Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids that have led to protests in California and around the country.
Video shows a Secret Service agent on Noem’s security detail grabbing Padilla, who represents California, by his jacket and shoving him from the room as he tried to interrupt Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles.
“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he shouted in a halting voice.
The stunning scene of a U.S. senator being aggressively removed from a Cabinet secretary’s news conference prompted immediate outrage from his Democratic colleagues in the chamber. It comes as the Trump administration has aggressively targeted protesters in California who are demonstrating against immigration raids, including by sending in National Guard troops and Marines. (snip-MORE)
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has activated the Missouri National Guard in anticipation of protests planned across the state.
Kehoe signed an executive order on Thursday, declaring a state of emergency and authorizing the Guard to support local law enforcement if necessary.
“We respect, and will defend, the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or lawlessness in our state,” Governor Kehoe said. “While other states may wait for chaos to ensue, the State of Missouri is taking a proactive approach in the event that assistance is needed to support local law enforcement in protecting our citizens and communities.”
“Mayor Lucas is concerned with enhanced state enforcement for one set of protestors, but no action or aid to local law enforcement when Neo-Nazis march through Missouri’s urban streets. The Mayor has confidence in responsible protestors to use their First Amendment rights peacefully and in compliance with the law. More than one thousand Kansas Citians protested peacefully and responsibly just days ago. For those who do not act responsibly, the Mayor stands by the women and men of local law enforcement at KCPD and other agencies to handle any necessary enforcement actions. Unnecessary escalation from our nation’s capital and state capitals undermines local law enforcement and makes all less safe.”
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune said it was a “preemptive” declaration of emergency.
Her statement:
“Governor Kehoe’s preemptive declaration of a state of emergency as Missourians prepare to protest an increasingly authoritarian presidential administration is a blatant attempt to intimidate and suppress First Amendment rights. The protests planned this weekend across Missouri and throughout the nation were sparked by the president’s unwarranted and heavy-handed military response to opposition to his policies. By doing the same, the governor will only heighten tensions and increase the possibility of conflict. Governor Kehoe should staunchly defend the rights of Missourians, not mimic the authoritarianism of the president.” (snip-MORE)
from Heather Cox Richardson. Though our current president has little respect for U.S. veterans, that is not true of anybody I know. Even anti-war I believe our current service people and our veterans are deserving of all benefits of their citizenship and especially added benefits of their service to the U.S. Many readers here are military veterans. My mother’s brother-in-law, my (favorite!) Uncle Jack, served as a U.S. Marine in WWII. My father served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict. All of us know and love someone who’s served us in this honorable and unique fashion. While our president doesn’t think to respect that, or even think about it at all, the rest of us do. I know we are thankful. And now, from Heather Cox Richardson, history expert,
Today the U.S. political world was consumed today by a public fight between President Donald J. Trump and his former sidekick, billionaire Elon Musk. Musk invested about $290 million into the 2024 election, vowing to elect Trump in order to get rid of government investigations into his businesses he worried would “take [him] down.”
When Trump took office, Musk became a fixture in the White House, attending Cabinet meetings and heading the “Department of Government Efficiency.” That group set out to kill government programs by withholding congressionally approved funds at the same time that its staff sucked up information on Americans that could feed the training of artificial intelligence and killed the investigations into his businesses Musk had worried about.
In February, Musk posted on social media: “I love [Donald Trump] as much as a straight man can love another man.”
But Musk overstepped boundaries and overstayed his welcome even as his antics hurt sales of his signature car, the Tesla, inspiring Trump to do a car commercial for him on the White House grounds. Just a week ago, Musk officially left the White House on the same day that an article in the New York Times documented his heavy drug use on the campaign.
Then, on Tuesday, June 3, he took a public stand against the omnibus bill Trump desperately wants Congress to pass, posting on X: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
And with that, the falling out began.
This morning, Trump told reporters he was “disappointed” in Musk. Ron Filipkowski of Meidas followed the saga from there.
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51–49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote. “Such ingratitude.”
