The Trump regime got their spin out there within minutes, before the full facts were known. Now, they want to clamp down on any investigation they don't control. Nothing to see here. But they are too late--the truth is already evident to all of us, which is why they seize cell phones.
The problem is that, although we see the truth in the videos, the people who have the power to prosecute the killers are manufacturing their own truth to avoid prosecution. They're playing by their own rules in which we have no say.
Please go to Hennepin County Attorney website, Sally. They have already won a court order to preserve the evidence. CA Mary Moriarty and Attorney General Keith Ellison have this. It's going to take some time and a whole bunch of court proceedings just like it did with George Floyd's murder.
The corporations of Minnesota cried uncle; their statement was excellent. The sports leagues stepped-up by talking about how multiculturalism is at the heart of what makes them great. Sunday the street was filled with protestors where we demonstrate.
For now, maybe having We The People take the lead on this is another way to get through to the regime that obeying is NOT going to happen. The prosecutions are going to happen---they are just not going to happen today or tomorrow.
Politicians standing on sacred ground where someone was murdered make them look AMBITIOUS. No handful of party members is going to get this done. WE are going to DO THIS. See you in the streets.
I just watched (again) the latest ICE murder in Minneapolis and felt an overwhelming hate for the ICE thugs (and their organized crime bosses). I wanted them to get what they gave to Mr. Pretti.
But then I thought, what is the best way to deal with these domestic terrorists we call ICE agents?
The first question should be, what is their actual purpose? As a newly self-labeled Constitutionalist, I submit that the purpose of ICE agents (and their bosses) is the same as it is for every employee of the government. That means they should serve to fulfill their Constitutional Purpose, which I define as using best practices to promote our general welfare and protect us from those that do things adverse to our rights and our communities’ interests. (For e.g., like ICE agents.)
The ICE agents are most definitely NOT promoting our general welfare nor are they protecting us from the bad guys; therefore, they are doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to be doing.
I submit that to identify the true enemy of the people, we need to add a new label to be framed in the Overton Window. Trump, DHS, and ICE (with their masked and jackbooted thuggery) should be portrayed as the most well-funded, dangerous and Ill-trained domestic terrorist organization in America. ICE is budgeted for $150 billion over four years making it the largest law enforcement agency in the land. This has empowered them to be the best terrorizers America has ever had to endure.
Nothing has scared the shit out of more people than the Trump mob and their thousands of ICE button men. (Except maybe in the late 50’s when we had to listen to “Duck and Cover” commercials every hour.)
However, even though they are spreading terror throughout our nation (at least in the blue states), the citizens who signed up to be ICE agents deserve our forgiveness, if only because they were the victims of learning to be shitty at learning. This made them much more likely to be bad at making decisions, as well as much more likely to end up working for ICE.
Regardless, and for whatever reasons, a huge percentage of ICE agents learned to become bullies (and cowards), and have acquired a taste for guns and the violence that follows. And with their masks, weapons, and assumed immunity from manslaughter, they make great terrorists.
Trump and Noem knowingly put racist, aggressive, and violence prone gun enthusiasts in confrontational environments to spread terror for political and financial gain. And even they deserve our forgiveness, and then they deserve to be investigated, tried, convicted and sentenced to life in a real prison.
We know who controls the country Thom. It's not Trump. It wasn't Biden or Obama. And it's certainly not Congress. It's the cancer capitalists--the oligarchs and the transnational corporations that both sides answer to--who are lashing out across the globe to mine resources and keep us paying for their foreign policy follies. With your able assistance from your Red Scare propaganda to your ignoring of Biden's genocide to your promoting of Hillary Clinton as a "brilliant" Secretary of State, you've aided in blinding Americans to the fact that these dueling mafias feed off one another's misdeeds, as do the pundits who essentially narrate the crimes of the other side to feed their echo chamber viewers and subscribers. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been slaughtered reveal even more about who really controls the country, but that reality does not fit into your futile "changing the Democratic Party from within" narrative. Pretending the Democratic Party is virtuous while obsessing about Trump and Russia have gotten us where precisely? https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/the-democrats-ushered-in-the-second
Who are you talking about Mr. Kaufman? Have you read Thom’s books. What planet are you on. You think attacking other whistleblowers is going to get you more substack followers?
