I hope Italy bans ICE from stepping foot in their country. And then the US backs out of the Winter Olympics. And then the rest of the world boycotts the World Cup. Wouldn't that be lovely? It would demonstrate what the US has done to its reputation around the world.
The Italians should call them a terrorist organization and yes, ban them. On the World Cup front, none other than Sepp Blatter is calling for fans to boycott the event. When you’ve lost that fount of corruption you should know things are bad.
File this under "first world extremely petty problems" but it really pisses me off that for the first time in my life I will have the means and opportunity to attend an Olympics (LA28) and it looks like I will need to boycott it due to my own damn country.
Based on the price I’ve seen for World Cup tickets a general boycott might not be needed. They are running 1k a ticket for cheap seats. Add on cost of hotels and flights……
The dollar is at its lowest level since 1973 when we were experiencing stagflation; the Fed Funds rate was at 10.8% back the. Today, the Fed funds rate is 3.64%. Let that sink in, and it tells you that foreign investors are leaving the US market.
Therefore, for certain countries, the cost of a vacation here could be as much as 30-40% cheaper…and expect this to be just the beginning….:)
It is only going to get worse. Most of export increases are in precious metals. Silver and gold primarily. Countries are moving to durable wealth in preparation for dumping the dollar.
Agreed, I didn’t want to get ahead of my ski’s since you were only talking about the World Cup prices…:).
However, European and Asian central banks are decreasing their US dollar based assets.
Or in other words; they’re getting ready to dump the dollar as the reserve currency of the world! And don’t forget gold, silver and other metals like copper have crucial industrial uses. We’re about to get f*cked! These harebrained nitwits have no idea the longterm damage they are doing; or maybe thy do, and just don’t care!…:)
I hope that Fifa because of member requests decides to hold the games in Canada and Mexico because of fear of harm and discrimination towards the players and guests. Also the Olympics while time should choose another venue than the US.
Who are we rooting for in the Olympics? I mean, I'm rooting for American athletes but we might be banned. I need to get up to speed - the Olympics might be a good distraction from *gestures around*
I no longer care which athletes win these events. But I am interested in how the crowds respond. There is going to be energetic booing every time the US national anthem gets played or US athletes get introduced. I hope NBC doesn't avoid covering this, but they will probably chicken out.
In the unlikely event that athletes won't get to compete, that will suck for them. It won't be fair after years of training and effort. But there is a bigger picture. It sucks more to get kidnapped off the street and sent to a concentration camp in Texas. It sucks more to be shot in the face. It sucks more to be murdered after trying to protect a woman from being assaulted. For a lot of Americans, life sucks right now.
If I was an American athlete going to Milan, I'd be wary of winning gold, bkz you'll get invited to the White House, and Trump would expect you to give it to him - and I'm only partially kidding. I'm sure Donald has heard the story of Putin stealing a Super Bowl ring (from the Patriots owner, IIRC), and wants to do the same thing. Plus, he wants *all* the gold, and thinks it rightfully belongs to him.
I feel for our athletes. I can only imagine the reception they will receive marching into the Olympic stadium. Hopefully none of them are injured by flying objects during their competitions.
this i would like. not to mention banning any relatives of anyone serving in the admin. put them in the worst seats too. make them pay for the toilets. um... no cappuccinos for breakfast.... im sure they can get creative.
I'd love to see these ICE agents taken into custody when they try to get through customs, frog marched to a detention facility, and then deported in shackles.
Bulwarkers are pretty savvy, but for the record: a wedge issue is something that your squad agrees on and your opponents disagree on. You can't totally control what winds up wedging the opposition, but when you find it, you need to hammer it, to split the opposition's coalition. When your team is getting wedged, there's a lot of scrambling, basically survival is a matter of desperately trying to change the conversation. Think: trans sports bans for Dems in 2024.
If you're keeping score, the Democrats are spoiled with a richness of effective wedges. It's like they have multiple iron spikes driven into multiple cracks, and they could pick one or multiple, and shatter the GOP coalition.
Wedge #1 - ICE/DHS. It has become incredibly unpopular; the public is behind reigning them in (if not abolish/defund). So, hammer. Reps can't abandon the turf because it's Trump's whole schtick and his malignant narcissism won't let him admit defeat. But some Reps want to have a political future, so they will be forced to distance from Stephen Miller and Noem and Trump. So all the republicans will be forced to die on the hill, fighting EACH OTHER, if you fight them on it.
