I’ve changed my mind. Since ICE appears at our schools to kidnap children, I think every teacher should be required to carry a gun.
Teachers Packing?
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Category Archives: Politics
ICE at the Super Bowl
This ought to be interesting.
On February 9th, the Super Bowl will feature the Seattle Seahawks vs. the New England Patriots. In less than two weeks, two teams from two very liberal cities will play each other for the NFL title at one of the most left-leaning metropolises in the United States. Approximately 75,000 people will make their way to Levi Stadium in the Bay Area on Super Sunday. After the tragedies in Minnesota, I don’t think the good people of California, Washington, or Massachusetts are going to be in the mood to put up with ICE agents milling around the premises, searching for people with the wrong color of skin or accent. Yet Kristi Noem thought the Super Bowl presented a real opportunity to send her crackpot team of Proud Boys on a people-hunting safari.
The first problem Homeland Security has is that people no longer take ICE agents seriously. Since most of the recruits look like they couldn’t run a mile in under 15 minutes if their life depended on it, have no training in police work, and give off a strong vibe of societal dropouts, they are seen as the equivalent of Mall Cops in fake Army garb.
My guess is that if ICE starts hassling ticket holders for no apparent reason, they will be met with serious resistance and seriously outnumbered. GTFOH!
I don’t see this ending well for ICE. It’s kind of like throwing a party and then the Pharaohs decide to show up to crash it, only you have 75,000 people on your side.
Should We Let Fear or Conscience Motivate Us?
On January 7th, Renee Nicole Good’s life was taken by ICE officer Jonathan Ross. She was shot in the face while driving her Ford Explorer, trying to exit a hostile scene in Minnesota. Republicans couldn’t wait to get booked on news channels so they could spread the “Obey in Advance” message that aligns with their keeping people in fear strategy. The problem is, fear doesn’t work. It never has. The event sparked protests across the country, rivaling those of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin.
The citizens of the United States, in general, can protest without too much fear, but there are exceptions. That could change, though, depending on how far Republicans and the Supreme Court are willing to allow the Trump administration wage their war on people of color. As ICE raids more cities and our friends and neighbors are kidnapped from their schools and homes, there will be more and bigger protests. Bank on it.
The people of Iran, however, do live in fear. In the past month, it’s estimated that between 2,400 and 3,400 people have been killed in the Iranian regime’s crackdown on protests. Yet we see women throwing their hijabs in bonfires and dancing in the streets. That is courage. Everything to lose and no fucks left to give. My hat is off to them.
The thing is, fear works until it doesn’t. I have a nasty habit of relating everything back to religion, but it’s relevant in this case. Growing up, we’re taught to fear hell. The message is behave, or else! Youth are exposed to the idea of a fiery place where they’re being burned alive for eternity with no cookies and no Xbox. If that’s not an incentive, then I don’t know what is. But it only works as long as you believe the threat. Once the idea of a place like hell seems a little fishy, then fear of it no longer applies. It’s the same thing with protests in the United States and Iran. At some point, enough people get out in the streets and say, “We dare you to come get all of us.” The reward of gaining what you’re protesting for makes the risk of joining others in the protest worth it.
My siblings and I were raised in the Catholic tradition. For me, this included five years in parochial school. It was the full enchilada—Church, School, and Parish life, all reinforced at home. In grades 1-3, the message was more aligned with fear. In no uncertain terms, there was this omnipotent God out there, who could get mad and destroy things, even entire civilizations, if he didn’t like how things were going. And if you dared break any of the 10 Commandments, it’ll be eternity in hell for you. In retrospect, it was only a reflection of the fear and pestilence narrative from the Old Testament, but we didn’t know that at the time. We chose to obey in advance, if for no other reason, to keep the peace. The problem is that as kids get closer to the age of reason, many say, “Wait a minute! I’m not sure I buy into this eternity in hell narrative,” and the fear-factor strategy loses its effectiveness.
