Let us know if you do go.
“Southern Baptists really don’t care if you drink, smoke, fornicate with the same sex or are trans provided you keep it on the down low, on the hush hush.”
Oh you mean like Judge Paul Pressler who helped revitalize the Southern Baptist Convention, was accused by quite a few young men of making sexual advances to them, and had a law school named after him which never opened but paid a good salary to the now Speaker of the House. You mean like that, right?
Are we ready for the food fight coming? Because, if or when Newsom’s style becomes more widespread, it will be between democrats as well. We are starting to see it with David Hogg and the ‘Establishment’.
Well, it got Jerry Nadler to announce he is not going to run again.
Agree with the points stated.
I keep waiting for Dem. governors and mayors to raise the point that state law crimes may be being committed by these ICE thugs. (Philly D.A. Larry Krassner has raised it.)
These masked thugs seem to be committing a&b; a&b dw; and other state law crimes in plain view. The state and local police should be directed to arrest and detain these thugs when state law crimes are committed in their presence. Get their purported credentials, determine their identities and create a record.
Two words: qualified immunity. It would be really hard to bring state cases against them, even if the violations were egregious (as many of them seem to be). Plus, if the cases succeeded, local law enforcement would be weakening their own ability to rely on QI, meaning local DAs would probably pass on filing. Not a lawyer, so take this cum grano salo.
The problem isn’t just qualified immunity, it’s the Supremacy Clause:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause
The Supremacy Clause guarantees that federal laws supersede state laws.
For an example of how this works in practice, a municipal judge held an ICE officer in contempt when he arrested a man leaving the judge’s courtroom. A federal judge dismissed the charges because of the Supremacy Clause:
https://apnews.com/article/ice-immigration-arrest-trial-contempt-8b35498ddd96ccf1bc3ff772e6ef5106
Thank you.
I understand your points about QI and Supremacy Clause. But I say make the arrests. Detain them. Prosecute them. Litigate the issues. At least then they would be identified. A record would be created.
I suspect many are not even federal employees, likely contractors from one of Erik Prince’s companies.
Agree with the points stated.
I keep waiting for Dem. governors and mayors to raise the point that state law crimes may be being committed by these ICE thugs. (Philly D.A. Larry Krassner has raised it.)
These masked thugs seem to be committing a&b; a&b dw; and other state law crimes in plain view. The state and local police should be directed to arrest and detain these thugs when state law crimes are committed in their presence. Get their purported credentials, determine their identities and create a record.
This is literally like watching my entire family tell my 90 year old mother that the dishes are washed and the kitchen is cleaned on Thanksgiving for the 100th time. It’s like watching a weak old tired person with self esteem issues that it’s okay to take a walk in DC.
And I totally agree 100% with Ms Wheeler here. Newsom is trolling, out trolling. It is amazing the watch. But, Newsom has to get the “sit down and relax mom, everything is okay. Maybe we could talk about….” and treat him and Pirro like the old ninnies they are.
And excellent read. This article should go in some college public policy class thing. IDK, I am a musician.
Marcy…
This is EXACTLY what Mallory McMorrow here in Michigan needs to be reminded of. She won hearts and support all across this state and went viral across the country and around the world back in 2022 when she gave that rousing, fiery speech on the Michigan Senate floor denouncing a republican peer’s slanderous charge of “grooming” children. She was perfect in that speech, the model of how we want our progressive leaders to react to all the lies which are the total foundation of everything the right stands for. Now that she’s running for retiring Senator Gary Peters’ seat, her early online ads show her in small gatherings in brew pubs, spitting about as much fire as a cooling pot of mashed turnips. She can win this nomination and this seat, but not the way she’s going so far.
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how do you think SO FAST !
reading that left me breathless, panting, and you KEPT GOING.
Dr. Wheeler Has A Very Good Day
The elephant in the room is that the kleptocrat owned media will always two side with the lies from their party. The medium has migrated from hate radio to hate twitter to hate msm.
Love those bringing facts to people at a time where the kleptocracy is destroying facts at NASA, NOAH, CDC, NIH, DOJ, DOD, FTC, NRLB, EPA, and the bureau of Census.
