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| Still four rings to go. Virgil and Dante being rowed across the River Styx (Gustave Dore) |
Oh honey.
You think this is going to be easy?
That's so cute. Have a seat. Let's talk.
Yes, President Donald Trump had a bad couple of weeks. Two of the courageous Minnesotans confronting masked ICE thugs were shot dead. On video. From several angles. A 5-year-old in a blue bunny hat was photographed, rigid with terror, being hauled away. ("The worst of the worst..." they said). He's being held at a detention center in Texas now.
Some portion of the American public, which has been — what? Distracted over the past decade? In a coma for 11 years? — stirred. Suddenly Democratic leaders are talking about shutting down the government until... wait for it... a few more rules are put in place for ICE. They must wear body cameras! And uncover their faces!
Oh sweetie ... we have rules already. They're called "laws." Once upon a time these laws applied to everyone. Now they're mere tinder used by Trump to set American traditions on fire. Rules and laws don't help if they aren't being enforced. Asking for more is like rushing into a burning house and installing smoke detectors in the blazing rooms.
Put it this way: the two ICE agents who shot Alex Pretti, they're still not charged with any crime, right? Because last time I checked, murdering a man in cold blood because he's recording you with his iPhone is already a crime. Even if you're a member of a paramilitary goon squad.
Save the high fives for when that day comes.
Until then, yes, positive signs. These latest abuses were so blatant that even the Lord of the Lies, rather than doubling down, seemed to pause, go all soft focus. He said something dismissive about guns. Greg Bovino, he of the Peaky Blinders haircut and gruppenfuhrer great coat, was dispatched back to whatever banality-of-evil clerk post he occupied before fate gave him a stage to strut upon.
The liberal sigh of relief rolled across the land like a spring zephyr. Social media crackled with talk of corners turned. Bless our bleeding hearts, we see the sun rise and imagine the world born anew.
It's so tempting to speculate: could killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti be the last straw?
Spoiler alert: no, it's not.
To believe otherwise, you have to ignore a giant haystack of previous last straws.
Let's work backward.
Insisting we must invade Greenland in an opera buffa aping of Vladimir Putin, alienating our closest allies, wasn't the last straw. Tearing down the East Wing of the White House without telling anybody wasn't the last straw. Selling the nation's personal data to Elon Musk wasn't the last straw.
Do I have to walk you all the way back to "Gulf of America"? And beyond. We watched an insurrection. Live on television. A mob, goaded by the president, storming the Capitol, searching for the vice president to hang, assaulting police officers. Jan. 6 wasn't the last straw. We re-elected him anyway. We bought this. Sending it back is no simple task. Totalitarianism isn't an Amazon sweatshirt you can decide doesn't fit. A little snug around the neck. You can't just stop by Kohl's and return the fascism you rashly bought. Nor is this a one-time purchase; it's a subscription.
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Superb column!
ReplyDeleteagree!!!!
DeleteI can't tell you how shocked I was when I learned last night that those goddam fucking wimpy Democrats in the Senate caved into the Re Thug Licons yet again!
ReplyDeleteWill those useless morons ever learn to fight back?
It sure as fuck doesn't look like it!
A shutdown is exactly what we needed now, to end the ICE Gestapo's attack on our civil liberties!
Schumer is a useless fucking schande, although the title for the worst Jew in world history goes to that worshiper of Nazi SS boss Heinrich Himmler, Stephen Miller, who needs a whole new, beneath everything else, level of rottenness to describe him!
And without knowing exactly which worthless Democrats caved, I'm betting Illinois's worthless excuse & waste of oxygen, Dick Durbin was one of the cowardly cavers!
Dick Durbin has worked tirelessly for Illinois and is a good and decent human being. Spewing venom at him and the Democrats while the GOP and Trump pivot our great nation towards fascism strikes me as rather misguided. Get a grip.
DeleteI suspect Chuck Schumer's family tree includes Arnold van den Bergh.
DeleteMy feelings of displeasure, disappointment, and disgust in both him and jeffries (as well as any other "moderate" or "corporate" democrats") are only limited by my paltry language skills
@Dennis, Durkin has tarnished his own reputation and legacy in the last few months. He has surrounded to trump more than once. I wish he had retired sooner.
