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alis's avatar
Nov 24Edited

And the beauty is: HE CAN'T TAKE IT WITH HIM

TRump's family are part of his syndicate and must not be allowed to profit from his illegal actions. The word RICO keeps ringing in my ears.....

TRump re-posted another "king" meme captioned "None shall escape his justice." A commenter was sure libs would not understand that he is the King of Trolling. Oh, we get it, but that guy is too dense to grasp he's been conned. The independents are the ones that have smartened-up. Yay!-We need them.

I'm convinced TRump did not attend the G20 because he is afraid of a secret warrant for his arrest from the ICC. That's exactly why Putin wasn't there. They got some good things done BECAUSE he wasn't there. All those leaders, like Thom, are thinking things are looking up as well.

DO NOT OBEY ILLEGAL ORDERS works for the Resistance too. See you in the streets.

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alis's avatar
Nov 24Edited

To clarify, Putin's warrant is public, but the ICC does not have to make their warrants public. There are 125 countries called The States Parties To The Rome Statute. South Africa is one of them, and all signatories MUST arrest and turn-over to the ICC anyone under warrant that is within their borders.

TRump was supposed to pick-up the gavel at the G20. It will be here in the USA next year. It's fun for him to be the 800 lb gorilla in the room---why would he miss the chance?

TRump is murdering people using the excuse they are drug-traffickers. That's what President Duterte of the Philippines did. He was arrested on a warrant that was SECRET till 3/7/25, when his own government turned him over to The Hague.

Putin and his confederates are kidnappers, their warrant info is on WIKI and the ICC's website.

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Michael G Cassidy's avatar

Question: Was a golden bone saw among the gifts Trump received from MBS last week? If so, will we see it displayed on the fire place in future interviews?

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William Farrar's avatar

Trump's cabinet are not sycophants, anymore than a congregation in a pew, a Catholic in a confessional or a Muslim at Friday Prayers in a masjid.

As a regular officer in the armed forces. I am chagrined and worried, that none of the 800 Generals and flag officers, that assembled in Langley, to be berated, demeaned, insulted by Trump and Hegseth, didn't get up, walk out and submit their retirement papers. Only one has since, to my knowledge, rear admiral Halsey, out of conscience.

That the others have stayed on is informative, it tells me that they are either cowards or accomplices.

Especially those naval officers and enlisted, that are murdering people in territorial waters or on the high seas, every one of them is as guilty of the NAZI's at Nuremberg or other war crimes trials that plead "orders are orders"

And any military, active or national guard, that so much as hurled a smoke grenade at a fellow citizen is likewise guilty.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

If even 400 flag officers had retired on the spot in reaction to Quantico, Trump would have, as he has been doing, replaced them with MAGA minions.

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William Farrar's avatar

Absolutely Tom. Trump would have replaced them with MAGAts as he is doing now, but the mass retirement would have sent a national message, but staying on revealed them fro what they are. amoral careerists or true believers.

My comment was meant to expose the quality of generals and flag officers now command the armed forces.

The same type that will kill civilians, and turn their troops on Americans like what happened even in Los Angeles with 700 Marines. My Dad was a retired Marine and retired at 29 Palms, I am sure he would have been horrified.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

Bill, unless assigned to Pentagon staff jobs, very few officers ever work close enough to the burning bush to see what daily life as a Flag is really like.

I spent most of my 32-year Navy career providing direct support to flag officers - lots of em. My first 12 years were as a surface line officer, then later as an organizational psychologist providing direct support to help admirals make informed policy and program decisions. They had brutal schedules and were under incredible stress 24/7. That experience history is why I turned down Flag and retired.

Careerist flags were very rare in my experience.

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Robert Herreshoff's avatar

Thank you for your service.

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William Farrar's avatar

For the civilians A naval flag officer is a general in the Army, Air Farce and Marines.

So in your estimation, why are flag officers hanging on, and why haven't they tendered their retirement like Rear Adm Halsey.

By continuing to serve under the traitorous Trump and Hegseth, they are saying "yes boss, me too".

So if they aren't careerists, then they are of the same mindset.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

It always comes down to honor and integrity. You are free to disparage top leaders because they are not doing what YOU think they should. But as I tried to explain, abandoning their commands would enable Trump to give all the illegal orders he wants. So far, Trump's only apparent illegal order was deploying the National Guard under false pretenses, which the courts have been shooting down. The Marine deployment was a nothing burger in LA. As far as I can tell, Trump's drug-boat turkey-shoot has been executed by the CIA, not uniformed military personnel.

