Your president addresses the nation’s most pressing crisis:
This is what the president cares about, what he spends his time thinking about.
Stephen Miller is running the country. Yesterday was his best day ever.
"what digby sez..."
Digby's Hullabaloo Posts
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
Study authors from More in Common report the results of focus groups and interviews of 10,000 people who voted for Donald Trump in 2024. Beyond MAGA finds that Trump voters fall into four broad categories (The Atlantic gift link):
About 29 percent of 2024 Trump voters are what we call the “MAGA Hardliners.” These are the fiery core of Trump’s base, mostly composed of white Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, who are animated by the belief that God is on their side in America’s existential struggle between good and evil. Then there are the “Anti-Woke Conservatives”(21 percent): a more secular and affluent group of voters deeply frustrated by what they perceive as the takeover of schools, culture, and institutions by the progressive left. Another 30 percent are the “Mainline Republicans”: a more racially diverse group of middle-of-the-road conservatives who prioritize border security, a strong economy, and cultural stability. Finally, we have the “Reluctant Right”(20 percent). Members of this group, unlike the other three, are not necessarily part of Trump’s base; they voted for him, but have ambivalent feelings toward him. Only half identify as Republicans, and many picked Trump because he seemed “less bad” than the alternative.
(It’s that last 20 percent that I’m focused on. But that’s another story.)
The first three are sticking with their man-child no matter what. It’s not about coherent ideology, and certainly not about consistency. Trump knows where to stroke them. He fills several roles for them based on the glasses through which they view him.
First, 58 percent see him they seem him as “a builder trying to fix a broken system” even though to the left he seems to be demolishing it. His second role is as redeemer of the status they believe they’ve lost. “Most Trump voters in our study believe that America’s cultural institutions have been dominated by those who scorn their values and way of life.” Also, “Seventy-six percent agree that ‘The woke left has ruined American education, news, and entertainment.’” Is it because when they view music and media they no longer see themselves at the center of American culture? Why couldn’t those people have just stuck with sports?
For those who revel in transgression, Trump is a “blasphemer,” “a gigantic orange flashing middle finger” to those they feel have done them wrong. The authors explain, “About 90 percent of MAGA Hardliners and Anti-Woke Conservatives agree that the ‘left actually hates America.’ This generates a desire not just for redemption but also for retribution.” One wonders if their sense that the left hates America is projection. Isn’t it really that they hate how America has changed since the 1960s, America the diverse?
And lastly, he is a “grand narrator” and the hero of his own story. This role is “understood only in the context of a decades-long collapse of trust in American institutions including Congress, the press, academia, and the scientific establishment.”
But it’s Trump’s performing skills that make it all work:
Trump’s political skills were forged in WWE arenas, on reality-TV sets, and in the luxury real-estate business—industries that live and die by their ability to capture attention, simplify narratives, and deliver emotional impact. These experiences taught him how to establish emotional bonds with audiences that far outweigh any connection based on shared ideology.
Trump’s detractors may dismiss these bonds as empty or irrelevant. But for the people who experience them, they are very real. The relationship Trump has established with tens of millions of Americans offers them something they cannot attain through conventional politics. In his various roles, he embodies the reality that they want. This is the source of his power.
For a taste of the reality they really, really want, ask Rep. Max Frost (D) of Florida.
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
“This started as a pretext about immigration and fraud”
America, you did this to yourself. You knowingly elected a criminal sociopath as president. Donald Trump staffed his administration with criminals, sociopaths, psychopaths, pathological liars and spineless lickspittles. They have betrayed both the oaths they took to the U.S. Constitution and their duty to the American people. Law and order is breaking down before our eyes at the hands of those purporting to uphold it. The Saturday morning killing, if not outright murder, of 37-year-old Veterans Administration nurse, Alex Pretti, by federal agents masquerading as law enforcement simply confirms it.
I’m not simply referring to the vicious thugs with guns who at point-blank range gunned down the second citizen of Minneapolis in under three weeks.
The Trump administration’s lawlessness over the last year has left decent Americans stunned, mouths agape, unwilling to accept what our eyes tell us, seeing but not believing what is happening to our country.
This video from the streets of Minneapolis describes the breakdown in a minute and a half.
Robert Mackey’s story this morning in The Guardian refutes the Trump administration’s snap narrative smearing Pretti point by point. I won’t be complicit in spreading the lies here even in refutation. Witness flings in federal court since the shooting also refute the obvious lies from the Trump administration. The statements won’t matter. An administration that believes it can fool enough of the people all of the time to retain its grip on power will keep telling them.
Events in the aftermath of the Pretti killing are somehow more disturbing. Actions by the Trump administration reveal a callous disregard for the rule of law except as an instrument of tyranny. Attempts to hold this administration accountable to the law and keep the judicial system’s edifice from collapsing are unsettling in the extreme.
