Friday, October 24, 2025

Conspiracy speculation. It means the same as "conspiracy theory" but has not become a right wing whipping child terminology honed to discredit things without thought at play.

 This is Charlie Kirk's last Sept 9 America First broadcast, guest Ben Shapiro. This is a nutshell summary of the thing filmed and broadcast, which could have been written by an AI summarization LLM tool thing. If you do not watch (recommended), at least read the nutshell.

The date on this short YouTube item is unclear, but it is thought by Crabgrass to have been shortly after the Oct 6 events with Israeli deaths and hostage taking. Edited from a larger item, and posted to YouTube much more recently. That could be wrong and it might have been recorded more recently. 

Days after that last show linked to above, Kirk was gunned down on the Utah campus.

There is a lot of stuff on the web about his persona, and his death. This is a quite short item to read and think over. This is a fairly presented non-conclusory post-death item published by a Jewish outlet. It mentions ideas - speculation - that Israel may have turned on Kirk, at sensitive times, and too big to be an independent loose cannon kind of influencer.

This YouTube ietm now is the clincher - what grabbed my attention. It is by a sensationalist presenter, one I trust generally however, to raise interesting things to dwell over. Ambiguous and painfully repetitious, but chilling and posing something not normal as a reaction, where others showed the normal situation. Put aside the tone of the thing, and just consider the video of the Kirk senior staffer's actions. It is hard to explain. 

Make sense of it if you can, and otherwise keep it well in mind over time as the FBI's perp gets processed by the Trump DOJ/FBI and things could pinch a bit as being contrived, too nailed down/put together, or  strange. Tucker Carlson has speculative items online, but, no link posted here, so find what you will by your own search as much as you care to. Track down Carlson's wierd short speech at the post-shooting love-in thing that JD hosted. It is separately online, so the whole insipid thing can be avoided.

We live in interesting times.

 

 

Oposition to Fascism. Fascists are not good people, having no real respect for due process and rule of law. They want those against them and their powers to suffer and be silenced.

 Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! segment, that way.

 

Steve Timmer has awarded another trademarked fatuous bastard award, and this one earned special attention.

 left.mn specific link having this opening paragraph quoted from a posted full item that earned the award -

 As a lifelong Second Amendment advocate residing in the great state of Minnesota [really, deep in the febrile crescent], I feel compelled to write in defense of a right that forms the bedrock of our freedoms, a right that too often is diluted in public discourse to mere hobbies or traditions. In Minnesota, where our vast landscapes and rural communities rely on self-reliance, the Second Amendment stands as an unyielding guardian against overreach, ensuring that citizens remain sovereign in the face of potential tyranny.

The second amendment, not the first, is "the bedrock of our freedoms"?

Chairman Mao has said, "Political power comes from the muzzle of a gun." This fatuous bastard is then a Maoist? Wisdom has it, "If you go carrying a picture of Chairman Mao. You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow."

Who would I be to go against established creed? Who is this fatuous bastard to go against Beattle wisdom? Give Timmer a "Got One" award for the insight and display. Exposing a possible Maoist 'mongst us.

Or do I connect two disparate authority sources wrongly, presuming too much? 


 

Hakeem Jeffries endorses Mandami. From Jeffries, with his history toward progressives and democratic socialists in particular, this is a softening, for show or for real is a question, but attribute best motives and say Jeffries is showing awareness of real events, and is not inflexible about other outlooks besides his own.

 An Oct 24 story, Newsweek:

Why It Matters

Jeffries’ endorsement of Mamdani signals a significant shift in New York’s Democratic power structure, bridging a months-long divide between establishment leaders and the party’s progressive wing. As the House minority leader and a national figure, Jeffries’ support lends institutional legitimacy to Mamdani’s candidacy and may influence undecided voters ahead of early voting.

The move also highlights the Democratic Party’s internal reckoning over its ideological future, especially in urban strongholds like New York City. With key figures like Governor Kathy Hochul and Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl Heastie already on board, Jeffries’ endorsement isolates remaining holdouts and underscores the growing influence of Democratic socialists in mainstream politics. It sets the stage for contentious debates over policy, party unity, and electoral strategy heading into the 2026 midterms.

Mamdani has shaken the political field in New York City, winning the Democratic nomination over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who's now running as an independent. He has consistently been leading in the polls. The state assemblymember has been celebrated by many young progressives as well as endorsed by top Democrats, while criticized by conservatives and some moderates concerned about what the city would look like under his leadership.

What To Know

Jeffries' endorsement of Mamdani for New York City mayor comes months of internal party pressure and strategic hesitation. Jeffries acknowledged the two Democrats differences, telling the Times, they have "areas of principled disagreement," but also noted that Mamdani won "a free and fair election" in the primary, and the importance of a united party against the "existential" threat of President Donald Trump.

The House minority leader also said in his statement, "Assemblyman Mamdani has promised to focus on keeping every New Yorker safe, including the Jewish community that has confronted a startling rise in antisemitic incidents as well as Black and Latino neighborhoods that have battled deadly gun violence for years."

Jeffries’ backing aligns him with top Democrats who have recently rallied behind Mamdani, with Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, set to rally alongside Mamdani in Queens on Sunday. Other prominent local Democrats, including Heastie and Representatives Jerry Nadler and Yvette Clarke have already endorsed Mamdani.

The move leaves Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as the last major holdout among state Democratic leadership. Jeffries, who previously deflected questions about Mamdani, has expressed admiration for the candidate’s affordability agenda and concern over his rhetoric and policy execution. On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who ended his reelection campaign last month, endorsed Cuomo in the race.

Schumer's position is awaited. Will he balk, or join? 

UPDATE: To say Jeffries is now bending to pressures from others is to deny that one can grow in scope and outlook, and reach new and possibly altered conclusions. Earlier Business Insider reporting noted and quoted in concluding paragraphs:  

In 2021, Jeffries started Team Blue, a PAC formed specifically to protect Democratic incumbents from primary challengers. His co-founder was Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a conservative Democrat who also staunchly opposed the Build Back Better Act.

The congressman has also made statements declaring pro-Israel beliefs and has supported legislation that would penalize companies and Americans that support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

"There's a difference between progressive Democrats and hard-left democratic socialists," Jeffries told the Atlantic in 2021. "I'm a Black progressive Democrat concerned with addressing racial and social and economic injustice with the fierce urgency of now. That's been my career, that's been my journey, and it will continue to be as I move forward for however long I have an opportunity to serve. There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism."

