Michael de Adder :: @deAdder
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"The most important office is office of citizen."
June 11, 2025
Robert B. Hubbell
The most consequential story on Tuesday continues to be that Trump is issuing blatantly illegal and unconstitutional orders. The deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles violates the Posse Comitatus Act and does not qualify for any statutory exception. That fact is omitted from nearly every story reporting on the situation in Los Angeles. But no such story is accurate or complete unless the first line says, “In violation of federal law and without justification, President Trump has ordered federal troops to Los Angeles . . . .”
Before addressing the fake state of emergency created by Trump, let’s skip to the solution: Tens of millions of Americans must take to the streets, expressing the will of the people in opposition to Trump's unlawful actions. Thousands of decentralized protests of millions of Americans will be beyond the ability of Trump to resist—even with the US military cosplaying as law enforcement officers.
It is vitally important that everyone join the No Kings Day protests—June 14, 2025. Find a protest near you: No Kings. On June 14, Flag Day, the story must be that millions of Americans rose to defend democracy instead of the obscenely expensive military parade ordered by Trump because no one else will celebrate his birthday.
For once, the New York Times is getting it right. In its Tuesday online edition, the first headline in Column A1 reads:
The Times’ news analysis reports, in part,
Legal scholars say the president’s actions are not authorized by the statutes he has cited and are, instead, animated by a different goal. “He is declaring utterly bogus emergencies for the sake of trying to expand his power, undermine the Constitution, and destroy civil liberties,” said Ilya Somin, a libertarian professor at Antonin Scalia Law School who represents a wine importer and other businesses challenging some of Mr. Trump’s tariffs.
For the usually stodgy Times, the above analysis amounts to a full-throated condemnation of Trump’s sham declarations of emergency.
The Times’ news analysis closed with a reference to the case of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company v. Sawyer, in which the Court expressed skepticism of presidential declarations of emergencies because “emergencies beget emergencies”:
Justice Jackson wrote that the framers of the Constitution were wary of granting the president emergency powers.
“They knew what emergencies were, knew the pressures they engender for authoritative action, knew, too, how they afford a ready pretext for usurpation,” he wrote. “We may also suspect that they suspected that emergency powers would tend to kindle emergencies.”
Trump's declaration of emergency is an attempt to create an emergency justifying the deployment of troops. It is an illegal, unjustified use of the US military—and is grounds for impeachment, conviction, and removal from office.
As a point of personal privilege as an Angeleno native, I want to express my anger at the national media for facilitating Trump's misrepresentation of the situation in Los Angeles.
After seeing MSNBC play video on Tuesday of the same two Waymo cars burning (which occurred on Saturday), I drove around my neighborhood to take a video of peaceful city streets with commentary by me. The video is here:
A shareable link is here: The Real Los Angeles 6.10.25
Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew over a small area in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. The tiny sector under curfew is a few blocks in Los Angeles County, which covers 4,752 sq. miles. Los Angeles County is roughly three times the size of Rhode Island, twice the size of Delaware, the same size as Connecticut, and half the size of New Jersey.
Imagine 10 blocks under curfew in an area the size of Connecticut because several dozen citizens are standing in front of a federal building—surrounded by 700 Marines, 2,000 National Guard, and the LAPD riot squad. That is the fake emergency that Trump has created by unlawfully deploying federal troops into Los Angeles.
The scale of Los Angeles County also highlights an important point about the limited ability of federal forces, even when they are misused by Trump. It took 700 Marines three days to travel 83 miles from Camp Pendleton to Los Angeles, where they have remained secluded inside a federal building housing a detention center. The Marines occupy one building in a single block of a county spanning 4,752 square miles.
On Tuesday evening, California Governor Gavin Newsom delivered a speech condemning Trump's actions. It deserves to be viewed, in full, by all Americans. The video of the speech is here: Meidas Touch Network, Exclusive: Governor Newsom Addresses State and Nation.
The full text of the speech is here: Governor of California, Democracy at a Crossroads.