DeleteI echo private verbatim. Issuing a critical warning with humor is remarkable. I think we reached a possible milestone but, as you say, the end is certainly nowhere in sight.
ReplyDeleteI see no bottom. Sad to write. Trump plays on this hoping for yet another distraction to feed us and we become immune. He still polling at about 35%, many just ignore things and like him because he is bold and see him as a warrior for them. No need to do anything because he is doing it for them. Many never even bother to vote, At protests we still get people giving us the finger. These are adults. So much for ask what you can do for your country.
ReplyDeleteTrump is a symptom. This is the republicans. All of them. and all of their supports.
DeleteThe one-third that still backs Felonious are apathetic and uncaring about too many things, because they are not being affected by them. And he's not really benefitting them in any way.
DeleteThe hard truth is this: He doesn't give a shit about anything or anybody. Too busy raking in the billions for himself and his cronies. And getting retribution and revenge for past slights and grievances. Still pissed at Obama for ridiculing him fifteen years ago. Still whining about losing in 2020. JFC, give it a rest. But he never will. That's not who he is.
Warrior; shmarrior. It's a lot more basic than that. The real reason they support him is because he hates the same people they hate. The people they blame for their personal problems, their mistakes, and their poor life choices. People of color, LGBTQ people, Hispanics, city folk, and more. Undocumented immigrants are to the Red Hats as the Jews were to the Brown Shirts. Same response, too...persecution, detention, and thuggery
He does nothing for his followers except to hate anyone who is not like them...especially if they are white, native-born, and Christian. And he is doing that pretty well.
He will do anything to distract the sheeple from learning that he and his cohorts most likely molested, assaulted, and maybe even murdered children. Would all that be enough for them to turn on him and to bring him down? Even opening the files, and revealing the horrors within, may not do the trick anymore.
Perfect-every word -thanks!
DeleteF yes.
ReplyDeleteI did not vote for trump either time. I will not vote maga / republican in the midterms.
ReplyDeletemuch of democrat policy and rhetoric aggravates the fuck out of me. some of the maga policy appeals to me. I think it will improve things in our country.
closing our borders to unfettered immigration is a positive development.
deportation has been government policy for decades
this is a strategy that needed to be implemented
the tactics being used are appalling. lets reel it in.
cities should cooperate with the feds and not protect people who dont belong here.
temporary protective status is just that , temporary
employers should follow the law and not hire workers without the proper documentation.
overcome your fear and prejudice and hire black people. cut your own fucking lawn.
pay people what they deserve to do construction.
selfishness and greed are not a justification to take advantage of poor people that traveled hundreds of miles to get here only to find they were going to get screwed.
democrats are often hypocrites . republicans are evil.
Go ahead and vote for Trump when he runs in 2028. You're already supporting him, in your own way.
DeletePerfect example of what I'm talking about if you see any positive in any action that the current administration engages in you are the enemy.
DeleteThis should not be Democrats versus Republicans this should be Americans for a strong and virtuous country
You recommend that I vote for Trump look at Clark street's comment he can't stand the Democrats either but does he find anything good happening? no and neither do you.
This is a big problem among Democrats everything is bad bad terrible terrible terrible and that just ain't so.
Many bad things some good but you can't get over your entrenched hatred for Trump I share that hatred I also see the positive things that are happening in our country and the negative things that the Democrats are responsible for. And there are plenty
Paul, I'm not sure how or what you are trying to say here, but it sure does seem like you're doing as much mental gymnastics as possible to justify lying and the full assault of our constitutional rights.
DeleteThe sheer number of KNOWN individuals rounded up, deported, arrested, taken, and disappeared by the current regime who were here legally AND following the rules is astounding. And given what we've seen and heard with our own eyes, we know these numbers are low because republicans lie.
The regimes clear violation of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 14th, and the separation of powers (Article 1 & 2 of the constitution) alone should have you marching in the street. But because this does not effect you (yet) you don't care about other peoples rights.
Yes, temporary status is temporary, but that is until you've had a hearing, its called due process.