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William Farrar's avatar

You have a point, abandoning their commands allows Trump to appoint his own sycophants, but I am sure there are enough . sycophantic generals and flag officers like Gen Dan Caine. Rear Adm Halsey is undoubtedly a man of honor and integrity.l

As regards the CIA and the supposed drug boat Turkey shoot. Conjecture on your part or do you know that the CIA has it's own navy and air force?

As regards the drug boats, one boat had 12 people on it, now drug boats aren't wasting space for people. Trinidad is 6.8 miles from Venezuela and they use boats for commuting.

Let us see if the Navy and Marines, as well as B-21's and B-52's attack Venezuela..

Reagan after retreating from Lebanon after the Marine Barracks was blow up, had to prove his muscle, so he attacked a speck in Eastern Carribean, under the pretense of rescuing students.

There were Cubans there, laborers. It is called the Rucksack War, I had already retired, but my team was in on it.

Then George H W Bush, violated international law and invaded Panama to arrest the CIA Bag Man, Noriega, and again no one disobeyed illegal orders.

A drone operator in Colorado hit a switch that killed Anwar al-Awlaki: A radical cleric born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki was a key figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and actively called for jihad against the U.S. He was the only one of the initial four specifically targeted by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in September 2011, an action the administration defended as a lawful act of war.

Abdulrahman al-Awlaki: Anwar al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, born in Denver, was killed in a separate drone strike in Yemen just two weeks after his father's death. The Obama administration stated he was not an intended target.

Samir Khan: A U.S. citizen who produced al-Qaeda propaganda, including the online magazine Inspire, Khan was killed in the same strike as Anwar al-Awlaki but was not an intended target.

Jude Kenan Mohammad: A U.S. citizen from North Carolina who had been indicted on murder and kidnapping charges, Mohammad was killed in a strike in Pakistan and was not a specific target.

Personally I say good riddance, but here we have extra judicial killings and acts of war initiated by US Presidents.

Will Venezuela be any different.

And what pisses me off about Venezuela is that the cover lie is drugs, the real reason is that Chavez nationalized it's oil fields, and that pissed off Exxon Mobil

Trinidad is

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G.P. Baltimore's avatar

It’s definitely very worrisome and, for me, depressing.

Those generals and officers who stay silent are more concerned about their career than the Constitution they are supposed to be upholding.

They possibly excuse this with fear of worse if replaced; however, it is now that people must hear reason and logic from the highest in our land who are not corrupt. This goes for the Supreme Court and everyone who follows and trickles on down.

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William Farrar's avatar

Careerism accounts for some, but what worries me is how deep the inroads of Dominionism has made into the officer corps.

There is a problem in our society, it is Dominionism, it underlies all that is wrong, it underpins MAGA. And it is not covered hardly at all, not even on Thom's substack.

It is also known as Christian Reconstruction,7 Mountains Mandate, New Apostolic Reformation and is allied with Opus Dei, Russell Vought is a Dominionist

Here is an overview: https://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/fundienazis/royal_race.htm

Founded by R J Rushdoony and Rafael Cruz Sr, the father of Rafael Ted Cruz, Jr

The movement infiltrated the Air Force Academy soon as it opened its' doors, megachurches moved in. capturing the ferbile minds of cadets, who jumped at the excuse to get off campus for a couple of hours on Sunday, and meet young ladies, whom many wed.

It spread like a virus, and evidently got a strong hold on Annapolis. Virginia Military Institute Texas A&M University

Norwich University

Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

The Citadel

Virginia Tech

University of North Georgia

Other military colleges

New Mexico Military Institute

Georgia Military College

Hargrave Military Academy

California Maritime Academy

Valley Forge Military Academy and College

The current chief of staff, Gen Dan Caine, had retired but was pulled out of retirement, promoted to four stars and made Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, for a reason.. he is part of the animal. and got his commission from VMI

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Kathy Hughes's avatar

Mikey Weinstein established the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to combat the Dominionists and Christian Nationalists in the military. Mikey and his family are Jewish, and when his son Casey attended the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Dominionist cadets always harassed him to join their evangelical groups. Some of the Dominionists use the military command structure to improperly proselytize the soldiers, airmen, sailors or Marines under their command.

