[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Gavin Newsom slammed Donald Trump's plans to fire artillery shells over a California highway as part of a military demonstration to celebrate the Marine Corps' 250th anniversary.
The California Governor branded the plan 'profoundly absurd' and said it was a 'show of force that could put Californians directly in harm's way.'
Newsom shut down a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and San Diego in response to the move, which caused mass gridlock on the highway on Saturday.
Although the Trump administration said the artillery fire was to mark the Marine Corps' anniversary, Newsom said it was no accident that it also fell on the same day anti-Trump 'No Kings' protests were held.
'Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office the president holds,' Newsom told the New York Times.
Newsom - a possible contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 - also took to X to slate the plans, accusing Trump of failing to safely coordinate the artillery fire with California officials.
'It is not safe for people to drive on a major freeway at high speeds directly under LIVE MUNITIONS,' his office wrote.
'White House not communicating, endangering the public, and then trying to blame the Governor for doing the right thing — keeping people out of harm’s way — yet another day living in Trump’s authoritarian America.'
Despite Newsom's hand-wringing over Trump's military spectacle, the White House insisted on Saturday that the artillery fire from Camp Pendleton was safe.
'Gavin Newsom wants people to think this exercise is dangerous,' William Martin, the communications director for Vice President JD Vance, said in a statement.
'The Marine Corps says it’s an established and safe practice. Newsom wants people to think this is an absurd show of force. The Marine Corps says it’s part of routine training at Camp Pendleton.
'If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead.'
The visually-stunning demonstrations included controlled demolitions, large amphibious assault vehicles, named Navy Landing Craft Air Cushions, and troops practicing sea-to-land attacks.
The highway closures on Saturday sparked fury in California, as they caused around an hour of delays and led to huge lines of drivers sat in traffic.
San Clemente City Councilmember Mark Enmeier said he was left enraged because it 'came completely out of the blue', and fumed that he 'was not informed of it.'
'There was no coordination with any local officials on this whatsoever,' he said.
Joey Abi-Loutfi, a local restaurant owner whose eatery sits on the highway exit, sarcastically told the LA Times: 'What a great use of funding.'
The FAA also closed some airspace over the region throughout Saturday afternoon, and Amtrak shut its Pacific Surfliner train near the stretch of interstate that was halted.
#1
Drama queen. We lived in Monterey when Fort Ord was active, and they'd regularly fire artillery from there down to Hunter Liggett, right over Carmel Valley. Never a problem. (They did periodically set the hills in Ord on fire from flares or mortars.)
[TH] Is Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) going to retire? Townhall has been hearing whispers from some senior Democratic sources that the longtime New York Senator could be retiring from public life for numerous reasons, not least being that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could make good on her move to primary him. Now, AOC venturing outside the state could be an early move to consolidate her national constituency for a 2028 presidential run, which she could do, but she has options. And this seat is gettable for her: Schumer is not well-liked among Democratic voters, and his fundraising has been abysmal.
It's historic, really. Schumer posted his worst fundraising quarter ever, with only a little over $133,00 raised in Q3. He also only has $8.3 million in the bank. That’s not enough. Democrats writ large are facing a fundraising shortage as disgruntled Democrats refuse to fork over cash, especially after Kamala Harris spent the equivalent of the GDP of Argentina in 2024 and got taken to the cleaners by Trump. Liberal voters are still mad that he caved during the first spending fight, and he seems all-around ineffective. Even congressional Democrats, like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), admitted to that on a NewsNation town hall last night.
#3
He needs to go.
Whoever replaces him will be worse.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/19/2025 8:32 Comments ||
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#4
Schumer's next election will be on November 7, 2028. He has already filed paperwork to run for another term.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/19/2025 8:45 Comments ||
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#5
I'm afraid ed in texas is right. Just consider AOC and that Mamdani guy (whatshisname?) in New York City. It'd be like replacing Diane Feinstein with Adam Schifferbrains.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/19/2025 10:14 Comments ||
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#6
Chuck will retire. He has to. There is blood in the water in the lagoon. It’s the same lagoon where Cuomo was devoured. The Dem party is carnivorous.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/19/2025 12:37 Comments ||
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#7
If the shutdown doesn't work in Democrats favor Schumer might be in trouble.
[IsraelTimes] New York Republican, who pretended to be Jewish during campaign, was sentenced to 7 years in April for stealing the identities of 11 people, including family members.
Joseph Murray, one of Santos’s lawyers, told The Associated Press late Friday that the former lawmaker was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, around 11 p.m., and was greeted outside the facility by his family.
The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
He reported to FCI Fairton on July 25 and was housed in a minimum security prison camp with fewer than 50 other inmates.
“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump posted on his social media platform. He said he had “just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”
“Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.
[IsraelTimes] Shutdown follows similar move in Kansas after leaked chat showed Young Republican officials in those and other states joking about gas chambers and praising Hitler
#3
Santos is fine. He will be a regular guest on different news shows and will undercut Dems and RINOs. I would balk if they try to put him in the Administration. We have Congressmen who have x10 their net worth. George is a petty offender that they threw the book at because he’s not an insider.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/19/2025 12:35 Comments ||
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#4
because he’s not an insider.
And because he ran and won by pretending to be a bunch of things he is not. Nobody would care, were he a Democrat, but Republicans don’t go for stolen valour, whether military or otherwise.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