Trump then suggested that “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk promptly said he would begin decommissioning SpaceX’s spacecraft, which supply the International Space Station.
The two men continued to go back and forth, with Musk saying that “Donald Trump is in the Epstein files,” a reference to the records compiled by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Trump was friendly. Musk also said Trump’s tariffs will cause a recession, and agreed with another poster who suggested that Trump should be impeached and replaced with Vice President J.D. Vance.
Trump responded to that attack far more weakly than one would have expected, simply turning back to the omnibus bill and insisting it “is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.”
Musk’s behavior is erratic in its own right, but if there is anything but pique behind it, it appears he is threatening Trump by making a play to control the Republican Party. In response to a post by conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer suggesting that Republican lawmakers are unsure if they should side with Trump or Musk, Musk wrote: “Oh and some food for thought as they ponder that question: Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years.”
It’s quite a gamble, since Trump controls the government contracts on which Musk’s fortune was built and on which he still relies. Some MAGA loyalists appear to see the fight as a victory for Trump and are thrilled to see Musk’s star fall. MAGA influencer Steve Bannon told Tyler Pager of the New York Times that he has advised Trump to cancel all of Musk’s federal contracts and launch a formal investigation of his drug use and his immigration status.
Kylie Robison and Aarian Marshall of Wired noted that TrumpCoin lost more than $100 million in value during the fight. Tesla stock lost $152 billion of value from its market capitalization, prompting Filipkowski to note that the total came to about $9 billion per tweet.
Economist Robert Reich had perhaps the best summary of the fight today when he noted, “That any of us have to care about the messy breakup of these two massive narcissists—and that they both individually wield such massive power—is an indictment of our political system and further proves the poisonous influence of Big Money on our democracy.”
Indeed, today’s White House and today’s America are very different from what they were eighty-one years ago.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his twenty-ninth Fireside Chat on June 5, 1944, and had good news for the American people. The day before, on June 4, Rome had fallen to Allied troops. “The first of the Axis capitals is now in our hands,” Roosevelt said.
The president pointed out that it was “significant that Rome has been liberated by the armed forces of many nations. The American and British armies—who bore the chief burdens of battle—found at their sides our own North American neighbors, the gallant Canadians. The fighting New Zealanders from the far South Pacific, the courageous French and the French Moroccans, the South Africans, the Poles and the East Indians—all of them fought with us on the bloody approaches to the city of Rome. The Italians, too, forswearing a partnership in the Axis which they never desired, have sent their troops to join us in our battles against the German trespassers on their soil.”
This group of ordinary men from many different countries had worked together to defeat the forces of fascism.
But FDR warned Americans that the fall of Rome was only the beginning. “We shall have to push through a long period of greater effort and fiercer fighting before we get into Germany itself,” he said. [T]he victory still lies some distance ahead. That distance will be covered in due time—have no fear of that. But it will be tough and it will be costly.”
FDR knew something his audience did not. On the other side of the Atlantic, paratroopers, their faces darkened with cocoa, were already dropping into France, and the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allies were on their way across the English channel.
The order of the day from their commander Dwight D. Eisenhower that day had read: “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed people of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
“Your task will not be an easy one,” it read, but it assured the troops that the Germans had suffered great defeats and Allied bombing had reduced German strength, while “[o]ur Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!”
Eisenhower’s public confidence did not reflect his understanding that the largest amphibious invasion in military history was a gamble. On June 5, in pencil on a sheet of paper, he had written a message to be communicated in case the invasion failed.
“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops,” it read. “My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and dedication to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”
On the morning of June 6, 1944, five naval assault divisions stormed the beaches of Normandy. Seven thousand ships and landing craft operated by more than 195,000 naval personnel from eight countries brought almost 133,000 troops to beaches given the code names UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD. By the end of the day, more than 10,000 Allied troops were wounded or killed, but the Allies had established a foothold in France that would permit them to flood troops, vehicles, and supplies into Europe. When FDR held a press conference later that day, officials and press alike were jubilant.
