{"id":24862,"date":"2025-06-11T17:56:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=24862"},"modified":"2025-07-22T13:53:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T20:53:16","slug":"its-not-about-law-and-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/06\/11\/its-not-about-law-and-order\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s Not About Law and Order"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Jim Newell and Amanda Marcotte on Stephen Miller&#8217;s drive to &#8220;grab as many people as possible, regardless of innocence.&#8221; and how he grew up in Santa Monica;<\/li>\n<li>Fox News, of course, spreads a fantasy depiction of what&#8217;s going on in LA;<\/li>\n<li>A GOP senator faults California for not thriving, apparently unaware that the state is now the fourth-largest economy in the world;<\/li>\n<li>There is the usual misinformation online about the extent of the protests in LA, and AI is part of the problem;<\/li>\n<li>Catherine Rampell at WaPo about forces descending on Small Town, U.S.A., clarifying that they&#8217;re after &#8220;brown-looking people&#8221;;<\/li>\n<li>The New Yorker puts it gently: Trump&#8217;s assertions &#8220;did not appear to reflect reality.&#8221;;<\/li>\n<li>And two comments by Robert Reich, about law and order, and about how we are almost all descendants of immigrants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t about law and order. It&#8217;s about this guy&#8217;s racism.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/compote.slate.com\/images\/9e7110a7-a68f-44b3-8a13-0aef70f59eed.jpeg?crop=1560%2C1040%2Cx0%2Cy0&amp;width=1280\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Slate, Jim Newell, 11 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2025\/06\/big-beautiful-bill-stephen-miller-immigration-democrats-los-angeles-marines.html\">The \u201cBig, Beautiful Bill\u201d Hands Stephen Miller the Policy of His Dreams&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Stephen Miller is living his dream. The Santa Monica High School graduate who, 20 years ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-na-pol-trump-speechwriter-santamonica-20170117-story.html\">rebelled against the prevailing liberalism<\/a> and celebrated multiculturalism of his classmates now runs policy for the president of the United States. And he\u2019s convinced his boss, at last, to send in troops to quell all that he hates about Los Angeles County.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Santa Monica, though technically not part of the city of LA, is surrounded by it, and is relatively white and upscale compared to much of LA.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p><strong>Salon Amanda Marcotte, 11 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2025\/06\/11\/stephen-miller-cant-make-america-white-la-is-paying-for-his-impotent-rage\/\">Stephen Miller can&#8217;t make America white. LA is paying for his impotent rage<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Mass deportations were never going to work, so Trump and Miller resort to authoritarian theater&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Remember, he&#8217;s set this target of 3000 deportations a day.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In their desperation to keep Miller happy, ICE has already been targeting <em>legal<\/em> immigrants for deportation, mostly because they&#8217;re easy to find, due to having registered with the government. ICE agents <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/new-tactic-ice-arresting-migrants-immigration-courts-attorneys\/story?id=122513021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stake out immigration hearings<\/a> for people with refugee status\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2025\/04\/17\/jd-vance-exposed-the-truth-about-on-foreign-students-hint-its-not-about-antisemitism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">round up people<\/a>\u00a0here with work or student visas for minor offenses like speeding tickets, all to get the numbers up. But these actions were not enough for Miller.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Why aren\u2019t you at Home Depot? Why aren\u2019t you at 7-Eleven?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2025\/06\/10\/just-go-out-there-and-arrest-illegal-aliens-stephen-miller-urged-ice-to-target-home-depot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he reportedly screamed<\/a> at ICE officials. One ICE leader protested that the agency&#8217;s lead, Tom Homan, said they&#8217;re supposed to be going after criminals, not people who are just working everyday jobs. Miller reportedly hit the ceiling, furious that arrests aren&#8217;t widespread and indiscriminate. Trump has repeatedly implied he was only targeting criminals, but as Charles Davis\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2025\/05\/29\/stephen-millers-deportation-machine-is-failing--and-hes-furious\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported at Salon<\/a>, that conflicts with his promise of &#8220;mass deportations.&#8221; Undocumented immigrants <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/03\/08\/1237103158\/immigrants-are-less-likely-to-commit-crimes-than-us-born-americans-studies-find\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commit crimes at far lower rates<\/a> than native-born Americans. The expansive efforts to find and arrest immigrants in California, which kicked off the protests, appear to be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/stuartanderson\/2025\/06\/09\/stephen-millers-order-likely-sparked-immigration-arrests-and-protests\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a direct reaction to Miller&#8217;s orders<\/a> to grab as many people as possible, regardless of innocence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The gist:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>But Miller doesn&#8217;t seem to care about crime. Or, perhaps he thinks having darker skin should be a crime. For Miller, the goal of &#8220;mass deportations&#8221; has never been about law and order, but about the fantasy of a white America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It would be easy to speculate about how this guy grew up in relatively privileged circumstances, and then became shocked that people unlike him existed in the world, even in Los Angeles!<\/p>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Nonsense.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/scale_w1024\/public\/download_11.jpg?itok=rer0vs7Z\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Matters, Matt Gertz, 10 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/fox-news\/foxs-la-fantasy-setting-stage-authoritarian-federal-response\">Fox\u2019s LA fantasy is setting the stage for an authoritarian federal response<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Fox News\u2019 depiction of the protests that began in and around Los Angeles over the weekend is a grim fantasy \u2014 but one that encourages President Donald Trump to realize his vision of U.S. troops crushing left-wing dissent.