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Connecting California: On July 4, Californians should pull down our American flags

Joe Mathews: C.C. Marin, director of the Independent California Institute, encourages challenges to the custom of American flag supremacy, and urges us just to fly the California flag instead.

“California’s state flag is a powerful symbol of resistance and unity in the face of a cruel, lawless presidential administration,” Marin wrote recently. “Flags remind us who’s in charge. California is not and has never been a subsidiary of the federal government. … Voluntarily flying our own flag below the American flag is literally a symbol of inferiority and compliance.”

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The Atlantic: Trump vs. California

David A. Graham: Under Donald Trump, the federal government is like a bad parent: never there when you need him but eager to stick his nose in your business when you don’t want him to.

If California is not getting disaster aid but is getting hostile deployments of federal troops, Californians might find it harder to see what’s in it for them. No wonder one poll commissioned by an advocacy group earlier this year found that 61 percent of the state’s residents thought California would be better off as a separate nation.

Moneywise: ‘Republicans now hate us in California more than ever’: Is California’s dreaming of secession legit or is the state just fed up with federal government?

For the third time, supporters of what’s known as “CalExit” are attempting to get a measure on the ballot that asks California voters a once unthinkable question: Should the state secede from the United States and become its own nation?

Still, while the idea sounds extreme, 61% of Californians say the state would actually be “better off” if it seceded peacefully, according to the January 2025 Independent California Poll from YouGov. At the same time, 62% of respondents said they didn’t think a peaceful and legal break-up would be possible.

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Local News Pasadena: California Secession Now?

Casey Coss: As President Donald J. Trump aims to grab Greenland, make Canada the 51st state of the U.S., regain control of the Panama Canal, and allow Puerto Rico its independence (with Bad Bunny’s support), quite a few Californians are ‘dreaming’ of grabbing the state out of the Union.

So much grabbing, so little time. Where is Billy Bush’s ‘Access Hollywood’ clip when Californians need to be reminded of it?

The state’s independence sentiment is evident in a recent poll by the San Diego-based and ironically named Independent California Institute.

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Connecting California: California should force Trump to kick us out of country

Joe Mathews: How do you get yourself thrown out of a ballgame? The late Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel, who was ejected from 40 major league games, believed in persistence and obnoxiousness: “You just gotta argue with the umpire until he gets tired of listening to you.”

How do you get your state thrown out of the country? If Californians want independence from the United States, they should follow the strategy of Stengel, who made his home in Glendale.

Inside the California Supreme Courts

Courthouse News: Breaking up is hard to do: California secession movement pushes forward on ballot question

Alan Riquelmy: A poll released this month and commissioned by the Independent California Institute — which stated that its first principle is for California to become a “fully functioning sovereign and autonomous nation” — offers some support for secessionists.

According to the poll, 61% of respondents said the state would be better off if it peacefully seceded, and 63% supported using “hardball” tactics to gain autonomy.

LA Fire Dept fights Palisades Fire

Connecting California: Did the L.A. Fires Start in D.C?

Joe Mathews: The flames that leveled Pacific Palisades and Malibu are believed to have started in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, managed by the National Park Service. (That’s you!).

The blaze that turned Altadena to ash burned through the Angeles National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the United States (you again!) Department of Agriculture.