Support rational democracy, now, with Walz. Later, with Citizens United.
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Tom Homan on CSPAN
Link A suit. Not dressed in tear gas canisters like Bovino.
New face on the job. Same job.
UPDATE: PRESENTLY WATCHING IT ALL. So far, no question nor volunteered statement of why Dem cities are targeted and how can that be fixed.
So far, no question about citizen rights to phone-video documentation of conduct of the goons. They have had time to establish cause to distrust. That's a bottom line. They grabbed phones. They jumped people, mobbed them, hurt them, murdered them. The man was not pressed on people keeping their phones and their dignity.
There is good historical proof these goons need constant watching. Will that be interfered with, the ability to watch and document and to protest?
They set their standard of conduct. They killed.
How can it be trusted to be made sane, much less bettrer? It cannot. They killed. They have to gain lowered attention, by earning it by changing the horseshit tactics.
Bovino and Miller set the approach. This guy says stuff. Words are cheap.
It's over the speech and Q/A, with no resolution. Citizens have the right to watch and document video evidence. That is non-negotiable. New face or not, prove it will be something it's not been, which was shit aimed to incite hate and retaliation to then have the Trumpitistas say, "See." Clean up that fucking act and come back with an improved conduct record beyond attempted incitement of riot, so as to put riot down.
That is the Bovino tasking Noem and Stephen Miller and Trump formulated in targeting Dem cities. All that crap needs an end, pronto. We were invaded. The occupying siege agents remain. Fix that shit!
And - - - Never forget the Epstein Files and Trump in them. Disclose the truth. All of it. Redactions that make no sense have no place, and are in the way.
Frey on CSPAN
Link About = Silencing a narrative. Yeah, we all already know that. The chance that whatever is said in this CSPAN segment lasts is worth wondering about. An audition on the DC front. Will Schumer notice? Trump not said. Stephen Miller said. Go figure.
Auditioning for a bigger stage? Meanwhile, Walz comes across as sincerely hoping to get things on an even keel, via thug exiting ASAP.
Also, here, a bullshit video at the start, but interesting reporting after it: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ice-agents-given-secret-new-orders-in-minnesota-after-uproar-over-killings/ar-AA1VfC9e
Unwanted fuckers digging in? = https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/exclusive-hegseth-boosts-minneapolis-immigration-211401696.html
Angie Craig has a lot of money to send two slick cardstock mailings to the household. But she's not Peggy Flemming.
One of the cards Craig calls herself "Battle-tested progressive." That's bullshit.
She's a Chuck Schumer's type of choice for the seat.
Peggy Flemming IS the progressive. The better candidate, although Craig is okay. If Craig wins the primary she'd be an easy enough person to vote for. Indeed, she's had to suit a conservative district, or part of the CD2 is that. If she's the next Senator, who knows, a progressive streak could grow. She'd be replacing the better of our two, should she win, but Flemming IS the progressive in the running, not Craig, although she could grow into it perhaps.
THE RETURN OF JESSE VENTURA? A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON - Dick Russell Jan 23, 2026
https://dickrussell.substack.com/p/the-return-of-jesse-ventura -- about the open Minnesota Governor's seat -
When he last ran, Ventura distinguished himself from two undistinguished stiffs. Times go around, come around. The linked item, in part:
Wearing a black SEAL team hat and sunglasses, sporting long hair and a white beard, Jesse told the reporter: “I just came here today to show my support as a graduate of Roosevelt and tell them how proud I was of what they did, of keeping ICE off of this campus.”
He went on to say: “We don’t need federal troops coming in here without warrants. Some people have said this undermines local law enforcement, Well, it undermines the entire Constitution. The military cannot be turned loose unless it’s a national emergency. They’re going to tell me this is a national emergency?!”
Asked if “they” was a reference to President Trump, he interrupted. “Who was that? You mean the draft-dodging coward? I don’t call him by name…..I spent 17 months in Southeast Asia while the draft dodger was playing golf.”
It was vintage Ventura. And he hinted about something he might be inclined to change his mind about - another run for public office. “Maybe it’s time for Jesse,” he mused to the reporter. “I only did one term. I’m owed a second.”
So I gave him a time-to-catch-up call. [...]
I brought up a story I’d recently seen online that appeared in the Las Vegas Sun, written originally by a columnist for the New York Daily News. It was headlined: “Time for Jesse Ventura to get back in the ring.” The op-ed meant the political ring and ended with the words: “Run, Jesse, run.”
Expressing amazement this actually came out in Las Vegas and New York papers, Jesse couldn’t help but muse some more. “I’ve thought about it,” he told me, “because Minnesota is a prime place to rewin the governorship. The field is weak. Tim Walz is retiring, so it’s wide open. A third party guy should never take on an incumbent but he’ll be gone. Right now on the Republican side, you’ve got an idiot pillow salesman and with the Dems I’m told Senator [Amy] Klobuchar is coming home to bestow her leadership on us as governor. The way to combat her is simple. She hasn’t held a private sector job in her life - so stay in Washington where you are and fight the guy.” Meaning, it seemed obvious, the current president who he wouldn’t deem to name.
Jesse paused again but only for a moment. “If it was ten years ago, absolutely I would run. The only thing holding me back now is my age of 74. From four years experience, I know how much energy it takes to do the job and I don’t know if I got it. But then again, I’m five years younger than the president. The good thing about the governorship is, you don’t have to file until June. [...];"
You heard it here [the Russell substack] first. What do you think, readers?
The field is weak. A quite conservative Dem who never held a private sector job. The pillow guy. One guy out of St. Cloud who noted a Somali concentration there and was called politically incorrect, but it is a small community to be called to any great assimilation. That candidate in the GOP against the pillow guy. A few other GOP bowling pins, one GOP outstate female. Weak.