Wedge #2 - Healthcare. Dems are united, Reps are scrambling and have no ideas. Moderate Reps keep showing a willingness to throw in with Dems and split with Trump and the Freedom Caucus. The public is pissed, and it can easily tie into affordability.
Wedge #3 - Epstein. Again, passed almost unanimously out of the House and Senate and signed into law. Dems should be pressuring oversight. Trump et al. can't release the files, because ****we all know why**** and so all the Reps in Congress will be wedged from the admin, causing infighting.
Wedge #4 - Guns. Time to go full in on 2A. Trump cannot help himself and keeps complaining about lawful carry. Dems can still stand on their traditional ground, i.e. gun safety, common sense measures supported by 80% of people, but it isn't even a pivot for them to affirm the 2A, they do this reflexively ever since the 90s. Meanwhile, Reps in Congress have their hair on fire because Trump keeps doubling down on ICE/CBP being justified killing a protestor lawfully carrying a firearm.
Wedge #5 - Tariffs and Taxes. Dems are united, Republicans are split. Some republicans want more social programs, some want none. Some Republicans drink the kool aid or pretend to believe in the Trump tariff agenda. Dems just need to not hedge with "some tariffs are good," that's not the issue, just attack attack, attack, attack the Trump Tariffs in the form of the Trump tariffs. And point out these raise costs on goods and do the opposite of affordability. Point to coffee prices. Point to beef.
Great arguments! Well argued post! Regarding Wedge issue 1, the rats have pulled the knives out and are attacking each other with predictable disclaiming of responsibility and blaming of the other guy. The united front has splintered so it’s time to attack. Public sentiment is on the Dem’s side. Go for the jugular now
Agreed, this was the best thing I've read in a while. We need to keep the pressure on getting rid of Stephen Miller, he gives me the total creeps. He is in trumps ear all of the time and frankly, he's an absolute nut and is one who is behind this disgusting elimination plan.
I love the high quality discussions that happen in Bulwark comments. This is the only user forum I've found that makes me feel smarter instead of stupider and angrier.
ALL of 👆!!! Before Voldemort came to power - I was basically politically ignorant. I cared about people, particularly the marginalized. I am a special needs mom after all, but this whole 💩 show, it’s made me pursue political, and civics information.
I’m in MN now and the abuse and violation of BASiC liberties, and rights, just can’t be understood. The trauma to citizens, and particularly the marginalized, and our youth, d@mn, that’s gonna take generations to heal. We’ll need STRONG constitutional advocates, and reps who care about social issues. The mental health services of this country were strained before, but now, 🤦♀️.
So grateful for ALL who work at The Bulwark, and who are part of this community.
This requires Democrats as and organization to be competent and aggressive. Two things they have proven time and time again to not be. Democrats while unified behind these issues are not unified in action or strategy. It is why they lose all the time in races they should win. Look at the unaligned movement last election, anyone with any common sense could see that stance was stupid. Yet…..they went on about. On the inverse any competent person could also see they were going to be stubborn and the Kamala should have offered a fig leaf of some kind and she really didn’t. Know neither yourself nor your enemy and all that.
I get frustrated too, but I think we should save our spleen for Republicans, who really got us into this mess, and are keeping us from extracting ourselves. Yes, Democrats need to unify, and we should push them to do better, but let's be honest about whose fault this really is.
Players win games and teams win championships. Democrats have some good players but as a team they are awful. Look at the Bills, that’s what happens in poorly run organizations.
Putting your faith in Chamberlain to protect Czechoslovakia. I am sorry but Democrats and their inability to wield power and act effectively bare blame here and I have lost almost all faith that they will save us. Say Democrats win in 2026 and 2028 do you believe that they will take the steps necessary to fix and stop the damage? They haven’t so far. They helped contribute to the factors that have lead to Trump and empowered him. Finally the Republicans are going to Republican, being mad or having ire for them won’t change that.
Kamala had a very good chance to win in '24, but the party came in and took over the campaign, completely neutering the momentum she had coming out of the convention.
