I saw the video of California Senator Alex Padilla being forcibly removed from a briefing held by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem after he attempted to ask her a question.
From where I sit, the video is a microcosm of how the Trump Administration has been handling the situation in Los Angeles.
Yes, there has been some violence in reaction to ICE detaining migrants working at retail outlets throughout the city. But the notion what is happening in L.A. is tantamount to an insurrection warranting intervention by the National Guard and the U.S. Marines is sheer rubbish. This is a crisis created almost entirely by the Trump Administration.
The same holds true for Padilla's treatment today. One can reasonably argue that Padilla could have used other tactics. But the notion that Padilla's intervention warranted him being thrown to the ground and placed into handcuffs by FBI and Secret Service agents made them look like goons and hooligans.
With that said, just before Padilla interrupted the proceedings, Noem was talking batshit crazy:
We are not going away. We are here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this Governor and this Mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into this city.
Liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership?
Does this liberation consist of arbitrarily jailing Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass and installing a puppet regime? And what exactly have they inserted into Los Angeles? Most of the people ICE is detaining have lived and worked in L.A. for decades.
In view of Noem's remarks, one could argue the old adage, "Never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake."
Then again, methinks tackling and handcuffing a United States Senator trying to ask a question is a pretty big mistake. After all, Padilla was neither arrested nor charged which indicates the FBI and Secret Service know they fucked up.
On the other hand, there is significant portion of this country which delighted in seeing Padilla physically manhandled and wish worse was done to him.
While perhaps Padilla's position as a Senator spared him from worse treatment, the rest of us who see fit to disagree with the Trump Administration or dare to ask questions might not be so lucky.
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