Yes, companies should pay people a living wage and when they don't they should be held to task. Republicans have gutted worker protections over the last 50 years and trump literally employs illegal and legal immigrants/foreigners at his businesses and properties, but sure blame the democrats.
And the main reason people can't seem to find anything good that trump or the republicans have done is because they haven't.
I challenge you, Paul to list three things republicans have done to make YOUR life better. I grantee you will be unable to. and to be fair, despite what they are doing to destroy it, I'll even give you one to start, the EPA.
I am willing to bet that there is nothing anyone could say or do for you to change your mind, including if trump were to wake up tomorrow and say he's a democrat.
Oh stop blubbering. Of course there are positives — he got rid of the penny. So the fuck what? And Hitler built the Autobahn. I don't have to respond to the various bullshit scenarios you spin to rationalize the various un-American, inhuman positions you hold. "Entrenched hatred for Trump" means you buy his oh-poor-me worldview. It's disgusting, and self-indicting, which is why I let you post it here. I only respond to underscore what is already clear.
Deletethat 9:50 anonymous was me... stupid computers
DeleteNo, temporary status is not for individuals . It's for countries where there was extreme circumstances that gave desperate people an opportunity to come here to escape that turmoil. Countries can be removed from that list and then it's citizens have to leave here.
DeleteIt's a law. I didn't make it but at least I understand it.
If you don't agree with it. Work to change it. Until then it should be followed.
We all need to follow the laws or there is chaos. As we can plainly see.
We cannot fix the lives of everyone in the world.
Anonymous 9:50 a.m.
DeleteOkay I'll give it a shot one of the things that this administration has done is to make sure everyone understands that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated in this country
The war in Gaza if not brought to an end is at least not raging
As I said getting control of our borders so that people are not just streaming in by the hundreds of thousands
Seizing the illegitimate president of Venezuela
Setting back Iran's nuclear capabilities
Lowering prescription drug prices
Pushing forward our capacity to develop nuclear power for the generation of electricity
I understand that this is in the midst of a shitshow of bizarre occurrences.
Paul.
DeleteAnti-semetics bribe, grift & party with him and his minions, regularly. Gaza, amazing how mass destruction and genocide slows down a war. One sits at his left hand.
Venezuela's president is as legitimate as most across the world. Did he invade and kidnap one of the big, strong ones? Then declare himself interim president of Venezuela while screening bribes from the Venezuelan-favored opposition leaders?
Supported assassination and collateral deaths to set back Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Lowered 4 drugs out of hundreds, including one needed to obtain his hard-ons, also while pocketing kickbacks, while joyfully jacking up insurance and healthcare costs?
Killed regulation allowing for redevelopement of pre-existing nuclear plants closed due to safety and enviromental violations and dangers.
What wonders to praise in the midst of this shitshow of bizarre reasoning.
Paul 7:41: We're all hypocrites, every last one of us. It's genetic with the triggers turning off and on. Evil is genetic, with the triggers stuck on.
DeleteAnonymous 12:29: Countries are individuals. You don't invite people in to rebuild their lives, then strip them of those lives years later & force them out because their origin country has been taken off a list. Guessing you aren't packing up and returning to you family origin states out of respect to fed up Native Americans.
No Christian I am not. Though the mountains of Sicily do seem appealing some days.
DeleteI try hard to overcome the guilt and shame of our American ancestors destruction of the indigenous people that still inhabit this country mostly in conditions that are appalling.
We have always operated I'm the principal that strength wins out and we continue to and I don't think that there are very many Americans that would advocate returning the land our nation sits upon to its original inhabitants.
There are many here who aren't interested in turning it over to newcomers. Unless of course they come here through the proper channels and then we are willing to share the spoils of our victories.
Trump and his ilk along with their supporters in this way aren't much different from many generations of Americans who have taken what they want enrich themselves and kept it through horrific violence and oppression
Proper channels? $1million bribe? Mistress to a to-be president? Or any wealthy man? Otherwise, 10+years of paperwork, attorneys, hearings, fees totalling thousands of dollars and passing citizenship classes. Finally a test most Americans couldn't pass on a good day followed by swearing a loyalty oath that their new government (and at least 1/3rd of their fellow Americans) has no recipricol intention to keep.
