Minnesota shooting reveals MAGA’s new low

We’re all grateful that police in Minnesota finally caught Vance Boelter, the anti-abortion Trump voter who is accused of murdering one Democratic lawmaker and her husband, and trying to kill another. He had a long list of Democrats and progressives he wanted to kill, and it’s a relief that they’re now safe from him. 

Unfortunately, the MAGA movement is using this to push conspiracy theories that will incite more violence. In one sense, this is just what we’ve come to expect from these people. But the swiftness and shamelessness with which they exploited this violence to push lies and claim Republicans are the real victims is startling, even for them. It’s another level of depravity, and a reminder there’s no low to which the MAGA movement will not sink. 

“No kings” was a message for us all

I was deeply rattled by the Minnesota murders and the right’s soulless response to them. It made me even more determined to turn out for the No Kings protest on Saturday. As I’ve probably mentioned once or twice in this newsletter, I do not enjoy going to protests. This was no exception. The weather sucked. I find the chants ennerving instead invigorating. I tend to be more of a wisecracking hipster, so the earnestness was a bad fit for my personality. 

But all that is more reason to turn out for things like this. I completely reject the idea that politics is some consumer product meant to express my individuality. The next episode of “Standing Room Only” is about this, but there’s just way too much narcissistic energy banging around our culture these days, which is how we got Donald Trump in the first place. 

Doing something not because you want to express yourself personally, but because it’s the right thing to do? It’s been out of fashion, but it’s starting to come back into vogue. That’s why millions of people showed up to the protests, even though they probably had stuff they’d rather do. It’s why saying you want to keep your Tesla because it’s cool will get you mocked. Ironically, the coolest thing you can do right now is stop worrying about being special and start worrying about being helpful. 

Believe me, I’m not saying you shouldn’t care about yourself at all. I showed up and marched and stayed for 1.5 speeches. That’s what was needed to send the message and help flesh out the pictures of 80,000 people marching in Philadelphia. Then I spent the rest of the day doing Amanda stuff, like going to a drag show at a friend’s house. But I like the “no kings” message because it’s aimed at Trump, but also our own egos in these times of crisis.

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Trump’s failed birthday party only shows how weak he is

Speaking of ego, that’s all Trump’s military parade was about on Saturday, and so it was especially delicious to watch it flop. He wanted to impress the world with how strong he supposedly is, but it only underscored how weak he is. And not just because turnout was low, especially compared to the millions who turned out for the “No Kings” protests. The whole thing was a reminder that Trump has a child’s idea of power, that it’s all big guns and tanks. But the ability to kill people is not the same thing as political power. 

For instance, while Trump was playing toy soldiers with our Army, Israel decided to just start a war with Iran, even though doing so is very bad not just for their alleged allies in the U.S., but for Trump personally. Trump loves violence and has war fantasies, but he also knows that getting mired in a go-nowhere war in the Middle East is political poison. Hell, he won in no small part because he offered the GOP base a way to be racist and jingoist without the humiliation of unwinnable wars. 

But Israel’s Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu knows Trump is weak and so flipped him the bird and did it anyway, safe in the knowledge that Trump doesn’t have the nuts to hold Netanyahu accountable. No number of robot dogs or cool weapons will change that. 

The same thing is true of the situation in Los Angeles. Trump’s goal in sending the National Guard was both to escalate tensions and show his power. But the former goal negates the latter. Another way to say “escalating tensions” is that he provoked people into putting up a fight, which they are now winning, according to the polls. It also turned more people out for the “No Kings” protests, underscoring how unpopular Trump is. 

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What we're reading this week

• “What the Democrats Must Learn From the People of Los Angeles,” Jason Linkins, New Republic

• “Trump’s Assault on California Is Faltering,” Ed Kilgore, New York

• “RFK Jr. Is Barely Even Pretending Anymore,” Katherine J. Wu, Atlantic

• “Trump Wants to Be a Strongman, but He’s Actually a Weak Man,” Jamelle Bouie, New York Times

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