Adam, you’re documenting the assault on the First Amendment comprehensively.
But here’s what matters: Trump isn’t trampling rights because he doesn’t understand the Founders. He’s trampling them because he knows institutions won’t stop him.
FCC threats, DOJ raids on journalists, students arrested for speech, ICE killing protesters on camera. The regime isn’t worried about constitutional violations. They’re counting on the gap between when they act and when courts rule (if they rule).
The Founders made free speech a bedrock right so citizens would recognize tyrants. We recognize him. The question is what happens when recognition doesn’t stop tyranny because the institutions designed to constrain it won’t or can’t.
Minneapolis forced tactical retreat not because courts vindicated First Amendment rights, but because 50,000 people made continuing too expensive. That’s the lesson: constitutional rights exist when enforced by people willing to impose costs for violations, not when written on paper.
You have to stand up to cheap, pissant bullies. You just have to. No matter how difficult, no matter the cost. Bullies can never be permitted to own the playground -- the unambiguous message from World War II, on this January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Everything that is happening now is so depressing and frightening. Congress and the “Supreme” Court (which is no longer Supreme) are not doing their jobs and we have a Cabinet full of clowns who are not qualified to be in those positions. Many of us are doing what we can… calling our legislators, writing letters and post cards, protesting, but is it helping? I guess it’s better than doing nothing.
It's comforting that being very noisy can make a difference. I believe that it did in the 18th century. I hope that history can repeat itself. I hope that institutions can begin to take Nancy Regan's advice about the drug problem. I hope that they can learn to JUST SAY NO!
Adam, as a left leaning centrist and practical results driven (Social issues) Democrat i really appreciate your stances and approach. Especially since I know we'd disagree and agree across a wide range of policy issues. I'd love to hear your thoughts on calling for a Constitutional Convention to reinforce, and update/amend out living breathing Constitution (as out founders intended). While incredibly hard I believe it would be healing and help reunite Americans with a common interest in our democracy surviving and flourishing. Thoughts?
Reforming the U.S. Supreme Court must be the first action the democrats take when they retake the house, senate and White House in 2028. Otherwise, the Republicans will use the Roberts court to block real reform in many areas of government where it is sorely needed.
In a righteous world, removing Thomas would have happened long ago. Which makes me realize, none of our current crisis is new; it’s been building in our GOP minority rule for decades,
Unfortunately it’s going to be awhile before we can hope to put better judges onto SCOTUS. We will need a whole new govt with a new President and a rational Congress
Imposing term limits to SCOTUS will require a Constitutional amendment to alter the Article III lifetime appointment clause. Good luck getting 2/3 majority in both houses and ratification by 3/4 of the states.
Allen, point well taken. Whether Congress can statutorily enact term limits or whether a constitutional amendment is required is an open question. However, Congress has the power to increase the number of justices on the court. It may be necessary to rebalance the Supreme Court by adding justices before attempting to statutorily establish term limits and mandatory retirement thus increasing the chances that the Supreme Court won’t strike the laws as unconstitutional.
Understood Danny, but ratcheting up the number of Justices to get more votes than the opposition is a spiral staircase to nowhere. What's the correct number? 12? 15? 21? Where does it stop?
We could fill a large library with records of Trump’s violations of our laws in just one year. It may require a new unit of government (as they did with DOGE) to handle all the investigations and prosecutions. Assuming we get the chance, it will take years.
I read a poll last night that said 36% of Americans are okay with the current tactics of ICE. That means one out of three people I encounter are leaning sociopaths. It’s hard to feel optimistic about the task of applying justice in the near future.
36% may only listening to lying media accounts. I watched the difference in what I will now call the “paid agitators” who lied about what happened in the case of Alex Pretti and the videos presented on other media outlets.
The “paid agitators” on News Nation and other talking heads who showed up, still claiming that Alex was part of a “riot”, were there to deceive the American public.
Too many videos, from too many different people showed that to be false. Anyone who continued with the “riot” narrative should have made to PROVE It.
The brainwashing of the American people by the right wing media has resulted in the upside down reality that the 36% believe in.