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William Farrar's avatar

Thank you for validating me. This is a bigger problem than we know about, simply because it is sub rosa, and doesn't make the news.

Honestly I don't trust any of the Generals and flag officers today. Or officers in general. For example ret Col Martha McSally, remember her. former commander of an A 10 squadron and US Senator? Also a raging right winger.

And the enlisted, most of them are recruited from rural America and the south, bringing with them their "Christian nationalist" values, and racism.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

Your stereotype assertion that senior officers are more concerned about their careers than about upholding the constitution is both insulting and short-sighted.

Every general can retire with full benefits tomorrow if they choose to. It is not about career. IT IS ABOUT LOYALTY TO THEIR OATH. If they all left, who would run the military - a major kicked out of the reserves for bad judgment? Who would lead our troops to repel an invasion by China or Russia? Corporal Jones?

Admirals and generals are duty-bound to protect all of us from enemies foreign and domestic. You cannot do that from Margaritaville. The US military cannot function without a head - without a command structure.

By staying in office, if the Trump poop really did hit the fan, they are in the best position to undermine any illegal, impulsive, demented orders. So like most of us, they tolerate the chaos, hoping their government will wake up and do the jobs they were elected to do - GOVERN, not RULE.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I was disappointed that you didn't participate in the lobbying, speeches and demonstrations performed last week.

On the mall Saturday, the "Remove the Regime" rally, with organizers estimating approximately 10,000 to 20,000 people in attendance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkQU8TGetQc

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alis's avatar

Thom was at the other end of the world, Daniel. I imagine he planned their anniversary trip long before that rally was scheduled.

Maybe take this post down or edit it?

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

I was not the organizer.

I say the same to Meidas, Jennifer Rubin and others.

All I asked himn to do was publicize it. I spoke to him about it up close and personal long in advance. I have no personal stake -- except that it's our only hope.

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William Farrar's avatar

Protests are our only hope Daniel? Really, protests are pressure relief valves, and by themselves don't achieve anything.

Action, that is what is needed, action.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Action. As you sit on your ass.

Lobbying -- another thing you don't know shit about.

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William Farrar's avatar

What, you were disappointed in Thom Daniel? For what. He does more for the cause than you do.

He has national reach on the airways,on cable and in print, what is your reach?

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

You tell people not to get active -- go fuck yourself.

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William Farrar's avatar

I tell people not to get active? What is your idea of action in the face of a dictatorship, sending in post cards, marching with signs. Tell me does any of this actually change Trump's behavor, or MAGA behavior, you aren't going to change minds, but you can change behavior, so how has that been working out for you.

Action is action, Daniel, Yours is not action, for one thing it has not produced any results, and to quote Einstein, doing the same thing again and again expecting different results is insanity.

Time for positive action, make the oligarchs that back Trump hurt, hit them in the pocketbook, and that means taking a hit yourself.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

The Trmpepstein scenario proves you're an asshole.

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William Farrar's avatar

Comment is incomprehensible. See your PCP ask for an MRI of the head.

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Chris Brodin's avatar

From Newsweek, a list of companies that have contributed to krasnov. It would be interesting to see what they got in return.

Below are a list of companies that have either donated to Trump's presidential campaign or the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Elon Musk: $290 million

Timothy Mellon: $150 million

Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment & Research: $106 million