Very true and the mishandled Waltz strength as the attack dog. They ran that campaign as if they were up by three scores in the 4th quarter when in reality they were up one and all Trump needed was a field goal. This isn’t just a national thing. I signed up to be a PCO in an open spot in November and my local party can’t respond to my follow up. My state party can’t respond to my follow up. Thankfully they can’t stop me from running in May, but I’ll be one small voice in a large incompetent pond. From the local level to the national level the Democrats can’t get their poop in a group. They’ve driven out labor, hollowing their toughness and grit. As an organization they are a joke. We have been forced to use this clumsy tool called the Democratic Party and the sooner we can replace it the better. Maybe we need a Bulwark party.
A big factor I see is that McConnell was able to block a SCotUS nominee for nine months, then confirmed ACB in like five minutes, while Schumer's senate was unable to slow down Trump's cabinet noms and hasn't even been a speedbump in getting everything Trump wanted thru (yes, from a minority position).
May I amplify this way: when we hammer on a crack, try talking within the frame of your target audience. E.g. ICE is becoming radioactive, but yelling "abolish ICE" to middle America enables opposition rhetoric to counter that ICE is necessary to prevent caravans of rapists & drug dealers from invading YOUR neighborhood!! 😬 Don't provide the opening to have the topic flipped back to the Trumpist strong suit.
Talk with neighbors about how BP/ICE/DHS are masked and militarized, not like our local police who are our neighbors who we see at grocery, school drop off, church. Obama deported more people than Trump and there were never videos like we see daily - people being disrespected, hit, gassed by ICE. Point out how the BP agents behave belligerent & trigger happy - this leads to bad things happening when tensions are high. Focus on the ways the anonymous gunners endanger community peace & safety, how they're wasting time & money on people going about their evereyday lives instead of catching actual criminals who have convictions/warrants for arrest. When people feel the impact on themselves, you have more of their attention. That's how Trump uses fear to get attention. We can try to keep focus on feelings too - of inconvenience, unfairness, morals.
I don’t think it would hurt to start muddying the waters on the topic. Trump demonstrated that on abortion where people don’t believe he is committed to the anti-abortion cause. If Democrats came out in support of gun rights while still supporting restrictions most people agree on, that could blunt the rhetoric of them wanting to take away guns.
Getting the NRA to criticize Trump, even in an extremely mild way, to me seemed a bit different from before, but might be I am wrong. To me that seems like they're wedged. I'd much rather the NRA waste time and money and resources trying to fix the White House's messaging on guns then deploying their resources against Democrats.
Well said, but from I understand social media is blocking content on ICE and Epstein, so we have other issues to deal with as well since this is where most people get their news.
Not to mention, Ellison just closed on TikTok which should be interesting as well. Expect misinformation and disinformation campaigns the likes of which we’ve never seen before!….:)
My commenting ability on Instagram got cut off yesterday (which IIRC was the day they started the censorship on Epstein, etc). I deleted my account shortly thereafter.
I shitcanned my FB acct around then, too. IG was the last social media presence I had, unless you count YouTube, where I mostly watch Crooked Media (Pod Save... and Alex Wagner) stuff and Kimmel and Colbert monologues (and Jelle's Marble Runs, lol).
As to Wedge No. 3, Epstein and pedophilia were just used as a subject to get a small subset of Republicans exercised enough about to vote their way. Now that they’re in power, they’re free to jettison it as readily as they jettisoned the abortion issue. We got your vote, thank you very much, ‘bye!
“OUT TO LUNCH: Donald Trump has always spent lots of time hanging out in these fantasy lands of his own creation. Recently, though, there’s been reason to wonder whether he ever leaves them at all. As the White House has reeled from the death of Alex Pretti and its own insane first-take response of smearing him as a “domestic terrorist,” one figure has been all but absent from the conversation: Trump himself.”
Out to lunch would be an understatement! Perhaps we should be investigating Trump for using an autopen because when asked about anything, he apparently never has a clue.
When asked why did he pardon the former president of Honduras, he replied, “I don’t know much about the guy, they said he was unfairly punished. When asked about Project 2025 he said, “I never read it, and don’t know much about it.”
Clearly, if Biden deserves to be Incarcerated for being “out to lunch” and using an autopen, why does Trump get a pass? Just asking for a friend!…:)
Not in MY Constitution. Don't know about yours. I think you mean the one that the Felon keeps under his pillow, loaning it to John Roberts when he is told it is necessary.