Elon says EW deleted almost all of her tweets before Oct. 12, 2022. True or censorship?
That was about when he took over, and she was still posting there after that.
I got email polled on Newsom’s proposition (it’s Prop 50 ). Not in favor, and I did take a look at the proposed maps, which is a fcking obvious gerrymander. (The Hollywood Hills are in with the West SF Valley AND Simi Valley, and Santa Clarita has a district that goes down the center of the Valley to Van Nuys. It benefits whoever drew it, but not the voters.
In the 2020 census re-districting, my congerssional rep went from Maxine Waters to Ted Lieu. I would think that most of the map changes for this mid-decade re-districting would take place in the reddest areas of California, the central Valley and far northern California. What’s the point in re-drawing already-blue districts?
Saturday I got text polled by Newsom on Prop 50. The text assured me “a volunteer — a real person” was waiting for my reply when it came in. I did not care for the intrusion. And I am not taken with or happy with Newsom. I replied “Fuck you for selling out trans people…. I await your reply.”
I await still.
It’s not news that PROP 50 is a gerrymander. But since CA voters can vote it up or down, they can decide whether it’s to their benefit.
IMO, given TX likely adding 5 GOP seats, not being in favor of PROP 50 = Being in favor of a GOP House majority in the next congress.
Thank you for pointing to the non-stop redirection to Newsom and Pritzker as possible 2028 Presidential candidates.
I mean, sure, somebody probably will be, but if you were Gavin Newsom, would you rather be president with a gerrymandered national Congress and the Roberts court, or governor of California?
I read that California has a two-term limit for governors, but caring about politicians being term-limited seems so out of date at this point. It’s not slowing Trump 2028 hat sales, is it?
Yeah, caring about the law is so out-of-date. Pshaw.
Enjoyed the video and your post. Newsom’s “routine” is funny. it hits all the marks and it is informative. Gov. Pritzker has a different style. Both are doing something besides sitting on their asses. O.K. I can afford to laugh, I live in Canada but as they used to say, when the U.S.A. sneezes, Canada catches the flu. We now have a premier in Alberta who wants books banned in schools and seperate from Canada
Some times I think Miller and Trump are trying to start a shooting incident. Then they can start with the martial law thing. What blows me away is that other states have not been more vocal about these invasions of American cities or the interments and deportations. /There are all those good Christians and South Baptists and didn’t hear a thing from them about the news reports regarding the impending deportations of 600 children. From what I can see on the Canadian news is those being arrested, interred, and deported are those people going to school, their jobs, immigration offices, doctors appointments. Don’t see a lot of criminals being shown the door. Then there is that stupid smile on Johnston’s face.
Do wonder when the Republican states with high crime rates will be instructed to deal with them or have a visit from the gestapo in training.
Back when I was young some people in the Labour Movement used to say the right winged politicians were able to organize things so that one half of the working class would kill the other half. Most of the military/National Guard are working class and they are going to participate in bringing a military occupation to several major American cities.
Perhaps what ever Kimmie 3, Xi and Putin are cooking up may redirect trump’s attention. what is going on now is not going to end well if some one doesn’t get a handle on things. at least there are two Gov.s doing something and some very good bloggers who provide information to those who still read.
I think Newsom’s trolling is incredibly effective, especially among younger people. They live in the social media ecosphere and sense perturbations in social trends better than us Boomers. Trump is a sad, obese, out of shape old man who does nothing but trash talk America. In eight months, he has destroyed NATO, alienated most of our former allies, caused a new Axis of Evil to coagulate around Russia, China and India and imposed unnecessary and foolish tariffs that are bound to drag the economy down. Democrats need some simple messaging like: TRUMP=FAILURE. Something that fits easily on a bumper sticker!
I don’t know if it was a result of Newsom’s trolling of Mike Johnson or not, but Trump apparently is now considering sending troops to New Orleans, e.g., https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-may-send-us-troops-new-orleans-louisiana-fight-crime-2025-09-03/
Newsom is making noises about issuing a crypto coin. I *hope* it’s just talk.
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/newsom-controversial-meme-coin-21027466.php