Governor Newsom addressed all of Trump's unlawful conduct over the last four months, saying in part:
Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there. Trump and his loyalists thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control. By the way, Trump – he’s not opposed to lawlessness and violence, as long as it serves HIM. What more evidence do we need than January 6th? I ask everyone to take the time to reflect on this perilous moment. A president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution. Perpetrating a unified assault on American traditions. This is a President who, in just over 140 days, has fired government watchdogs that could hold him accountable for corruption and fraud. He’s declared a war on culture, on history, on science – on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally vanishing. He’s delegitimizing news organizations and assaulting the First Amendment. At the threat of defunding them, he’s dictating what universities can teach. Targeting law firms and the judicial branch that are the foundation of an orderly, civil society. [¶¶] Look, this isn’t just about protests in LA. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first – but it clearly won’t end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault right before our eyes – the moment we’ve feared has arrived. [¶¶] The founding fathers did not live and die to see this moment. It’s time for all of us to stand up. Justice Brandeis said it best: in a democracy, the most important office is not president, it’s certainly not governor. The most important office is office of citizen. At this moment, we must all stand up and be held to a higher level of accountability. If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully. I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear. But I want you to know that YOU are the antidote to that fear and anxiety.
Governor Newsom spoke the truth in a powerful speech.1
As before, we must remain disciplined and focused on protesting Trump's unlawful actions. We must avoid blaming members of the US military and LAPD who have been thrust into a chaotic situation against their will.
Stay calm—but show up! Your democracy needs you!
Troops at Fort Bragg jeer Newsom and Biden during Trump speech
Trump gave a partisan speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday in which he attacked Governor Newsom, Joe Biden, the news media, and Los Angeles. During the speech, members of the US military appeared to jeer and boo at the names of politicians, the media, and Los Angeles. See Raw Story, 'Boo!' Trump prompts Army troops to jeer news media and cheer Robert E. Lee.
As readers of this newsletter know, I have been steadfast in defending the loyalty and professionalism of troops in our all-volunteer military. But each of the military members who jeered and booed elected officials, the news media, and a US city violated the DoD Directive 1344.10, Guidance for Military Personnel, which states, in part,
Per longstanding DoD policy, active duty personnel may not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel should avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause.
The commanders of Fort Bragg failed to maintain good military order by allowing troops under their command to participate in a partisan political rally that attacked Democratic officeholders and their former Commander-in-Chief. Allowing troops under their command to express partisan political viewpoints while in uniform is corrosive to public trust in the professionalism and neutrality of the military. The responsible commanders at Fort Bragg should resign or be disciplined for losing control of their troops.
As an aside, during Trump's speech, he announced that five military bases formerly named after Confederate traitors who killed hundreds of thousands of American soldiers during the Civil War would have their original Confederate names restored.
But because Trump realized that re-naming the bases for Confederate generals was unacceptable even for his white supremacist agenda, Trump's minions located US soldiers who have the same names as the Confederate generals and then renamed the bases after those US soldiers. See Task & Purpose, Trump reverts 7 Army bases to former names with new honorees.
So, for example, the former “Fort Robert E. Lee” will be renamed “Fort Lee” “in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. Fitz Lee, a Black Buffalo Soldier, for his heroism during the Spanish-American War.”
The cynical ploy to rename military bases to honor Confederate traitors by using the names of real American heroes is despicable.
Concluding Thoughts
Many people are distraught over the events in Los Angeles because they feel we have no control over the situation. While it is true that we cannot control the actions of everyone—especially agitators intent on hijacking peaceful protests—it is not true that we are powerless. We can seize control of the narrative by ensuring that millions of Americans take to the streets on June 14—No Kings Day and Flag Day.
If millions of Americans protest peacefully against Trump's unlawful actions, the media will give primacy to “We, the people,” rather than to the malignant narcissist.
As Governor Newsom said, “You are the antidote to fear and anxiety . . . . In a democracy, the most important office is not president, it’s certainly not governor. The most important office is office of citizen.”
We need only to act in order to overcome our feelings of helplessness and anxiety—and to regain control of the political narrative. Indeed, Trump's actions are those of a leader who is frightened about his grip on power. By acting in unison, we will prevail. Together, there is nothing we cannot do.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
