An ugly incident in California revealed an even uglier truth: Fascism has arrived in America.
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There are certain dates and events that can be pinpointed as turning points in history. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which triggered World War I, was such a moment, or the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which led to the US entering World War II. And then there are days that should be turning points in history but are not, like January 6, 2021.
June 12 should be another such date because it is the day that should make it painfully clear to every freedom-loving American what the Trump regime is up to.
And they should all be enraged at the images of a sitting US senator, after identifying himself at a press conference, being forcibly removed from the event, wrested to the ground and handcuffed… all while Donald Trump is trying to plunge his state into chaos with non-targeted immigration raids and by putting soldiers on the ground to escalate the kind of protest that has happened hundreds of times in US history without requiring Marines to intervene.
While the forcible removal and detention of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) will stand out as the big moment of this day, other things that happened are actually more significant.
First, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem gave away the game as to why Trump sent the troops to the senator’s home state.
“We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country,” she said right before Padilla interrupted her remarks.
As we noted earlier this week, everybody in the Trump administration is getting high on their own supply of hate and feels compelled to say more and more outlandish things to be heard in an echo chamber that drowns out all but the loudest and most insane voices.
However, saying the quiet part out loud in this case, i.e., that Trump is trying to force a regime change in California, takes things to another level, and we believe that this kind of fascist statement warrants some questions.
The thugs who manhandled Padilla felt otherwise.
What is most significant, however, was not the assault on a senator or the fascist statement of the Secretary of Homeland Security, but rather the reaction from Republicans, which ranged from Orwellian to shameful.
First, Noem, in an interview on state TV Fox News, blatantly lied about what happened (the official DHS account also tried to sell that alternate reality).
She stated that “nobody knew who he was” even though the video of the incident shows that he clearly identifies himself.
There actually is no need to keep doubling down, as virtually everybody in the MAGA world did as their default reaction.
This kind of thing could be resolved with an explanation and apology, like “Secretary Noem has received death threats and her security detail did not recognize the senator. We deeply regret this incident and will probe internal processes and consider disciplinary actions.”
But that is never going to happen in the Trump regime.
And that’s the most troubling aspect.
There is actual evidence that shows anybody who cares about the truth of what happened. And then there is the MAGA spin that is going to be repeated endlessly until reality has been subverted.
It is a cult… and it will bring democracy in the US to its knees just as Padilla was in a California office building on Thursday.
But what about the senator’s Republican colleagues?
They certainly should have been outraged.
But here is Senate GOP Whip Sen. John Barrasso (WY): “[Padilla] has a responsibility to his constituents to show up at work, not to go try to make a spectacle of himself.”
Here is a thought: Maybe asking the cabinet official who just talked about trying to force a regime change in your state a few questions is “showing up at work.”
So far, with the exception of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), no GOP lawmaker has expressed outrage over what happened… and Murkowski may only be a Republican at this point because she fears for her loved ones.
As for congressional Democrats, they should shut things down as far as they can. Anything else is just surrender.
Make no mistake, today was a significant date in US history… but we worry that it will end up as one of those days that should have been a turning point and won’t be.