I think about this a lot. Where I’ve landed is that people who listen to right wing media are making a deliberate choice. Which means they already contain the traits of random anger and hate that right wing media feeds. The seeds were present inside the viewers already. They didn’t get trapped; they were already there, looking for confirmation. The fault lies in our system that sees propaganda as protected free speech - as long as profit is involved!
I’d really like to know more about how other western democracies handle right wing propaganda.
Use the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. I am so proud of fellow Montanans who are writing great letters to the editor and op-eds about this regime.
But wait . . . there's more. This sounds like a 3:00AM Infomercial. Tacky. Cheesy. This can't be for real kind of advertisement? Yes, it's exactly like that. There's the grift, the corruption, the self-serving blandishments. It exceeds anything Barnum and Bailey Circuses would ever have considered possible. The intimidation of allies, the destruction of international trade, the degradation of our military capability. The breaking of norms. The erosion of trust. The obstruction of justice. Crushing The Rule of Law. In its place - The Law of the Jungle. We The People had better recognize Minnesota's Resolve and adopt it for ourselves. Without that resolve, The Tyrant will Trample the First Amendment and all the others plus the Bill of Rights and The Constitution in its entirety. Thank you Minnesota. You got us.
I appreciate your honest analysis of the horrifying events unfolding in this country that threaten our individual freedom.
As you report on ICE activities and Border Patrol activities, I ask that a clear distinction is made between them and law enforcement. As a retired chief of police after 35 years in law enforcement, what ICE and Border Patrol are doing is far from law enforcement. On the International Association of Chiefs of Police website the organization is calling on the White House to convene a joint federal, state and local discussion on public safety. I encourage you to read this message as it clearly describes their position.
Thank you so much for the critical work you are doing to help save our country.
Great summary of the 1A abuses by this administration and their sycophants, Adam. Remember, it has always been donffrey trumpstein's standard operating procedure to file lawsuits that have a low probability of success against his detractors. The expense of the target's legal defense is the punishment he is trying to exact. Further, to a quote attributed to Mark Twain, " "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes". Trumpstein, as a marketeer at heart, wants to shape the narrative before the facts get out and rational opposition can get started. We have seen this shameful tactic used an uncountable number of times by him over the years. Too bad his supporters are so gullible to believe what he says anymore.
This was an important reminder that it ain’t over, even as our favorite ogre Bovino gets pushed aside. The rot still runs deep and we are still in trouble. Oh I’m so tired.
I've worked as a professional journalist for more than 30 years. I didn't cover politics, but when I started sharing my political views in essays on Substack, I received threats and other deeply concerning messages about my writings. Every day I get half a dozen fake subscribers. I decided to remove those writings from Substack. We are losing our freedom of the press.
Demagoguery is what is shown. Trump, however, talks about his own demise. That trend of thought is more dangerous than anyone realizes. At the end, Hitler, frustrated by his own bad choices, decided that Germany having failed him should die with him. Trump, on the other hand, is looking for immortality. Though vague on historical events, Trump understands how Hitler became immortal. At his age, (something I face as well) Trump is very aware of his own mortality. If he overthroughs the country and ends the Constitution, he will have been the only person to conquer America. Trump will have been the last president and first emperor, albeit dictator. His surroundings of gold scream the want. He has no care of what happens afterwards. He will be dead and the country will probably never recover. Except in science fiction, we have really never considered the U.S no longer being united. In time the country will break apart due to extreme political differences. Some may merge with Canada, several will form their own confederacies, and some will go it alone. This is not replicating Chicken Little frightened the sky is falling. The Founders expressed these same fears when forming the Constitution. The Founders knew of emotional power politics driven by inflamed emotions. Here and now, the rendering of America will be longer and prove much more complex, but it will happen. Trump knows he will have changed all of world history permanently, thus his name will live in perpetuity. Av vision of he, Trump, will be known for centuries to come. He will have built, for himself, one of the great monuments in history. Sacrificing a country and all of its people will just add to his golden fantasy of infamy. Trump will live forever; his version of immortality.
He will go on to be remembered as an absolute shit stain on humanity. The name Trump is now and will be forever tarnished. America’s Hitler, that’s how this POS will be labeled and remembered.
