We paid how much for Trump's sad b-day parade?

It isn’t a popularity contest, but I think the No Kings protest won this weekend, hands down!

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Jun 16, 2025

No kings, queens only

I personally think 79 is a little too old to throw yourself a military parade for your birthday, and apparently, most Americans agree with me since basically no one showed up to Trump’s little soirée in Washington D.C. on Saturday. Meanwhile, millions of Americans did show up to protest President Donald Trump all over the country, including in Los Angeles, which continues to be targeted by ICE and is still occupied by federal armed forces. Organizers estimate that nearly 40,000 people showed up for “No Kings” protests around L.A. That’s 1% of the population of Los Angeles! I can’t even get 1% of my friends to show up to Big Night Party: a party I want to throw where we watch the film Big Night starring Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub and dress up as either Stanley Tucci or Tony Shalhoub. According to one “friend,” “they don’t require fake mustaches or bow-ties at protests, Julia.”

Minnesota manhunt comes to an end; suspect in custody

The suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers was finally taken into custody on Sunday after a two-day manhunt. Authorities located the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, in the woods near his home and arrested and charged him with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder for killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home in the Minneapolis suburbs early Saturday, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home about 9 miles away. The Hoffmans survived but were badly injured. In a statement from Yvette Hoffman shared by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Yvette said, “John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods.” Boelter apparently impersonated law enforcement as he carried out the murders. In his vehicle, authorities found a “manifesto” with other lawmakers’ names, as well as Planned Parenthood locations and abortion advocates. Police said this was “the largest manhunt in the state’s history.” Mourners placing flowers on the Minnesota state capitol called Hortman an “absolute powerhouse” and “the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.” Read more.

A tale of two demonstrations

Some people will tell you that crowd size doesn’t matter, but we all know that’s a lie. The White House claimed 250,000 people attended Trump’s little dictator parade in Washington, D.C. this weekend, but outside estimates suggest the crowd was well below 200,000. If you haven’t seen the pictures, wow. The parade apparently cost taxpayers between $25 million and $45 million, but I'm not sure; maybe it was worth it just to see sad Donald in the rain next to a camouflage-tie-wearing Pete Hegseth looking out at the pathetic showing. Meanwhile, organizers of the “No Kings” protests estimate that between 5 and 6 million Americans showed up in over 2,000 cities and towns all over the country. The protests were overwhelmingly peaceful and extremely cathartic – I can confirm that being mad at the rise of fascism surrounded by people who are also mad about the rise of fascism feels better than being mad about the rise of fascism alone. There were a couple of alarming incidents, however: in Salt Lake City, Utah, a protester was shot by a man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the “No Kings” protest. Allegedly, the man was aiming at a person who appeared to be brandishing a rifle at the protesters and hit both the rifleman and a bystander: Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, who died. In Riverside, CA (just outside Los Angeles), police are looking for the driver of an SUV who crashed into protesters in a hit-and-run, seriously injuring one young woman. Things in Los Angeles did get violent, but not because of the protesters – LAPD and Los Angeles Sheriffs began using tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at the peaceful crowd. Despite this, the fact that so many people showed up is heartening. One protester told CNN why he spent his Saturday hitting the streets: “For years, people have been saying we’ve been overreacting, and we’re not overreacting. This is what’s happening. We can see it. There are people being assassinated. There are Democratic legislators being arrested. We have Marines in the streets in Los Angeles doing things that they’re not supposed to be doing. And enough is enough. We have to make a stand right now.” Here here! Read more.

“ICE is burning through cash so fast that the agency may run out of money next month. Seems like they should have been more responsible and followed the law if they didn’t want ICE to melt.”

New rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats

And today for your dose of extremely disturbing and incredibly unethical, new hospital guidelines from the Trump administration stemming from an executive order would allow doctors at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals nationwide to refuse to treat patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly prohibited by federal law (i.e. race, color, religion and sex, plus all veterans are entitled to treatment.) What that means is things like marital status, political party affiliation, or union activity are all fair game! In documents obtained by the Guardian, VA officials cite Trump’s January 30th executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” stripping most government protections from transgender people to justify these rules. These rules also apply to hiring staff and the treatment of patients. The VA is the nation’s most extensive integrated healthcare system, with more than 170 hospitals and over 1,000 clinics, and it employs approximately 26,000 physicians. It serves 9 million patients every year. Dr Kenneth Kizer, the VA’s top healthcare official during the Clinton administration told reporters, these new rules “seem to open the door to discrimination on the basis of anything that is not legally protected,” and went on to say that the changes open up the possibility that doctors could refuse to treat veterans based on their “reason for seeking care – including allegations of rape and sexual assault – current or past political party affiliation or political activity, and personal behavior such as alcohol or marijuana use.” So uhh about that whole parade which was supposed to be honoring the military… Read more.

ON OUR RADAR

Iran fired a new wave of missiles at Israel early this morning, killing at least eight people. Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people in the center of Tehran to evacuate ahead of new strikes.
Trump has arrived at the G7 summit in Canada, a country he famously said should be annexed, where he’ll hang out with the leaders of a bunch of other countries he has tried to start trade wars with.
The judge overseeing Sean “Diddy” Combs’s federal trial dismissed a juror this morning over “lack of candor.”
Federal officials are still looking for two detainees who went missing from an immigration detention center in New Jersey last week, offering a reward up to $10,000 for each.
Trump has ordered ICE to "expand efforts to detain and deport" undocumented immigrants in Democratic-run cities.
Latin-R&B singer Nezza sang the National Anthem in Spanish at Saturday’s Los Angeles Dodgers game, despite being told not to. As a big Dodgers fan, I am more than a little annoyed at the organization for not standing up louder and prouder for their immigrant fan base!! Viva los Doyers, Nezza, Shohei Otani who is pitching for the first time tonight, and Kike Hernández: the only player who’s spoken out about the ICE raids in the city.
Congrats @AkilahObviously! Thank you for your service.