The man has grown. Not that a House leader better equipped and attuned cannot be proposed or found, just that he's grown. He needs to grow more, but there is time and opportunity aplenty for him, as he may choose or not. Junking Gottheimer cleanly and with finality would certainly be a show of good faith.

Don't bet on it, but is there a better litmus test? 

 

 

The miserable schmuck and his trade war tariffs killing the welfare of millions of Americans: "On Thursday Trump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.” Trump doubled down on his criticism of the Ontario ads again on Friday and accused Canada of trying to influence an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on his global tariff regime. Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations has further inflamed trade tensions between the neighbors and longtime allies."

Yes you see the headline, from paragraphs within an AP item carred in PiPress

Also, from within that AP item there is a link to YouTube, embedded there also, here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/4eB_36uVfM0 

Yes, the Gipper himself, a radio address from 1987, proving Trump the lying schmuck he sometimes is. How FAKE does it look to you?

 

Trump and crypto filth - reporting from before Zhao of Binance fame got his fortuitous pardon. Out of the blue? Not entirely.

 

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a5e7/live/363d1870-8820-11f0-9c95-4f9ad5a1a24f.jpg.webp

First, the Crabgrass evaluation is that crypto is nothing but selling a piece of the big blue sky. No nation's promise is backing the "currency," only the market price mechanism, which kept Bankman Fried afloat until it didn't, and he's still in the slammer for years while Zhao only got months, already served, since Binance stayed solvent and operative while paying out a fine of $4 billion - solvent for reasons Crabgrass cannot really comprehend other than market trust still holds, and presumably Binancet tighened its just-say-no to money laundering sloth - with solvency vs investor pain and loss mattering. That's the preamble, so now the story -

MJ from mid-March of this year, for context behind yesterdays' Zhou pardon:

Report: Trump Family May Invest in Crypto Giant Binance as Founder Seeks Pardon

If Trump becomes a Binance investor, he could also be business partners with UAE’s royal family.

Donald Trump
Pool via AP

The Trump family has allegedly been discussing a possible investment in the crypto exchange Binance—a deal that, especially in light of Binance’s multi-billion-dollar valuation, would raise a host of conflict-of-interest questions. The discussions were first revealed by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, which also reported that Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, is simultaneously seeking a presidential pardon after pleading guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering laws.

Zhao disputed the Journal’s reporting, posting on X Thursday that the paper “got the facts wrong” and that he’d “had no discussions of a Binance US deal with … well, anyone.”

On top of the ethical issues raised by the possible entanglement of executive clemency powers with a lucrative financial transaction, such an investment deal could also turn the Trump family into business partners with a Middle Eastern royal family.

News of the alleged Binance talks comes one day after an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, MGX Fund Management, announced it is making a $2 billion investment in Binance, securing a minority stake in the exchange. MGX’s chairman is Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan—who is the national security adviser for the United Arab Emirates and brother of the UAE’s current ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Tahnoun bin Zayed is also the chairman of a separate investment firm called G42 Just last year, the Republican-led House Select Committee on China raised concerns over that firm’s close connections with the Chinese government and its possible involvement in the transfer of sensitive American technology to China through a deal it proposed with Microsoft. (Microsoft later added safeguards to the deal in response to congressional concerns.)

Zhao founded Binance in 2017, and it quickly grew to be one of the most important crypto exchanges in the business, alongside Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. In fact, it was a failed merger and personal acrimony between the two companies and their founders that seemed to trigger the collapse of FTX. But Binance ran into its own troubles when, following years of criticism over its security and privacy practices, the company in 2023 was charged with money laundering and sanctions evasion. Among other accusations, the US government charged that the company had helped users evade sanctions against Russia, Iran, and Cuba. A Reuters report found that Korean hacking groups, investment frauds, and drug networks all had used the exchange to move money.

Eventually, the company agreed to a $4 billion fine, and Zhao agreed to resign and personally pay a $50 million fine. He also served four months in prison.

MJ references a WSJ (paywalled) thread -

According to the Journal’s report Thursday, the possibility of bringing on the Trump family as investors was first raised by Binance, and Steve Witkoff, a Trump family friend who was recently named as the US special envoy to the Middle East, has been involved in the discussions. Witkoff has known Trump for decades, and last year his son, Zach Witkoff, founded the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial crypto company. The Journal reported that an administration official denied involvement by Steve Witkoff in any Binance talks.

The Journal reported that one source indicated that Binance may be seeking to follow the path blazed by crypto investor Justin Sun, who was facing a civil fraud investigation by the SEC under the Biden administration. Last fall, Sun invested $75 million into the World Liberty Financial platform—triggering an $18 million payday for Trump. Last month, the SEC announced it was halting its investigation into Sun

After the Zhao pardon, it seems Trump favors Chinese folks with money routing to him and family, given that the "$18 million payday" link at the end of the last paragraph above fleshes out as - 

A Chinese national, charged with fraud by the SEC, just sent Donald Trump $18 million

Chinese Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for a banana — sold by Sotheby's as conceptual art — and then ate it last Friday.

The banana is not Sun's most notable recent purchase.

On November 25, Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial, a new crypto venture backed by President-elect Donald Trump. Sun said his company, TRON, was committed to "making America great again."

World Liberty Financial planned to sell $300 million worth of crypto tokens, known as WLF, which would value the new company at $1.5 billion. But, before Sun's $30 million purchase, it appeared to be a bust, with only $22 million in tokens sold. Sun now owns more than 55% of purchased tokens.

Sun's decision to buy $30 million in WLF tokens has direct and immediate financial benefits for Trump. [...]

Feed the trough, get the pardon seems a repeat story, one drolling slime all over the place. The item continues:

A filing by the company in October revealed that "$30 million of initial net protocol revenues" will be "held in a reserve… to cover operating expenses, indemnities, and obligations." After the reserve is met, a company owned by Donald Trump, DT Marks DEFI LLC, will receive "75% of the net protocol revenues."

So before Sun's purchase, Trump was entitled to nothing because the reserve had not been met. But Sun's purchase covered the entire reserve, so now Trump is entitled to 75% of the revenues from all other tokens purchased. As of December 1, there have been $24 million WLF tokens sold, netting Trump $18 million.

Sun is also joining World Liberty Financial as an advisor, making Sun and the incoming president business partners.

While Trump has the cash, Sun's tokens are effectively worthless. To comply with U.S. securities law, WLF tokens are "non-transferable and locked indefinitely in a wallet or smart contract until such time, if ever, [WLF tokens] are unlocked through protocol governance procedures in a fashion that does not contravene applicable law." The only thing that Sun can do with his tokens is participate in the "governance" of World Liberty Financial. Right now, the only thing World Liberty Financial does is sell tokens.