Jesse owns no baggage like Jake Sullivan. And his view of Trump's siege of Minnesota does not have to be sophisticated, just strongly pro rule of law; and anti-Trump. His ticket is punched on that score. And, very indirectly, he appears to Crabgrass as closer to AOC in spirit than any of the others. An environmentalist. What you see is what you get.
And having to only be more promising than the two-party stranglehold, that's a plus
Jesse or more of the same?.
____________UPDATE____________
It was an easy search, the Las Vegas Sun item Russell noted, is online here. It's nothing special, but does note Jesse could be a candidate. When the choices are calcified on one side and mediocre on the other, two parties are not enough. Or two parties fail, and if Jesse goes write-in, as things now look, I'd write him in on my ballot. In a heartbeat.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Springsteen is reaching. It's sort of sad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKSoxG1K7w
This guy. Hang it up Bruce. It's what it sounds like. Put together quickly.
Enjoy the Geffen yacht, Bruce. You've earned retirement in luxury in the twilight years. The song's awful.
The commentary thread seems favorable, so, opinions differ.
Wishing Springsteen well. His body of work stands on its own merits.
Just, this one can stand alone on its own merits too. Getting the card punched.
UPDATE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3743316/Yachting-enemy-Ivanka-Trump-Jared-Kushner-jet-ski-Croatia-Democratic-Hollywood-billionaire-David-Geffen-s-200m-boat.html -- Geffen owns, Springsteen mixes.
Trump's America. There of course was nothing like this after Biden won the 2020 election. Biden was - better that way. He was - better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_fnqVy0Qfs
With this "leadership" either vote in better or learn Chinese.
Out of the blue, Josh Hawly for President?
Do it, Josh. Push Vance to use the 25th. He either does it or Josh might be the man.
Mediaite: "Noem Says ‘Everything I’ve Done’ Has Been Directed by Trump and Stephen Miller: Report"
YahooNews also carried the item: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/noem-says-everything-ve-done-225051871.html
Apparently Axios may have initially reported this item, Mediaite stating:
“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” Noem reportedly said to someone who relayed her comment to Axios.
The report from Axios suggests there was a great amount of confusion surrounding Pretti’s death in the White House. Officials told the outlet that Border Patrol officers told the White House that Pretti brandished a gun before being shot, but this claim is contradicted by video evidence. Some White House officials reportedly took issue with the official statement going out, as they were not briefed on all of the details surrounding the shooting before it was published.
“Others within the White House attempted to clean up the DHS statement prior to it being sent, but it had already been disseminated,” a source familiar with the situation told Axios.
The suggestion is not intential lying from headquarters, but from the field and not checked out sufficiently by headquarters before headquaters issued its statement.
In effect, total lack of professionalism claimed, but not Noem, herself, inte______
___________UPDATE__________
More detail from IBT, referencing Axios as breaking the story, IBT publishing:
Kristi Noem, the embattled Homeland Security Secretary, has reportedly broken ranks with the White House, privately admitting that 'everything I've done' in office was directed by President Donald Trump and senior adviser Stephen Miller.
According to a bombshell report from Axios on 28 January 2026, Noem's admission comes as she faces an unprecedented impeachment push following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
By shifting accountability to Miller, the unelected architect of the administration's hardline immigration surge, and the President himself, Noem appears to be distancing herself from the legal and political fallout of Operation Metro Surge.
With over 140 House Democrats now co-sponsoring articles of impeachment and GOP senators joining the chorus for her resignation, the internal rift signals a major fracture in the administration's handling of federal law enforcement authority.
With public trust fraying and investigations widening, Noem's remarks are being interpreted less as loyalty and more as self-preservation. If accurate, they point to an unusually centralised chain of command at the heart of US immigration enforcement, one that now threatens to pull the White House directly into the legal and political fallout.
Noem's Admission Deepens White House Fallout
Noem's admission, as reported by Axios, that 'everything I've done' was at the direction of Trump and Miller suggests an unprecedented degree of reliance on the president and his senior adviser.
Miller, who serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser, is widely viewed as the main architect of the hardline immigration policies, despite not being a Senate-confirmed official.
The admission appears to underscore the internal pressure Noem faces as political backlash mounts over the administration's handling of federal immigration operations in Minneapolis, where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents shot and killed Alex Pretti during an enforcement operation.
The Axios item is subscription-walled, but before the wall Axios states:
White House officials are blaming Customs and Border Patrol for furnishing inaccurate information, while others are targeting Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and top Trump adviser, six sources with knowledge of the situation told Axios.
That's bullshit. The little munchkins did it is no excuse for Miller pushing shit out the door to lay down the spore of falsehood, and Miller's head should roll [figuratively]. Fire them all, and JD has the 25th Amendment, but short of that fire Miller for certain since he's such a mean and ugly little bitch.
Anyway, hate those walls. Axios used to be a good source before walling off.
____________FURTHER UPDATE__________
RawStory is rattling the Epstein files again at Trump. You cannot be the Teflon Don, if the dead Epstein trafficker keeps sticking. We're still waiting . . .
Bondi could bond to JD and the others to throw Trump under the bus. They need to go to Oz to find courage, and a brain, but it will come. It was Toto who pulled back the curtain, in this case, Elon. His tweeting of Trump in Epstein files smouldered, not big flames all the time, but the fire seems to not go out.
EmptyWheel : "Stephen Miller, Not (Just) Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino, Must Be Held Accountable"
A lengthy and well-reasoned disection of Miller's role in Trump's Failed Minnesota Adventure: https://emptywheel.net/2026/01/26/stephen-miller-not-just-kristi-noem-and-greg-bovino-must-be-held-accountable-2/
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Homan gonna make the trains run on time?
Somewhere during a meandering life I learned the phrase "distinction without a difference."
Perhaps an upgrade in IQ, given Bovino. Street romaing man replaced by - what?