Maybe he signs a blank page and the writing comes later. The speed those EO’s appeared tells me they were mass produced, and waiting for an opportune time. Felon Trump was asked about a specific EO last year, and said he knew nothing about it. Auto Pen from Miller? Or signed blank ready and available for use.
'“This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips,” Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala told a local radio station this week. “It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt.”'
About the best summation of what ICE is that you'll see from anyone, anywhere. The world is watching Minneapolis; they endured Trump's handling of Greenland. They've taken our measure, and we're as highly regarded as Putin and Russia now. Quite a fall from grace in a mere 12 months.
Democrats MUST hold the line on this. Period. The end.
We are all watching, and if they allow funding to move forward for the brown shirts of our generation, then they are complicit.
I know, I know, it sucks that they always have to be the responsible ones, but in this case it is a no brainer.
We will not hesitate to primary and vote out any Democrat who does not fight like hell so that we CAN have a country still (a little twist on Trump’s own words).
The only way to get Trump's attention is to hurt him in the wallet, and the only way to do that is to get the money oligarch's attention, and the only way to do that is boycotts and strikes.
And, tangentially, it neuters The Bulwark's message when there are links to Amazon and ads for United Health Care on the site.
The wallet is the only way to influence ANY Republican, and it has been true for half a century. I haven’t seen the ads, but I use the Substack app only. That is a bit disturbing.
I only use the Substack website, and every link to a guest author's book, and that sort of thing is always a link to the Amazon page. And there was a UHC ad on a Triad piece the other day.
Gross.
I've asked in a number of ways that they stop taking ad money from fascist sympathizers (DMs, emails, comments), but it keeps slowly getting worse.
I said this in another comment elsewhere, but it's not YET enough to stop supporting them, and I'd be much happier if they'd get the fascist ads (all ads, really) out of my face as a paying cohort.
Democrats should demand that ICE and border patrol should only be deployed to a state or municipality if they are requested by the local government OR if there is a finding by a federal judge in the district that a significant and disproportionate amount of undocumented immigration activity exists in that region with the standard being that there is no other region that better fits the objective criteria. This would eliminate much of the potential for abuse with targeting Democratic controlled states and cities and point out the hypocrisy and stupidity of ICE and border patrol operating in Minnesota instead of Texas.
I do think we need to start seriously considering that Trump and Miller see CBP and ICE as their SS or brownshirts, and they need to be significantly dismantled.
Even if Dem's focus group this to hell and decide "abolish" is the wrong messaging framework, these agencies need to go back to 1/20th the number of staff, and put them back in windbreakers, khakis, and shirt sleeves. No more little-green-men secret-police keystone cop toy soldiers. I don't care what anodyne bullshit phraseology they come up with, whether it's Freeze ICE or Melt ICE or Reform ICE or whatever.
Also, local governments have taken the position that they will not cooperate with ICE. This should be reversed and cooperation with local police departments demanded. Disarm ICE and local law enforcement provides the security for ICE....billed to DHS.
What does cooperation mean in this context? Does it mean calling up ICE whenever city police pick up someone who has an accent? Does it mean contacting ICE when a drunk driver who is undocumented is released from the drunk tank? Does it mean housing an undocumented person for however long it takes until ICE gets through the deportation process after that person has served the criminal sentence that landed them in jail? What's the cost to the local department for doing these things?
Costs to local departments should be billed to DHS including but not limited to providing mandatory security to ICE agents who want to conduct operations in the jx and dealing with protestors since ICE has demonstrated that they can't do it.
Your examples are what has traditionally been thought of the imposition of requirements on local police departments by DHS, it should be reversed and the local police departments demand that DHS coordinate with them before conducting operations.
I don't see any reason that a local police department should detain someone purely on the grounds of their immigration status. In certain cases (DUI, domestic violence, etc), they may want to, but for the most part no.
What security is needed for ICE to do their jobs? I fear we've been warped by current events into thinking that ICE has to run down folks ala a cop show or movie smashing car windows, busting down doors, facing armed people who will resist . In the olden days ICE went to fields and meatpacking plants and rounded up the workers...ignoring those who hired those workers. Maybe security is needed then, but why shouldn't ICE provide its own security for doing that sort of operation?