His niece Mary Trump has said that if he thinks he's going down, he'll try to take everyone else with him. I believe her. Death is the ultimate "going down" that we all share. What will happen if he realizes he's going to die soon?
Isn’t this saying something when the lawyer for Johnathan Ross is quitting the Governor race because couldn’t win given the Trump administration’s violent campaign in the state of Minnesota? What has Ross told Madel about how ice is being managed in Minnesota. Are the agents starting to realize they are pawns in Trumps game?
I detest what ice is today, but were the ice agents set up to be this violent & unprofessional? We know that most of them are vulnerable, likely bullied as children. Easily manipulated. Easy picking to do what they wanted.
Lawyer for Jonathan Ross Quits Minnesota Governor Race and Denounces ICE
Chris Madel said that national Republicans have made it “nearly impossible” to win a statewide election.
A Republican attorney in Minneapolis who gave legal counsel to the ICE agent who shot and killed Renée Good dropped out of the Minnesota governor’s race on Monday, saying he couldn’t win given the Trump administration’s violent campaign in the state.
Chris Madel stated in a Monday announcement video that, “national Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.” Despite dropping out, Madel claimed to still support Trump’s “originally stated goals” of going after the “worst of the worst,” meaning people convicted of serious crimes.”
Madel criticized the Trump administration’s justification for the cruelty. “Operation Metro Surge has expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats,” he said. “United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying their papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong.”
He continued: “I 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 also defended his decision to provide legal advice to ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who killed Good earlier this month, saying he helped Ross “fill out a form” because “I believe the constitutional right to counsel is sacrosanct.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, although Madel largely campaigned on his record of going after fraud, many of his cases were defenses of law enforcement.
In 2024, Madel represented Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan, who was accused of killing 33-year-old Ricky Cobb by firing several shots at him while in his vehicle. Londregan faced murder, assault, and manslaughter charges, but they were dropped later that year.
At the end of the day, Madel said, “I have to look my daughters in the eye and tell them ‘I believe I did what was right.'”
Madel’s decision comes as some Republicans have publicly voiced opposition to the DHS operation in Minnesota, especially after Border Patrol agents killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, on Saturday.
The Department of Homeland Security claims that Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Multiple videos of the shooting refute this framing.
Experienced federal immigration agents in Minneapolis are privately raging about the killing of nurse Alex Pretti and want out of the mission they now see as “lost,” according to a new report.
ICE and Border Patrol agents are said to have turned on the operation—and on their colleagues who blasted Pretti. The 37-year-old VA ICU nurse was shot multiple times in the back in a confrontation captured on video last Saturday.
The deadly incident followed another fatal shooting two weeks earlier by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, 43, of unarmed 37-year-old mom Renee Nicole Good, which has caused a leadership crisis inside the Department of Homeland Security—and a crisis of confidence on the frontline.
“This is a no-win situation for agents on the ground or immigration enforcement overall,” one Border Patrol agent wrote in a private chat obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein and published on his Substack mailout. “I think it’s time to pull out of Minnesota, that battle is lost,” they added. Anger towards federal agents grew in the wake of Good’s killing, with the Daily Beast reporting earlier this month that they feared for their own safety. Pretti’s death has made the feeling more pointed, Klippenstein reports.
Morale inside the ranks is described as collapsing. One veteran ICE agent—one of six Klippenstein reportedly spoke to for the article titled “ICE Unloads”—bemoaned that “the brand new agents are idiots.” He blamed what he saw as lowered hiring standards for the chaos in Minnesota.
A newer recruit agreed that “a lot of the guys… are honestly pretty sketchy,” describing colleagues who pass around a flask on stakeouts and show off “weird tattoos”—the kind of crew he had not expected to find in federal law enforcement.
Agents also gripe that Washington has dragged them away from immigration work and into street confrontations with protesters by labeling demonstrators as “impeding” federal functions and branding “Antifa” and other leftists as radicals and terrorists.