Monday, January 26, 2026
Noem not under the bus entirely, just replaced in Minnesota by another super-goon.
Title -
Trump dumps Kristi Noem as he orders longtime rival to lead ICE in Minneapolis amid shooting scandal
Title -
Poll Reveals How Little Americans Buy Trump Goons’ Claims About Deadly Nurse Shooting
TRUST YOUR OWN EYES
Footage of the deadly Border Patrol shooting has played a big role in public opinion.
So, Tom Homan now. Expect more killings.
Homan advocates deportation of illegal immigrants and opposes sanctuary city policies. Within the government, he was among the most strident proponents of the Trump administration's family separation policy as a means of deterring illegal entry into the country. After 2018, he began contributing to Fox News as a commentator. Homan joined the Heritage Foundation in 2022 and became a contributor to Project 2025.
In September 2024, Homan was reportedly recorded accepting a bag containing $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives. The FBI was investigating allegations that Homan was accepting bribes from border security companies in exchange for the promise of government contracts if Trump won the 2024 election. In September 2025, the Department of Justice closed the investigation, citing insufficient evidence.
Ain't they something? That first item has an interesting breakdown of the Pretti murder.
Why the fuck is Trump doing this? Democrats. Minnesota elects Democrats.
Greg Bovino - Form your own opinion, from his being interviewed. He is the leader of the death squads Trump sent into Minnesota because Minnesota elects Democrats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX_HQEbVX84
Because of how MSN embeds its video content, the video link alone, if it can be isolated, could not be isolated by Crabgrass trying. So, full story links.
But judge Bovino by his interview video, where demeanor can be seen.
AND -- the third video is Guv Walz being sensible.
These goons were not sent here to patrol the streets and threaten the peace because of "fraud." FBI and DOJ trained forensic accountants do that. And to do it, you don't need masks, handguns, flash bangs, and pepper spray. Usually fraud is addressed by the suits, not the riot gear armed and mean federal death squads.
To use Trump's term, what they all say about this siege is "a hoax."
Please do notice Bovino has no answer about "ten shots."
There is no answer, beyond intentional killing of a citizen of Minnesota, via grossly excessive use of force, and agent provocation of things, not the involved citizens, including the guy who took ten shots to his body, for being a lawful citizen and for no other reason beyond mad killers on our streets, sent by Trump's dislike of predominantly Democratic cities.
If Trump were not demented, would he have done this? Or would he have shown sense.
stating eyewitness observation -
“It didn’t look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn’t see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground.
“Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times. I don’t know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.”
“Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over,” she added. “The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.
“The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn’t see him touch any of them – he wasn’t even turned toward them.”
Footage also appears to show Pretti’s gun being taken from him by a federal agent before he was shot, implying that he was unarmed and posed no threat at the time of his death.
The eyewitness added: “The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.
FURTHER: Try search = Kristi Noem under the bus
FURTHER: Try search = Donald Trump dementia
FURTHER: Try search = JD Vance twenty-fifth amendment
That last one I tried, time frame = past week, and Vance has yet to pull the trigger. However, there was this, Vance working those wanting their view imposed upon everybody. It seems duty is subordinated to politicizing a segment of his base.
Sunday, January 25, 2026
The other major Minnesota daily statewide newspaper, Pioneer Press, publishes an interesting item related to the Siege of Minnesota.
Paul Allen, radio voice of the Vikings, mocks Minnesota protestors
On his KFAN morning show Friday, Allen suggested that protest marchers are paid
He has the same First Amendment rights I have. And he has opinions he cares to speak up about, with a forum that reaches more people locally than I do. Viking ownership has the right to react any way they choose, depending on if he is an employee at will, or as more likely, under a contract possibly with a clause about conduct reflecting badly upon the team and ownership.
How things shake out with regard to ownership outlook will be a future determination.
What the reporting is:
While discussing the cold with former Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, Allen said, “In conditions like this, do paid protesters get hazard pay? Those are the things that I’ve been thinking about this morning.”
The moment was saved by awfulannouncing.com and can be heard here.
“Probably not gonna touch that one,” Greenway said, according to an audio clip posted by the web site awfulannouncing.com.
Allen continued. “Everyone’s catching strays this week,” he said, citing NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield and former NFL QB Charlie Batch. “They’re just all over. Protestors caught one this morning.”
The remark, which pushes the false narrative that protesters are paid by left-wing groups, is commonly made to undermine the importance of social protest. It drew immediate ire on social media.
With the freedoms we all have, ownership included, the Wilf family would be free to endorse Allen's opining, or to act in some other way.
The bottom line seems the man has expertise in sports broadcasting (unlike the TV coverage showing coaches in the press box or sideline closeup or parents in the stand instead of the field where offensive and defensive formations on the field and player substitutions can instead be covered). His range of opinions, however, are a mixture of experience and outlook, but with no particularized expertise. I have opinions. He has opinions. If fired, he could be replaced with one of equal or better expertise and talent, or one less gifted. But with social media reacting owhership likely should pay attention and act as they feel best for their business interests and for the cohesion of their team members and administrative people.
We have freedoms. We face responsibility. Myself, I publish and realize I could end up snatched on the street and sent to an El Salvador hellhole by these people I criticize. It is not likely, but could happen. Risks exist.
My opinion, This Allen guy is a horse's ass. If he does not like my saying so, he can sue me. All it takes is a lawyer and the filing fee. Bless him.
We live in America. More formally, in the U.S. of A. With all that it means.
____________UPDATE___________
The outlet publishing of the radio commentary is a matter of editorial choice. The same statewide outlet also published an AP feed: "From frigid quiet to outraged sorrow, a few hours on Minneapolis street where agents killed man," a second AP feed, "Videos of deadly Minneapolis shooting contradict government statements," and an NYTimes feed, "In court filings, witnesses describe fatal Minneapolis shooting of Alex Pretti." That third item is helpful because of the NYTimes having a paywall.
