Well, we know who evidently doesn’t. . . .
Commentary by Stephen Macaulay
On Saturday on a stretch of Interstate 5 in southern California between San Diego and Orange counties, the US Marines had an unexpected but certainly not unimaginable or impossible incident.
As part of the Corps’ 250th anniversary celebrations, a live-fire event took place at Camp Pendleton. Camp Pendleton is located mainly northeast of I-5, which runs through the southwestern edge of the Marine base. To the west of the I-5 is the Pacific.
During the event on Saturday there was a simulated assault with amphibious craft, jets, helicopters, Marines, Navy SEALs, and artillery. The whole shootin’ match. It was to show how the Marines can get it done (and they can) for two very special observers, Vice President JD Vance and Defense War Secretary Pete Hegseth, among thousands of others who were on hand for the event.
Apparently the whole simulation was filmed for a prime-time special the White House is going to have broadcast on November 9. It will be quite an exhibition of your tax dollars at work taking place at a time where there is all manner of concern regarding how our military personnel are going to be paid during this government shutdown.
Now, as mentioned, most of Camp Pendleton is east of the I-5, and as the ocean is on the west side of the interstate, the “invasion” had to be conducted from that side of the road, from west to the east. And there’s that interstate highway in the way.
California Governor Gavin Newsom decided that 17 miles of the I-5 had to be closed during this event for the safety of motorists.
Reporting in The Washington Post has it: “The Trump administration and the Marines had said there were ‘no public safety concerns’ surrounding the event.’”
Evidently “Newscum” was simply trying to cause trouble.
Or as a post from RapidResponse47, a White House X-Twitter outlet put it on Saturday, “Newscum is lying. He closed the highway — not only did nobody at the White House or the Marines ask him to do so, the Marines repeatedly said there are no public safety concerns with today’s exercises.”
As it turned out, one of the 155-mm rounds fired by a M777 howitzer detonated where it wasn’t supposed to.
Sh*t happens.
Now in the event that you’re not all caught up on various munitions, know that a 155-mm round is 6.1 inches in diameter, about two feet long, weighs some 100 pounds, and can carry various payloads, including explosives.
The lede to the Post story:
“An artillery shell detonated prematurely during a US Marine Corps ceremony in California over the weekend, sending shrapnel toward Interstate 5 and California Highway Patrol officers who were part of Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail for the live-fire exercise, the California Highway Patrol said Sunday.”
It goes on:
“No officers were injured in the incident. A patrol car was hit by a two-inch piece of shrapnel, leaving a dent in its hood. One of the officers recalled hearing what he said sounded like pebbles falling on his motorcycle, according to an incident report.”
Perhaps there was some bona fide public safety concern.
Oh, it is also worth noting that a 155-mm projectile can fly at 1,850 mph, so even if there were no explosives on board, an impact from that would be at the sort of velocity that could completely ruin your day.
While it is wonderful that no one was hurt, that “two-inch piece of shrapnel” is concerning.
Odds are had it hit, say, the windshield of someone rolling along, minding their own business, in an F-150 on the I-5, things would not have been good. Anyone who has traveled the I-5 knows there is always heavy traffic, so even if only one vehicle was impacted by a piece of shrapnel, the likely consequences would be vehicles careening off of one another. Not good.
But it seems the Trump Administration is fully in favor of having military personnel engaging with American citizens not merely in demonstrations of military prowess (does anyone doubt the Marines and the SEALs are the most bad-ass fighters on the planet?), but in city peace-keeping (which is odd because there is no “war” in the classic sense of the term. Bad guys? Yes. But do we go to “war” with them or do we let the police departments do their jobs? . . . and if they can’t, then they ask for help.).
Yes, the event at Pendleton was an accident. But as Helmuth von Moltke, a 19th-century Prussian field marshal, put it, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
While there was no enemy on the I-5, Murphy’s Law still exists.
Later that day there was Donald Trump’s AI-generated cartoon video posted to his social media platform in response to the “No Kings” rallies held across the US on Saturday.
Despite his saying many times last week that he isn’t a king (e.g., on Air Force One, October 19, “I’m not a king. I work my ass off to make our country great.”), the cartoon Donald Trump is, crown on head, flying a jet plane (there were F-35s and F/A-18s flying at Pendleton Saturday).
And the character is dropping on the crowds below what is clearly excrement.
Classy.
For all of you parents: How would you feel about your kids posting a piece like that?
According to the Silver Bulletin, which aggregates and averages polls to come up with its numbers, as of October 20, Donald Trump’s approval rating is 44.2% and his disapproval is at 52.1%.
It goes on to point out: “Trump’s net approval ratings on inflation (-27.2), the economy (-14.4), and trade (-13.8) are also firmly underwater. And even his immigration approval rating has fallen from +11.0 at the start of his term to -3.2 today.”
To put in indelicately, he shouldn’t be dropping that stuff on Americans who are executing their democratic rights. He ought to be trying to get out of it, because he seems to be in deep.
Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.