Reuters on Thursday:
A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday lifted a lower court’s order that had restrained federal officers from arresting or tear-gassing peaceful protesters in Minneapolis, where thousands of immigration control agents have been deployed over the wishes of state and local leaders.
Cato’s David Bier responds to that court action in the wake of the Pretti killing; “[I]n less than 48 hours, someone is dead. My God, how our institutions have failed us!”
Plaintiffs filed an emergency motion to get the restrictions reinstated.
Trump administration officials attempted, as what it described as a national security emergency, to indict eight people involved in a church protest in the Twin Cities. The magistrate judge in the case found no probable cause to support the arrest warrants for three. On appeal, the Chief Judge of the Minnesota district court replied to the “emergency,” writing, “The government has also argued that I must accept this as true because they said it, and they are the government…I respectfully suggest that the petition is frivolous.”
AG Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice is using the Pretti killing as leverage for Trump to get his hands on Minnesota’s voter files. “Guess what?” asks Sen. Chris Murphy of Conn. “This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states.”
Arizona Attorney General Adrian Fontes responded, “This isn’t leadership. This is blackmail.”
Of course it is. The Trump administration is an ongoing criminal organization in charge of the world’s last superpower.
The only other flicker of life from what was our democratic republic is a demand from House Republicans that ICE and CBP leaders give an immediate accounting of their actions
I suspect it is all for show. Our nation is grievously wounded and the criminals running it have no interest in keeping it alive. The law itself is pretext.
*I’ll keep this at the top of the page for a few hours today, updating as the story unfolds.
Watch it.
Here’s how DHS described that scene within minutes of it happening:
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, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here. The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming
Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
About 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement on the scene, crowd control measures were deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement. This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming.
They could not have possibly done even the most cursory “investigation” before putting that out.
And remember this:
Aaron is one of the most valuable resources on social media, capturing the videos that inform us all of what’s going on with our government. He lives in Minneapolis and has two little kids he’s had to send away. You can feel his anger and terror over what’s happening to his home town.
This is a nightmare. Something has to give.
I think the following pretty much closes the case. If you have an X account I suggest you click over to see the frame by frame. It’s clear the man was on his knees with his hands on the ground. An ICE agent saw the gun in his back waistband (which he was legally carrying.) The agent grabs the gun then moves away and for some reason another agent shot the protester, backed up and shot into his body numerous times.
When you add this to the video of him taken before the murder, directing traffic with his phone in his hand, being rousted by agents (again with just his phone in his hand) then being beaten and shot, there can be no doubt that this was an execution.
To see the federal government, including Trump, respond to this the way they have shows that America has now officially become a police state.
Meanwhile. the demented orange freak has this to say:
Good Lord:
Kristi armed with propaganda, sounding like she plans to arrest Tim Walz:
Here is a gift link to the NY Times analysis of the video.
Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.
The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and they tried to disarm him. The statement did not specify whether the gun was in the man’s hands or merely on his body.
Footage shows Mr. Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him.
This is what the videos show, according to a Times analysis:
A small group of protesters stands in the street, speaking to a federal agent as whistles sound. Mr. Pretti appears to be filming the scene with his phone and directing traffic.
An agent begins shoving the demonstrators, and squirts pepper spray at their faces.
At this moment, Mr. Pretti has both hands clearly visible. One is holding his phone, while he holds the other up to protect himself from pepper spray. He moves to help one of the protesters who was sprayed, as other agents approach and pull him from behind.
Several agents tussle with Mr. Pretti before bringing him to his knees. He appears to resist as the agents grab his legs, push down on his back and strike him repeatedly.
The footage shows an agent approaching with empty hands and grabbing at Mr. Pretti as the others hold him down.
About eight seconds after he is pinned, agents yell that he has a gun, indicating that they may not have known he was armed until he was on the ground.
The same agent who approached with empty hands pulls a gun from among the group that appears to match the profile of a firearm DHS said belonged to Mr. Pretti.
The agents appear to have him under their control, with his arms pinned near his head.
As the gun emerges from the melee, another agent aims his own firearm at Mr. Pretti’s back and appears to fire one shot at close range. He then appears to continue firing at Mr. Pretti, who collapses.
A third agent unholsters a weapon. Both agents appear to fire additional shots into Mr. Pretti as he lies motionless.
In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.
That is what happened as anyone who has seen all the videos will tell you. The administration is lying blatantly and without restraint.
Good news that the non-political MSM is posting stuff like this. Maybe this will penetrate.
How does his end? I honestly have no idea.
Final update: This one says it all
In my review of the documentary Antarctica: A Year on Ice, I wrote:
For decades now, my long-time Alaskan friends and I have speculated as to why no one has ever thought to produce a documentary about the unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience shared by the thousands of men and women who worked on the massive Trans-Alaska Pipeline construction project back in the 1970s. From 1975-1977, I worked as a laborer on the project (that’s right…Fairbanks Local #942, baby!), doing 6-to-10 week stints in far-flung locales with exotic handles like Coldfoot, Old Man, Happy Valley, and the ever-popular Pump Station #3 (now that was one cold motherfucker).