Ironically, the great weapon used so often by arch conservatives to defeat the liberal agenda is now the best weapon to use against Trump's fascist war on America. States Rights! This is the real push back!
The 2nd Amendment gives to each State the right to keep an armed militia to protect people's freedom and security in its State.
Today the State's "armed militia" is the National Guard. The undisputed threat to freedom in the States is Trump and his private army; ICE and CBP.
We should not expect private protestors to stand up to fully armed, undisciplined agents of the Federal government.
That they "can" is basic. That they "should" and "must" is the issue. Schumer has drawn his line in the sand again ... again. --- and again. Give him and the others enough backbone to carry through and try to convince the few Republicans who have said they would not vote for more ICE funding to hold the line even if it means stopping everything again.
Sure, another shut-down will hurt the public, but the public will be hurt more now and in the future by another show of D "Oh gee, we are in the minority, we have no power" BS because they will never have more public support than they do now.
Yes! The iron is hot and the pot's at the boil. Friday is a day of propitious convergence. Simple morality demands it. Let those who choose T over basic and American morality defend their choice while we act on ours. Not complicated: now is the time to rein in self-signed permission slips, masked state agents of terror and the man who put it all in motion.
Rather than funding ICE or border patrol, perhaps that money would be better spent going to the city of Minneapolis to pay for the trash the agents left behind in the streets (tear gas canisters etc), paying for the car windows they busted out, the emotional suffering of the people of Minneapolis and the free towing at the city 's expense of the cars left behind when they rip people out of them. If I wrote everything I am feeling right now my comment would be longer than your article Bill, so I will stop here. Thank you!
Trump has lost the ability to know how his words will land. This phrase hit the internet like a bomb, with millions of people crying out, "This proves he faked his assassination attempt! Projection!"
I'm working up a new Universal Theory of American Enshittification that begins and ends with "These people are just the laziest people who have ever been in charge and everything they do is about avoiding work." As far as I can tell, the government doesn't work and is completely focused on making social media content. I guess I'll wait until my parents tell me their Social Security didn't show up, as that's the only thing that will shake their community out of their celebratory stupor.
"although how much that will actually lower costs remains to be seen"
Trump said he lowered drug prices by 1400%, which explains why I get a wad of cash every morning when I swallow a handful of pills. Now I understand why the cash is in Euros. Thank you Emmanuel.
I feel a little sorry for U.S. Olympians, who have worked incredibly hard for years for their opportunity and are going to be representing a pariah nation in Italy.
I know I'm rooting for the Canadian hockey and curling teams, and Americans rarely medal in other winter sports (I don't bother with stuff like figure skating, so maybe that team has a shot).
From what I've known of her, she's too far left for a good portion of her politics to align comfortably with mine. However, I don't live in her district, and she doesn't represent me. But I'll tell you what... I've got a whole new respect for the lady...
And after last night, I'd take her all day, any day and twice on Sunday compared to a lot of Dems and any lily-livered, spineless milquetoast Republican you can name, just on the strength of the character she displayed after being physically assaulted during her town hall meeting.
Here's what happened after she made a statement that ICE is too broken to fix and should be shut down, and that Kristi Noem should either resign or be impeached, both ideas with plenty of merit in my book, whatever else I may disagree with her about.
Pay attention to her reaction, since actions speak louder than words...
Did Omar look afraid? Was she intimidated? Hell no, she went for the guy, and it appears she would've probably cold-cocked the son of a bitch had one of her security people not tackled him to the ground first.
When asked by some of her supporters to cancel the rest of the meeting out of concern for her safety, she refused, saying adamantly that she would take anything that was thrown at her and that she wouldn't be intimidated by anyone.
After the meeting, when the press descended on her as she was leaving, in a bit more restrained and almost subdued manner (I expect the adrenalin had run its course by then), she said she was "fine" when asked by someone if she were OK. She then perked back up and stated again her refusal to be intimidated, saying, "I'll be here. Because that's the way I'm built."
I'll be here. Because that's the way I'm built.
We should all be so eloquent in expressing resolve to resist the fascism and reprehensible tactics and policy of the feds who wish to be our overlords.