Thom has propagated many myths and much propaganda, his history lessons tailored towards a valid critique of Republicans (apart from Russiagate and a few other conspiracies) while largely avoiding the war crimes and other wrongdoings of Democrats. This approach which included the democratic demand that criticism of Democrats, and particularly Joe Biden, would not be allowed on his show only serves to reinforce the lack of accountability that is plaguing us and has for decades. He is a whistleblower for the echo chamber, while heroes like Barack Obama prosecuted more true whistleblowers than any president in history. I always find it interesting that his minions attack me personally but have nothing to say regarding the substance of my argument. Of course, the barrage of half-truths that Thom tells, including the almost complete ignoring of the progressive issue of our day in Biden's Gaza genocide, are a danger to democracy and to marginalized populations around the world. Thom also managed to avoid the subject of Zohran Mamdani on his Substack because Democratic leadership was rallying against him. We do not need more stenographers for the cancer capitalist mafias on either side, and that is all that Thom is today. As for Substack followers, my Substack is not monetized so there is no need for echo chamber audience capture tactics. In fact, those who are truthful rarely get the followings of those who capitulate to power.
Thom is a businessman with limited resources and format, unlike journalists such as Lawrence O'Donnell or Rachel Maddow. He can't examine all the shortcomings of our two-party system, which would include criticizing the Democrats, thereby helping the Republicans win. We are still stuck choosing the lesser of two evils. Third parties are at a disadvantage that can't be overcome at present.
You were doing good Boris, until you shifted to the obsolete Red scare and Biden's "genocide". But what is to be expected of a Putin Shill, a retarded Marxist
You're getting negative feedback because attacking someone like Thom, a whistleblower who's taking enormous risks in being so open, was unwarranted. I do agree that the Biden government contributed to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians and that the Democratic Party is generally corrupt (looking at the huge sums most of them receive from AIPAC - most, not all). Are you aware though that the US is not the only country subsidizing the genocide? I totally agree with your claim that "oligarchs and the transnational companies" are in control, but Trump is part of that group.
And there's still a reason to be concerned about Russia. You're just not getting all the information you need from U.S. media. (I see a broader amount of information because I live overseas.) I don't think you're a "Russian agent," but Putin is openly committed to destabilizing Western democracies and is involved with what's happening in the US through Trump. Nobody's obsessing about the two of them; the facts are that they are actively trying to destroy our democracy while they get richer and more powerful.
Today I wrote We should all now say "I am Alex Pretti and I am Renee Good." ( >> https://halbrown.substack.com/p/we-should-all-now-say-i-am-alex-pretti ) in reaction to how we have become a nascent police state. How soon before people who are well known like Thom and, like me, known only by a handful of people as being in the resistance (soon to be capitalized) are rounded up by the Trump Gestapo and sent of to some prison camp, or worse? Dr. Kaufman is on the list merely because he posted the comment here and has his own Substack.
Kaufman is a retrograde old guard Marxist, stuck in the past, can't move forward, that or a Putin shill, a little of both. He harps on Biden, because that is one of the only tools in his kit. Biden is not president, so he didn't get the memo I guess, and he ignores Trump who wants to evict all of the Gazans and turn the property into prime real estate for the rich and powerful.
The shill or retard, take your pick, has a very limited skill set.
I don't know if this is his intention - maybe he'll enlighten us. I think anyone who posts comments here ought to engage with those who make the effort to reply as you and William Farrar did to what he wrote.
Thank you for your comment - I don't think we can really pass judgments on people from their remarks without engaging with them to see what they meant. Our reactions are filtered by what we want and expect to hear, and sometimes we don't always express ourselves effectively. (I say that because I gave a wrong impression in a comment and was harshly criticized, but the other person and I communicated and in the end, understood each other better.
I agree. If someone makes comments on my Substack, unless they are a rude troll, I always reply to them even if all I write is "thanks for your comment." I generally write more. I wish I had more people who comment. I have some regulars who comment on almost everything I post. I've gotten to know them and feel like they are a kind of cyber-friends even though we've never met. One of these days if any of them come to Portland hopefully we can get together. Tom Hartmann lives and works here and my partner and I met him last Spring and are looking forwad to a planned meeting in April. https://halbrown.substack.com
The "John Roberts" Death Squads are working up to a Uvalde/Newtown level kindergarten massacre.