These remote work camps, frequently the only bastions of “civilization” for hundreds of square miles in all directions, developed their own unique culture…part moon base, part Dodge City. It’s a vibe that is tough to explain to anyone who wasn’t actually there. Traditionally, I usually cite the sci-fi “western” Outland as the closest approximation.
They don’t call Alaska “The Last Frontier” for nothing. Yippee ki-yay.
Yes, the subarctic can be harsh and otherworldly. Yet, there is also poetry there…as these verses from Robert Service’s “The Spell of the Yukon” attest:
I’ve stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow
That’s plumb-full of hush to the brim;
I’ve watched the big, husky sun wallow
In crimson and gold, and grow dim,
Till the moon set the pearly peaks gleaming,
And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop;
And I’ve thought that I surely was dreaming,
With the peace o’ the world piled on top.
The summer—no sweeter was ever;
The sunshiny woods all athrill;
The grayling aleap in the river,
The bighorn asleep on the hill.
The strong life that never knows harness;
The wilds where the caribou call;
The freshness, the freedom, the farness—
O God! how I’m stuck on it all.
The winter! the brightness that blinds you,
The white land locked tight as a drum,
The cold fear that follows and finds you,
The silence that bludgeons you dumb.
The snows that are older than history,
The woods where the weird shadows slant;
The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery,
I’ve bade ’em good-by—but I can’t
I second that emotion. From my review of the documentary Happy People: A Year in the Taiga:
As I was watching the film, a certain sense of familiarity began to gnaw at me. It was something about the stark wintry beauty of naturally flocked spruce forests, the crisp contrast of white birch against blue skies, and the odd moose galumphing into the frame. Or maybe it was the relentless vampirism of swarming mosquitos during the short but intense sub-arctic summer. Then it dawned on me. I had lived there! Was this a past life memory? Then I remembered that I don’t believe in that sort of thing…so I Googled a map of Siberia, which solved the mystery: the village of Bakhta lies roughly on the same longitude as Fairbanks, Alaska, where I lived for 23 years. I couldn’t see Russia from my house, but I now feel a spiritual kinship with these hardy Siberians. Okay, I’m not a survivalist (if I were to venture out on Gennady’s trap line; I’d end up like the protagonists in Kalatozov’s Letter Never Sent). But I think you catch my drift…
I suppose this is my (typically) long-winded way of assuring you that I’m not just blowing smoke when I say that I feel your pain if you are in the path of the massive winter storm dumping on the U.S. this weekend:
Winter Storm Fern could etch itself into weather history in four different ways across the South, Midwest and Northeast.Some winter storms affect only a relatively limited area. Not Winter Storm Fern.
Fern is expected to dump significant snow and/or ice over 34 states affecting over 220 million people in the U.S. That’s almost two out of every three Americans, according to population estimates.
Fern will also dump significant snow in parts of southeastern and Atlantic Canada.
This storm will lead to widespread dangerous travel for days, and “catastrophic” ice accumulations in the South could lead to widespread power outages and tree damage, according to NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center. […]
This could be the region’s most widespread, damaging ice storm in at least several years, with damage that could take days to recover from.
Weather forecasters are also warning about possible snow accumulations of 12 inches or more in some areas, as well as record cold temperatures.
I’ve bade ’em good-by—but I can’t.
I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: “I’ll just take a peep inside.
I guess he’s cooked, and it’s time I looked”; … then the door I opened wide.
And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: “Please close that door.
It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear you’ll let in the cold and storm—
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.”
–from “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, by Robert Service
Don’t try that at home, kids…but do what you can keep warm, and stay safe. In the meantime, grab yourself a cup of hot chocolate (those directly in path of the storm may want to add a splash of Kahlua), a good pair of noise-cancelling ‘phones, and curl up with my wintry mixtape. As usual, best enjoyed in the order presented:
“The Immigrant Song” – Led Zeppelin
“Waiting for the Winter” – The Popguns
“Hazy Shade of Winter” – The Bangles
“Baby it’s Cold Outside” – Pezband
“Snowman” – XTC
“Winter in the Country” – Cleaners from Venus
“Valley Winter Song” – Fountains of Wayne
“Life in a Northern Town” – The Dream Academy
“Skyway” – The Replacements
“Snowstorm” – Galaxie 500
“Winter Song” – The Screaming Trees
“Winter” – The Rolling Stones
“South Side of the Sky” – Yes
“Rangers at Midnight” – Crack the Sky
“The Northern Lights” – Renaissance
“Snowbound” – Genesis
“I Am a Rock” – Simon and Garfunkel
“California Dreaming” – Mamas and the Papas
“Sometimes in Winter” – Blood, Sweat, and Tears
“Wintertime Love” – The Doors
“Winter Winds” – Fotheringay
“Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of a New Day)” – Jethro Tull
“Snowflake” – Kate Bush
“Snow is Falling in Manhattan” – Purple Mountains
“A Winter’s Tale” – Jade Warrior
More reviews at Den of Cinema
— Dennis Hartley
This is why the agent who shot Renee Good was filming her. It was for a facial recognition database of enemies of MAGA.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) will potentially treat opponents of President Donald Trump’s policies as “domestic terrorists,” according to a leaked memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi to all U.S. law enforcement agencies.