Threat briefings are now fixated on alleged “retaliatory” plots against ICE and Border Patrol after the deaths of Pretti and Good. “Lots of people are freaking out,” one officer told Klippenstein, saying agents are “getting seriously paranoid, afraid of being targeted by ‘retaliators,’” and talk as if “we are fighting insurgents,” turning Minneapolis into a domestic Baghdad.
The result, officers say, is an overstretched and physically and emotionally shattered force. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) teams are “being squeezed heavily” to police protests rather than tracking down immigration targets.
This, they say, leaves “lots of guys totally exhausted out there with a lot of pressure on them” to conduct non-immigration missions, one officer said. Another warned that the FBI is now “reluctant to participate” in any Minneapolis task forces.
Behind the scenes, senior managers are said to be vanishing into back-to-back legal meetings with DHS lawyers about the fallout from both killings. On the ground, agents interpret that as a leadership vacuum.
All of which, the agents believe, caused the deaths of Good and, more so, Pretti.
One ICE agent seethed to Klippenstein that it was “yet another ‘justified’ fatal shooting… ten versus one and somehow they couldn’t find a way to subdue the guy or use a less than lethal” method.
The agent added, “They all carry belts and vests with 9,000 pieces of equipment on them and the best they can do is shoot a guy in the back?”
A Border Patrol agent in the same private chat warned that “this individual was shot 8 to 9 times while unarmed” and complained about a “knee jerk damage control narrative that does not line up with the evidence on video.”
“We can’t always support what happens just because it’s one of us,” he said, according to Klippenstein’s reporting.
Their anger is colliding with a political crisis already engulfing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 54, who has reportedly seen her handpicked “commander at large,” Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, 55, demoted by President Donald Trump, 79.
The Daily Beast reported Monday that Trump’s immigration czar, Stephen Miller, and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, had turned against Noem. They blame the Homeland Security secretary and her chief adviser and rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski, for the decision to make Bovino and his masked “Green Machine” squads, who have been regularly filmed manhandling civilians nationwide, the public face of Trump’s deportation blitz.
Hours later, Bovino was gone, his official government social media accounts suspended, and border czar Tom Homan parachuted in to take charge on the ground.
Homan will be aided, the Daily Beast can reveal, by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, whom Noem sidelined in favor of Bovino in what Miller saw as a “miscalculation,” but who is believed to have been sent to Minneapolis overnight for the first time.
Noem—nicknamed ICE Barbie for her love of filmed immigration raids—is heavily rumored to be on her way out, too, taking Lewandowski with her.
Outside the bubble, the public mood is turning sharply. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published Monday found only 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, a record low for his presidency, with 58 percent saying ICE has “gone too far” in its activities.
Trump himself has edged away from the most incendiary rhetoric. While Miller has branded Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she has not heard the president use that term.
Trump also posted a notably mild Truth Social statement saying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had called him “with the request to work together,” calling it “a very good call” and saying they were “on a similar wavelength.”
On the streets, though, the federal agents Klippenstein spoke to say no amount of spin can change what happened—or what it is doing to them.
One senior ICE agent summed up his reaction to Pretti’s killing in two words: “F--k this.”
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS and the White House for comment.
When I was younger, I read a lot of science fiction. One story by Harlan Ellison that I remember was called "I have no mouth, and I must scream". Somehow, I think that fits the situation, does it not?
Back in the day there used to be a trope: "What did you do in the war, daddy?" .......... In time, it will go: "Did you stand up to Trump, daddy?" (or mommy)
Adam, you’re documenting the assault on the First Amendment comprehensively.
But here’s what matters: Trump isn’t trampling rights because he doesn’t understand the Founders. He’s trampling them because he knows institutions won’t stop him.
FCC threats, DOJ raids on journalists, students arrested for speech, ICE killing protesters on camera. The regime isn’t worried about constitutional violations. They’re counting on the gap between when they act and when courts rule (if they rule).
The Founders made free speech a bedrock right so citizens would recognize tyrants. We recognize him. The question is what happens when recognition doesn’t stop tyranny because the institutions designed to constrain it won’t or can’t.
Minneapolis forced tactical retreat not because courts vindicated First Amendment rights, but because 50,000 people made continuing too expensive. That’s the lesson: constitutional rights exist when enforced by people willing to impose costs for violations, not when written on paper.