All it will take is one or a couple of 2 to 5-year-old children of Brown/Black immigrants, American-born or not, to spark the Kiddie Killers' slaughter.
Then the Kiddie Rapist-In-Chief will order 3,000 more ICE CBP homicidal maniacs led by Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penney* into the Twin Cities' elementary schools to wage war on Kiddie arithmetic . . .
Agent. "What's 2 and 2 equal to? Five, right?"
Kid, sobbing: "4?"
The report of 10 9mm shots. "NEXT! 2 and 2?"
Kid-2, quavering, "4"
POW !!! times 10 "NEXT! . . . "
Vote or Die !!!
*Daniel Penny is a former U.S. Marine who became nationally notorious after the May 1, 2023, subway incident in New York City that resulted in the death of Jordan Neely.
You are correct in singling out John Roberts, his fascist belief system, and corruption, enabled this US spiral into fascism; most the people commenting on this column have the similar goals. After 250 years of fits and starts, Russian and billionaire subversion, that goal is to finally convert the US government into a [real] democracy, as described and mandated by the Preamble of the Constitution, and reiterated by President Lincoln's and FDR's famous addresses to the nation.
Pelosi's HR1 would have boosted the US a long ways in that direction, but the forces of fascist corruption were far too entrenched, already to allow that to happen, and the Bill that would have saved our bacon in the nick of time, failed. For it to ever get another chance, we must now bury the GOP Congress in the next election, far beyond the 5-10% or more that the GOP gains through fraud, suppression, lawfare and gerrymandering. And we must hasten Donald Trump's political burial in the plot right next to the one the GOP-dominated Congress is in.
As I type, a federal court hearing on Minnesota’s request to temporarily block the surge of ICE agents is happening. NYT.
The state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, has argued that the deployment violates state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. The Trump administration says the federal government has the authority to deploy law enforcement officers as it sees fit.
Chris Madel, a Republican, announced Monday that he is ending his candidacy for Minnesota governor. In a video statement, Madel said he “cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.” Madel, an attorney, was considered a top candidate for the Republican ticket.
Such people are trained in the law, and to support local peace - they need no masks or weapons to "keep the peace" - ask any true "law enforcement officer".
I have another name for them: "Terrorists" and "Terrorist Organization".
That includes the individual murderers on the streets of Minneapolis and elsewwhere, all the way up to the boss of their gang - Donald Trump the Felon - not MY President.
What I am seeing on the part of the ICE looks like “roid rage”. I have heard rumors about widespread use of steroids among these men and wonder if there is any good information about this issue?
Interesting idea, Kent. They are cowards with no understanding of rules concerning the level of force allowed. Very basic---just like George Floyd's murder.
Frankly, Alex is the "big one" that has awakened the last bit of people that didn't quite grasp Renee's murder.
Just a little earlier this morning I saw a story that Trump is replacing Killer Barbie with Killer Homan and that he is saying that ICE will leave MN. I assume it is a valid account. It isn't clear whether Noam is out completely or just being replaced in MN. But that is like sending John Gotti in to clean up Machine Gun Kelly's mess. This is possibly good news for MN but does not change the message that we received via this article. ICE will still continue to do what they have been doing and anyone who raises their ire will be handled with brutality and has a very good chance of being mowed down with bullets. Trump is not changing his approach and Homan will not be any less vicious after the noise abates. We must continue to talk about the Epstein files and the fascist threat from this administration.
For Trump, it's all just about political calculations. Walz would have told him what he's doing is costing him politically. Unfortunately, he has probably already had the fascists egging him on and as was stated on Thom's show today, taking from Paul Krugman's piece, to back off now would be a humiliation for him, which he cannot allow. Either way, the die is cast for ICE, and they will probably move to their next location and attack in a similar manner. Their training is all about oppression and suppression and owning the libs.