Catholicism has a well-deserved reputation as a religion heavily steeped in the guilt factor. I experienced this firsthand. It comes into play when the education system begins to focus on matters of conscience. So instead of talking about hell to get you to behave the way they want, they might ask, “How is your conscience doing following your nasty behavior towards John on the playground?” Of course, we would drop our heads and say, “Not so good.”
But here’s the thing. Instilling a conscience in students can be an effective tool for a person for an entire lifetime. Maybe Catholicism went a little overboard with it, but I’m glad they finally shifted away from the fear factor and onto another message I could actually relate to. Be considerate. Other people’s feelings matter. Don’t be a pig. And if you don’t, you should feel guilty! Not because God is going to send you to a fiery place, but because you want to be a good human being, don’t you? Don’t you?
When I used to interview candidates for jobs at a former employer, we tried to look for people who weren’t job hoppers. We were about to make an investment in a new hire, and the investment doesn’t pay off unless the person can actually use the training we’ve invested in them and move the ball forward for the company. If I liked a candidate enough, I’d probe a little into their background to see whether they had more long-term interests and might stay a while. Of course, they can lie, and the company would have no recourse, but I played this one straight up. I would just make a statement to appeal to their conscience, but in a humorous way. “We really like it when candidates work out and stay a few years, and that’s what we would hope from you. Of course, every employer is at-will, and you can do whatever you need to, but if you were to leave, we would want you to feel guilty [usually laughs].” Nothing threatening about it, just appealing to your good sense of a fair deal.
Sadly, the conscience strategy has no chance with the Trump administration because they don’t have one, so we have to fight their egregious, racist, greedy policies with activism and resistance, and then vote people in at all levels who have a conscience.
Conquerers Beware
This mystery of who killed JFK still remains unsolved. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone, but some believe that Oswald’s connection to Cuba was more than a coincidence. JFK did attempt to invade Cuba in the now infamous Bay of Pigs incident.
If anything were to happen to Trump, the right-wingers would love nothing more than to blame it on a woke liberal with Trump Derangement Syndrome. Odds are, though, that if there were to be an unhinged assailant, it’s far more likely to be a nut-case from his own party. You don’t have to look any further than the incident that nicked Trump’s ear in Wilkes-Barre, PA, or Utah Valley University and Charlie Kirk’s unfortunate demise to find examples of disgruntled MAGAs with a gun and an axe to grind.
As recently as yesterday, Trump, having visions of grandeur, waxed poetically from Air Force One about taking over Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Iran, and Mexico, in addition to his recent ‘capture’ of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Greenland wasn’t a huge surprise, as he’s shared his unfiltered thoughts about a hostile takeover there in the past, but the others on the list are new territory for him.
The problem for right-wingers, then, is that once your leader threatens over eight percent of the world’s population with hostile takeover, it will be much harder to blame it on a bleeding heart liberal in your own country. The Secret Service would be wise to hire more personnel to keep an eye on Pelé (that’s what his caddies call him, because he kicks his golf ball out from behind trees), lest he suffer the same fate as the guy who pissed off Castro.
The Affordability Crisis
James Carville famously quipped, “It’s the economy, stupid.” We know that the Biden / Harris ticket took it on the chin for the price of eggs. That’s why democrats would be wise to latch onto the latest catch-phrase, “The affordability crisis”, and make it a party platform message until republicans are so sick of hearing it that they run for cover. They should repeat those three words 20 times a day, every day, running up to the midterms.
Trump likes to pretend there’s no problem, but the grocery bill doesn’t lie. Everything is up, and there’s no relief in sight. Outside of the kitchen table, everything else is up too. The tariffs have increased the price of cars, clothes, furniture, appliances, and lumber, just to name the biggest hitters. And then there’s health care. Premiums have skyrocketed to the point of pricing people out of insurance entirely, and they haven’t even cancelled the Affordable Care Act yet.
So keep saying those three special words, my friends. The affordability crisis. They don’t like to hear it, but they can’t deny it. It’s a winning strategy, and besides, what goes around comes around.