Thank you for this.
Johan
How can Trump understand the Founders when he doesn’t understand history and has no interest in educating himself?
Trump is interested only in Trump and money. No morals!
Concise summary of the year. Of course, guys like Mark Milley have been saying this for a long time. Ugh
Agreed!
He doesn't need to know history---he has Miller who does in fact know history, hence the surge to rewrite history as we know it.
You have to stand up to cheap, pissant bullies. You just have to. No matter how difficult, no matter the cost. Bullies can never be permitted to own the playground -- the unambiguous message from World War II, on this January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
American Masters tonight on PBS-
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/elie-wiesel-soul-on-fire-documentary/36980/
Everything that is happening now is so depressing and frightening. Congress and the “Supreme” Court (which is no longer Supreme) are not doing their jobs and we have a Cabinet full of clowns who are not qualified to be in those positions. Many of us are doing what we can… calling our legislators, writing letters and post cards, protesting, but is it helping? I guess it’s better than doing nothing.
It IS helping. “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” —Howard Zinn
Absolutely true
So eloquently stated! It's up to We the People now- tactical and sustained goals, brave, and persistent.
It's comforting that being very noisy can make a difference. I believe that it did in the 18th century. I hope that history can repeat itself. I hope that institutions can begin to take Nancy Regan's advice about the drug problem. I hope that they can learn to JUST SAY NO!
Adam, as a left leaning centrist and practical results driven (Social issues) Democrat i really appreciate your stances and approach. Especially since I know we'd disagree and agree across a wide range of policy issues. I'd love to hear your thoughts on calling for a Constitutional Convention to reinforce, and update/amend out living breathing Constitution (as out founders intended). While incredibly hard I believe it would be healing and help reunite Americans with a common interest in our democracy surviving and flourishing. Thoughts?
Reforming the U.S. Supreme Court must be the first action the democrats take when they retake the house, senate and White House in 2028. Otherwise, the Republicans will use the Roberts court to block real reform in many areas of government where it is sorely needed.
There are a couple of justices that should be reviewed for impeachment. Clarence Thomas heads that list.
In a righteous world, removing Thomas would have happened long ago. Which makes me realize, none of our current crisis is new; it’s been building in our GOP minority rule for decades,
Or at least mandatory retirement or term limits. Whatever it takes to get Alito and Thomas of the Court.
Unfortunately it’s going to be awhile before we can hope to put better judges onto SCOTUS. We will need a whole new govt with a new President and a rational Congress
Imposing term limits to SCOTUS will require a Constitutional amendment to alter the Article III lifetime appointment clause. Good luck getting 2/3 majority in both houses and ratification by 3/4 of the states.
Allen, point well taken. Whether Congress can statutorily enact term limits or whether a constitutional amendment is required is an open question. However, Congress has the power to increase the number of justices on the court. It may be necessary to rebalance the Supreme Court by adding justices before attempting to statutorily establish term limits and mandatory retirement thus increasing the chances that the Supreme Court won’t strike the laws as unconstitutional.
Understood Danny, but ratcheting up the number of Justices to get more votes than the opposition is a spiral staircase to nowhere. What's the correct number? 12? 15? 21? Where does it stop?
The most direct route: Expand the Court. There's nothing anywhere about only 9 justices.
Johan is absolutely correct. Your column is an important document to hold on to, review regularly and keep for the Trump judgement day.
We could fill a large library with records of Trump’s violations of our laws in just one year. It may require a new unit of government (as they did with DOGE) to handle all the investigations and prosecutions. Assuming we get the chance, it will take years.
I read a poll last night that said 36% of Americans are okay with the current tactics of ICE. That means one out of three people I encounter are leaning sociopaths. It’s hard to feel optimistic about the task of applying justice in the near future.
36% may only listening to lying media accounts. I watched the difference in what I will now call the “paid agitators” who lied about what happened in the case of Alex Pretti and the videos presented on other media outlets.
The “paid agitators” on News Nation and other talking heads who showed up, still claiming that Alex was part of a “riot”, were there to deceive the American public.