There's only one way to end this nightmare and that's for Americans to rise up nonviolently if possible and also conduct general strikes to cripple the government and major corporations. I've heard that all of the demonstrations aren't being covered by the media so I don't know how many citizens are openly rejecting what this regime is doing. I've written (politely) to my two Democratic Senators who are doing nothing, more than once. One (who frequently complains on social media) has sent me two emails addressing me as "Doctor" (I'm not) and the other, who was roughed up by ICE, doesn't respond. So much for that route. A political activist, I live abroad unfortunately and can do little, which is very frustrating. (I am fighting fascism where I live however in dissident groups and had the experience of seeing our efforts bear fruits.) Groups in large numbers in solidarity CAN effect change. It does work but it takes action - complaining on social media isn't enough.
Thanks Sally I'm all for rising up. General strikes as you mentioned would help I believe. Money talks. Do enough Americans care enough is the question.
"Potential Grounds for Litigation: Legal experts often cite defamation or intentional infliction of emotional distress as potential grounds when a public official makes allegedly false and damaging statements about a deceased individual, although suing high-ranking federal officials is complex due to qualified immunity."
Without a doubt lawyers will be contacting the families.
The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, allowing individuals to sue the U.S. government for personal injury, death, or property damage caused by the negligent acts of federal employees acting within the scope of their employment. It covers federal agencies, employees, tribal contractors, and certain healthcare providers.
Lots of cases where defendants' conduct exceed their authority.
At a certain point cult members wake up. Sometimes it takes almost dying or so much deprivation and pain that they finally look at their sociopathic leader and his minions and they say enough is enough. They leave and often they fight back and do all they can to expose the crimes of their past oppressors.
I was in a cult for 46 years. I almost didn’t make it out. So I understand how powerful cognitive dissonance can be. People are waking up and this cult will go down and the oligarchs with it
They can no longer hide.
Thank you Thom for your continued exposure of the truth. This battle has just begun.
“Hakeem Jeffries is hiding someplace in Washington DC, perhaps under the same table as Chuck Schumer. Both should be in Minneapolis right now holding ad hoc hearings and engaging the nation in nonstop media the way Noem and Bovino are: you don’t fight corrupt power by cowering. You have to show up.”
Nothing in the POSOTUS era has been as the heartbreaking and discouraging response of Democratic “leadership” to its unending torrent of moral and criminal degradations. Biden/Garland, Schumer/Jeffries, none have been up to the challenge, ‘though they’ve been pretty good at marginalizing the young bloods who see what’s happening and are willing and able to confront it. Dems are likely to retake the House this year almost by default; leadership will almost certainly behave as if the tide has turned. It hasn’t and it won’t, absent a concerted and relentless campaign to re-instill belief in a government of, by, and for the people.
We need a way to dismantle FOX -- we may shake our heads at the bought and paid for fools who repeat and justify the administration, but the real danger is their audience, who only gets their information through that lens.
The audience fuels the advertising, and therefore the ability to continue with the distorted and immoral story the administration. Target the advertisers? Target the tv personalities? Appeal to their better selves (just kidding -- obviously non-existent). Get after Murdoch?
Remind them that when you make a deal with the devil, you may enjoy riches and power for now, but in the end it's the devil who wins
I don't think taking their "crack" away at this stage will help the FOX addicted. They'd just set-up something on the internet. My, how things have changed, or is it that these folks are now exposed for what they are?
The question Thom's post begs is, "What happens when the Democrats sweep 2026, Trump declares an insurrection, and asserts the election to be a fraud?"
The Trump regime got their spin out there within minutes, before the full facts were known. Now, they want to clamp down on any investigation they don't control. Nothing to see here. But they are too late--the truth is already evident to all of us, which is why they seize cell phones.
The problem is that, although we see the truth in the videos, the people who have the power to prosecute the killers are manufacturing their own truth to avoid prosecution. They're playing by their own rules in which we have no say.
Please go to Hennepin County Attorney website, Sally. They have already won a court order to preserve the evidence. CA Mary Moriarty and Attorney General Keith Ellison have this. It's going to take some time and a whole bunch of court proceedings just like it did with George Floyd's murder.
Horrible times but a HUGE awakening.....