If ever there were words to represent what Minneapolis and all the rest of America now need to be telling Donald Trump and his goons loudly, clearly and with the pride and resolve of genuine patriotism about his immigration agenda and tactics if he persists with the inhumanity and violence, it would be these:
We'll be here. In the streets. In your face. Because that's the way we're built.
This is a well constructed and argued strategy for Senate Dems to follow. There can be no backsliding on this. The country is understandably revulsed by the events in Minneapolis. Now is the time for Senate Dems to plant their flag and stand as firmly as Alex Pretti did in defending the woman who was being pepper sprayed by the ICE barbarians, except for the clueless John Fetterman, that is. The Senate Dems need to frame the argument such that if Republicans balk at stripping out the additional funds for ICE and CBP, they are choosing to shut down the government
I hope Italy bans ICE from stepping foot in their country. And then the US backs out of the Winter Olympics. And then the rest of the world boycotts the World Cup. Wouldn't that be lovely? It would demonstrate what the US has done to its reputation around the world.
The Italians should call them a terrorist organization and yes, ban them. On the World Cup front, none other than Sepp Blatter is calling for fans to boycott the event. When you’ve lost that fount of corruption you should know things are bad.
Too much corruption for Sepp Blatter. Hard to believe.
Hard to believe Sepp Blatter taking a principled stand on anything.
File this under "first world extremely petty problems" but it really pisses me off that for the first time in my life I will have the means and opportunity to attend an Olympics (LA28) and it looks like I will need to boycott it due to my own damn country.
That's how my husband feels about the World Cup, but he is saying he won't even watch matches in the US on TV.
Based on the price I’ve seen for World Cup tickets a general boycott might not be needed. They are running 1k a ticket for cheap seats. Add on cost of hotels and flights……
Only Felons need apply for tickets, or Friends of same.
and billionaire and hi tech oligarchs
AS David C said, only felons ... billionaire, hi tech oligarchs are not an "or" group they are at least would-be felons. Certainly morally felonious.
K-shaped economy strikes again.
"Let them eat cake"
The dollar is at its lowest level since 1973 when we were experiencing stagflation; the Fed Funds rate was at 10.8% back the. Today, the Fed funds rate is 3.64%. Let that sink in, and it tells you that foreign investors are leaving the US market.
Therefore, for certain countries, the cost of a vacation here could be as much as 30-40% cheaper…and expect this to be just the beginning….:)
It is only going to get worse. Most of export increases are in precious metals. Silver and gold primarily. Countries are moving to durable wealth in preparation for dumping the dollar.
Agreed, I didn’t want to get ahead of my ski’s since you were only talking about the World Cup prices…:).
However, European and Asian central banks are decreasing their US dollar based assets.
Or in other words; they’re getting ready to dump the dollar as the reserve currency of the world! And don’t forget gold, silver and other metals like copper have crucial industrial uses. We’re about to get f*cked! These harebrained nitwits have no idea the longterm damage they are doing; or maybe thy do, and just don’t care!…:)
I hope that Fifa because of member requests decides to hold the games in Canada and Mexico because of fear of harm and discrimination towards the players and guests. Also the Olympics while time should choose another venue than the US.
If I were an athlete from Brazil or Argentina (perennial World Cup favorites), I wouldn't come to the US.
Exactly, That is why it needs to be moved. Keep the athletic and fans safe embarrass trump!
What can we do as concerned citizens to convince Fifa and the olympics to move?
Who are we rooting for in the Olympics? I mean, I'm rooting for American athletes but we might be banned. I need to get up to speed - the Olympics might be a good distraction from *gestures around*
I no longer care which athletes win these events. But I am interested in how the crowds respond. There is going to be energetic booing every time the US national anthem gets played or US athletes get introduced. I hope NBC doesn't avoid covering this, but they will probably chicken out.
In the unlikely event that athletes won't get to compete, that will suck for them. It won't be fair after years of training and effort. But there is a bigger picture. It sucks more to get kidnapped off the street and sent to a concentration camp in Texas. It sucks more to be shot in the face. It sucks more to be murdered after trying to protect a woman from being assaulted. For a lot of Americans, life sucks right now.
If I was an American athlete going to Milan, I'd be wary of winning gold, bkz you'll get invited to the White House, and Trump would expect you to give it to him - and I'm only partially kidding. I'm sure Donald has heard the story of Putin stealing a Super Bowl ring (from the Patriots owner, IIRC), and wants to do the same thing. Plus, he wants *all* the gold, and thinks it rightfully belongs to him.