Too many videos, from too many different people showed that to be false. Anyone who continued with the “riot” narrative should have made to PROVE It.
The brainwashing of the American people by the right wing media has resulted in the upside down reality that the 36% believe in.
I think about this a lot. Where I’ve landed is that people who listen to right wing media are making a deliberate choice. Which means they already contain the traits of random anger and hate that right wing media feeds. The seeds were present inside the viewers already. They didn’t get trapped; they were already there, looking for confirmation. The fault lies in our system that sees propaganda as protected free speech - as long as profit is involved!
I’d really like to know more about how other western democracies handle right wing propaganda.
Agreed. I struggle to even comprehend how it’s even possible that 36% continue to support that buffoon!
Use the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. I am so proud of fellow Montanans who are writing great letters to the editor and op-eds about this regime.
But wait . . . there's more. This sounds like a 3:00AM Infomercial. Tacky. Cheesy. This can't be for real kind of advertisement? Yes, it's exactly like that. There's the grift, the corruption, the self-serving blandishments. It exceeds anything Barnum and Bailey Circuses would ever have considered possible. The intimidation of allies, the destruction of international trade, the degradation of our military capability. The breaking of norms. The erosion of trust. The obstruction of justice. Crushing The Rule of Law. In its place - The Law of the Jungle. We The People had better recognize Minnesota's Resolve and adopt it for ourselves. Without that resolve, The Tyrant will Trample the First Amendment and all the others plus the Bill of Rights and The Constitution in its entirety. Thank you Minnesota. You got us.
I appreciate your honest analysis of the horrifying events unfolding in this country that threaten our individual freedom.
As you report on ICE activities and Border Patrol activities, I ask that a clear distinction is made between them and law enforcement. As a retired chief of police after 35 years in law enforcement, what ICE and Border Patrol are doing is far from law enforcement. On the International Association of Chiefs of Police website the organization is calling on the White House to convene a joint federal, state and local discussion on public safety. I encourage you to read this message as it clearly describes their position.
Thank you so much for the critical work you are doing to help save our country.
Sincerely,
Linda Pillo
Great summary of the 1A abuses by this administration and their sycophants, Adam. Remember, it has always been donffrey trumpstein's standard operating procedure to file lawsuits that have a low probability of success against his detractors. The expense of the target's legal defense is the punishment he is trying to exact. Further, to a quote attributed to Mark Twain, " "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes". Trumpstein, as a marketeer at heart, wants to shape the narrative before the facts get out and rational opposition can get started. We have seen this shameful tactic used an uncountable number of times by him over the years. Too bad his supporters are so gullible to believe what he says anymore.
This was an important reminder that it ain’t over, even as our favorite ogre Bovino gets pushed aside. The rot still runs deep and we are still in trouble. Oh I’m so tired.
I've worked as a professional journalist for more than 30 years. I didn't cover politics, but when I started sharing my political views in essays on Substack, I received threats and other deeply concerning messages about my writings. Every day I get half a dozen fake subscribers. I decided to remove those writings from Substack. We are losing our freedom of the press.
Hope you change your mind. When people cave in to fear tactics, the threateners win.
P.S. I've found other more effective ways to get involved
You're right. But the stress was impacting my health.
What is that saying? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Trump is the living embodiment of that.
Demagoguery is what is shown. Trump, however, talks about his own demise. That trend of thought is more dangerous than anyone realizes. At the end, Hitler, frustrated by his own bad choices, decided that Germany having failed him should die with him. Trump, on the other hand, is looking for immortality. Though vague on historical events, Trump understands how Hitler became immortal. At his age, (something I face as well) Trump is very aware of his own mortality. If he overthroughs the country and ends the Constitution, he will have been the only person to conquer America. Trump will have been the last president and first emperor, albeit dictator. His surroundings of gold scream the want. He has no care of what happens afterwards. He will be dead and the country will probably never recover. Except in science fiction, we have really never considered the U.S no longer being united. In time the country will break apart due to extreme political differences. Some may merge with Canada, several will form their own confederacies, and some will go it alone. This is not replicating Chicken Little frightened the sky is falling. The Founders expressed these same fears when forming the Constitution. The Founders knew of emotional power politics driven by inflamed emotions. Here and now, the rendering of America will be longer and prove much more complex, but it will happen. Trump knows he will have changed all of world history permanently, thus his name will live in perpetuity. Av vision of he, Trump, will be known for centuries to come. He will have built, for himself, one of the great monuments in history. Sacrificing a country and all of its people will just add to his golden fantasy of infamy. Trump will live forever; his version of immortality.