The corporations of Minnesota cried uncle; their statement was excellent. The sports leagues stepped-up by talking about how multiculturalism is at the heart of what makes them great. Sunday the street was filled with protestors where we demonstrate.
For now, maybe having We The People take the lead on this is another way to get through to the regime that obeying is NOT going to happen. The prosecutions are going to happen---they are just not going to happen today or tomorrow.
Politicians standing on sacred ground where someone was murdered make them look AMBITIOUS. No handful of party members is going to get this done. WE are going to DO THIS. See you in the streets.
Actions taken by large numbers of people DO work ! Bravo !
I just watched (again) the latest ICE murder in Minneapolis and felt an overwhelming hate for the ICE thugs (and their organized crime bosses). I wanted them to get what they gave to Mr. Pretti.
But then I thought, what is the best way to deal with these domestic terrorists we call ICE agents?
The first question should be, what is their actual purpose? As a newly self-labeled Constitutionalist, I submit that the purpose of ICE agents (and their bosses) is the same as it is for every employee of the government. That means they should serve to fulfill their Constitutional Purpose, which I define as using best practices to promote our general welfare and protect us from those that do things adverse to our rights and our communities’ interests. (For e.g., like ICE agents.)
The ICE agents are most definitely NOT promoting our general welfare nor are they protecting us from the bad guys; therefore, they are doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to be doing.
I submit that to identify the true enemy of the people, we need to add a new label to be framed in the Overton Window. Trump, DHS, and ICE (with their masked and jackbooted thuggery) should be portrayed as the most well-funded, dangerous and Ill-trained domestic terrorist organization in America. ICE is budgeted for $150 billion over four years making it the largest law enforcement agency in the land. This has empowered them to be the best terrorizers America has ever had to endure.
Nothing has scared the shit out of more people than the Trump mob and their thousands of ICE button men. (Except maybe in the late 50’s when we had to listen to “Duck and Cover” commercials every hour.)
However, even though they are spreading terror throughout our nation (at least in the blue states), the citizens who signed up to be ICE agents deserve our forgiveness, if only because they were the victims of learning to be shitty at learning. This made them much more likely to be bad at making decisions, as well as much more likely to end up working for ICE.
Regardless, and for whatever reasons, a huge percentage of ICE agents learned to become bullies (and cowards), and have acquired a taste for guns and the violence that follows. And with their masks, weapons, and assumed immunity from manslaughter, they make great terrorists.
Trump and Noem knowingly put racist, aggressive, and violence prone gun enthusiasts in confrontational environments to spread terror for political and financial gain. And even they deserve our forgiveness, and then they deserve to be investigated, tried, convicted and sentenced to life in a real prison.
We know who controls the country Thom. It's not Trump. It wasn't Biden or Obama. And it's certainly not Congress. It's the cancer capitalists--the oligarchs and the transnational corporations that both sides answer to--who are lashing out across the globe to mine resources and keep us paying for their foreign policy follies. With your able assistance from your Red Scare propaganda to your ignoring of Biden's genocide to your promoting of Hillary Clinton as a "brilliant" Secretary of State, you've aided in blinding Americans to the fact that these dueling mafias feed off one another's misdeeds, as do the pundits who essentially narrate the crimes of the other side to feed their echo chamber viewers and subscribers. The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been slaughtered reveal even more about who really controls the country, but that reality does not fit into your futile "changing the Democratic Party from within" narrative. Pretending the Democratic Party is virtuous while obsessing about Trump and Russia have gotten us where precisely? https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/the-democrats-ushered-in-the-second
Are you a Russian agent, or what?
Who are you talking about Mr. Kaufman? Have you read Thom’s books. What planet are you on. You think attacking other whistleblowers is going to get you more substack followers?