If PiPress did any editorial, I did not do any excessive degree of searching, but found none. They covered what they saw fit, in the way they saw fit. The NYTimes feed ended:
Those sworn statements were filed as part of a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota that accused federal agents of repeatedly violating protesters’ rights during a recent surge of immigration enforcement. The federal judge hearing that case issued an injunction earlier this month that imposed restrictions on agents. The Trump administration appealed, and an appellate court issued an administrative stay this past week that blocked the injunction.
On Saturday, lawyers for the protesters filed an emergency motion that asked the appellate court to allow the injunction to go back into effect.
That's news. They published it. The overall reporting at PiPress seems to be less judgmental and less supportive of local official actions and opinions than that at Strib, but that's only a guess. It's an outlet I bookmarked, but do not follow closely.
My hope is the injunction is reconsidered and reimposed, but that's editorial, not news reporting. Likewise my hope is the hateful siege gets lifted and Trump removed because of dementia. Again an editorial thought, but with factual reported bases.
____________FURTHER____________
Across the Atlantic The Guardian appears more editorially inclined:
Alex Pretti’s death could be a moment of reckoning for Democrats to call time on Trump waging war on his people
Opening paragraphs:
Wearing helmets, gas masks and camouflage fatigues, the federal agents took aim and prepared to open fire. “It’s like Call of Duty,” one could be heard saying via a TV mic, referring to a first-person shooter military video game. “So cool, huh?”
This was the scene on the streets of Minneapolis on Saturday after armed agents, wearing masks and tactical vests, wrestled 37-year-old Alex Pretti to the ground and shot him dead. The killing took place just over a mile from where Renee Good was fatally shot on 7 January, a scene that itself was less than a mile from where police murdered George Floyd in May 2020.
“How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?” the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, demanded at a press conference on Saturday, referring to the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. An angry crowd gathered and swore profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home.
Donald Trump spoke of “American carnage” in his first inaugural address nine years ago. The US president has surely delivered it by deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the streets of a major city in order to create a spectacle of terror reminiscent of a civil war – or a video game.
In the first year of his second presidency, Trump’s ICE deployments have been carefully aimed at cities that are Democratic-led and often Black-led, as if imposing collective punishment for their defiance. In this, he is borrowing from an authoritarian playbook reminiscent of Saddam Hussein of Iraq targeting the Kurds or Soviet leader Joseph Stalin causing the Holodomor, or “death by hunger”, in Ukraine.
It is the same vengeful petulance that in the past week alone has seen Trump lash out at Canada and other Nato allies over perceived slights in Davos during his quest to conquer Greenland.
Trump seems to reserve a special loathing for Minnesota because he lost the presidential elections there in 2016, 2020 and 2024, despite most neighbouring states voting in his favour. He recently made the false claim that he won Minnesota all three times. In reality, no Republican – not even Ronald Reagan – has prevailed there since Richard Nixon in 1972.
I would call it Trump's fetish to conquer Greenland, rather then "quest." Continuing:
Minnesota is home to the biggest Somali community in the country, making it a target of Trump’s animus: this week, he described Somalis as “low-IQ people”, not even trying to conceal his racism. It is also home to Somali-born Ilhan Omar, a progressive congresswoman who gets under Trump’s skin. The state’s governor, Tim Walz, is a trenchant critic of the president who was Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 election that she lost to Trump.
Garrett Graff, a journalist and historian, wrote on his Doomsday Scenario blog this week: “This is what fascism looks like – there is no bright line between democracy and autocracy, it’s a spectrum, and not all of the country will experience that switch at the same moment in the same way. But let’s be clear: there is a US city living under occupation by fascist presidential secret police right now.”
That conclusion was hard to avoid on Saturday. TV pictures showed the air thick with teargas as agents forced one protester to the ground. He could be heard shrieking: “I’m a United States citizen! You’re gonna kill me! Is that what you want? You want to kill me?” Nearby a woman was kneeling and screaming as a man tried to comfort her.
The protester fatally shot by a federal officer was identified as ICU nurse Alex Pretti. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them. Walz accused the authorities of a “rush to judgment” and called the shooting “sickening”.
The DHS and other government authorities have already shredded their credibility with false and misleading claims in the past. A chorus of Democrats reacted in horror to the shooting and called on ICE to get out of Minneapolis, with some urging Congress to cut off its funding.
[...] The past week in Davos felt like an inflection point when western leaders drew a line in the sand over Trump’s bullying over Greenland and said: no more. Pretti’s death could be a similar moment of reckoning for Democrats and others in the domestic arena to call time on Trump waging war on his own people.
The Guardian did not expressly say "batshit crazy" but they know it when they see it. Nor did they get into Vance and courage and not indifference being needed to begin looking into the 25th Amendment, yet the question is there. It seems the Siege on Minnesota can only be lifted with the racist demented heart of hate sidelined. (Taking Stephen Miller and The Turner Diaries with him). JD should take the lead in sidetracking the three, Trump, Miller and the novel; but will he?
Before the Debacle at Davos, USA Today published an analysis of Trump and the 25th Amendment. The theme becomes more pressing day by day.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/20/what-is-25th-amendment/88266702007/
And, it is curious that no major media outlet used the word "unhinged" on its own and not as part of a quote of Andy Beshear.
(prove me wrong) I say that after: search = trump davos unhinged
Readers are invited to do the search and read about Beshear.
But unhinged is so obvious everyone should be saying it without needing a prod from Beshear, who used two parallel words along with "unhinged."
====================
Rather than calling off the siege of Minnesots the toadies do suck-up to their naked emperor, and their whole thing is sick.
As if there's not a real brain between them. Just mush and falsehoods.