He will go on to be remembered as an absolute shit stain on humanity. The name Trump is now and will be forever tarnished. America’s Hitler, that’s how this POS will be labeled and remembered.
His niece Mary Trump has said that if he thinks he's going down, he'll try to take everyone else with him. I believe her. Death is the ultimate "going down" that we all share. What will happen if he realizes he's going to die soon?
Let's follow the example of Madame Defarge and keep up with our knitting.
https://www.facebook.com/share/17rfr9iV15/
Here is proof
Isn’t this saying something when the lawyer for Johnathan Ross is quitting the Governor race because couldn’t win given the Trump administration’s violent campaign in the state of Minnesota? What has Ross told Madel about how ice is being managed in Minnesota. Are the agents starting to realize they are pawns in Trumps game?
I detest what ice is today, but were the ice agents set up to be this violent & unprofessional? We know that most of them are vulnerable, likely bullied as children. Easily manipulated. Easy picking to do what they wanted.
Lawyer for Jonathan Ross Quits Minnesota Governor Race and Denounces ICE
Chris Madel said that national Republicans have made it “nearly impossible” to win a statewide election.
A Republican attorney in Minneapolis who gave legal counsel to the ICE agent who shot and killed Renée Good dropped out of the Minnesota governor’s race on Monday, saying he couldn’t win given the Trump administration’s violent campaign in the state.
Chris Madel stated in a Monday announcement video that, “national Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.” Despite dropping out, Madel claimed to still support Trump’s “originally stated goals” of going after the “worst of the worst,” meaning people convicted of serious crimes.”
Madel criticized the Trump administration’s justification for the cruelty. “Operation Metro Surge has expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats,” he said. “United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear. United States citizens are carrying their papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong.”
He continued: “I 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 also defended his decision to provide legal advice to ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who killed Good earlier this month, saying he helped Ross “fill out a form” because “I believe the constitutional right to counsel is sacrosanct.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, although Madel largely campaigned on his record of going after fraud, many of his cases were defenses of law enforcement.
In 2024, Madel represented Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan, who was accused of killing 33-year-old Ricky Cobb by firing several shots at him while in his vehicle. Londregan faced murder, assault, and manslaughter charges, but they were dropped later that year.
At the end of the day, Madel said, “I have to look my daughters in the eye and tell them ‘I believe I did what was right.'”
Madel’s decision comes as some Republicans have publicly voiced opposition to the DHS operation in Minnesota, especially after Border Patrol agents killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, on Saturday.
The Department of Homeland Security claims that Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Multiple videos of the shooting refute this framing.
Experienced federal immigration agents in Minneapolis are privately raging about the killing of nurse Alex Pretti and want out of the mission they now see as “lost,” according to a new report.
ICE and Border Patrol agents are said to have turned on the operation—and on their colleagues who blasted Pretti. The 37-year-old VA ICU nurse was shot multiple times in the back in a confrontation captured on video last Saturday.
The deadly incident followed another fatal shooting two weeks earlier by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, 43, of unarmed 37-year-old mom Renee Nicole Good, which has caused a leadership crisis inside the Department of Homeland Security—and a crisis of confidence on the frontline.
“This is a no-win situation for agents on the ground or immigration enforcement overall,” one Border Patrol agent wrote in a private chat obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein and published on his Substack mailout. “I think it’s time to pull out of Minnesota, that battle is lost,” they added. Anger towards federal agents grew in the wake of Good’s killing, with the Daily Beast reporting earlier this month that they feared for their own safety. Pretti’s death has made the feeling more pointed, Klippenstein reports.