Linda McMahon of WWE: $16 million

Hendricks Holding Co: $15 million

Bigelow Aerospace: $14.1 million

Laura & Issac Perlmutter Foundation: 12.4 million

ABC Supply: $11 million

Cantor Fitzgerald: $11 million

Uline: $10 million

Pratt Industries: $10 million

British American Tobacco: $10 million

Southern Waste Systems: $9 million

Elliott Management: $7 million

Andreessen Horowitz: $7 million

Viotl Inc: $6 million

Timothy Dunn of CrownQuest: $5 million

Jeff Sprecher of Intercontinental Exchange and Kelly Loeffler: $4.9 million

Phil Ruffin, a business partner of Trump's: $3.3 million

Jimmy John Liautaud of Jimmy John's: $3.1 million

Geoffrey Palmer: $3 million

Bernard Marcus, former CEO of Home Depot: $2.7 million

Robert Johnson, owner of New York Jets: $2.7 million

Winklevoss twins: $2.6 million

Kenny Troutt of Excel Communications: $2.2 million

George Bishop of GeoSouthern Energy: $2 million

J. Joe Ricketts of TD Ameritrade: $2 million

Chevron: $2 million

Robinhood Markets: $2 million

Andrew Beal of Beal Bank: $1.8 million

Don Ahern of Xtreme Manufacturing: $1.1 million

Roger Penske of Penske Corporation: $1.1 million

Steve Wynn: $1.1 million

Richard Kurtz of The Kamson Corporation: $1.1 million

Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners: $1 million

Douglas Leone of Sequoia Capital: $1 million

OpenAI: $1 million

ExxonMobil: $1 million

Amazon: $1 million

Meta: $1 million

Uber: $1 million

Boeing: $1 million

Qualcomm: $1 million

Coinbase: $1 million

Kraken: $1 million

Galaxy Digital Holdings: $1 million

Crypto.com: $1 million

Paradigm Operations: $1 million

Goldman Sachs: $1 million

Altria: $1 million

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America: $1 million

Bayer: $1 million

Johnson & Johnson: $1 million

National Association of Manufacturers: $1 million

AT&T: $1 million

Comcast: $1 million

Verizon: $1 million

Carrier: $1 million

Intuit: $1 million

Coupang: $1 million

GE Vernova: $500,000

QCells: $500,000

Ericsson: $500,000

CoreCivic: $500,000

GEO Group: $500,000

Abbott Laboratories: $500,000

PayPal: $250,000

HCA Healthcare: $250,000

Oklo Inc: $250,000

Coca-Cola: $250,000

American Beverage Association: $250,000

Syngenta: $250,000

International Flavors & Fragrances: $250,000

Elevance Health: $150,000

American Clean Power Association: $100,000

Instacart: $100,000

Airbnb: $100,000

Socure: $100,000

Barnes & Thornburg LLP: $100,000

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Today, a new revelation via Musk, "Elon Musk’s new X policy unwittingly exposes MAGA influencers as foreign trolls." https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-x-maga-influencers-foreign-b2870944.html

The discovery led Democratic influencer Harry Sisson to call it "easily one of the greatest days on this platform," the Daily Beast reports. “Seeing all of these MAGA accounts get exposed as foreign actors trying to destroy the United States is a complete vindication of Democrats, like myself and many on here, who have been warning about this”.

Dozens of right-wing accounts pushing U.S. political content were actually started in places like India, Russia, and Nigeria.

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Sir Okie Doke's avatar

Crazy, 100% Unfit Donald is:

a. A coward

b. A draft dodger

c. A Russian mole

d. A blow job artist

VOTE !!! . . . No Matter What !!!

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NEAL O'CONNOR's avatar

I don't quite feel your optimism, although it's not for a lack of trying. A Fox News poll says that Trump is doing a nose-dive over the economy and municipal occupation. His irrational truth social posts show us his toxic thinking! When his minions lose in 2026, he might start a war or just burn it all down.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

We may ever get another vote, but I think "Bubba" iciould be the Achilles Heel.

E.G. From NYT this morning. Dealbook: Sorkin.

New revelations from emails sent by the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have reverberated through the business and political worlds, including the retreat of Larry Summers from most public-facing roles.

Amid the renewed scrutiny, The Wall Street Journal has taken a look at how a machine with multiple associates made Epstein’s widespread abuse possible.

The Journal focuses on Darren Indyke, a lawyer who started working exclusively for Epstein around 1996, and Richard Kahn, who became Epstein’s in-house accountant in 2005. Both men denied knowledge of wrongdoing by Epstein or taking part in or willingly facilitating criminal activity.

From The Journal’s report:

While their boss was alive, part of their job was keeping his financial activities private. Indyke and Kahn created or were officers of entities that obscured transactions. Kahn managed the expenses, and Indyke withdrew cash in amounts that didn’t trigger federal reporting and pushed to relax travel restrictions that came with Epstein’s sex-offender status. Both explained away suspicious transactions in Epstein’s accounts when banks asked questions.

Another part of the job was dealing directly with women later revealed to have been caught in Epstein’s web. They facilitated marriages that turned out to be shams, sent payments to women who have since said they were abused and monitored the personal expenses Epstein was paying for.