Any foreign national paying an incoming president $18 million weeks before entering the White House should raise red flags. Sun's purchase is even more alarming because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently prosecuting him for fraud.

[...] Major media outlets obsessed with banana, ignore Sun's payment to Trump

A foreign national under federal fraud prosecution making a purchase that results in $18 million cash payment to the president-elect has all the makings of a major scandal. But it has been virtually ignored by several major media outlets.

The New York Times, for example, has published five articles about Sun's purchase of the banana but none about Sun's $30 million purchase of WLF tokens and his business partnership with Trump. The Washington Post has published three articles about the banana, but its coverage of Sun's purchase of WLF tokens was limited to one short paragraph in a larger editorial about the crypto industry.

So, Trump gets a benefit, while MSM goes bananas. 

You decide, what's the more telling story, especially after Zhou got his, Trump-family adventures got theirs, and people voted for the creep, that being the most unfortunate part of any Trump saga. He'd gone casino bust, but propagandized those little red caps.

While having noted US MSM was more enthralled by Mr. Sun and his expensive banana meal we move on to better reporting coverage choosing. The opening image is from BBC coverage =

Trump and sons' stake in crypto firm worth $5bn

Natalie Sherman - BBC News

The crypto token backed by the Trump family has started publicly trading, giving the holdings owned by the US president and his sons a value of roughly $5bn (£3.7bn).

The Trumps launched crypto firm World Liberty Financial in the middle of the presidential campaign last year, drawing questions about potential conflicts of interest as he became entangled in an industry he would be poised to regulate.

The company raised money by selling its eponymous digital tokens to investors, who were initially barred from selling.

But investors voted in July to allow early purchasers, not including founders like Trump family, to sell up to 20% of their holdings of the coin, which trades as WLFI.

As of Tuesday, WLFI was trading at around $0.22 on exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase, after sinking roughly 50% since the start of trading on Monday.

While the fall indicates tepid demand, the coin is still trading at a higher price than what many early buyers would have paid initially, putting them in line for profit.

"We're setting a new standard for financial freedom; built on trust, speed, and U.S. values," Eric Trump wrote on social media. "This is a huge moment for the future of money!", 

Those fuckers have no shame. First, "trust" may have a lesser role than Eric Trump says, other factors just might be at play, ahd "huge moment for the future of money" is ambiguous whose future money is being sung to the world by the Trump son. 

A month ago MSM carried an item beginning -

Digital tokens tied to World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency launched by former President Donald Trump alongside his family during his 2024 campaign, began open trading Monday, quickly generating more than $1 billion in transactions in the first hour, according to CoinMarketCap.

The project has ballooned in value over the past year, buoyed by Trump’s own deregulatory push from the White House and his public championing of the industry’s potential to bolster the U.S. economy. While the token fell rather quickly in the first day of trading, the Wall Street Journal reported the family’s holdings could now be worth as much as $5 billion, rivaling the value of their real estate portfolio. The growth of the cryptocurrency raises questions about whether the Trump family’s growing crypto fortune creates conflicts of interest.

Les Borsai, a government consultant and co-founder of Wave Digital Assets, told Scripps News the dynamic isn’t entirely without precedent. He pointed to previous presidents who carried private business ties into the Oval Office: Jimmy Carter’s peanut farm, and the Kennedy family’s real estate and finance holdings – though blind trusts were ultimately enacted in both cases.

“When you're a business person, or you have business interests coming into the White House, you're always going to have controversy around it,” Borsai told Scripps News. “I would rather have an administration that understands the underlying technologies than someone that doesn't. It could change what the future of finance looks like.”

I don't know wtf Les Borsai is, other than a Trump syncophant, of which Trump seems to find an unending supply, while, ostensibly, draining some swamp or other that he'd preelection he'd drain, and it seems one swamp-tromper after another gets an admin thing or other, or says something about Trump greatness.

The above is a sampling of returned items from a web search = trump family crypto money making conflict interest

Readers can try such a search, or feed it into somebody's LLM hot item, and see what turns up.

The above sampling is in support and explanation of the Zhou pardon, see following post.


Thursday, October 23, 2025

Trump pardons smell very, very bad. Like rotted flesh, of a dead person who had very bad breath while living.

 
Key Points
  • President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
  • Zhao, who is widely known as CZ, had pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the huge cryptocurrency exchange.
  • Zhao's plea was part of a $4.3 billion settlement Binance reached with the DOJ in 2023.
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, blasted the pardon, calling it an example of "corruption."

Quoting:

President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while heading the cryptocurrency exchange, the White House said Thursday.

The pardon of Zhao, widely known as CZ, came two months after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family's own crypto venture, which has generated about $4.5 billion since the 2024 election, has been helped by "a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance."

[...] Trump's pardon of Zhao came nearly a week after he commuted the 87-month prison sentence of former New York Rep. George Santos, who had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

 [...] Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., blasted the pardon, calling it an example of "corruption."

"First, Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge," said Warren, who is the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

"Then he boosted one of Donald Trump's crypto ventures and lobbied for a pardon," she said.

"Today, Donald Trump did his part and pardoned him. If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption in pending market structure legislation, it owns this lawlessness."

Zhao, in November 2023, pleaded guilty in Seattle federal court and agreed to step down as Binance CEO as part of a $4.3 billion settlement by the company with the Department of Justice.

Zhao had been charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to "implement an effective anti-money-laundering program and for willfully violating U.S. economic sanctions "in a deliberate and calculated effort to profit from the U.S. market without implementing controls required by U.S. law," the DOJ said.

Binance had been charged with conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business, violating the International Emergency Powers Act and conspiracy.

He was sentenced in April 2024 to just four months in jail.

Federal prosecutors had asked a judge to sentence Zhao to three years in prison.

Santos, a crook, but a Republican one; Zhao, looks as if there's a Trumpian quid pro quo.

Trump acts shamefully without any feeling of shame. His MO, as it seems to me.

Even JD wouldn't pull shit like that, would he? Might he? If Trump leaves anyone for JD, which is an open question. 

UPDATE: PBS News further reports:

[... Zhao] has deep ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that the Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. launched in September

Trump’s most recent financial disclosure report reveals he made more than $57 million last year from World Liberty Financial, which has launched USD1, a stablecoin pegged at a 1-to-1 ratio to the U.S. dollar.

