Watching MSNBC and the replays/discussion about a US Senator getting manhandled for asking a question at a press conference. The MSNBC’ers keep talking about a Rubicon being crossed – hell, we cross the Rubicon every day lately. Five months into Convict Donnie’s second reign, we’re way, way into banana republic territory. It’s frightening.

The media is stoking up the fires for this weekend – No King’s Day protests (assemblies? parades?) on Saturday, combined with Convict Donnie’s insulting military/birthday parade in DC. Hopefully heavy rain or thunderstorms cools everyone off.

I really just want to veg out and watch/play golf, play with the grandsons, plant some flowers out back, do some writing – but history keeps being made as our wannabe king tries to assert his power on multiple fronts – law, education, regulation, states rights, citizens’ rights, religious freedom…Mad King Donnie is pushing the line on every front. I’ve said it before, it’s exhausting. Hard to just live your life when the world you thought was stable comes unglued.

In a likely futile response, I’ve started building a set of “go-bags” for us in KY. Things we may need if/when law & order breaks down and we can’t count on civilized norms and state/local services like water, electricity, Internet. I know I’m waaaaay too old to prosper in a post apocalyptic civil war, but…if you see it coming, you’ve gotta try. A good go-bag maybe buys you a week or two of survival, but after that…if you’re older or weaker, you’re not going to make it.

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. This weekend is Father’s Day, Flag Day, Mad King Donnie’s birthday, No King’s Day, the weekend after Brian Wilson died, the first crash of a 787…a lot to take in. I just watched Rick Wilson’s short & blunt video (from The Lincoln Project) about what happened today, and I’m with him. It’s infuriating. Everyone should watch it.

In the clear light of day this morning, Noem’s fascist event is even worse. From Heather Cox Richardson’s column today:

While much focus has been on the assault itself, what Noem was saying before Padilla spoke out is crucially important. “We are not going away,” she said. “We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.”

In other words, the Trump administration is vowing to get rid of the democratically elected government of California by using military force. That threat is the definition of a coup. It suggests MAGA considers any political victory but their own to be illegitimate and considers themselves justified in removing those governmental officials with violence: a continuation of the attempt of January 6, 2021, to overturn the results of a presidential election.

“We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialists…”. Unreal. The federal government doesn’t like the way California rolls, so they’re bringing in the military to take over. We used to call that a military hunta when it happened in banana republics. Never in a million years would I have believed the states-rights-crazed Republicans would put up with this. If the Feds came into Alabama to liberate those folks from their conservative leaders, we’d have a shooting war. The hypocrisy is stunning.

I believe/hope that Donnie Convict and his minions have finally over-reached, and that this takeover of LA will be the turning point. A Federal occupation of a US city for political reasons cannot stand – even hard core MAGAts have to understand that.