The Thrill is Gone
I believe we are about to see karma come full circle. Donald Trump has used people his entire life. Many have gone bankrupt in servitude to the teflon Don. Michael Cohen was useful until he wasn’t. Rudy Giuliani got taken to the cleaners for his association with Trump, and Trump hasn’t helped him one iota. So long as they provided him with some benefit, they got a seat at the table. Once the benefits stop, you’re out.
Trump is under the illusion that his populist movement has been successful. What he doesn’t realize yet is that Peter Thiel, Sheldon Adelson, Harlan Crow, and Ken Griffin have been using him. While he’s been useful to the mega donor class and the Republican Congress, they have looked the other way and put up with his tantrums.
What is going to be interesting in the next year is to see how long it takes for the mega donors and Republicans to throw Trump under the bus. He’s already a lame duck. If he’s as ill as what our eyes are seeing, he could be subjected to 25th Amendment treatment at any time. You can bet that the people holding the purse strings have been thinking strategically for some time now, and that there’s no way they are going to go down with the ship.
I think he’ll be out in ’26, assuming he lives that long. The MAGA movement has run its course. The thrill is gone.
Food Insecurity
Because ridding the United States of Obamacare isn’t enough for Republicans and the Project 2025 folks, SNAP benefits are expiring in most states this week. Now you can get sick and be hungry at the same time. While I abhor the cruelty, I love the strategy of the Republican party. Can you say self-mortification?
Meanwhile, Elon Musk was able to secure a staggering one trillion dollar package from Tesla shareholders, should he meet certain targets. How long can this shit go on?
Shutdown Denial
Tuesday was a great day for Democrats, but let’s not overplay our hand. It’s true the margins were better than expected, but keep in mind, Republicans stepped in dog shit every day for 9 months and kicked 20 own goals and still came within 10 points in some races. That’s not saying much.
I take some consolation in the fact that they are slow learners. They seem to be intent on driving that ’66 Thunderbird right off the cliff with a lunatic at the wheel, even though the consequences clearly hurt red states more than blue states. Go figure. I’m an advocate for bringing on the pain. Let the ACA premiums double. Let the SNAP benefits expire. Let the airports shut down. Republicans will take the blame for it, and they know it.
All of this was because one man was mad that Obama had an accomplishment to his name and was determined to do everything in his power to end it.
How about a Little Remorse?
You know it’s nice to see democrats get to the polls in increasing numbers, independents siding with more progressive politics, and even some republicans leaving the party behind, but just making the switch doesn’t quite do it for me. I want to see some contrition. Serious crimes against humanity have been committed. A lot of damage has been done to many people, and it requires more than just doing the bare minimum. I’ll wait.
Johnson’s Shutdown Strategy
Even after Republicans seriously underperformed last night in an off-year election, they are trying to spin it as “It’s not a big deal, the blue states would have won anyway.” The strategy appears to be full steam ahead, in denial of a problem with voters. Suit yourself.
A recent comment by Johnson tipped me off to the real strategy, though. When Johnson quipped that the government might stay shut down until the first of the year, it occurred to me that he knows something about Trump’s health that we don’t. There are several posters on social media, some doctors who specialize in stroke patients and cardiology, who are speculating about Trump’s failing health. Between the jaw drooping on one side, the pee bottle in the leg, and the cognitive decline, something is clearly wrong. Some give him 4-6 months, or less. This is why I read past all of the posters who get their undies in a bunch over him running for a third term. Ain’t gonna happen.
I think Johnson is privy to this and is holding out for Trump’s failing health to force the issue on the 25th Amendment, at which point, Trump’s name in the Epstein files won’t matter as much because he’s not President anymore. It’s a brilliant strategy if it works, but risky. He’ll be taking the heat every day he doesn’t reopen the government. Democrats are wise to let healthcare premiums skyrocket and SNAP benefits disappear in the meantime, because until red state voters feel the pain in a very personal way, they are likely to continue to support Trump.
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