 World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates would be using $2 billion worth of USD1 to purchase a stake in Binance. Zhao also has publicly said that he had asked Trump for a pardon that could nullify his conviction.

Zhao out of the jug, Emirates pony up big-time cash into Trump family's crypto adventure, using the purchased crypto to buy into Binance. Interbreeding causes gene damage.

From AP:

The pardon caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world and one of the biggest names in the industry. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family’s crypto enterprises.

“Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice,” Zhao said on social media Thursday.

If there's no smell from all that apparent to you, have a Covid test. The Trumps launched their crypto thing in September, now, the following month, Zhao gets sprung from all effects of conviction via the pardon, after helping the Trump-family adventure, and the Emirates buy into Binance with Trump-family coin, after buying it from the Trump-family venture, so - Don't Worry, Be Happy? All that big-money stuff put together in one month! Things move fast if motivation to complete something exists. And Stephen Miller got no cut of anything. Maybe that's why deportations move more slowly. Less Motivation.

Fuck 'em. All of 'em. Each and every one of 'em. MAGA chumps too, for making it all possible. Chumps for Trump.

 

Monday, October 20, 2025

Trump stumbles on. China is keeping its rare earth elements out of the US, as part of the trade war that Trump started. Trump is Making BRICS Great Again.

 Part of Isolationism is downsizing the military. Because it's not needed. Not useful. That, we await.

Part of Isolationism is to diminish foreign entanglements, to make domestic prosperity better.

That - we await. 

 Part of Ignorance is to pick a Cabinet of misfits. That we got.

 

Hegseth could star in a Halloween film (with Steven Miller in it wearing a hockey mask, having a less mean demeanor that way). 

 



 

 


 image credits - here and here

 LINK -

Heyer told OSV News he has seen "there are groups that have taken over this symbol … or rather are using the symbol in a way that is evocative of what they consider a Christian crusade to be."

 

 

 

Sunday, October 19, 2025

Our people - Their people -- Is there a thread to things -- freedom or not, who's American or unAmerican?

 Our people (from Strib, here. here, and here)


 

  

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Their people (from DaytonDailyNews)


 




+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

BONUS  - https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/06/01/17/26/White-House-Deputy-Chief-of-Staff-Stephen-Miller-speaks-to-members-of-the-media-at-the-White-House-F.jpeg

 


Ugly fucker! -- Any questions?

USA Todaty 


Saturday, October 18, 2025

[UPDATED] This is easiest for me to say by who endorses each of the two Dem frontrunner women politicians seeking the U.S. Senate Seat Tina Smith is vacating. Peggy Flanagan.

 Angie Craig or Peggy Flanagan and Minnesota knows both? Who's best, i.e., more promising of representing all of us, with the more progressive agenda of the two?

Both are presently seeking to place into a position of not alienating any, or few, Minnesota voters.

Either would suffice, i.e., neither has strikes against her to be repugnant, if winning. Start there.

Angie Craig endorsees - Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, others. https://angiecraig.com/endorsements/

Peggy Flanagan endorsees:  Liz Warren, Ed Markey, Keith Ellison, Deb Haaland, Al Franken, i.e., quality people as visibly more progressive than stiff. Others: https://peggyflanagan.com/endorsements/ 

No contest! To send donations by mail, as I will do:

Peggy Flanagan for Minnesota
PO Box 26023
St. Louis Park, MN 55426

BOTTOM LINE - That's where my check today is going. Angie is not a bad person. She seems fine enough - as a person. A good person. But I go with who I would expect to best represent my outlook, fiscal beliefs, Gestalt, and economic class, as well as personally being a good individual too. If Craig does win the primary, I'd support her on those grounds since she'd them be running against some actual Republican retrogressive.

But Peggy offers me the better perspective as I see it, and she's where I feel best when primary voting between the two.

..............................................................

It is hard to get progress without progressives. Neither is avidly so but the divide is clear. 

 

___________________UPDATE ___________________

Republicans struggle to find candidate for open Minnesota U.S. Senate race

National Republican groups are trying to recruit more candidates to make it competitive, but so far their efforts have fallen flat.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 20, 2025 at 6:10AM
 
SO IT IS ONE DEM IDEAL VS ONE LESSER OUTLOOK 

--- This means the Republicans have no "winner" and are looking for a chance. Traditional Republicans such as Tim Pawlenty note that MAGA is in power -- so that the closest thing to a viable traditional Republican candidate is Angie Craig, who has support of Jeffries and Pelosi, each of whom looks like a traditional Republican, in comparison to those with anything resembling a populist-progressive orientation, an orientation most closely embodied by Flanagan's campiagn.

 She's not there as I'd like, but the gulf between her and Craig is great and in her favor.

I mailed that check, and while again Craig is competent, competence being something the Republicans lack, she has Pelosi and Jeffries to show how far she is from the mark. Her career is being staked on this run, and as MinnReformer reports she's gathered more big donor love than Flanagan, but really, Peggy's the one.  That report began:

Rep. Angie Craig raised $2.2 million in the third quarter for her Senate primary campaign against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who brought in around $914,000 over the same period. 

Ten months out from the primary, campaign finance reports released Wednesday show Craig has nearly $3 million in cash on hand to Flanagan’s $836,000. 

To date, Craig has been her own biggest donor, transferring more than $650,000 from her House campaign to her Senate campaign. She’s also received more than $100,000 from Majority Fund, a political action committee affiliated with Majority Democrats, a group of centrists aiming to remake the party’s image in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. 

No other individual donor or PAC has contributed more than $14,000 to Craig’s Senate primary; 92% of donations were less than $100, according to the campaign. 

Flanagan, who has said she will not accept donations from corporate PACs, is relying heavily on small-dollar donors. The average contribution to her campaign was $29, and 98% of donations were under $100, according to her campaign.  

Craig aligning with that "Majority Democrats" unprepossessing group seems a deal killer. For Christsakes, look at the names at https://majoritydemocrats.com/   

Not one fucking progressive!! Representative of the Republican-lite nature of the thing - Elissa Slotkin,

They highlight themselves as the party for pablam - "The New Center:" Their breaking news there -

Defining a new center requires drawing from the disparate ideologies of American life. The old mapping of those ideologies onto parties no longer holds. Younger voters, in particular, are keen to hear about new combinations. For example:

  • from conservatives, the respect for faith, family & the flag and the centering of personal responsibility
  • from liberals, the commitment to individual freedom, rule of law, and equal opportunity
  • from progressives, the conviction that equal opportunity requires a level playing field for everyone, not just one set of rules for everyone
  • from libertarians, the uplifting of free minds & free enterprise and the healthy skepticism of centralized & personalized power
  • from populists, the prosecution of corruption and the status quo

In other words, same old Bill and Hillary shit, where taxing the rich fairly and Medicare for All are beyond comprehension of the bunch in their bullet list.