There are other issues I should be drawing about, but how can I resist a second Biden Clone cartoon? This shit is cray-cray, yo? Do the kids still say “cray-cray?” Anywhosies, I drew a second Biden clone cartoon. The bad thing is, I have at least two more ideas on Biden Clones that I should at least sketch out for the Blog O’ Roughs, which is long overdue.
Since we talked about Biden Clones yesterday, we’re going to talk about the other shit in this cartoon.
Elon says he’s leaving Washington, and he’s taking Stephen Miller’s wife with him. Whaaaaat?
Katie Miller, the wife of Baby Goebbels, has left her position as adviser and spokesperson for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to work full-time for Musk and his companies. I don’t know what position she’ll be assuming for Elon, but I heard she bought some knee pads. Wow, I’m a horrible person. But, Baby Goebbels doesn’t want to talk about it. (snip-MORE, and oh, do go read it!)
Biden Clone by Clay Jones
It’s extremely difficult to out-crazy the shit that comes out of the Trump White House Read on Substack
Late last night, around the time a person would tweet while on a bender or call up an ex-girlfriend for a booty call, Donald Trump posted to Truth Social that Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with clones and robots. (snip-MORE, and it’s also very good)
Republicans suck. They suck with compassion. They suck with empathy. Lord knows they suck with humor. And yet, voters believe the GOP connects more with average Americans than Democrats do, never mind that their leader craps in a golden toilet.
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is a great example. She ignored Republican advice against holding town halls and learned the hard way that her constituents don’t like the current MAGA agenda. Probably because it sucks. You don’t need a think tank to run a bunch of surveys to know that the majority of voters don’t want to lose their Medicaid coverage or health insurance. And, they don’t want it to be more difficult with loops to jump through to keep their coverage.
During Joni’s town hall last Friday, she was grilled by her voters about the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which the House barely passed 215-214, and will cut Medicaid along with a lot of government health programs, along with SNAP, and make Medicaid tougher to keep, all so billionaires retain their huge 2017 MAGA tax cuts while adding trillions to the debt.
Grams might have to eat generic cat food, not even the good cat food, while your boss will get to purchase his fourth yacht, which Republicans are trying to make tax-deductible, along with private jets and trophy wives, like Melania. (snip-yes, MORE that’s good to read!)
Last December, a Culpeper Jury (Trump country) found former Sheriff Scott Jenkins guilty of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery. Fortunately for the corrupt sheriff, he’s a MAGAt.
In fact, Shurf Jenkins is a minor MAGAt celebrity, as he has pro-MAGA views that got him featured on Breitbart multiple times, was a guest on the Daily Signal podcast, and even got him an appearance on Fox & Friends after vowing to “deputize thousands of our law-abiding citizens to protect their constitutional right to own firearms.” This is kinda what got him into trouble.
By the way, nobody’s gun rights are in danger. Republicans use it as a fear tactic to win public office.
Jenkins accepted $75,000 worth of bribes. He took cash and campaign contributions from eight people, including two undercover FBI agents. In return, he gave them badges and made them auxiliary deputy sheriffs, despite not having any training for the position (it’s kind of an honorary position, but it gives them a lot of cop powers). He also pushed officials to restore one bribe-payer’s right to possess a gun as a convicted felon. He was also able to give some of his bribers the right to carry concealed weapons without permits.
What’s fucked up about that last part is it’s extremely easy to get a concealed-carry permit in Virginia. About the only thing that could stop a person from getting a concealed-carry permit in Virginia would be if they were a convicted felon or something. For example, Donald Trump would NOT be allowed to carry a concealed weapon in Virginia. (snip-click through to read on, it’s quite good!)
Elon Musk, drugged up by Ann Telnaes
The New York Times has an extensive piece on his drug use while campaigning for Trump Read on Substack
Trump, in his brilliant ability to read people (like Putin) gave Musk the power to indiscriminately cut federal programs and workers, destroying careers and affecting millions of Americans’ lives. Read the NYT article by investigative reporter Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey, who was part of the team that broke the Harvey Weinstein story in 2017.
Scottie's Playtime 