I feel for our athletes. I can only imagine the reception they will receive marching into the Olympic stadium. Hopefully none of them are injured by flying objects during their competitions.
The ‘28 Olympics are in LA they can’t ban us if we are hosting them — boycotting would be a whole other story.
We should ask the olympic committee to move the games from LA
Remember when there is a kerfuffle about other countries' athletes refusing to compete against an American:
The single most important thing was getting trans- athletes out of sports.
If that were to happen, DJT would announce a hefty tariff on Italy.(to no one's surprise)
Maybe, maybe not. The IOC could probably assuage his ire with a White House ceremony awarding him a handful of Olympic Gold Medals.
Maybe they can award a gold medal for peace making! Much better than that lame Nobel Prize! 😀
this i would like. not to mention banning any relatives of anyone serving in the admin. put them in the worst seats too. make them pay for the toilets. um... no cappuccinos for breakfast.... im sure they can get creative.
I'd love to see these ICE agents taken into custody when they try to get through customs, frog marched to a detention facility, and then deported in shackles.
Bulwarkers are pretty savvy, but for the record: a wedge issue is something that your squad agrees on and your opponents disagree on. You can't totally control what winds up wedging the opposition, but when you find it, you need to hammer it, to split the opposition's coalition. When your team is getting wedged, there's a lot of scrambling, basically survival is a matter of desperately trying to change the conversation. Think: trans sports bans for Dems in 2024.
If you're keeping score, the Democrats are spoiled with a richness of effective wedges. It's like they have multiple iron spikes driven into multiple cracks, and they could pick one or multiple, and shatter the GOP coalition.
Wedge #1 - ICE/DHS. It has become incredibly unpopular; the public is behind reigning them in (if not abolish/defund). So, hammer. Reps can't abandon the turf because it's Trump's whole schtick and his malignant narcissism won't let him admit defeat. But some Reps want to have a political future, so they will be forced to distance from Stephen Miller and Noem and Trump. So all the republicans will be forced to die on the hill, fighting EACH OTHER, if you fight them on it.
Wedge #2 - Healthcare. Dems are united, Reps are scrambling and have no ideas. Moderate Reps keep showing a willingness to throw in with Dems and split with Trump and the Freedom Caucus. The public is pissed, and it can easily tie into affordability.
Wedge #3 - Epstein. Again, passed almost unanimously out of the House and Senate and signed into law. Dems should be pressuring oversight. Trump et al. can't release the files, because ****we all know why**** and so all the Reps in Congress will be wedged from the admin, causing infighting.
Wedge #4 - Guns. Time to go full in on 2A. Trump cannot help himself and keeps complaining about lawful carry. Dems can still stand on their traditional ground, i.e. gun safety, common sense measures supported by 80% of people, but it isn't even a pivot for them to affirm the 2A, they do this reflexively ever since the 90s. Meanwhile, Reps in Congress have their hair on fire because Trump keeps doubling down on ICE/CBP being justified killing a protestor lawfully carrying a firearm.
Wedge #5 - Tariffs and Taxes. Dems are united, Republicans are split. Some republicans want more social programs, some want none. Some Republicans drink the kool aid or pretend to believe in the Trump tariff agenda. Dems just need to not hedge with "some tariffs are good," that's not the issue, just attack attack, attack, attack the Trump Tariffs in the form of the Trump tariffs. And point out these raise costs on goods and do the opposite of affordability. Point to coffee prices. Point to beef.
Great arguments! Well argued post! Regarding Wedge issue 1, the rats have pulled the knives out and are attacking each other with predictable disclaiming of responsibility and blaming of the other guy. The united front has splintered so it’s time to attack. Public sentiment is on the Dem’s side. Go for the jugular now
Agreed, this was the best thing I've read in a while. We need to keep the pressure on getting rid of Stephen Miller, he gives me the total creeps. He is in trumps ear all of the time and frankly, he's an absolute nut and is one who is behind this disgusting elimination plan.
To point #1: when those in the administration are trying to distance themselves from each other on the topic you should know that’s a winner.
I love the high quality discussions that happen in Bulwark comments. This is the only user forum I've found that makes me feel smarter instead of stupider and angrier.