And who needs Republican - lite? Who wants it?

They dodge the economic nitty-gritty of the ongoing class war the wealthy have always for over a centurt fought against regular people. They imply acceptance of it as the norm. So, yes, if Angie Craig somehow wins the Minnesota Dem Primary, no question, she gets every Dem general election vote, or should get them.

But the primary is the thing. There is a choice. Peggy Flanagan is not an AOC or Bernie, unfortunately,  but Peggy is miles ahead of Craig in understanding the mood of the American people wanting economic justice first and foremost, and freedom from the healthcare Angst imposed by present practice. 

Decency is what Flanagan stands for, and it's good to see. 

Craig - not going to rock any boat, (especially the yachts, while admittedly not at all near to MAGA in gratuitous cruelty and ignorance).

_____________FURTHER UPDATE____________

HotAir, with its Republican slant, does a number on the "Majority Democrats" supersized wafle:

NYT: Younger Dems Want to 'Remake' the Party -- But How?

Gee ... I thought they already had transformed the Democrat Party? And that's precisely the problem that the 'Majority Democrats" want to avoid.

This New York Times analysis of yet another small faction emerging after the disastrous (for Dems) 2024 election skips over that to some extent. It also manages to remain ambiguous about what the Majority Democrats represent, other than a lot of butt-hurt over losing. 

Are these moderates seeking to seize back the reins from the Left? Progressives trying to seize full control from the moderates? Or just people who think that maybe, just maybe, politicians should consider popular consensus rather than attempt to beat ideological agendas onto electorates?

The latter is certainly part of the new initiative, but everything else seems up for debate

 [... lengthy NYT quote omitted] 

And what's so extraordinary about the NYT coverage is that they never actually do lay out a case for what Democrats should stand, other than winning some elections. After all, the progressives in their coalition have spent the last two-plus decades challenging the Clinton-era moderation approach, where abortions were supposed to be "safe, legal, and rare," and when able-bodied Americans were expected to work while receiving welfare benefits. The progressives led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez see themselves still as outsiders tilting against the Democrat establishment, as does their new poster boy Zohran Mamdani.

In fact, Mamdani is a pretty good test case for this incoherence on principles. Mamdani won an election, or at least the Democrat mayoral primary. If he does win the mayoral general election -- and right now he's the favorite, with Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo haggling for the independents -- doesn't that match up with the only clear goal of Majority Democrats in this NYT piece? To win elections? 

 [...] 

So will Majority Democrats emulate the DLC and pull back to the center? Apparently not:

[... NYT quote again] organizers insist there is no ideological litmus test to join (nor, despite the new-generation focus, is there an age limit; Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, 60, is on board).

What does it mean to have "no ideological litmus test to join" when the point of the initiative is to "remake" the party based on "lay[ing] out the case for what we’re for as a party"? Reading just a bit further, the intent seems clear -- to appease the progressives and keep them from conducting purity purges:

Expanding the Democratic coalition, Mr. Talarico said, takes “some patience and some tolerance.” He added: “[...]  We’ve got to be open-minded. We’ve got to be willing to join with people in a coalition that we may not share 100 percent of our policy views.”

Well, it certainly helps to avoid committing to any principles. However, what this means in practice is that Democrats don't want to "remake" the party at all from its current radical-progressive course. They just want to beg the ascendant radical-progressives for room to pretend that they can still offer some nuances, when those nuances will mean absolutely nothing when Democrats become the governing party again. 

That says a lot, even while adding fantasy and mention of Marx since they are GOP propagandizing. 

What the Hot Air item explicitly does is expose one giant stupendous sized waffle, tarted up as substance, and while GOP in mood, the characterization seems correct. Angie Craig went that way, and Minnesotans in the primary can decide, waffle or not. 

 

To say an anti-Trump Demonstration is "anti-American" is to say, "I lie. Don't trust ME."

 Speaker Johnson said that.

 

Friday, October 17, 2025

SeattleTimes carries WaPo item, " GOP labels anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ protests as ‘hate America’ rallies - Oct. 17, 2025." First if you lable it Hate anything, make it hate Assholes (American or otherwise, there's Bibi). But it's not about hate. It is about purging a would be King. Purging is good for the body, ridding it of waste.

 From the Wapo item -

Ahead of thousands of anti-authoritarian “No Kings” protests planned for Saturday across the United States, Republicans are trying to brand the demonstrations as “hate America” rallies, ramping up their rhetoric about the millions of people expected to peacefully protest President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies as they did in June.

For more than a week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and other GOP leaders have cast the “No Kings” rallies as un-American, using increasingly hyperbolic language. Johnson and other members of House GOP leadership, including Majority Leader Steve Scalise (Louisiana), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minnesota), and Republican Conference Chair Lisa C. McClain (Michigan), have all described the protests as events for people who “hate America,” with Johnson and Emmer going as far as to suggest they are meant to appease a “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party.

“We call it the ‘hate America’ rally that will happen Saturday. Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said Wednesday at a news conference with other House GOP leaders. “I bet you you’ll see Hamas supporters, I bet you’ll see antifa types, I bet you’ll see the Marxists on full display, the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”

What a pile! The item continues - 

Democrats and organizers of the more than 2,600 events scheduled for Saturday have strongly rebuffed this characterization, defending the protests as peaceful and pointing out there were relatively few disruptions at the rallies in June, while also warning of the attempts to stifle First Amendment rights.

“Speaker Johnson said this is a ‘hate America’ rally because people are coming out expressing their concerns about massive cuts to health care and the movement toward authoritarianism. It’s not a hate America rally, it’s a love America rally,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said Wednesday at a town hall on CNN with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York).

There follows a paragraph quoting Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut); Murphy -

accused Republicans of amping up their rhetoric and trying to brand protesters as “terrorists” to suppress rally turnout. Murphy, who is scheduled to speak at the D.C. “No Kings” rally on Saturday, urged people to show up in big numbers anyway to demonstrate “peacefully but forcefully.”

I cut Murphy out separately as more showman than statesman, Bernie expressing things better. That is a personal view of the two, as if Murphy is running already for the 2028 nomination, him with his divorce and very quick glomming onto his Dem wealthy consultant squeeze and the two being opportunistic. 