DeleteSo much for the tired, poor, those yearning to breathe free.
Thank you, Neil.
ReplyDeleteWe need more of this from many more people in "media."
It seems that most democrats, the old guard at least, might be shitting their pants as badly as Mr. Trump has been rumored to do.
Accountability is key. When only democrats are held to it, we are doomed.
I am mad. Mad as that book store owner in Minneapolis. What's wrong with this world. What's wrong with this country. What's wrong with the democrats.
If you have a phone, call your congress people. it takes five minutes. do it every day until they disconnect their phone lines. and then show up at their offices.
https://5calls.org/
Bravo!
ReplyDeleteAnd now there's "an Armada" on its way to take out Iran. Nosferatu is sending ICE agents to the Winter Olympics in Italy. Bondi is demanding all the voting rolls or else. Tulsi Gabbard and the FBI stole all the 2020 voting records in Georgia. Oh, there's a lot more coming than this... That frying in hot oil brain has lots more crazy stuff to do.
ReplyDeleteHaystack of last straws. That is beyond good, it is inspired. Thank you. Now where will I use that......
ReplyDelete35% still approved and Anonymous thinks brownshirt roving patrols are a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIf they aren't murdering protesters, they're putting 5 year olds in bunny hats in detention. After the National Guard murdered 4 students at Kent State, many conservatives thought it was a good start. Ca plus change, ca meme chose. I know i am not supposed to, but i despair for our republic.
It's impossible to forecast the Trump storm. He is perpetual motion chaos. A hurricane in Hell, fueled by racism and ignorance, greed and hate. The worst of the worst.
ReplyDeleteLong on acute observation, as always. Short on what to do about it. What form of “fight like hell” Is being suggested?
ReplyDeleteWhat to do about it? Whatever you can. Protest. Block ICE and get killed. Speak truth. Vote. Do you need me to spell it out? I assume it's fairly clear. The country is being dismantled by traitors. There's not much anyone CAN do about it. That's kind of my point.
DeleteRickW
DeleteFight like hell is rhetoric from the weak.
Today there was a call for a national day of action or in action if you will.
It was hardly mentioned and almost no one did it.. close your business don't spend any money stay home was the call.
That should have been yesterday's column and today we should have been met with a blank page.
Yeah, the blank page would have showed 'em.
DeletePray for the dead, but fight like hell for the living!
DeleteAt the risk of seeming to make light of the recent tragedies (not my intent), I cannot resist pointing out that, while ICE, and the fascistic tactics that they’ve employed in Minneapolis are pretty evil, the people that they have killed there were Pretti Good.
ReplyDelete🔥🔥🔥
ReplyDeleteNice work, Mister S. As you have said many times before, the Orange One is a symptom, not the disease. America has had a number of chronic illnesses...greed, corruption, bigotry, intolerance, racism...to name only a few...since birth. Even back before birth, in colonial times.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, after a quarter-millennium, we're back at square one, when the Revolution, which was also a civil war, exploded into our faces like a firecracker. One third remaining loyal to a mad, home-grown, wannabe King (England's George III eventually went nuts). One third die-hard patriots--and too many of them may die hard. And the remaining third not giving a shit one way or the other, as long as their lives remain unaffected. Sound familiar? Same playbook, in the seasons of the 1770s.
Minneapolis is just another stop on the crazy train, which has a long way to go before it sails off the rails and plunges into the abyss. Worst-case scenario? Who knows anymore?
Two, three, a hundred Minneapolises? Governors forming alliances?. Whole regions in open revolt? State forces versus Federales?. The what ifs are endless. Lee was offered command of the Northern armies. He chose Virginia instead. Could something like that happen again? Where will we be by '27? By '28? How soon before the wheels actually leave the rails?
Dear Leader...to be frank about it...is not well. The clock is ticking. He may already have had his first stroke. He needs gold-plated toothpicks to prop his eyelids open. His trolley has left the wire, and his cabeza has turned to cornmeal mush. Death, disability, or the 25th Amendment may be our only hope of avoiding the train wreck. But there's still that backup engineer, who is probably even more reckless and more dangerous, and who's unqualified even to run any rolling stock by Lionel.