====================
UPDATE: The Minnesota Star Tribune editorial board speaks with one voice: https://www.startribune.com/fatal-ice-shooting-south-minneapolis-border-patrol/601570141
STOP THE SIEGE - the editors' subheadline: "It’s not debatable after the latest fatal shooting." JD should have the guts that the local editorial board has.
AND -- On that theme I pass the baton to Beshear and Ed Markey, who have broader followings than I have. Push. Push hard. It will not happen without a major push.
Dan Bongino exits the FBI
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/17/dan-bongino-fbi-resignation-00696112
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is leaving his post, ending a nine-month tenure during which he drew criticism from within the agency for his lack of experience and clashed with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Epstein files.
Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and podcaster known for spreading conspiracy theories, announced his departure in a social media post Wednesday shortly after President Donald Trump confirmed his departure to reporters.
“I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi, and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose,” he said in a post on X. “Most importantly, I want to thank you, my fellow Americans, for the privilege to serve you.”
Trump picked the podcaster and former Secret Service agent to serve as the FBI’s No. 2 under Kash Patel in February. What followed was a period that saw the media personality struggle to square his broadcast tendencies against the reality of helping run the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
What next? Back to podcasting, or only more time with family?
A clash with Kash? If deciding to podcast, expect many in DC to listen. Initially at least.
Vance comes to town publicly preaching deescalation. Privately, who knows but the perps he talked to? Bovino and such. Privately, the DC message personally delivered could have been Turmp thinks that the Minnesota citizens haven't gotten their minds right, so we need another brutal and unjustified killing.
Would you say, "No, not Mr. Vance, he loves all people, even Haitians?" Has he that level of cred? With you? Given his campaign style? Given his in-office persona?
Obviously, I'm not saying he said one thing or another when not publicly speaking. What I am saying is I trust him to have said anything. He came as Trump's surrogate. And Trump's demented. Meanly so. Take the thought from there.
Either way, the news is another resignation:
The resignation of the agent, Tracee Mergen, was only the latest shock wave to have emerged from the Justice Department’s handling of the shooting of Renee Good.
An F.B.I. agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis this month has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The agent, Tracee Mergen, left her job as a supervisor in the F.B.I.’s Minneapolis field office after bureau leadership in Washington pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the immigration officer, Jonathan Ross, according to one of the people. Such inquiries are a common investigative step in similar shootings.
Ms. Mergen’s resignation was only the latest shock wave to have emerged from the Justice Department’s handling of the shooting of Renee Good, an unarmed mother who was killed on Jan. 7 as she was behind the wheel of her Honda Pilot.
After the incident, several Trump administration officials described Ms. Good as a “domestic terrorist,” accusing her of trying to ram Mr. Ross with her vehicle. But a video analysis by The New York Times showed no indication that he had been run over.
Senior Justice Department officials have repeatedly said there are no plans to follow the path normally taken in such situations and pursue an investigation into whether Mr. Ross, who fired multiple shots at Ms. Good, had used excessive force.
In that context, not following the norm as a conscious decision, who knows what private message Vance was carrying other than whoever it was he spoke to in private.
Anything's possible. With Vance. With him as Trump's messenger.
Vance is the man who needs to get off the dime and do 25th Amendment caucusing of Cabinet opinion about the severity of Trump's mental slippage into incapacity. What we saw at Davos shouts out for it.
In any event, hollow public deescalation words and day later murder - ten fucking shots - is the pattern, whatever else.
Vance has one positive to offer, Usha is staying with him, so he cannot be all bad.
Usha surely seems to not be of the DC norm and mold. She comes across as likeable. Unlike JD.
Opinions can differ.
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Three videos. Take the time to watch them, or choose to be as ignorant as Tom Emmer.
First, because something has to be the better starter: Heather Cox Richardson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r8fI8DhI0o
Again, my blog so I pick a sequence good or better, or counter productive, whatever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS6IJLwRIGM
The second is less deep than the first, but is essential to a sane mood. Then, last, the who may be moved when not there before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2IyrQLfZQ
Am I helpful to movement and understanding spreading, or not, it is that sequence, and again, if you don't want to be as ignorant and dissembling as Tom Emmer, watch.
If you will only watch one, make it the first one. The second will overlap new posting in the next few days, but is effective now in a very helpful way, and the third is short but you can see something there in terms of mood shifting with information.
Please for my own good as well as your own, don't elect to be as ignorant as the Republican House whip, who puts politics ahead of honest patriot sentiment and realization of where honor demands something beyond personal mojo over I got here and now am an important person in constructing a political opportunity, I've arrived.
Please be better than that.
KARE-11 local video outlet - "FULL PRESS CONFERENCE: Gov. Tim Walz says 'Minnesota's justice system will have last word'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIS6a8PoRLM
This is very depressing what the federal government his disintegrated into and what is being done into sane and peaceful neighborhoods. It is obscene.
And jumping on JD with spurs on for not meeting duty under the 25th Amendment, what of this - JD comes into town, and the day after escalation and another murder.
What did JD come here for, never mind what he said, he shows up and next day, another murder. It causes wonderment.
Walz is the sane voice, and after Trump embarrassed the nation in Davos he pulls the same shit about propagandizing a narrative where the best of bystander video shows he is lying with impunity and in a crude and unconvincing way, with no care whatsoever for actual truth. If you are going to lie, Christsakes, do it better.
Trump's not only an unprincipled liar, he's bad at it. End of story.
Thoughts on the ongoing murdering of Minnesotans by inexcusably inept and overly beligerant goons.
AP publishing updates- https://apnews.com/live/minneapolis-ice-shooting-updates-1-24-2026
Vance responded to the shooting in a post on X and said that when he visited Minneapolis this week, “what the ICE agents wanted more than anything was to work with local law enforcement so that situations on the ground didn’t get out of hand.”
He accused local officials in Minnesota of ignoring requests from ICE agents to work with them.