Morale inside the ranks is described as collapsing. One veteran ICE agent—one of six Klippenstein reportedly spoke to for the article titled “ICE Unloads”—bemoaned that “the brand new agents are idiots.” He blamed what he saw as lowered hiring standards for the chaos in Minnesota.
A newer recruit agreed that “a lot of the guys… are honestly pretty sketchy,” describing colleagues who pass around a flask on stakeouts and show off “weird tattoos”—the kind of crew he had not expected to find in federal law enforcement.
Agents also gripe that Washington has dragged them away from immigration work and into street confrontations with protesters by labeling demonstrators as “impeding” federal functions and branding “Antifa” and other leftists as radicals and terrorists.
Threat briefings are now fixated on alleged “retaliatory” plots against ICE and Border Patrol after the deaths of Pretti and Good. “Lots of people are freaking out,” one officer told Klippenstein, saying agents are “getting seriously paranoid, afraid of being targeted by ‘retaliators,’” and talk as if “we are fighting insurgents,” turning Minneapolis into a domestic Baghdad.
The result, officers say, is an overstretched and physically and emotionally shattered force. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) teams are “being squeezed heavily” to police protests rather than tracking down immigration targets.
This, they say, leaves “lots of guys totally exhausted out there with a lot of pressure on them” to conduct non-immigration missions, one officer said. Another warned that the FBI is now “reluctant to participate” in any Minneapolis task forces.
Behind the scenes, senior managers are said to be vanishing into back-to-back legal meetings with DHS lawyers about the fallout from both killings. On the ground, agents interpret that as a leadership vacuum.
All of which, the agents believe, caused the deaths of Good and, more so, Pretti.
One ICE agent seethed to Klippenstein that it was “yet another ‘justified’ fatal shooting… ten versus one and somehow they couldn’t find a way to subdue the guy or use a less than lethal” method.
The agent added, “They all carry belts and vests with 9,000 pieces of equipment on them and the best they can do is shoot a guy in the back?”
A Border Patrol agent in the same private chat warned that “this individual was shot 8 to 9 times while unarmed” and complained about a “knee jerk damage control narrative that does not line up with the evidence on video.”
“We can’t always support what happens just because it’s one of us,” he said, according to Klippenstein’s reporting.
Their anger is colliding with a political crisis already engulfing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 54, who has reportedly seen her handpicked “commander at large,” Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, 55, demoted by President Donald Trump, 79.
The Daily Beast reported Monday that Trump’s immigration czar, Stephen Miller, and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, had turned against Noem. They blame the Homeland Security secretary and her chief adviser and rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski, for the decision to make Bovino and his masked “Green Machine” squads, who have been regularly filmed manhandling civilians nationwide, the public face of Trump’s deportation blitz.
Hours later, Bovino was gone, his official government social media accounts suspended, and border czar Tom Homan parachuted in to take charge on the ground.
Homan will be aided, the Daily Beast can reveal, by Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, whom Noem sidelined in favor of Bovino in what Miller saw as a “miscalculation,” but who is believed to have been sent to Minneapolis overnight for the first time.
Noem—nicknamed ICE Barbie for her love of filmed immigration raids—is heavily rumored to be on her way out, too, taking Lewandowski with her.
Outside the bubble, the public mood is turning sharply. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published Monday found only 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, a record low for his presidency, with 58 percent saying ICE has “gone too far” in its activities.
Trump himself has edged away from the most incendiary rhetoric. While Miller has branded Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she has not heard the president use that term.
Trump also posted a notably mild Truth Social statement saying Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had called him “with the request to work together,” calling it “a very good call” and saying they were “on a similar wavelength.”
On the streets, though, the federal agents Klippenstein spoke to say no amount of spin can change what happened—or what it is doing to them.
One senior ICE agent summed up his reaction to Pretti’s killing in two words: “F--k this.”
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS and the White House for comment.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
When I was younger, I read a lot of science fiction. One story by Harlan Ellison that I remember was called "I have no mouth, and I must scream". Somehow, I think that fits the situation, does it not?
Back in the day there used to be a trope: "What did you do in the war, daddy?" .......... In time, it will go: "Did you stand up to Trump, daddy?" (or mommy)