Thom has propagated many myths and much propaganda, his history lessons tailored towards a valid critique of Republicans (apart from Russiagate and a few other conspiracies) while largely avoiding the war crimes and other wrongdoings of Democrats. This approach which included the democratic demand that criticism of Democrats, and particularly Joe Biden, would not be allowed on his show only serves to reinforce the lack of accountability that is plaguing us and has for decades. He is a whistleblower for the echo chamber, while heroes like Barack Obama prosecuted more true whistleblowers than any president in history. I always find it interesting that his minions attack me personally but have nothing to say regarding the substance of my argument. Of course, the barrage of half-truths that Thom tells, including the almost complete ignoring of the progressive issue of our day in Biden's Gaza genocide, are a danger to democracy and to marginalized populations around the world. Thom also managed to avoid the subject of Zohran Mamdani on his Substack because Democratic leadership was rallying against him. We do not need more stenographers for the cancer capitalist mafias on either side, and that is all that Thom is today. As for Substack followers, my Substack is not monetized so there is no need for echo chamber audience capture tactics. In fact, those who are truthful rarely get the followings of those who capitulate to power.
Thom is a businessman with limited resources and format, unlike journalists such as Lawrence O'Donnell or Rachel Maddow. He can't examine all the shortcomings of our two-party system, which would include criticizing the Democrats, thereby helping the Republicans win. We are still stuck choosing the lesser of two evils. Third parties are at a disadvantage that can't be overcome at present.
You were doing good Boris, until you shifted to the obsolete Red scare and Biden's "genocide". But what is to be expected of a Putin Shill, a retarded Marxist
Yeah...no. Take your convoluted red-scare narrative elsewhere.
You're getting negative feedback because attacking someone like Thom, a whistleblower who's taking enormous risks in being so open, was unwarranted. I do agree that the Biden government contributed to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians and that the Democratic Party is generally corrupt (looking at the huge sums most of them receive from AIPAC - most, not all). Are you aware though that the US is not the only country subsidizing the genocide? I totally agree with your claim that "oligarchs and the transnational companies" are in control, but Trump is part of that group.
And there's still a reason to be concerned about Russia. You're just not getting all the information you need from U.S. media. (I see a broader amount of information because I live overseas.) I don't think you're a "Russian agent," but Putin is openly committed to destabilizing Western democracies and is involved with what's happening in the US through Trump. Nobody's obsessing about the two of them; the facts are that they are actively trying to destroy our democracy while they get richer and more powerful.
Today I wrote We should all now say "I am Alex Pretti and I am Renee Good." ( >> https://halbrown.substack.com/p/we-should-all-now-say-i-am-alex-pretti ) in reaction to how we have become a nascent police state. How soon before people who are well known like Thom and, like me, known only by a handful of people as being in the resistance (soon to be capitalized) are rounded up by the Trump Gestapo and sent of to some prison camp, or worse? Dr. Kaufman is on the list merely because he posted the comment here and has his own Substack.
Jeez. Kaufman is on THEIR side. Minimizes the effect of Trump.
Divide us to conquer us.
Kaufman is a retrograde old guard Marxist, stuck in the past, can't move forward, that or a Putin shill, a little of both. He harps on Biden, because that is one of the only tools in his kit. Biden is not president, so he didn't get the memo I guess, and he ignores Trump who wants to evict all of the Gazans and turn the property into prime real estate for the rich and powerful.
The shill or retard, take your pick, has a very limited skill set.
I don't know if this is his intention - maybe he'll enlighten us. I think anyone who posts comments here ought to engage with those who make the effort to reply as you and William Farrar did to what he wrote.
He is furious with Thom and on a vendetta.
But it's nice that you want to listen, Hal.
Thank you for your comment - I don't think we can really pass judgments on people from their remarks without engaging with them to see what they meant. Our reactions are filtered by what we want and expect to hear, and sometimes we don't always express ourselves effectively. (I say that because I gave a wrong impression in a comment and was harshly criticized, but the other person and I communicated and in the end, understood each other better.
I agree. If someone makes comments on my Substack, unless they are a rude troll, I always reply to them even if all I write is "thanks for your comment." I generally write more. I wish I had more people who comment. I have some regulars who comment on almost everything I post. I've gotten to know them and feel like they are a kind of cyber-friends even though we've never met. One of these days if any of them come to Portland hopefully we can get together. Tom Hartmann lives and works here and my partner and I met him last Spring and are looking forwad to a planned meeting in April. https://halbrown.substack.com
The "John Roberts" Death Squads are working up to a Uvalde/Newtown level kindergarten massacre.
