Jerry Roberts
The below article was originally published on SB Newsmakers with Jerry Roberts
On Saturday, pro-democracy advocates in Santa Barbara and about 1,500 other communities across the nation will stage mass protests against the corrupt, cruel, incompetent and illegal actions and policies of the Trump Administration.
In a new episode of Newsmakers TV on Wednesday, four organizers from “Indivisible Santa Barbara,” the non-profit organization coordinating the event, discussed logistics, politics, strategy and tactics of “No Kings Here,” the unifying theme of the anti-autocracy demonstrations planned across the country.
“I am astounded by the way the right wing has been able to accomplish what they’ve been able to accomplish,” said Ian Paige, a retired attorney now on Indivisible’s steering committee. “I thought our democratic institutions were stronger, but unfortunately now we have to rebuild from ground up. Nationwide it’s ground up – we’re building a grassroots organization, and it’s getting huge.”
Details of the local event:
When: 10:30-noon, Saturday, June 14. Where: Assemble near Chase Palm Park, 323 E. Cabrillo Blvd. What: As a demonstration of mass opposition to Trump, rally-goers will be asked to form a “human chain” on Cabrillo, between N. Calle Cesar Chavez and Castillo St. After: Rally-goers are invited to move to the Juneteenth celebration set for Plaza del Mar Park. If you go: Protesters are encouraged to bring American flags, marking Flag Day, and signs with messages about White House policies, to the peaceful, scrupulously non-violent protest.
“Non-violence is important, not merely because Trump is looking for a pretext” to use military force against demonstrations, said steering committee member Keith Carlson. “If he’s determined enough, he’ll find one.
“Non-violence is essential to the overall strategy of our movement,” he added. “We are trying to get people off the sidelines…to convince our neighbors that we are bringing forward some of the most important, some of the best things in America. And people are not going to see it if they see violence.”
Our conversation with Carlson, Ian and Myra Paige, and Indivisible organizer Larry Behrendt is on YouTube just below, or by clicking through this link. The podcast is available on Soundcloud here.
A shift in focus. When Indivisible began planning for the nationwide “No Kings” day of protest months ago, the key aim was to call attention and opposition to Trump’s unprecedented, $45 million military parade planned for Washington on Saturday, which ostensibly will celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary, but is intended to call attention to the narcissistic president’s own birthday.
However, Trump’s recent escalation and incitement of unrest in Los Angeles, where he not only has had masked and heavily armed immigration officials sent into peaceful businesses and settings in pursuit of his legally dubious mass deportation policies, but also has deployed National Guard troops despite the opposition to doing so of Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Most chillingly, he also ordered his dullard Defense Secretary to dispatch U.S. Marines, a direct violation of the long taboo of using military forces for local and state law enforcement.
“‘No Kings’ (originally) referred to this North Korean-type display of the Army in Washington D.C.,” Indivisible’s Myra Paige told Newsmakers. “But now with our immigrant community, we feel compelled to make sure that the public is aware of everything that’s taking place in a truthful way, that we just aren’t seeing in the news.
“When half the United States is watching Fox News, it’s difficult to remind people about the significance and importance of the travesty of justice that’s taking place in this country,” she added.
Behrendt noted that, “If you have friends in the military, you know how seriously they take their oath and reverence for the Constitution.
“Their reverence for being a force that’s above politics is extremely strong, but it’s coming up against a very determined and focused president who has always seen the generals as his generals,” he added, “who demands personal loyalty above all other qualities and in place of all other qualities. There are any number of people in this administration who have no qualifications for the high office they hold, except unswerving loyalty to Donald Trump.”
“That’s where I think ‘No Kings’ comes into place – that we are here to remind the powers that be, whether they’re in the Pentagon or the Congress or…the county Board of Supervisors that we have not forgotten the way democracy is supposed to work.”
Carbajal rakes Hegseth over the coals:
Carbajal Lights Into Hegseth Tells Him To His Face That He’s An ‘Embarrassment’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl4eCWYSGQQ
God damn right.
I didn’t know there was video, thanks;
https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrat-tears-embarrassment-hegseth-hell-175803031.html
🚴
Carbajal is the best. A real soldier, a real politician, a real man.
How are we stuck with felons, failed news journalists, sadists, rapists and drunks running our country?
Now THAT is a rhetorical question.
