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A strategically-timed retirement announcement means the GOP could soon have another seat to fill on the high court. Read more.

You can feel it whenever you go outside, the unease from the lingering threat of a sudden explosion of violence, the helpless feeling that there’s nothing you can do to prepare. Even worse, you know that the people responsible for any localized outbursts of extreme pain and suffering will never face consequences. The privilege of a powerful former television star and the way our justice system bends toward money will keep the guilty out of jail. 

To hear service industry workers tell it, one-time Disney Channel star Shia LaBeouf has been “terrorizing” the city of New Orleans for days. He was asked to leave Ms Maes, a locally famous 24-hour dive bar, several times for his erratic behavior as the city’s  parading Mardi Gras krewes rolled illuminated floats through the neighborhood. 

LaBeouf’s seeming bender turned violent in the wee hours of Mardi Gras Day. Outside  the Faubourg Marigny’s R Bar, LaBeouf reportedly tried to start fights with multiple staff members and bystanders after he was ejected from the hipster hangout. Video shows him being knocked to the ground by a patron and held down by onlookers until the police arrived. Though LaBeouf was arrested on charges of battery, he was quickly released and photos spread on social media showed the actor partying on Bourbon Street shortly after that, release papers in his mouth. 

It might be naive to expect a celebrity to face justice for his drunken misdeeds in a famously corrupt and inebriated city. But LaBeouf’s story may offer hope for people outside  the Crescent City who might reasonably be wondering – in the sixth year of President Donald Trump – what accountability looks like for those with deep pockets and powerful friends.

It won’t come from the courts or the cops. But it might come from the bartenders, bouncers and bystanders. We’re not suggesting, to be clear, that anyone should go out and mollywhop an octogenarian. That’s definitely a crime and could rise to the level of a homicide. But the essential action of coming together to deny violent, belligerent and hateful people access to our spaces will be critical in the post-Trump years. 

People like Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem should be barred from restaurants, social clubs and gatherings wherever possible. Stephen Miller and Trump himself should be made to feel unwelcome. Anyone attempting to force them out should find a crowd of supportive strangers at their back. Factotums of the Trump administration should live out the rest of their days knowing they’ve made the world worse, and more important still, that many average citizens  hate their guts.  The only way to move past the Trump years is if MAGA is eventually, finally and gloriously 86ed from public life.

What do you think? Are you up to shaming Trump associates once they're out of office? Will actual action from Democrats render all this unnecessary? Click the speech bubble icon to sound off in the comments.

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