Federal officials previously blocked state investigators from accessing evidence after an ICE official shot protester Renee Good, declaring that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.
That fucking little coward will not use the 25th Amendment, and should shut the fuck up.
In a series of posts, Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the man who was killed a “domestic terrorist” and “a would-be assassin” and accused Democrats of “flaming the flames of insurrection” for political reasons.
And that is a part of why Vance should do his 25th Amendment job. That shit, Miller, is Trump's devil whisperer, and if Vance moved, and succeeded, Miller's craziness would then be disarmed. Miller is the one who incited all this Gestapo shit with his ginning up white hate against non-whites. He has no redeeming social value.
But ultimately, it is Trump, as impaired as his mind now is, who remains responsible for listening to Miller, whose race hatred is fitting in with Trump's wanting a private paramilitary force to be his equivalent of the SA.
Our nation is under siege by irresponsible people, at the top, and JD Vance, alone, is charged with particular 25th Amendment responsibility, and could defuse the entire siege upon the American people, if he had the courage to act. If the Cabinet majority is not there, JD owes us saying he knows the duty, and tried. How long can he hide behind bullshit pronouncements while people suffer Gestapo siege?
He is the man to act. Will he? Or is he to prove he is the very empty suit he seems to be? My guess, JDVACO! A version of the TACO branding.
_____________UPDATE___________
Walz: "Minnesota's justice system will have the last word on this"
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he had spoken to the White House twice on Saturday, to first request that federal agents leave the state, and to then say that state officials will investigate the deadly Border Patrol shooting in South Minneapolis.
"Minnesota's justice system will have the last word on this. It must have the last word on this," Walz said. "As I told the White House in no uncertain terms, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period."
[...] Walz added that Republicans "will not win another election for as long as they live" unless they "stand up for what's right" and "stand up for human decency."
While Walz neither mentions JD, nor the 25th Amendment, it becomes more and more relevant, as the Gestapo does not leave, with Trump demanding they stay because Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem say so. Trump is impaired.
All over the internet, a white 37y old man - a Minnesota citizen - was shot dead by Federal storm troopers, and by tomorrow more news may surface. There are at least two video recordings of the happening.
For now. The top story:
CNBC -
Key Points
- “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote in a post on X.
- Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said authorities had identified the victim as a 37-year-old white male and Minneapolis resident.
- The latest shooting adds to a tense standoff between Minnesota authorities and federal immigration agents that has persisted for weeks.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday called on President Donald Trump to end sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the state after a second fatal shooting this month by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning,” Walz wrote in a post on X. “Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”
The president has been briefed on the shooting, MS Now reported, citing a White House official.
At a briefing Saturday afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said authorities had identified the victim as a 37-year-old white male and Minneapolis resident, adding that the man had no known criminal history beyond traffic citations.
“The only interaction that we are aware of with law enforcement has been for traffic tickets, and we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit,” O’Hara said, though he noted details surrounding the encounter remain under review.
O’Hara said his department has been in touch with the Department of Homeland Security, but that it has not provided specific details around the incident itself.
“At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement on X. “An individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here.
Well, untrained, violent, unwanted and dangerous goons were turned loose by Trump and Vance and Noem and citizens of Minnesota get killed by these Gestapo goons.
Not good for us in Minnesota. Not good for the USA. Not good for JD who will not use the 25th Amendment despite what the entire world can see. Trump's lost full contact with reality and is a ticking time bomb. If it were a private person like that it would be a common and sad thing. It's the President, with immense powers. Who needs to be shut down for the good of the entire planet.
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Ty Cobb, the lawyer and distant relation to the baseball legend, speaks frankly about Trump dementia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvoC7uA7vhk
Cobb has a wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Cobb_(attorney)
The final latest link in the wiki report: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5698558-trump-health-fitness-cobb/
Do your own websearch = Trump dementia
JD is feckless and needs a very swift kick in the ass to do his duty and move the Cabinet to remove Trump per The Twenty-fifth Amendment, and the situation with JD's lack of effort is so worrisome that Breitbart even publishes:
Tuesday on MS NOW’s “The Beat,” former White House special counsel Ty Cobb claimed President Donald Trump had “dementia.”
Cobb said, “I suspect one of the key guardrails this week, where I hope there is vigorous debate is with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military over what Trump intends to do in Greenland. You know, today, he said he wouldn’t take, force off the table. They asked him how far he was prepared to go. He said, you’ll find out. You know, those are not the comments of a rational human being and certainly not presidential at all. Likewise yesterday you had the clearly deranged, demented and insane note that he sent to the to the leaders of Norway saying that because Norway, which has no control over the Nobel Peace Prize, hadn’t given it to him that he was free to disregard peace and very interested in Greenland. You know, I don’t think there’s anybody outside of the United States who believes that Trump is sane.”
Host Ari Melber said, “Since you’ve worked for him in the White House, when you make that reference to saying, do you mean problems with how he approaches things that have long been there, or are you referring to some decline?”
Cobb said, “No, I think there’s been a significant decline. You know, he’s always been driven by narcissism but I think the dementia and the cognitive decline are palpable as do many experts, including many physicians.”
The big problem, kick Trump out and the feckless JD - with his key ability being to lie about Haitians and pets at risk - being seriously tasked to lead, with the same lame bunch of Cabinet members. We need better, but it is all we've got. JD could get the needed Cabinet votes, and then clean house. But would he? And who'd he then pick?
JD walked the halls of his former Senate colleagues on behalf of Matt Gaetz and Hegseth, and could not gin up enough for Gaetz, but did for Hegseth, and would he then dump Petey? In a heartbeat is a guess, as to understanding of the man, but as to the politics of the base, would JD have the balls to do it? Etc.