All it will take is one or a couple of 2 to 5-year-old children of Brown/Black immigrants, American-born or not, to spark the Kiddie Killers' slaughter.
Then the Kiddie Rapist-In-Chief will order 3,000 more ICE CBP homicidal maniacs led by Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penney* into the Twin Cities' elementary schools to wage war on Kiddie arithmetic . . .
Agent. "What's 2 and 2 equal to? Five, right?"
Kid, sobbing: "4?"
The report of 10 9mm shots. "NEXT! 2 and 2?"
Kid-2, quavering, "4"
POW !!! times 10 "NEXT! . . . "
Vote or Die !!!
*Daniel Penny is a former U.S. Marine who became nationally notorious after the May 1, 2023, subway incident in New York City that resulted in the death of Jordan Neely.
You are correct in singling out John Roberts, his fascist belief system, and corruption, enabled this US spiral into fascism; most the people commenting on this column have the similar goals. After 250 years of fits and starts, Russian and billionaire subversion, that goal is to finally convert the US government into a [real] democracy, as described and mandated by the Preamble of the Constitution, and reiterated by President Lincoln's and FDR's famous addresses to the nation.
Pelosi's HR1 would have boosted the US a long ways in that direction, but the forces of fascist corruption were far too entrenched, already to allow that to happen, and the Bill that would have saved our bacon in the nick of time, failed. For it to ever get another chance, we must now bury the GOP Congress in the next election, far beyond the 5-10% or more that the GOP gains through fraud, suppression, lawfare and gerrymandering. And we must hasten Donald Trump's political burial in the plot right next to the one the GOP-dominated Congress is in.
The real fight today is in the Senate.
As I type, a federal court hearing on Minnesota’s request to temporarily block the surge of ICE agents is happening. NYT.
The state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, has argued that the deployment violates state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. The Trump administration says the federal government has the authority to deploy law enforcement officers as it sees fit.
Chris Madel, a Republican, announced Monday that he is ending his candidacy for Minnesota governor. In a video statement, Madel said he “cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.” Madel, an attorney, was considered a top candidate for the Republican ticket.
Fantastic! What a smart man Madel is to not waste his time or money. On the other hand, I hope it is because he shall not obey either.
Thanks Daniel, this is more proof that the psychos and sickos are going to pay in many, many ways.
As for the prosecutions, people don't seem to understand they just don't happen overnight, especially in the midst of a constitutional crisis.
The ICE are NOT "law enforcement officers".
Such people are trained in the law, and to support local peace - they need no masks or weapons to "keep the peace" - ask any true "law enforcement officer".
I have another name for them: "Terrorists" and "Terrorist Organization".
That includes the individual murderers on the streets of Minneapolis and elsewwhere, all the way up to the boss of their gang - Donald Trump the Felon - not MY President.
Well done, Gordon!
Republicans can stop this today!
Thank you for your voice during these times Thom.
What I am seeing on the part of the ICE looks like “roid rage”. I have heard rumors about widespread use of steroids among these men and wonder if there is any good information about this issue?
Interesting idea, Kent. They are cowards with no understanding of rules concerning the level of force allowed. Very basic---just like George Floyd's murder.
Frankly, Alex is the "big one" that has awakened the last bit of people that didn't quite grasp Renee's murder.
Just a little earlier this morning I saw a story that Trump is replacing Killer Barbie with Killer Homan and that he is saying that ICE will leave MN. I assume it is a valid account. It isn't clear whether Noam is out completely or just being replaced in MN. But that is like sending John Gotti in to clean up Machine Gun Kelly's mess. This is possibly good news for MN but does not change the message that we received via this article. ICE will still continue to do what they have been doing and anyone who raises their ire will be handled with brutality and has a very good chance of being mowed down with bullets. Trump is not changing his approach and Homan will not be any less vicious after the noise abates. We must continue to talk about the Epstein files and the fascist threat from this administration.
Meidas is reporting that Trump is vascillating. Had a discussion with Walz.
