My wife worked as the Executive Director for Habitat For Humanity in the Rio Grande Valley, in the counties right on the border. I'm here to tell you, it wasn't the local folks that made it work, it was our "Winter Texans" (aka Snowbirds in FL) from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Come Halloween, the RV's came south, the guys got the hammers out and (not to be sexist but it was that) the women fed the guys hotdish. It wasn't an occasional thing, it was like a their job, one they took incredibly seriously- 40 hours a week seriously. Built a beautiful church in McAllen with the same ideology and effort- took a couple of years to finish because 80% of the work got done over 30% of the year, but that's how they do it. I think there's something about that frigid weather that, from the time you're a little kid, makes you more concerned with the well-being of others than more temperate places in the US. God bless America, God bless Minnesota. ICE picked the wrong city in the wrong state to f*ck with.
If Kash Patel's girlfriend has a gig in the Middle East, it's just a skip and a jump from the Olympic locker room to the negotiating table in Iran.
Still waiting for ANYONE to explain why it is the responsibility of the US Military to handle the situation in Iran instead of all of the other countries in the Middle East. You'd think if Iran was that much of a threat, they'd be interested in taking some sort of aggressive / military actions to ensure their own security. Yet NONE of them are doing this - even Israel, which isn't exactly on buddy-buddy terms with Iran.
Yes, in the big picture this is just another distraction from the truly perverted adventures of our Pedophile-In-Chief as noted in the Epstein Files, but this goes waaaaaay beyond rhetoric, this is putting the lives of our Service Members in harm's way.
Maybe our beloved weasel MAGAt members of Congress will feel a bit different when they have to call the families of dead Service Members to express their condolences. We haven't had any school shootings recently, so I guess they could dust off the old "thoughts and prayers" line.
It is worth noting that part of the reason for the rise of the NSDAP in Germany after the failed putsch and imprisonment of Hitler was the collapse of the German economy with hyperinflation. The American economy is vulnerable and the policies put forth by the T. Rump criminal enterprise are not helping. Add a little more stress and see what happens-not likely to end well in my humble opinion.
1. I started by calling my POS (R) representative and my two (D) senators. I call or email them weekly at a minimum.
2. I allocated part of my monthly budget for donations to families of those taken by ICE and organizations helping with immigrant needs. I exceed the amount I allocated every month, because the need is never ending.
3. I protested for the first time in the spring of 2025, now when there's a major protest I'm there.
4. I attended a meeting last night on how to be an ally for immigrants, and I'll be attending my community's next Rapid Response meeting.
5. I've participated in letter writing campaigns and plan to do more.
1) These stories from Minneapolis about the brave folks who have taken on ICE are beyond incredible. They have given inspiration to us all. But it is more than infuriating to know that there are large swaths of people in this country who refuse to see the killing of Alex Pretti for what it was – cold blooded murder by out-of-control agents of the federal government.
2) I didn’t think that it was possible that Trump could make any more of a mishmash out of his tariff policy, but I was wrong. It somehow sounds even worse than it was before the SCOTUS ruling. Who knows if Trump will follow through with his “more powerful and obnoxious” tariffs or not (and isn’t “obnoxious” an interesting word to use to describe tariffs?), but it sounds like the uncertainty around whether he will or not is the bigger part of the problem.
And, yes, Trump is enough of a child (or let’s just say he lacks the emotional maturity of an adult) that he would impose tariffs even if he knew they would hurt the economy simply because he’s been told he can’t. It’s called cutting off your nose to spite your face.
3) So back in June we were told that Iran’s nuclear program had been obliterated. Now, eight months later we’re told that they have reconstituted it almost completely. Huh? What this sounds like to me is similar to what we heard in the run up to the Iraq War, only that time it was about WMD’s in general. We were told that it was only a matter of a (short) time before Sadaam used his WMD’s to attack us so we had to get him before he got us. Never mind that we never saw any evidence to back up those claims.
But I fear another similarity between the Iraq and Iran situations. Bush put conditions on Sadaam that he would never agree to (and likely, in my opinion, there was nothing that Sadaam could have done to satisfy Bush). And that’s what I worry that Trump is going to do – put conditions on Iran that they will never agree to.
But if I had to guess, I would guess that Trump will do some sort of limited strike in hopes of stoking some sort of revolution. I don’t see him actually invading Iran. Unless, of course, if the Iranian leadership provokes him by saying mean, nasty, ugly things about him.