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/01/dementia-don-update
UPDATE: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/donald-trumps-hand-bruise-sparked-36599369
Is bleeding in the brain a worry? Try search = trump bleeding in brain stroke
Something's not right between Trump's ears, and it could be age related dementia developing or it could be something else. How long will JD "wait and see?"
Too long, but again JD moves, then we're stuck with JD and the rest of "the team" where it is questionable whether JD would even remove Kennedy. We're fucked.
FURTHER: https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/trumps-bizarre-behavior-has-a-clinical-name-disinhibition/
We await courage from unexpected directions, sometime soon as things worsen.
Do it, JD. Before the midterms. Before something really disastrous happens.
Manifest destiny. Constitutional Protection. Understanding the elasticy of words is needed.
How safe is "safe" in your home and papers? ICE shows a current lower limit, with Trump wanting it lower, incrementally changed.
Manifest destiny at one time was politically something politicians could sell.
Now it is discredited to where it can be in Trump's head, but spoken in more circumspect ways, as long as it's not Trump speaking, at least then euphemism may happen.
What's Davos saying to you? Do you even care, since Davos shows little care toward you. How the powerful rub elbows is a story, but it is not anything those without power can alter or even affect at all. Live paycheck to paycheck, and it is others setting the agenda, not you.
Elon loves robots, and the Ukrainians are vexing Russia and Putin within Russia with drone warfare - i.e., with Must's robots. Just presented to you dressed differently.
Iranians protest, multiple deaths done, to keep a hold on authority. Minnesota, only the one shooting so far. We're better off, but better off is different from treated well.
Beyond the headline, does it need fleshing out?
An image link and how Crabgrass views the image.
https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/QB2RRJ7YRJBCJMBY6DX37BYQVM.jpg?&w=1080
What it says in sub-zero weather many with signs simply saying "ICE OUT."
Simple enough to understand that feeling.
What one word was most striking was the banner sign word "terror."
That is what it inescapably was and might continue to be. ICE terrorized citizens. Full story. No possible grounds to dispute that. In the affluent city neighborhoods, and the overly white burbs, ICE was absent. But the terror, intentional terror, was real and hateful and Trumpian at its root. Trump wants terror felt at the lower economic levels, since his aim is to shit all over the most needly so he and his bums can enrich themselves and serve the aristocricy to have them liking his approach.
It is mean and calculated, and un-American. Long term, Trump is nationally and Internationally killing any and all respect the nation may have. Having put Trump into office the people are suspect. The band of cohorts who keep the lamebrained man going instead of meeting a twenty-fifth Amendment duty, because if they acted Trump's white supremecist base, feeling put upon while many own a cottege up north, and several snowmobiles, would stay home instead of being GOTV zombies as now is the case. While JD is congent, he's not the politician Trump is, and as a disagreeable human, JD needs Trump more than vice versa.
But Trump is now demented, and dangerous, since when sharper minded, he was still mean as hell. Demented, he's got the nuclear launch button where adults in the chain are needed to disarm that worry and instead, there is Hegseth.
Three more years, and then what? Can the Dems offer something real, as reforms and not promised steps which they have no intention of collectively taking if gaining the leadershp positions in Congress and the Eecutive? While the Republicans are beyond trust except for trust from the monied aristorcats whose wants are served by the Republicans, is it really any different with Democrat politicians when in power?
It seems to not be. Just marginally better mismanagement of government and aid to the wealthy and powerful who finance campaigns and get politicians paychecks.
Friday, January 23, 2026
This is crazy.
Tucker Carlson and some shouting idiot. Poor white people. And lawless failure to support ICE agents. Pure bullshit.
__________UPDATE__________
Is this, however, sane?
What to conclude? There is a vast sea of some kinds of web content, one inch deep.
Not my saying, someone else said it first and I don't remember who. But it is true.
FURTHER: Third video, fit it into a pattern. Propaganda without shouting, since these are people with power and money and have no cause to shout about things. But their question is, "How is our world to be run?" Diogenes was not there.
FURTHER: RT here and here. You can go to their website and see more.
FURTHER: CNN:
Thursday, January 22, 2026
This is a sad post, as it means the nation I live in has permantly lost much respect and credibility via its recent President.
Davos full speeches online, three key ones, two tightly messaged, one rambling where fact checking puts my nation in a very bad light. I should move to Canada, if they'd have me. One further Davos speech link, Macron's, which I did not watch, but found the full item online.
The first two, direct and not promising well for either the USA or its currency hegemony. There's a world of nations holding great amounts of US Treasury notes, and the bond market wonders.
Search = Trump fact check Davos -- then take your pick of multiple returned items
As a bonus, at a Congressional hearing, Jamie Raskin's Minority Ranking Member opening statement speaks of my home state, Minnesota.
Trust lost is not a good thing.
Readers, can you tell yourself of one good thing Donald J. Trump has done?
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
It is not as if great time is needed to reach cognizance of reality. Heather Cox Richardson gives the full report. Carville gives the executive summary.
You have it. Reflect on it.
When JD visits Minnesota, two questions need to be asked.
What about the 25th Amendment?
Will you end the siege?
Beyond that, do you think he's worth listening to?
USDA website on Minnesota ICE agents.
https://squealonpigs.com/take-action/
I had a nightmare about being on the ground attacked and bitten time and again by a feral band. It woke me up and I realized it was triggered by ICE presence and conduct, and media coverage of same. The way they band. The way they attack humans. Nasty animals.
_____________UPDATE____________
Is there an effort to ease up just a little in Minnesota, and if so, what does it mean?
Strib runs an item to semi-humanize Greg Bovino. And -
The latest: JD Vance to visit Minnesota this week as federal immigration surge continues
Those things, and the "deescalation" memo seem as if things are being taken away from Noem's shock-and-awe crap, and not changed much, but perhaps a bit lower on the gratuitous brutality as overt policy.