Opinions can differ. I could be wrong. He could be ideal for the candidacy, certainly a challenge to the CA gov, for ambition. What do I know? I like the Kentucky second-generation Gov Beshear, so pick a Gov, any Gov you'd favor. 

Beshear with the Oregon Attorney General, Dan Rayfield, at second spot.

AG Rayfield is good at explaining things cogently and truthfully, unlike Trump who bloviates and lies, while Kentucky Gov Beshear comes across as level headed and not as illuminated by the brilliance of himself, as Murphy or Newsom seem. Better having any of the three running and elected for having a likelihood of leading a nonhateful, nonheated, sane and progressive sequel to Trump, than, say JD or worse Republican/MAGA, offers. Sanity has benefits. Although JD is a better option than some. faint praise is what it is. Certainly worth fear and loathing, a JD and Stephen Miller ticket, {but expecting JD to have better judgment than that). (Would a JD/Ted Cruz ticket be any better?)

AOC, of course, would be great on either spot of a Dem ticket, but even better, purging Schumer would be tailored to AOC and her favoring the people over donors, as well as her progressive credentials, and her energy, wisdom, forthrightness, skill, youth, and charisma.

 Hit Schumer where he's most lacking. AOC has no hint of the graveyard about her.

 

Thursday, October 16, 2025

Speaker Johnson and GOP Whip Tom Emmer are blowing smoke. Where From? They misspeak, that is all Crabgrass says, besides this post. (Guess where the smoke comes from._)

 

 Back in the eighteenth century our nation rebelled against England, with its King.

We wanted something different. We continue to this day to be without a King. We are that way.

We are Americans.  This is us => NO THRONES. NO CROWNS. NO KINGS.

 

THIS IS NOT US. THIS IS A TYRANT MENTALITY AT PLAY. NOT US. 

 

We do not try to silence anybody's speech. It is not in our DNA, nor in our Constitution, to do that.

We do not try to silence anyone. Only a real creep would play that card.

But that is not the point, alone, we also treasure our right to say and think and believe things.

That's why this Saturday the nation will hold a nationwide peaceful rally to say NO to rogue power.

 

It's not unAmerican. It's not terrorism. It's our celebrating a right we cherish. 

 

It is not something free speeech lovers should disrespect, or attempt to intimidate. 

Who'd be against free speech? No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings. - Simple. True. Our heritage. 

 


Peaceful. Emphatic.


** INSIGHTFUL **


___________________UPDATE________________

It appears there is now a copyrighted logo, and a yard sign. Here (includes info how to fine the location in your community for Oct 18) and here. In Mexico the flag is the eagle holding the serpent, for NO KINGS, it is the eagle holding a broken crown. Either way the eagle flies free. It's screech is not silent. 

Monday, October 13, 2025

plenary authority -- Stephen Miller said it and froze - somebody said in the earpeice, "NO!" and Miller froze. It was no fucking glitch. He froze, but watch the first few seconds of freeze, he blinks. That blink is no technical error. It is somebody activating Miller's kill switch against his blathering too much, into secret stuff for later, for when the plenary authority trap is set to be sprung on civilians. Miller spoke beyond the plan, and had to be shut down. He shut down immediately, but he blinked! No glitch. A blink. And that says it all. Including CNN follow-up papering over the truth. Saying glitch, when it was anything but a glitch..

 This was a premature inadvertent disclosure of the crap Trump and team will be spewing when they put regular military forces in our streets to shoot demonstrators dead. Or show the new crowd control hardware goodies Palintir and other death merchants have cooked up - stuff short of lethality, (but not by much). We do now want nor need our soldiers doing war against our citizens. America is not that.

And if you think soldier warring with a civilian brother or cousin in our streets is hot stuff, then you have a very warped idea of what Great Again might entail. You'd be sick to even envision that, had Miller not spilled the beans. He and crowd are sick in their planning.

Something that severe is coming, or else they'd have not had to drop a  shut-the-fuck-up-idiot on Miller as they did. You do not see an earpiece, but how else get the cut it off and after the break do damage control as if the two words were never mentioned.

LINKS -- CNN has the before/after interview posted on YouTube. Even with the "technical glitch" BS where Miller went stiff, but blinked. That was a Miller brain fart and no tech glitch. It waas, "Oh shit, I spilled the plan."

AND -- The opening "plenary authority" segment, plus analysis, here. Recommended. 

AND -- Analysis only, TheIndependent

Readers can do their own search = plenary authority Put up with all you can take, since it is telling.

Searchin that way will give more links than needed to get the story. Getting it is less important than having an understanding of the full impact of planning - of the opportune moment of SM talking too much by disclosing the phony stuff Trump and JD, (it looks more like JD but that's a guess), things those cruel people plan to deprive a nation's people of liberty. 

It sucks. Do all you can to forestall it. Including attending with friends and a cardboard sign at the Oct 18 NO KINGS demonstration, as the blockheads failed to get the message of millions in the street last time.

Make this time bigger and better, now that we know about plenary authority. What a crock. What a Trump.

https://www.nokings.org/  

UPDATE: Time covers it. Using a pic of Miller looking as if delivering an unrefusable offer from the Godfather. What a bunch. Over-ripe, moving on to spoiled throw-outs. Rotting in place.


Friday, October 10, 2025

Standing up to Trump. An African nation does what too few of our own citizens do. It tells Trump NO. It says, we are not available for your deporrtees, in general.

 Pioneer Press -

By MARK BANCHEREAU, Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso says it has refused a proposal from the Trump administration to accept deportees from the United States.

The West African country was asked whether it would accept non-citizens expelled by the U.S., in addition to its own nationals, Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré said Thursday on national television.

“Naturally, this proposal, which we deemed indecent at the time, is totally contrary to the value of dignity which is part of the very essence of the vision of Capt. Ibrahim Traoré,” he said, referring to the country’s military ruler.

The remark came only a few hours after the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ouagadougou suspended most visa services for Burkina Faso residents, redirecting applications to its embassy in neighboring Togo. The embassy did not give a reason for the move.

Citing a U.S. diplomatic note accusing Burkinabe nationals of not complying with visa usage rules, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré called the move a possible “pressure tactic” and said, “Burkina Faso is a land of dignity, not deportation.”

The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou and Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 40 deportees have been sent to Africa since July after the Trump administration struck largely secretive agreements with at least five African nations to take migrants under a new third-country deportation program. Rights groups and others have protested the program.

The U.S. has sent deportees to the small African nation of Eswatini, South Sudan, Rwanda and Ghana. It also has an agreement with Uganda, though no deportations there have been announced.

