In my 82+ years of living, I have visions etched into my memory of water cannons and police dogs used against civil rights protesters in Alabama, the horrific murders of Emmett Till, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwermer in Mississippi and the murders of innocent blacks in Concordia Parish, Louisiana.
Invariably, with those civil rights attacks and killings, the perpetrators were either local redneck law enforcement officers with no regard for human life or just your run-of-the mill rednecks bent on killing innocent people.
Never did I imagine in my worst nightmares a scenario in which our own federal government would turn against citizens of this country. All that began to change when police brutally attacked demonstrators at the Democratic national convention in Chicago in 1968 and again in 1970 with the killing of students at Jackson State and Kent State universities.
Today, we are witnessing the daily mental deterioration of an unstable president and his hand-picked collection of Joseph Goebbels/Heinrich Himmler wannabes like Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, Pam Bondi, J.D. Vance, Kristi Noem and Kash Patel.
And make no mistake, they’re not above lying to cover their own asses. Don’t believe me? Just ask yourself if you can recall a single time when any of them have owned up to any mistake or issued a public apology for something that occurred on their watch.
They don’t make mistakes. That’s their top priority: never admit you’re wrong about anything. Frankly, I have a lot of trouble with people who cannot face up to their own responsibilities.
And Noem yesterday, following the completely senseless shooting death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, saying she was “praying” for him. Like hell she was. That (excuse my candor) heartless bitch most likely doesn’t know the first thing about prayer. This is a woman who admitted she shot a puppy because it would hunt to please her. So now, she’s going to stand at a podium and tell us what went down in the latest murder by ICE agents in Minneapolis? Spare me. I wasn’t there; she wasn’t there. Neither of were eyewitnesses to the homicide.
She claimed, without a shred of evidence to back up her assertion, “This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism.”
Here’s another lie by Noem, who apparently loves shooting from the lip: “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” Yeah, with a CELLPHONE.
But there were plenty of those who were there who have given sworn oaths that Pretti was NOT brandishing a weapon; he was attempting to assist a woman who ICE agents had set up on one of their now-familiar attacks of body-slamming, choke-holds, bear spray and tear gas.
What’s the real reason Minnesota is ground-zero in Trump’s war on America? Simple. There’s an election there this year and the Repugnantcans are so desperate to flip Minnesota, they’re willing to destroy basic freedoms in an entire state.
Oh, you think it’s about that child-care fraud? Think again. Sure, it’s an issue and something that should never have been allowed to occur, especially on such a large scale.
But, as I’ve said here a couple time already, why doesn’t Trump have his Depends in a wad over the welfare fraud next door in Mississippi? That’s easy to answer. Mississippi is already a red state, so there’s no need to go barging in there.
Think ol’ Yam Tits is offended by fraud? Nah. Look at Trump University, a debacle that saw him ordered by the results of a class-action lawsuit to refund $25 million to students he cheated. Want more? Try the Donald J. Trump Foundation which in 2018, was sued because it misused charity funds intended for children suffering from cancer for business and political purposes. Again, the court ordered Trump to refund $2 million and Trump agreed to CEASE OPERATIONS of its foundation as part of the settlement.
Trump has made it his goal to rid Minnesota of all those illegal immigrants. But LET’S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS. Minnesota has a whopping 130,000 undocumented immigrants. Texas, meanwhile has 1.2 million and Florida has 1.6 million. Both Texas and Florida are decidedly red states, so no need to dispatch ICE there, right?
The presence of ICE and Homeland Security is no more about immigration than the invasion of Venezuela was about drugs or the desire to annex Greenland is about national security. It’s a ruse, just like the entirety of this administration.
Want further evidence? In a letter dated Jan. 24 (the same day as the Pretti murder) Bodi wrote a THREE-PAGE LETTER to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in which, among other demands, she told Walz if he wanted a return to normalcy, he should “allow the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to access voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law…”
She added, “I am confident that these simple steps will help bring back law an order to Minnesota and improve the lives of Americans.”
We are under siege in this country. The plantation boss of Mar-a-Lardo is going to take every step possible to either assure a Repugnantcan win in the mid-terms or, failing that, attempt to cancel the elections altogether, even if it comes to invoking the Insurrection Act. He is a ruthless, bigoted, despot and the U.S. Constitution means absolutely nothing to him.