But I must admit that his moving so much military capability there gives me pause. It’s already more than I thought that he would do.
4) I’m guessing that Trump’s firing of the judge-appointed attorneys isn’t actually illegal; it’s just another example of how our political system rests on people following norms. And it’s also another example of how it’s very difficult to write foolproof laws. There’s always going to be some leeway for unscrupulous folks to take advantage of.
I imagine that the people who wrote the law about appointing U.S. attorneys never imagined that a sitting President would behave in such a childish manner as to immediately fire anyone appointed by a judicial panel. So they didn’t bother to put some sort of mechanism in that law to prevent it. But I can’t blame them – a few years ago no one would have thought that someone like Trump could become President.
What a beautifully written and poignant article, Sam. It’s important for us to know the deep trauma that continues in Minneapolis and to take strength from the courage of Alex Pretti and his fellow Minnesotans. We are all Minnesotans now.
“These experiences are now part of the well-understood pattern of life in a city under ICE occupation. The psychic effects, though, are harder to describe. One man I spoke with had begun volunteering to help form physical human barricades around crosswalks to protect children going to school. He said he felt spiritually called to the task. But it unnerved him, too. The children, he told me, often feared that he might be an ICE agent in disguise.”
Reading this had my eyes welling up with tears. We live in truly terrible times, but I know we can turn this around.
I call other congressfolk—creep or otherwise—depending on the news.
I protest.
I have written eight pages of policy changes that are needed to protect democracy and my initial mailing will be to about 50 members of the House and Senate, as well as to individual influential people.
Planning to start a YT channel on engaging in public life.
It was possible to think of the Russian athletes as projections of the glory of Putin and that is why they were for the most part not there and I was just mean enough to root against Adeliia Petrosian. A little. But a) I decided that no one should consider their medal as having an asterisk because the Russians were not there through the complete and entire fault of their own government messing with the Ukrainian Olympic Committee b) the American athletes are not projections of the glory of Trump. Some of them even mildly criticized Trump and suffered his wrath. They are projections of their own individual dreams and hard work which for some of them allows them to be on our screens on the pro circuit regularly.
When 2030 comes I imagine that there will be real Russians with their own anthem and flag however that comes about and some of the same people from this time will see how well they can do
Wish you had said “the gold-medal hockey wins for the American women and men..’’ rather than … the American men and women” given that the women’s victory happened first and given actions since both their wins.
I don't know what to do other than confront (country conservative) friends and neighbors. I have been spending lots of social time at church just for this, occassionally bringing up these vital issues, the survival of liberty. But have I spoken to them earnestly enough?
I did, before the election, about January 6th. Some of them (my priest) know that I am broken by it all and that I need their fellowship to help my broken spirit, and to know that we might be safe vouching for each other (them vouching for me as a dissident of the regime), as much as I need them to reject to the man with whom they are strangely infatuated in order to keep all of us safe and free. I should continue to let them know I am utterly broken by all of this.
I am most (surprising myself and also completely not surprising myself) personally broken by his breaking faith with the Western alliance. ICE's and similar civic violations are also sickening, but for that I need to know how to secretly (or not secretly) kill their secret racism that underpins their nominal support for the violations. And the grift is startling in what it might take to rewind it. Finally the elections--I fear that Elon may have ballot-stuffed the last one, with higher-turnout precincts diverging from the voting pattern of the lower turnout precincts in a clear pattern called the "Russian tail." It's all connected. But at our next fellowship I will start with the place my broken heart lives--the allies who shed blood for us when we were attacked, whose freedom Trumpedo has threatened as if they to him were merely 14 year old girls. (He told Howard Sterm 13 was too young.)
Where is Renee Good’s memorial? It seems that someone missed JVL’s Emergency Triad. ICE is not withdrawing from the field regardless of Homan’s word which is worth the same as everyone else’s in this den of thieves. They are playing cat and mouse for now with plenty of room for escalation.
Beautiful and poignant piece of writing Sam. Much needed and appreciated. Thank you.