Six deportees are still detained in an unspecified facility in South Sudan, while Rwanda hasn’t said where it is holding seven deportees. Eleven of the 14 deportees sent to Ghana last month sued the government there for holding them in what they described as terrible conditions at a military camp on the outskirts of the capital, Accra.

Bless the spirit of sayng NO to evil. Tne Nobel people did the same. Telling Trump, indirectly, NO.

 

 

 

Wednesday, October 08, 2025

Dan Rayfield in context -- There is one aspect to Trump's wholly illusional rhetoric about Portland, OR, and his attempt to put troops into Oregon FOR mischief and havoc of the kind that Noem's ICE masked men--troopers did in Chicago, zip-tying chldren and driving people, parents and children, awakened to flash bang grenades to be roughly marched into the night --out their homes from bed to outside, in the middle of the night, etc. Trump's bad judgment has thrust an impressive gem of a man into political prominance, in Portland, from Portland, for Portrland and for truth.

 What has come out of Trump's war against the peaceful people of Portland that is good, is national TV face time for the Oregon AG who has attained a temporary restraining order against deployment to Oregon, from a Trump-appointed federal District Court Judge.

The man would be ideal on a Presidential ticket, as a sleaze-free and wholly rational man, far less creepy than JD Vance. He is precisely the type of new face and speaking point clarity that the Dems need on their next ticket. Not a Harris nor a Walz. Not a caricature. A cogent human who explains thing in a well articulated and rational manner, no bluster, no bullshit, no Trump, no JD. Just somebody trustworthy.

Consider these two example national news clips, here and here

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Trump has given the man a stage to show what a good politician looks like, and the Democratic Party should show the good sense to take it from there. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

I had not known before who Dan Rayfield was, much less how sincere and trustworthy and rational he is.

It is impressive how he can present something in an interesting and clear manner in a way not many can, and Trump put the guy on center stage so that the Democratic Party could see the gem they have who previously was an unknown.

Good job, Donald. Helping out the folks who need to look at new faces and new ideas where they have them, the Democrats, and you, Donald, unintentionally showed how good sense trumps your blustering bullshit, and JD is your man, you picked him from among others. And Rayfield is better.

So, Thanks. All we need now is for the Democratic Party to recognize what they have. And, boy, those folks, that's a worry. They are fully capable of fucking things up because the guy is not a donor milker, but instead a useful person for needs that are clear to people outside of the Dem Inner Party.

KEN MARTIN SHOULD LOOK AT THE GUY. MARTIN WILL NOT PUT A THUMB ON THE SCALE, BUT WHOEVER HE NOTICES WILL BE NOTICED MORE BROADLY. THAT'S HOW IT WORKS. 

Tuesday, October 07, 2025

AJ writes, and Crabgrass thinks, don't blame "Israel" blame the individuals who are doing this to Gaza because they, for now, hold the tools of power.

 Israel came into being as a recognized state by some primarily European people taking land not theirs.

Truman did not listen to Marsall, listening instead to Clark Clifford, and it's history now.

Currently Israel exists. By virtue of military might and historical fact. It is a nation, a collection of people, not all of whom support its current extermism. Disproportionately many killed, those still alive in Gaza suffering under a brutal intentionally cruel siege. AJ wrote

 

The sense of dislocation from the slaughter in Gaza is echoed in Israel’s parliament, where resistance to the war from the official opposition has focused only on the details of its prosecution while opposition to the war itself has been relegated to its fringes.

Meanwhile, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich now key to sustaining Netanyahu’s coalition, the far right has essentially gained a veto over policy.

Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalal Smotrich
Far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir, left, and Bezalel Smotrich are accused of taking advantage of the war to force through their hard-right agenda [File: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP]

“Israeli politics is in a fight for its soul,” Mekelberg said. “This didn’t start with the war, though the war’s accelerated it. It began with the last election and the legitimisation of far-right messianic forces by an opportunistic and cynical prime minister.”

From his re-election in 2022 to the onset of the war, Netanyahu has struggled to build and maintain a coalition to govern Israel.

In part, this has been due to the clash of his own right-wing policies, intended to appeal to the hard right and pro-settler groups. In part, analysts also attributed it to his ongoing trial on multiple corruption charges going back to 2019.

“Netanyahu is lucky in that his opposition is incompetent,” Pinkas said.

“They joined him for limited periods before leaving, which gave him legitimacy,” he said of how figures like opposition leader and Netanyahu’s former rival for prime minister Benny Gantz joined him in the security cabinet after the October 7 attacks.

“All the while, they’re captive to this outdated idea that when the military are fighting, we must all support the government.

Those two clasping hands each have untold amounts of blood on their hands. Nobody should touch them. Not even each other. Each is a pariah to the world and to history. Each better having never been born. 

Israel is not as bad as those running Israel. It could not be. The country is a war criminal only through the war criminals and land thieves running the country. Many of the people of that nation have clean hands.

Just not enough.

 

You are Gestapo or Storm Troopers, or SA/SS, if you use hard-core military tactics to empty a five story apartment building, kick in housing unit doors, detain zip-tied residents outside all in the in middle of the night, and end up arresting ONLY 37 illegal aliens (presumably, it being unclear still, days later), and say you are Americans, GREAT AGAIN.

Shock and awe? Against residential Americans asleep at night in their homes, collectively, and say you've an excuse? You have none. The conduct is reprehensible. It shocks the conscience. It is what Israelis are doing to Gazans, (absent airplanes bombing only}, then you are doing war crimes against your citizens and are animals, not humans. It is inexcusable. 

AJ general video.  From Chicago. An area worried over gentrifying being picked to invade, a predominantly black and immigrant occupied building chosen, as if standards differ for "them," Trump you are a vile racist in managing those under your dominion - your storm troops - your ICE.

A TIME item carried by MSN -

 At around 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, armed federal agents rappelled from helicopters onto the roof of a five-storey residential apartment in the South Shore of Chicago, according to witnesses and local reporting. As they worked their way through the building, they kicked down doors, threw flash bang grenades, and rounded up adults and screaming children alike, detaining them in zip-ties and arresting dozens, they said.

The military-style raid was part of a widespread immigration crackdown in the country’s third-largest city as part of the Trump Administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has brought a dramatic increase in federal raids and arrests. 