For Trump, it's all just about political calculations. Walz would have told him what he's doing is costing him politically. Unfortunately, he has probably already had the fascists egging him on and as was stated on Thom's show today, taking from Paul Krugman's piece, to back off now would be a humiliation for him, which he cannot allow. Either way, the die is cast for ICE, and they will probably move to their next location and attack in a similar manner. Their training is all about oppression and suppression and owning the libs.
There's only one way to end this nightmare and that's for Americans to rise up nonviolently if possible and also conduct general strikes to cripple the government and major corporations. I've heard that all of the demonstrations aren't being covered by the media so I don't know how many citizens are openly rejecting what this regime is doing. I've written (politely) to my two Democratic Senators who are doing nothing, more than once. One (who frequently complains on social media) has sent me two emails addressing me as "Doctor" (I'm not) and the other, who was roughed up by ICE, doesn't respond. So much for that route. A political activist, I live abroad unfortunately and can do little, which is very frustrating. (I am fighting fascism where I live however in dissident groups and had the experience of seeing our efforts bear fruits.) Groups in large numbers in solidarity CAN effect change. It does work but it takes action - complaining on social media isn't enough.
Thanks Sally I'm all for rising up. General strikes as you mentioned would help I believe. Money talks. Do enough Americans care enough is the question.
Thom,
Can Trump, Noem, etc., be sued for slander or defamation of character, given what they have said about Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti?
If they can be sued, could anyone sue them or only a family member?
Such good questions. From AI Overview, Judy:
"Potential Grounds for Litigation: Legal experts often cite defamation or intentional infliction of emotional distress as potential grounds when a public official makes allegedly false and damaging statements about a deceased individual, although suing high-ranking federal officials is complex due to qualified immunity."
Without a doubt lawyers will be contacting the families.
The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) provides a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, allowing individuals to sue the U.S. government for personal injury, death, or property damage caused by the negligent acts of federal employees acting within the scope of their employment. It covers federal agencies, employees, tribal contractors, and certain healthcare providers.
Lots of cases where defendants' conduct exceed their authority.
At a certain point cult members wake up. Sometimes it takes almost dying or so much deprivation and pain that they finally look at their sociopathic leader and his minions and they say enough is enough. They leave and often they fight back and do all they can to expose the crimes of their past oppressors.
I was in a cult for 46 years. I almost didn’t make it out. So I understand how powerful cognitive dissonance can be. People are waking up and this cult will go down and the oligarchs with it
They can no longer hide.
Thank you Thom for your continued exposure of the truth. This battle has just begun.
“Hakeem Jeffries is hiding someplace in Washington DC, perhaps under the same table as Chuck Schumer. Both should be in Minneapolis right now holding ad hoc hearings and engaging the nation in nonstop media the way Noem and Bovino are: you don’t fight corrupt power by cowering. You have to show up.”
Nothing in the POSOTUS era has been as the heartbreaking and discouraging response of Democratic “leadership” to its unending torrent of moral and criminal degradations. Biden/Garland, Schumer/Jeffries, none have been up to the challenge, ‘though they’ve been pretty good at marginalizing the young bloods who see what’s happening and are willing and able to confront it. Dems are likely to retake the House this year almost by default; leadership will almost certainly behave as if the tide has turned. It hasn’t and it won’t, absent a concerted and relentless campaign to re-instill belief in a government of, by, and for the people.
Actually that's bullshit.
Today Schumer holds the line.
We need a way to dismantle FOX -- we may shake our heads at the bought and paid for fools who repeat and justify the administration, but the real danger is their audience, who only gets their information through that lens.
The audience fuels the advertising, and therefore the ability to continue with the distorted and immoral story the administration. Target the advertisers? Target the tv personalities? Appeal to their better selves (just kidding -- obviously non-existent). Get after Murdoch?
Remind them that when you make a deal with the devil, you may enjoy riches and power for now, but in the end it's the devil who wins
You'd think that the Dominion suit was an object lesson.
They are currnently in litigation over potentially larger losses.
Yay!!!!! Larger losses.
I don't think taking their "crack" away at this stage will help the FOX addicted. They'd just set-up something on the internet. My, how things have changed, or is it that these folks are now exposed for what they are?
The question Thom's post begs is, "What happens when the Democrats sweep 2026, Trump declares an insurrection, and asserts the election to be a fraud?"