<\/p>\n<p>Prime-time host Jesse Watters laid out his network\u2019s dominant narrative in a Monday night monologue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats are causing mayhem in their cities, so when Trump restores order, they can label him a dictator and stir up even more hatred and violence against him,\u201d Watters alleged. \u201cThey&#8217;re burning their own cities just to prove to their bloodthirsty base that they&#8217;re fighting Trump in the streets, burning their own cities for power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>None of this is true.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Fans of winning, and losing, sports games cause as much damage.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Nonsense.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/MarkwayneMullin2025a-660x330.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>JMG, 11 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/06\/gop-senator-newsom-sucks-at-being-a-terrible-gov\/\">GOP Senator: \u201cNewsom Sucks At Being A Terrible Gov\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Isn&#8217;t that quote a double negative? Does he mean that Newsom is trying to be a terrible Gov and is failing at it?)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe guy absolutely should be thanking President Trump right now for trying to restore order because the only thing Governor Newsom is good at right now is sucking at being number one at being a terrible governor. I mean, that is it. Why isn\u2019t California thriving like the rest of the country? Well, because they have a blue state ran by a woke DEI agenda that doesn\u2019t support law and order.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Hasn&#8217;t he heard? Just this year:\u00a0<strong>BBC:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cly80zlk1lyo\">California passes Japan as fourth largest economy<\/a>. The three biggest: The US as a whole, then Germany, then China. Japan has slipped to 5th.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Trump and his minions depend on misinformation.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/06\/09\/multimedia\/09immigration-protests-dis-info-zwgt\/09immigration-protests-dis-info-zwgt-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, 10 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/10\/technology\/la-protests-conspiracy-theories-disinformation.html\">Fake Images and Conspiracy Theories Swirl Around L.A. Protests<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Disinformation spreading on social media platforms has stoked an already tense situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>And AI is part of the problem.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/GtBnTFyaMAAdw22?format=jpg&amp;name=small\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>PolitiFact, 10 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2025\/jun\/10\/social-media\/Gavin-Newsom-photos-los-angeles-troops\/\">How AI chatbots falsely described photos Gavin Newsom shared of sleeping troops<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Photos posted June 9 on X by California Gov. Gavin Newsom had been published by the San Francisco Chronicle the same day.<\/li>\n<li>Generative artificial intelligence chatbots ChatGPT and Grok mistakenly claimed the photos were from the 2021 U.S. military evacuation from Afghanistan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Rating: Pants on Fire.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;re coming for you, too.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/ETEB542MLE7BY5CITXXTLBR2Q4.JPG&amp;w=1440&amp;impolicy=high_res\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington Post, Catherine Rampell opinion, 11 Jun 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2025\/06\/11\/immigration-arrests-ice-raid-masks\/\">The secret police descending on Small Town, U.S.A.<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Masked immigration officials are storming towns and arresting people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Maybe they really were immigration officers, just as they claimed. Or maybe they were a ragtag vigilante group, arbitrarily snatching brown-looking people off the street.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt could have been like a band of the Proud Boys or something,\u201d said Linda Shafiroff, recounting the agents who showed up outside her office in masks and tactical gear and refused to show IDs, warrants or even the names of any criminals they were supposedly hunting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/6848a2e3713340ce5ba0e09b\/3:2\/w_1920,c_limit\/Witt_LAProtest.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The New Yorker<\/strong> puts it gently.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/the-lede\/looking-for-the-national-guard-in-los-angeles\">Looking for the National Guard in Los Angeles<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;President Trump\u2019s assertions that federal troops have saved the city from destruction did not appear to reflect reality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Long essay.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Two posts on Facebook today from Robert Reich, which echo things I&#8217;ve said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Reich, Facebook<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RBReich\/posts\/pfbid0Y66ET2fzh26aaUFry9RU4nRL4gWwAu3YyypvRXHXMGbc9sZ1dt5vfcQi9pywuEnhl\">today<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/reichonfb11jun25.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/reichonfb11jun25.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And<\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Reich, Facebook<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RBReich\/posts\/pfbid0nkqYVp4LgtyG2m2UcEu9AVw71fC5mbeKQwL6aYNML7oBD2YT2fZxshHmk2pn5ed6l\">today<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/reichonfb11jun25_2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/reichonfb11jun25_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jim Newell and Amanda Marcotte on Stephen Miller&#8217;s drive to &#8220;grab as many people as possible, regardless of innocence.&#8221; and how he grew up in Santa Monica; Fox News, of course, spreads a fantasy depiction of what&#8217;s going on in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/06\/11\/its-not-about-law-and-order\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,90,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authoritarianism","category-conservatives","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24862"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25307,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24862\/revisions\/25307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}