My wife worked as the Executive Director for Habitat For Humanity in the Rio Grande Valley, in the counties right on the border. I'm here to tell you, it wasn't the local folks that made it work, it was our "Winter Texans" (aka Snowbirds in FL) from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Come Halloween, the RV's came south, the guys got the hammers out and (not to be sexist but it was that) the women fed the guys hotdish. It wasn't an occasional thing, it was like a their job, one they took incredibly seriously- 40 hours a week seriously. Built a beautiful church in McAllen with the same ideology and effort- took a couple of years to finish because 80% of the work got done over 30% of the year, but that's how they do it. I think there's something about that frigid weather that, from the time you're a little kid, makes you more concerned with the well-being of others than more temperate places in the US. God bless America, God bless Minnesota. ICE picked the wrong city in the wrong state to f*ck with.
If Kash Patel's girlfriend has a gig in the Middle East, it's just a skip and a jump from the Olympic locker room to the negotiating table in Iran.
Still waiting for ANYONE to explain why it is the responsibility of the US Military to handle the situation in Iran instead of all of the other countries in the Middle East. You'd think if Iran was that much of a threat, they'd be interested in taking some sort of aggressive / military actions to ensure their own security. Yet NONE of them are doing this - even Israel, which isn't exactly on buddy-buddy terms with Iran.
Yes, in the big picture this is just another distraction from the truly perverted adventures of our Pedophile-In-Chief as noted in the Epstein Files, but this goes waaaaaay beyond rhetoric, this is putting the lives of our Service Members in harm's way.
Maybe our beloved weasel MAGAt members of Congress will feel a bit different when they have to call the families of dead Service Members to express their condolences. We haven't had any school shootings recently, so I guess they could dust off the old "thoughts and prayers" line.
It is worth noting that part of the reason for the rise of the NSDAP in Germany after the failed putsch and imprisonment of Hitler was the collapse of the German economy with hyperinflation. The American economy is vulnerable and the policies put forth by the T. Rump criminal enterprise are not helping. Add a little more stress and see what happens-not likely to end well in my humble opinion.
This is what I've been doing:
1. I started by calling my POS (R) representative and my two (D) senators. I call or email them weekly at a minimum.
2. I allocated part of my monthly budget for donations to families of those taken by ICE and organizations helping with immigrant needs. I exceed the amount I allocated every month, because the need is never ending.
3. I protested for the first time in the spring of 2025, now when there's a major protest I'm there.
4. I attended a meeting last night on how to be an ally for immigrants, and I'll be attending my community's next Rapid Response meeting.
5. I've participated in letter writing campaigns and plan to do more.
A few comments...
1) These stories from Minneapolis about the brave folks who have taken on ICE are beyond incredible. They have given inspiration to us all. But it is more than infuriating to know that there are large swaths of people in this country who refuse to see the killing of Alex Pretti for what it was – cold blooded murder by out-of-control agents of the federal government.
2) I didn’t think that it was possible that Trump could make any more of a mishmash out of his tariff policy, but I was wrong. It somehow sounds even worse than it was before the SCOTUS ruling. Who knows if Trump will follow through with his “more powerful and obnoxious” tariffs or not (and isn’t “obnoxious” an interesting word to use to describe tariffs?), but it sounds like the uncertainty around whether he will or not is the bigger part of the problem.
And, yes, Trump is enough of a child (or let’s just say he lacks the emotional maturity of an adult) that he would impose tariffs even if he knew they would hurt the economy simply because he’s been told he can’t. It’s called cutting off your nose to spite your face.
3) So back in June we were told that Iran’s nuclear program had been obliterated. Now, eight months later we’re told that they have reconstituted it almost completely. Huh? What this sounds like to me is similar to what we heard in the run up to the Iraq War, only that time it was about WMD’s in general. We were told that it was only a matter of a (short) time before Sadaam used his WMD’s to attack us so we had to get him before he got us. Never mind that we never saw any evidence to back up those claims.
But I fear another similarity between the Iraq and Iran situations. Bush put conditions on Sadaam that he would never agree to (and likely, in my opinion, there was nothing that Sadaam could have done to satisfy Bush). And that’s what I worry that Trump is going to do – put conditions on Iran that they will never agree to.
But if I had to guess, I would guess that Trump will do some sort of limited strike in hopes of stoking some sort of revolution. I don’t see him actually invading Iran. Unless, of course, if the Iranian leadership provokes him by saying mean, nasty, ugly things about him.
But I must admit that his moving so much military capability there gives me pause. It’s already more than I thought that he would do.