The raid has drawn outrage throughout Chicago and the state, with rights groups and lawmakers claiming it represents a dramatic escalation in tactics used by federal authorities in the pursuit of Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Read More: Trump Vowed His Mass Deportation Efforts Would Target ‘the Worst of the Worst.’ Here’s What the Data Shows

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused the federal agents of separating children from their parents, zip-tying their hands, and detaining them in “dark vans” for hours. Videos show flashbangs erupting on the street, followed by residents of the apartment building—children among them—being led from the building. Photos of the aftermath show toys and shoes littering the apartment hallways, evidence of those pulled from their beds by the operation that included FBI and Homeland Security agents.

'Military-style tactics'

Pritzker said that he would work with local law enforcement to hold the agents accountable in a statement condemning the raid.  “Military-style tactics should never be used on children in a functioning democracy,” he said. “​​This didn’t happen in a country with an authoritarian regime – it happened here in Chicago. It happened in the United States of America – a country that should be a bastion of freedom, hope, and the rights of our people as guaranteed by the Constitution,” he added. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has touted some 900 arrests in its Chicago operation since it began in early September, as well as the 37 arrests made in the nighttime raid on Tuesday, all of whom it said were “involved in drug trafficking and distribution, weapons crimes and immigration violators.” The DHS said the building was targeted because it was “known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates.” The DHS posted video of the raid on social media, overlaid with dramatic music, showing helicopters shining bright lights onto the apartment building while people were being led out in cuffs. 

A DHS spokesperson told CNN following the raid that children were taken into custody “for their own safety and to ensure these children were not being trafficked, abused or otherwise exploited.” The DHS also said that four children who are U.S. citizens with undocumented parents were taken into custody.

Zip-ties and guns

In the aftermath of the sweeping raid, residents and city lawmakers have been demanding answers from the federal government. 

Ed Yohnka, from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU), told MSNBC on Saturday that the raid represented “an escalation of force and violence” from the federal government in Chicago. 

“What we saw was a full-fledged military operation conducted on the south side of Chicago against an apartment building,” he added. 

“They just treated us like we were nothing,” Pertissue Fisher, a U.S. citizen who lives in the apartment building, told ABC7 Chicago in an interview soon after the raid. She said she was then handcuffed, held for hours, and released around 3 a.m. This was the first time she said a gun was ever put in her face.

Neighbor Eboni Watson, who witnessed the raid, also told the ABC station that the children were zip-tied—some of them were without clothes—when they were taken out of the residential building by federal agents. “Where’s the morality?” Watson said she kept asking during the raid.

“As a father, I cannot help but think about what it means for a child to be torn from their bed in the middle of the night, detained for no reason other than a show of force,” National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) president Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “The trauma inflicted on these young people and their families is unconscionable." 

ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TIME.

ICE’s tactics were denounced again on Friday, when Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed by federal immigration agents at a Chicago medical center after questioning agents about their warrant to arrest at the medical center.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s tactics “abusive.”

The raids come just days after President Donald Trump signaled a desire to make greater use of the U.S. military in American cities during a speech to top military leaders, as he assailed a “war from within” the nation.

“We are under invasion from within,” he said, “no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don't wear uniforms.”

He called for U.S. cities to be “training grounds” for the military, as he continues to threaten Chicago with his newly named “Department of War,” and has said that he plans to deploy the National Guard to the city to crack down on crime and immigration enforcement.

CBS News also reported:

Federal agents detained 37 people in an immigration raid in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, and the Department of Homeland Security claims it was targeting members of an infamous Venezuelan gang.

People were jolted out of their beds in the early hours of Tuesday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal agents, armed and in full military uniform.

Cell phone video captured by a neighbor shows agents leading people in zip ties to a school parking lot near 75th and South Shore around 1 a.m. Tuesday. Women and children were among those detained, at least briefly.

The FBI confirmed they were assisting in a "targeted immigration enforcement operation" at the apartment building, and DHS now says the targets included members of the infamous Tren De Aragua gang. But information about who was actually picked up and why is sparse, nor do we know how many of the arrests made actually involved gang members.

DHS also said it was targeting people with drug trafficking offenses, weapons charges and immigrations violations, but again officials have declined to say who was actually arrested and why.

Community activists said many of the undocumented immigrants who came to South Shore left their countries for a chance at a safer life.

"Hundreds of masked agents knocking down doors and dragging families out in the middle of the night. holding babies that were unclothed. that's not right. Folks that were just trying to live their lives in this community. Does that look like safety to you? No!" said Veronica Castro of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

CBS News Chicago has continued to reach out to DHS for more information about the South Shore raid, though answers may be further delayed. A post to the agency's website says its press page is not being managed at the moment due to the government shutdown. 

A conspiracy of silence, by our Government, timed shortly after the shutdown took effect. Or just depopulate the 5-story of "da po' people" while Wells Fargo is foreclosng - see here and here

Trump's a real estate guy, is that a factor?

CNN covered the invasion of the residents - ending

In its statement addressing the raid, DHS noted it was still gathering information about those arrested “due to the size” of the operation and will provide more information.

“Federal law enforcement officers will not stand by and allow criminal activity flourish in our American neighborhoods,” DHS said.

No, the fuckers do it, rather than allow it, and "still gathering information?" WTF don't know what you've done but know you did it with a fucking hellicoptor with rappelling down from it to the rooftop? Christ! Nazis were better on top of Krystal Nacht. They knoe what they were doing, but they'd had more months of exercising their tactics, give Krisi Noem that, she's just beginning. Homan, won't get any better.

I don't know how this rings with you, but I am heart-broken and astounded, taxpayers getting this in return:

Protesters arrested near ICE facility in Illinois as Kristi Noem watches, days after agents raid Chicago apartment building

The FBI said the agency and other Justice Department law enforcement partners were supporting the U.S. Border Patrol - at the direction of the Attorney General.

The protesters were charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer and resisting and obstruction, the Cook County Sheriff's Office told the outlet. 

The protesters were part of a larger crowd that had gathered to demonstrate against ICE raids in Illinois, as Noem visited the facility. 

As the arrests were unfolding below, Noem was seen on the roof of the Broadview facility surrounded by armed agents and a camera crew. 

The arrests come days after ICE agents in military gear raided a Chicago apartment building, frightening residents and arresting 37 people. Law enforcement officials acknowledged shortly after the raid that some U.S. citizens were "briefly" detained.

Kristi sight-seeing? Damned the extra expense, this gets the lady off like shooting a puppy.

Close it with EmptyWheel analyzing Pritzker's lawsuit against Trump's disturbers of the peace

BOTTOM LINE: Shameful abuse of authority by Trump's warriors, under Trump's orders, or prove me wrong. 

The whole world is watching. The nation is in distress. Dark forces are afoot. And it will worsen.