Despite Kahn and Indyke’s denials, the two stand to potentially receive tens of millions, as beneficiaries of a trust tied to Epstein’s estate.

Some of Epstein’s victims told The Journal, they have had traumatic negotiations over payouts, which included the requirement that they sign releases barring them from bringing claims against Kahn and Indyke:

They said lawyers for Indyke and Kahn worked to keep payouts low and shamed victims over their correspondence with Epstein. This was especially painful, they said, given that the effect of Indyke and Kahn’s work had helped keep women trapped and the pair stood to benefit from keeping the payouts low.

______

As I keep sayin', Epstein is dead. His files are no longer the properties of his several lawyers and law firms and should be subpoenaed ASAP.

Pam Bondi doesn't have to be involved.

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Scott Camazine's avatar

Thom says, “I’ve been feeling something unusual these past few weeks: optimism. ”

Reading this does not elicit my optimism. It makes me sick, and fills me with rage”

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Mariantoon's avatar

Wind at our backs!

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Sophia Demas's avatar

I too feel optimistic, but I consider impeachment to be a pipe dream, at least at this point in time. I am relying on people's anger and waking up to being line to, the 2026 elections, losing in the courts, but most of all the release of the Epstein files. What I am most concerned about is that trump's personal militia is only amping up their illegal behaviors....

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Barry J Kaufman DO's avatar

My daughter's friend was beaten by police on the University of Chicago's campus when they came in the middle of the night to raid the encampments set up in solidarity with Palestine. That was under Biden. Thousands of students were brutalized and prosecuted by Biden's paramilitary for non-violent protest. College heads and professors were put through witch hunts in front of Congress. Democratic Party leadership sponsored bills making it a crime to criticize Israel (The Antisemitism Awareness Act). Nancy Pelosi, your favorite "progressive," claimed that student protestors were funded by Putin. Where were you through all of this Thom? You were absent because Democrats were enabling the suppression of free speech and violence against student protestors. This is not to deny Trump's infringement upon free speech, but perhaps if pundits like you and Robert Reich would have stood up for student rights (and Palestinian rights) instead of remaining ominously silent Trump wouldn't have such a precedent to build upon. Your selective outrage is part of the problem, not the solution. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/genocide-joe-says-theres-no-place

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Becky O A's avatar

As usual you are spot on, with clear writing and passionate calls to action. We should be very afraid, but we should also be very optimistic as this country is building from the grassroots up, not depending on our elected officials to save us. It will take a full-bodied attempt to stop this madness, cultivating unity with those we may disagree with on other issues but uniting on one. Trump must go, and the whole mess of sycophants with him, and not to Venezuela or Saudi Arabia as flight risks.

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Tom Halstead's avatar

Every elected Repugnican in Washington who has failed for whatever reason to restrain donvict shares equally in his guilt. No excuses, no mulligans.

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Julie Lewis's avatar

The Pentagon is conducting a thorough review of Mark Kelly, one of the senators on that video. Can you guess why?

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alis's avatar

Gee, I hope they find he is an American hero, Julie.

Wonder what will happen when TRump and Hegseth end up being "reviewed" by him. Oh wait, I already know, he'll do his duty and tell the truth.

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Clayton James Conway's avatar

Krasnov runs the presidency and country into the ground as good Putin puppies and handed peace treaty without American military input. The actual Chosen One is rising. Dragons are coming.

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Hal Brown's avatar

I struggle with pessimism - which I like to believe is realism - but today I found something to be optimistic about. I wrote about it in 200 New Yorkers tell Trump and ICE "not in my city!" This is why I love New York and New Yorkers.

I'm an example of the saying "you can take a New Yorker out of The City, but you can't take The City out of a New Yorker."

Reminder: Like you, Thom, I live in Portland. I'm in a continuing care senior facility where last week ICE arrested a man working on one of our construction projects. I got involved with a group working on ways to alert other residents that ICE was seen here. This included using whistle signals. This was done in NYC.

here>>> https://halbrown.substack.com/p/200-new-yorks-tell-trump-and-ice

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C. Jacobs's avatar

Recent history shows that an impeachment followed by trial and conviction, is only possible with a Democratic congressional majority. Until that's in place, any discussion of a congressional response to this regime's illegality seems premature.

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Joan Sele's avatar

The music was excellent. The song should be played on face book and on radio.

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