Carbajal is truly Semper Fidelis.
Unlike Bone Spurs and that Semper Ebrius joke Hegseth.
I saw that. Never seen Salud so angry. Hey, he’s anti-Hegseth. I get it. Unfortunately, I don’t see what this accomplishes other than political fronting.
He’s a Marine with integrity, so he’s against everything the orange moron’s fascist clown car circus is doing. Anyone who understands the principles on which this nation was founded is totally disgusted, so nobody who has seen your commenting history will doubt that you don’t get it at all.
Hopefully they won’t try and block Cabrillo. That would be sure to anger folks who need to get around. A human chain along Cabrillo for miles sounds like that could happen.
I’ll be sure to do just that tomorrow.
You’re not even from here bro. Stay in Goleta.
Or, since you are actually rooting for violence, come and see if someone gets mad at the 1st amendment and runs a bunch of people over for protesting. See you there–or not.
Interesting bit of news:
“Trump administration handed over personal data of millions of Medicaid enrollees to deportation officials – report
The Trump administration provided deportation officials this week with the personal data of millions of Medicaid enrollees, according to a report on Friday.
The data includes the immigration status of millions of Medicaid enrollees, which could facilitate locating people to deport as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
According to an internal memo and emails obtained by the Associated Press, Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns. But two top advisers to the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security.
The dataset includes the information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington DC, all of which allow non-US citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that use only state taxpayer dollars.”
I was “forced” onto Medi-Cal by the state, who switched me from an ACA plan to Medi-Cal due to my low income. I would have preferred to buy a more expensive ACA plan! I was not given a choice. And now my info may be misued and shared without reason.
Yeah, just another fishing expedition by the con clown car. But, some rethuglicans are beginning to get frightened:
https://newrepublic.com/article/196817/trump-deportations-house-republicans-memo
Cheers and all the best to Greg Sargent, the author, whom I so enjoyed at the Washington Post. Thanks for the link.
Live news blog, mostly Iran-Israel and federal forces in L.A.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jun/13/donald-trump-national-guard-los-angeles-ice-protests-military-parade-us-politics-live-news-updates
“US marines carry out first known detention of civilian in Los Angeles – live”
Charming:
“DeSantis, meanwhile, touted Florida’s law allowing drivers to mow down protestors if they perceived them to be a threat.
‘If you drive off and you hit one of these people that’s their fault for impinging on you. You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.’
Dozens of “No Kings” actions are planned for Saturday across Florida, where DeSantis has aligned himself forcefully with Trump’s immigration policies.”
I think there will be violence tomorrow. Not by the protestors, but by the rotten, filthy MAGAts who have bent over and touched their toes for Trump’s dicktatorship.
May they all get what they deserve.
“While you’re out there smashing the state, don’t forget to keep a smile on your lips and a song in your heart!”
Fat Freddy
YIN – i’ll be grinning from ear to ear!
The hits keep coming in conservative world.
“Tait posted on Instagram days ago that for 20 years he lived a ‘double life’ but is working on ‘repentance and healing’
Josiah Hesse
Fri 13 Jun 2025 06.00 EDT
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/13/michael-tait-sexual-assault-allegations
The Christian music legend Michael Tait, whose hit song God’s Not Dead became an anthem for Donald Trump’s Maga movement, has been accused of sexually assaulting three men, two who believed they were drugged by the rock star in the early 2000s, according to a months-long Guardian investigation. Four other men have alleged that Tait, a founding member of DC Talk and later a frontman for Newsboys, engaged in inappropriate behavior such as unwanted touching and sexual advances.
The Guardian is publishing these allegations days after Tait posted an extraordinary confession on his Instagram account, admitting that for 20 years he had been “leading a double life”, abusing alcohol and cocaine, “and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way”, according to his statement.”
Great photos of him praying with tRump.
Search “Christian Singer Who Prayed With Trump Admits to Preying on Men”
I’d laugh except for his victims. Okay, I can’t not laugh, a little.
“The [Tait’s] statement appears to be a response to a separate report published earlier this month by the Christian media outlet the Roys Report, which also investigated Tait and revealed similar allegations of drug use and sexual assault against young, male musicians.”
https://julieroys.com/former-newsboys-frontman-michael-tait-accused-sexual-assault-grooming-substance-abuse-dating-back-to-2004/