I think that what may be happening is that the idea of a sitting president declaring martial law, let alone on a lame pretext like normal demonstrations, seems outrageous to us as Americans. And well it should. But the handwriting is on the wall that that is precisely what Trump has in mind. Lev Parnas sees it coming and he’s far from being the lone voice in the wilderness. Maybe Parnas is more emotional than most pundits, but he has reason to be, having once believed in Trump and found himself sitting in a prison cell due to his misplaced faith. But even if you just look at the plain language of what Trump has said in the past 48 hours, the handwriting is on the wall and blinking in neon.
On Saturday evening, June 7, 2025, the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, issued a presidential memorandum addressed to the secretary of defense, the attorney general, and the secretary of homeland security. One might call it the Usurpation Proclamation. And while this weekend’s mobilization of two thousand National Guard troops in Los Angeles has alarmed many observers, I suspect we aren’t alarmed enough by this presidential order, which has implications far beyond this one action in one place.
Let’s take a look at it. It consists of only three paragraphs.
In the first paragraph, the president asserts that “numerous incidents of violence and disorder have recently occurred and threaten to continue” in response to the execution of federal immigration laws. And, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
This claim of “rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States” establishes the legal predicate for his action announced in the next paragraph:
In light of these incidents and credible threats of continued violence, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard under 10 U.S.C. 12406 to temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property, at locations where protests against these functions are occurring or are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations.
If you look at 10 U.S.C. 12406, the authority Trump is invoking, it authorizes the president to call into federal service the National Guard when “the United States . . . is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation, or when there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” The president has claimed in the first paragraph that such a rebellion exists, and so directs the secretary of defense to mobilize at least 2,000 National Guard personnel for a duration of “60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense.”
And the president, in his proclamation, goes further than the deployment of the National Guard: “The Secretary of Defense may employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of Federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion.”
Note that neither Los Angeles nor the state of California is mentioned in the memorandum. Trump’s mobilization order is in no way limited as to time or place. It is an open-ended authorization for the secretary of defense to mobilize as many troops as he wishes for as long as he wishes, and to deploy them anywhere he wishes within the United States. And these military personnel can be deployed not just where protests have occurred, but anywhere protests “are likely to occur based on current threat assessments and planned operations.”
Is that broad enough for you and biased enough for you? Especially when you consider that we don’t have the likes of Mark Esper or anybody from Trump’s first administration running the DoD. We have Pete Hegseth, Trump’s lapdog. He’ll do anything Trump asks, even carry out illegal orders.
The memorandum’s final paragraph states that, “To carry out this mission, the deployed military personnel may perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary” and ensures that the secretary of defense consults with the attorney general and the secretary of homeland security “prior to withdrawing any personnel from any location to which they are sent.”
And again, I call to your attention the fact that Trump said that Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem were in charge now. That was said this weekend.
Again: “Any personnel,” “any location,” and for any length of time.
Trump understands the breadth of his order. When asked by a reporter yesterday if he planned to send troops to Los Angeles, he answered: “We’re gonna have troops everywhere.”
That’s pretty plain, “We’re gonna have troops everywhere.” If that’s not the very definition of martial law, I don’t know what is. So we have it here in black and white and we’re hearing it in quadrophonic stereo from all quarters. Why aren’t we listening? Do we think, after January 6, that anything is past Trump? Are we seriously that stupid?
yes we r seriously that stupid. protest next weekend NO KINGS!
And despite it all, the great unwashed mass of the American public sleeps on, blissfully unaware, contentedly uncaring. What will it take to wake them up?
If NINE YEARS of watching this criminal rape and grift didn’t wake them…you tell me. Not only are we that stupid…we are a fat and lazy country full of half baked beliefs and cultural lies. There’s a price for everything in this life.
Newsom MUST sue ASAP. The case will then wend its way to the Supreme Court and then……?
The attempted insurrection on Jan 6 a few years ago has been referred to as a failed coup. There is no such thing as a failed coup, just a practice event for a real one.
Now we’re getting the real one.