4) I’m guessing that Trump’s firing of the judge-appointed attorneys isn’t actually illegal; it’s just another example of how our political system rests on people following norms. And it’s also another example of how it’s very difficult to write foolproof laws. There’s always going to be some leeway for unscrupulous folks to take advantage of.
I imagine that the people who wrote the law about appointing U.S. attorneys never imagined that a sitting President would behave in such a childish manner as to immediately fire anyone appointed by a judicial panel. So they didn’t bother to put some sort of mechanism in that law to prevent it. But I can’t blame them – a few years ago no one would have thought that someone like Trump could become President.
Oh man, Sam's piece is 💯 🖤
Thanks Sam. Very moving.
What a beautifully written and poignant article, Sam. It’s important for us to know the deep trauma that continues in Minneapolis and to take strength from the courage of Alex Pretti and his fellow Minnesotans. We are all Minnesotans now.
“These experiences are now part of the well-understood pattern of life in a city under ICE occupation. The psychic effects, though, are harder to describe. One man I spoke with had begun volunteering to help form physical human barricades around crosswalks to protect children going to school. He said he felt spiritually called to the task. But it unnerved him, too. The children, he told me, often feared that he might be an ICE agent in disguise.”
Reading this had my eyes welling up with tears. We live in truly terrible times, but I know we can turn this around.
What I do:
I call my congresscreep almost daily.
I call other congressfolk—creep or otherwise—depending on the news.
I protest.
I have written eight pages of policy changes that are needed to protect democracy and my initial mailing will be to about 50 members of the House and Senate, as well as to individual influential people.
Planning to start a YT channel on engaging in public life.
It was possible to think of the Russian athletes as projections of the glory of Putin and that is why they were for the most part not there and I was just mean enough to root against Adeliia Petrosian. A little. But a) I decided that no one should consider their medal as having an asterisk because the Russians were not there through the complete and entire fault of their own government messing with the Ukrainian Olympic Committee b) the American athletes are not projections of the glory of Trump. Some of them even mildly criticized Trump and suffered his wrath. They are projections of their own individual dreams and hard work which for some of them allows them to be on our screens on the pro circuit regularly.
When 2030 comes I imagine that there will be real Russians with their own anthem and flag however that comes about and some of the same people from this time will see how well they can do
Please see the NYT/Athletic story about Nick Goepper for instance
Wish you had said “the gold-medal hockey wins for the American women and men..’’ rather than … the American men and women” given that the women’s victory happened first and given actions since both their wins.
Canadians will never forget this great and terrible insult. Olympic hockey gold will be ours once more.
Seriously tho, good job USA. (well, PARTS of the USA, I guess).
I don't follow the NHL that much, but couldn't imagine the USA had enough native NHL players to field a competent team. Sorry, eh. Maybe next time.
I don't know what to do other than confront (country conservative) friends and neighbors. I have been spending lots of social time at church just for this, occassionally bringing up these vital issues, the survival of liberty. But have I spoken to them earnestly enough?
I did, before the election, about January 6th. Some of them (my priest) know that I am broken by it all and that I need their fellowship to help my broken spirit, and to know that we might be safe vouching for each other (them vouching for me as a dissident of the regime), as much as I need them to reject to the man with whom they are strangely infatuated in order to keep all of us safe and free. I should continue to let them know I am utterly broken by all of this.
I am most (surprising myself and also completely not surprising myself) personally broken by his breaking faith with the Western alliance. ICE's and similar civic violations are also sickening, but for that I need to know how to secretly (or not secretly) kill their secret racism that underpins their nominal support for the violations. And the grift is startling in what it might take to rewind it. Finally the elections--I fear that Elon may have ballot-stuffed the last one, with higher-turnout precincts diverging from the voting pattern of the lower turnout precincts in a clear pattern called the "Russian tail." It's all connected. But at our next fellowship I will start with the place my broken heart lives--the allies who shed blood for us when we were attacked, whose freedom Trumpedo has threatened as if they to him were merely 14 year old girls. (He told Howard Sterm 13 was too young.)
Where is Renee Good’s memorial? It seems that someone missed JVL’s Emergency Triad. ICE is not withdrawing from the field regardless of Homan’s word which is worth the same as everyone else’s in this den of thieves. They are playing cat and mouse for now with plenty of room for escalation.