It’s up to us to take whatever legal measure necessary to stop this man, whether be the 25th Amendment or a third impeachment.
Louisiana Voice 
The evidence is clear and has been for the many decades I’ve walked the Earth: No matter who you are you will not come out a winner in a confrontation with law enforcement, even if it is only verbal.
For generations, Black fathers have admonished their sons to comply with orders from law enforcement officers no matter what. And even that doesn’t always work (see the Ronald Greene case [“Despite immediately attempting to surrender and comply—body camera footage revealed Greene saying “I’m your brother! I’m scared!”—he was repeatedly stunned with a Taser, punched, and dragged by white Louisiana State Troopers.”]. In that case and many others the law enforcement officers involved have been cleared of any wrong-doing. Don’t take my word for it, do a little research.
We now find ourselves, collectively, with no choice but to follow the black fathers’ advice without certainty it will save us.
And, justice is far from blind or impartial. If you live, that is your only real victory once you find yourself on the wrong side of the system. Dr. King famously said, “The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice.” I no longer believe that and rather believe it has made a U-turn, particularly over the past year.
Many research projects and history have proven the axiom that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In that context, how do current policies, including those of the leader of our country and his minions help anything? Many of them believe bald-faced lies can be used with impunity to defend anything even when all evidence points to the truth -and it seems to work for them.
People were mad about how our government was working (or not) before Trump was elected the first time and continued to be when he was elected again. Except for the masochistic among us, who thinks what is happening now is good and promotes unity or anything else to calm us? Quite the contrary, people on both sides are madder than ever and, as long as we are all willing to live under an authoritarian regime, things can only get worse.
In my experience, it does no good to contact Congress unless congressional aides keep tick sheets on constituent concerns and, even then, the minority views get ignored. We can, and must, vote every opportunity we have and hope the integrity of our voting system can be maintained.
Spawned by a ruthless real estate bigot-with brains-His own mother lamented (“What kind of son have I created?) and groomed by a demented lawyer named Roy Cohn-who was the right hand influencer to Joe McCarthy- Trump has mangled and bungled his way through life. He says those who serve the country in the military are “losers” Yet he flaunts the military might of the USA and operates on the basis of might makes right. He lies, disembles and contradicts and calls it “weaving.” He has infested the government with individuals who in order to be qualified must be unfit-except for a pathetic-self serving -loyalty to the deranged leader. As to his wrecking ball approach to the upcoming election it is questionable as to whether he was rightfully elected the second time. Elon Musk threw close to 3oo million into the Trump campaign so he could become the DOGE in chief. He mangled and bungled his way through and justly damaged his brand and stock price in the bargain. It is speculated that he may have exercised technological shenanigans as well. How this despicable clown con man has managed to hornswaggle so many voters is a said commentary on the health of the American electorate. When Ben Franklin was asked “What kind of a country are you giving us?” He said “A republic-if you can keep it.” Push has come to shove.
It cannot be made plainer than you have. How can we possibly respect such a person and those who support him? And, how can even 30% of our fellow citizens rationalize their support? All they’ve got is attacks on people who don’t support him, including his predecessor, blaming everything on them and not spending a second thinking about the horrible things he has done to our country, much less defending them.
It’s state-sanctioned murder, plain and simple. In Pretti’s case he was exercising his constitutionally protected First Amendment right to protest the government and his constitutionally protected Second Amendment right to posses a firearm. But did the Constitution protect Alex Getti? No. The ICE Nazis summarily executed him for exercising his rights and the perpetrators of this murder are protected by an utterly corrupt Homeland Security, FBI, and DOJ and will never be held accountable for their murder of Alex Pretti. State-sanctioned murder. By the fascist Trump administration. Supported by tens of millions of morally bankrupt MAGA fascists. Even if Democrats regain power the MAGA fascists aren’t going to stop selling us out. They aren’t going to stop betraying the Constitution and the rule of Law. They aren’t going to stop murdering their fellow Americans whom they see as the greatest threat to their existence. They aren’t going to stop until the rest of us stop them. Permanently.
Well said, Paul.