There is a famous and very disturbing image of FDR in 1945, taken on an April morning in sunny Georgia. He died that afternoon, at only 63. The Orange Guy, who will soon be 80, looks even worse. Far worse than Joe ever did. Good night, Donnie. Good night...the Iceman's on his way.
Our parents and grandparents lucked out. Big-time.
They got Harry. We will get Jethro. Let that sink in. Again.
And I'll stop right there.
"We all need to follow the laws or there is chaos." Anonymous 12:29 PM
ReplyDeleteI guess this applies to only one side? No need for the government to obey its own laws.
Let us try a thought experiment. You live in a town where they mayor and city council loves Trump and love his tactics. They meet one night a change speed limit on your street. The next day you are driving 40 (old speed limit) and get pulled over. But the sign says 40. It doesn't matter, the new law is 25 and you get hauled off to jail. They changed the rules without telling you, they changed the punishment without telling you. Just like when a person following the laws (so he/she thinks) and shows up for an immigration hearing and is hauled away to detention. But...but they can't do that, I'm a citizen. Just like the numerous citizens hauled away because they happen to be a dark skin tone.
What am I trying to say here? Obviously, you don't have any empathy towards a certain segment of the population. Maybe it's the skin color? Maybe you don't like the way they dress? They way they talk? Fine, you go on and not care about anyone. But don't you care about yourself? Your friends and family? Why in the world would you think that if you stand by and allow the government to ignore or change its own rules overnight that one day it may change the rules for you. What is to stop them? You are a fool if you think this will stop with immigration or the federal government. Once those empower are free to do as they please they WILL do as they please.
You've described countless towns throughout the US. I'm living in one now.
DeleteJust to underscore how fast and erratic this crazy train we're on is going... I read this column in the newsprint version this AM, then got distracted by a Todd Blanche press conference. Now I can't remember my intended comment amidst all the spinning plates and platters of BS this Administration's magicians have got going in just the past 24 hrs. We've got distractions to distract from earlier distractions and distractions to cover what comes next. And no time for the media to react to the launch of the movie, Melanoma, either. Crazy train, indeed.
ReplyDeleteNS, your use of the graphic by Matthew Kusel after Ludovico Burnacini is brilliant. The image recreates The Mouth of Hell from a scene in the opera "The Golden Apple" (Il pomo d'oro) which recants Virgil's trip through the Inferno from Dante's "The Divine Comedy". I doubt that anyone could conjure a better allegory to describe the insanity we live with today.
ReplyDeleteWe are indeed mired in a pile of deep shit when 1/3 of the country is unable to face the reality that our democracy is threatened by a mad man and his crew of misguided souls. I'm not a believer in the afterlife (or God), but if Dante got it right, they will all be appropriately punished when their day of reckoning comes.
Thank you for another brilliant column.
That kidnapped little boy is in a detention center in Texas where the conditions are horrible. He is sick
ReplyDeleteYou fight wherever you can. Evil raises its head every generation, if not more often than that. You do what you can: you protest, boycott, challenge, try, donate, pray, write, petition, make a stand, speak out, speak up, march, and, if necessary, take one to for the team, whether to be arrested, beaten, or killed.
ReplyDeleteYou feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison or hospitals or sick next door, you house the homeless, you do whatever you can to break the dark wall enough so the light gets in.
We can't all do everything. But we can all do something.
“(You) take one for the team, whether to be arrested, beaten or killed”
DeleteYou ask too much. Do you expect the likes of Jaime Harrison, Jason Rae or Nancy Pelosi to take one for the team? They were among the ones that essentially tanked the 2024 election by refusing to field a candidate that would have defeated Trump, so forgive me if I say I’ll wait until a few of them “take one for the team” before I step up. It’s easy to look at what’s going on, throw your hands up in the air and declare, “So it was destiny; America was a fascist state all along”. It’s a little harder to admit that the well funded opposition party that we placed our faith in to prevent this instead consciously chose to not even try to win.
What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.
ReplyDeleteMan acts what he is when he may do whatever he will.
Trump: master of distraction upon distraction upon distraction, truly a disgusting human being. What about Steve Miller, he's the master mind behind all of this.
ReplyDelete