The document, which was first published over the weekend by investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, appears to represent the first attempt to implement Trump’s calls to target left-wing activists and others who protest his administration’s policies as “terrorists” affiliated with antifa, an anti-fascist movement that often serves as a boogeyman for the right.
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In the Dec. 4 memo, Bondi instructed the DOJ to compile a “list of groups or entities engaged in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism” under U.S. law.
The memo suggests Bondi is working from an exceedingly broad definition of “domestic terrorism” — and an exaggerated perception of the threat it poses. And despite the administration’s denials, the memo suggests it could target Americans based on their political beliefs, not their actions.
“For too long, rampant criminal conduct rising to the level of domestic terrorism—e.g., organized doxing of law enforcement, mass rioting and destruction in our cities, violent efforts to shut down immigration enforcement, targeting of public officials or other political actors, etc. —has been tolerated,” she writes.
The alleged perpetrators of these actions are defined by extreme viewpoints, anti-American sentiments and a willingness to use violence to serve those beliefs, the attorney general claims.
Among the “anti-American sentiments” Bondi enumerates are anti-Christianity, anti-capitalism, “adherence to radical gender ideology,” “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality” and “views in favor of mass migration and open borders.”
That covers a whole lot of ground, doesn’t it?
This was Trump a few days ago saying that if Canada can get a trade deal with China, good for them:
President Trump 8 Days Ago: "If Canada can get a trade deal with China, they should do that."
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) January 24, 2026
President Trump Today: "If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% tariff." https://t.co/Tb1lmMciH2 pic.twitter.com/Be8CdFPOcE
That was a few days ago. But since Carney spoke at Davos which is being praised as a major historic speech, Trump is on another anti-Canada rampage:
Notice the typically puerile “Governor” Carney.
Our Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also trolling Canada with this nonsense:
I guess they are literally fomenting a civil war with Canada with the hopes that Alberta will do this and bring the U.S. into the fight? It seems crazy but everything is crazy so why would we think they wouldn’t do this?
The specter of Albertan separatism is real for Canada. Organizers throughout the province need only to collect 178,000 signatures by May 2 to force a referendum on independence. If successful, the Canadian government would need to negotiate in good faith on a potential separation.
Conservative influencers in America have gleefully talked up the prospect of Alberta leaving Canada and eventually joining the U.S. Meanwhile, Carney and his Liberal caucus is attuned to the threat. “People are talking,” Bessent said. “People want sovereignty. They want what the U.S. has got.”
Are Albertans so far gone that they agree with Trump’s insults toward Canadian troops? May be. They are the MAGA people of Canada. But I wonder if they’re going to love not having affordable health care, mass shootings every day and a masked secret police invading their cities at will?
Bessent has become quite the nasty little bitch:
Bessent, who called Carney a “globalist” and panned the Canadian leader’s time working as a climate envoy at the United Nations, spoke amid a series of clashes between Trump and Carney in Davos, Switzerland, where the two spent time this week at the World Economic Forum.
This is all because an increasingly senile Trump made a complete ass of himself during this first month of January 2026, from Venezuela to Minneapolis to Greenland and our allies have decided they can no longer afford to appease him . So he’s having a tantrum.
It’s quite a moment for us and for the world. I sure hope Americans are paying attention because this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and it could go very, very sideways.
They are so stupid they actually think Greenland has penguins:
If you’re wondering what this crazy bullshit is all about:
Some of our international competitors understand just how idiotic this is:
Yeah, I don’t think this is going to do it. Acting like you never said what you said and expecting people to ignore it isn’t going to work with the UK. Your cult will accept this but normal people won’t.
In case you haven’t heard, this is about Trump having a tantrum at Davos saying that NATO never helped the US and, sure they sent a few troops to Afghanistan but they stayed way back and didn’t fight, which is a bald faced, grotesque lie. The NATO countries were not amused.
So this spoiled orange freak writes this thinking that it’s all good now. It is not.
They may be all you have to protect yourself
This is a massive risk. Don’t be surprised if it happens. And now, instead of a CDC or NIH that at least has real scientists running it we have cranks and quacks in charge. It’s just terrifying.