That would be straight out of Machiavelli, who taught maximize initial brutality, then transit to easing up a bit, and the opposition will lessen. Cold and cruel, but it looks like that. Prove me wrong, please.
Also in that JD headed item, not separately posted, Trump appears to be throwing John Ross under the bus, or starting to, with escalation from there:
Trump calls Renee Good's death 'a tragedy'At a news conference Tuesday reflecting on his first year in office, President Donald Trump had a softer tone when talking about the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent than he did earlier this month. Trump said on Tuesday he “felt terribly” about it and that it was a “tragedy.”
During his remarks, Trump said ICE agents are “going to make mistakes sometimes,” he said, adding that they were occasionally “going to be too rough with somebody.”
Likely, Trump could give two shits about John Ross and about Renee Good, and is seeing Ross-under-the-bus as a tactic. Shooting somebody multiple times in the face seems to most people as much more than "too rough with somebody."
Trump still remains cogent enough to know that, but his thing is whether bad or whatever, keep escalating until time to chicken out and downscale.
BOTTOM LINE - Ross under the bus. Expendable agent.
The likely thing is to not be lulled into any fewer whistles or phone-video, as what is needed is firm proof over time of realization that the siege of Minnesota was a mistake. It would surprise me greatly if these people are capable of decency, but we'll see.
FURTHER:
They said it. It needed saying. It was time taken away from their practice, to reach the Capitol, to collectively speak up. It helps.
I guess the white male hospital top medical staff had to remain behind, since patients needed care. But the women spoke up. Women seem more outraged and vocal in general about the evil of the siege. Or news coverage suggests this is so.
FURTHER: Sadly, it needs to be said, the only answer is what Mayor Frey said at the outset of the occupation, "Get the fuck out of Minneapolis." And that is NOT happening and should happen and JD can come and sophist up, down, and sideways, but, get the fuck out, and yesterday would not have been soon enough.
Unwanted, unhelpful, disturbing the peace. Get out. And leave Ross, for Minnesota to try for murder. Give all investigative notes and records and phone and email data to the Minnesota authorities, and then task the FBI to do things they can be trusted at not having cause to do a coverup. Otherwise, JD it's like you going to Greenland.
Unwanted, unhelpful, etc.
FURTHER: We do not need JD propagandizing. We need an exit. If JD takes them with him, bless JD. Otherwise, don't come. We want you JD as much as we want ICE.
Unless you intend to call off the siege and punish Ross for murder, stay in DC.
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
" Leaked DHS memo warned against exact tactics used in ICE killing of Minnesota mom "
The headline above is the headline used in:
https://www.rawstory.com/renee-good-2674902911/
It's speculative, but at the Good execution exercise by Ross, the male voice at the end of the Ross recorded video saying "fucking bitch," might have been displeasure against Noem, for trying to forestall the very bogus killing practice ICE ostensibly intended to end and which Ross intentionally indulged in.
That's a Crabgass speculation, not one explicitly stated in the RawStory item.
RawStory did conclude its item, "Immigration officials stepping in front of vehicles has been a documented phenomenon for more than a decade. A 2014 internal review of the U.S. Border Patrol’s policies obtained and reported on by The Nation revealed that immigration officials had “intentionally and unnecessarily stepped in front of moving cars to justify using deadly force against vehicle occupants.”
In Minnesota, there is no statute of limitation for murder. Hopefully Ross understands why, or learns.
________________UPDATE_______________
See, also: Klipenstein, " Leaked memo: “De-escalation is key” -- Before Renee Good’s killing, immigration authorities sent agents a warning," at https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/leaked-memo-de-escalation-is-key
DOJ investigating after activists disrupt St. Paul church where MN ICE official is a pastor About 30 to 40 interrupted service Sunday morning at Cities Church on Summit Avenue, police say; DOJ investigates
Trump's people will try to make political hay from it, "My God!! A Church!!"
As a lifetime atheist, my feeling is so what, the door was open to the public and a disturbance was planned and conducted. That's a matter of local nuisance law, so don't make a federal case of it.
It should not have been done - strategically - as it won't grow legs in any positive sense. Yes, strange a high level local ICE man is a "pastor" at the church and it was Rome that hung Christ up, and now "Rome" is pissing all over Minnesota via Noem and her ICE goons. Quaint, indeed, a top ICE goon goes to a Church in honor of Christ, who the story has him firmly as a good guy activist, not dising immigrants into Jerusalem but driving THOSE HE THOUGHT DESECRATING HIS TEMPLE out with a whip. Rome hung him on a cross for that.
Remember the premise of those entering the church and that they did not use a whip.
_____________UPDATE____________
The latest: Department of Justice calls Minnesota lawsuit against ICE surge ‘frivolous’
Key paragraphs -
The U.S. Department of Justice said the state of Minnesota has no “shred of legal support” in its lawsuit against the federal government’s ICE surge in the state.
[...] The DOJ called the lawsuit’s claims “legally frivolous.” [a legalese term of art, not frivolous in any common sense]
Meanwhile, the DOJ has launched a separate investigation of possible criminal violations following a protest that was staged in a St. Paul church on Jan. 18.
Demonstrators disrupted a service at Cities Church after learning one of the pastors, David Easterwood, also works as the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s field office in St. Paul.
[... see above] Here’s what else you need to know:
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that a recent court order limiting ICE tactics in Minnesota “didn’t change anything.”
- The Jan. 16 court order blocks agents from arresting, detaining, retaliating against or using force and chemical irritants against peaceful protesters and observers.
- The DOJ says it is not investigating the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good.
- About 1,500 active-duty Army paratroopers have been put on alert for a possible deployment to Minnesota.
It appears hotels where ICE agents were booked are closing for safety reasons, and towing of abandoned vehicles may be suspended modified, also for safety reasons.
Hopefully the lawless ICE men understand that public safety is a strong motivational concern.
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