ALL of 👆!!! Before Voldemort came to power - I was basically politically ignorant. I cared about people, particularly the marginalized. I am a special needs mom after all, but this whole 💩 show, it’s made me pursue political, and civics information.
I’m in MN now and the abuse and violation of BASiC liberties, and rights, just can’t be understood. The trauma to citizens, and particularly the marginalized, and our youth, d@mn, that’s gonna take generations to heal. We’ll need STRONG constitutional advocates, and reps who care about social issues. The mental health services of this country were strained before, but now, 🤦♀️.
So grateful for ALL who work at The Bulwark, and who are part of this community.
This requires Democrats as and organization to be competent and aggressive. Two things they have proven time and time again to not be. Democrats while unified behind these issues are not unified in action or strategy. It is why they lose all the time in races they should win. Look at the unaligned movement last election, anyone with any common sense could see that stance was stupid. Yet…..they went on about. On the inverse any competent person could also see they were going to be stubborn and the Kamala should have offered a fig leaf of some kind and she really didn’t. Know neither yourself nor your enemy and all that.
I get frustrated too, but I think we should save our spleen for Republicans, who really got us into this mess, and are keeping us from extracting ourselves. Yes, Democrats need to unify, and we should push them to do better, but let's be honest about whose fault this really is.
Mark Kelly and Josh Shapiro are making themselves a lot more public lately. A very good sign for Democrats.
Players win games and teams win championships. Democrats have some good players but as a team they are awful. Look at the Bills, that’s what happens in poorly run organizations.
Putting your faith in Chamberlain to protect Czechoslovakia. I am sorry but Democrats and their inability to wield power and act effectively bare blame here and I have lost almost all faith that they will save us. Say Democrats win in 2026 and 2028 do you believe that they will take the steps necessary to fix and stop the damage? They haven’t so far. They helped contribute to the factors that have lead to Trump and empowered him. Finally the Republicans are going to Republican, being mad or having ire for them won’t change that.
Kamala had a very good chance to win in '24, but the party came in and took over the campaign, completely neutering the momentum she had coming out of the convention.
Very true and the mishandled Waltz strength as the attack dog. They ran that campaign as if they were up by three scores in the 4th quarter when in reality they were up one and all Trump needed was a field goal. This isn’t just a national thing. I signed up to be a PCO in an open spot in November and my local party can’t respond to my follow up. My state party can’t respond to my follow up. Thankfully they can’t stop me from running in May, but I’ll be one small voice in a large incompetent pond. From the local level to the national level the Democrats can’t get their poop in a group. They’ve driven out labor, hollowing their toughness and grit. As an organization they are a joke. We have been forced to use this clumsy tool called the Democratic Party and the sooner we can replace it the better. Maybe we need a Bulwark party.
Nutless Schumer learned NOTHIG from Mitch McConnell
When has Schumer done anything remotely like allowing an obviously guilty impeached POTUS to walk?
McConell used the power of his position MUCH more effectively to stonewall the opposition than Schumer has.
Maybe. I'd like to see a side-by-side comparison by someone who would know.
A big factor I see is that McConnell was able to block a SCotUS nominee for nine months, then confirmed ACB in like five minutes, while Schumer's senate was unable to slow down Trump's cabinet noms and hasn't even been a speedbump in getting everything Trump wanted thru (yes, from a minority position).
Kotzsu - great observations & steps forward.
May I amplify this way: when we hammer on a crack, try talking within the frame of your target audience. E.g. ICE is becoming radioactive, but yelling "abolish ICE" to middle America enables opposition rhetoric to counter that ICE is necessary to prevent caravans of rapists & drug dealers from invading YOUR neighborhood!! 😬 Don't provide the opening to have the topic flipped back to the Trumpist strong suit.
Talk with neighbors about how BP/ICE/DHS are masked and militarized, not like our local police who are our neighbors who we see at grocery, school drop off, church. Obama deported more people than Trump and there were never videos like we see daily - people being disrespected, hit, gassed by ICE. Point out how the BP agents behave belligerent & trigger happy - this leads to bad things happening when tensions are high. Focus on the ways the anonymous gunners endanger community peace & safety, how they're wasting time & money on people going about their evereyday lives instead of catching actual criminals who have convictions/warrants for arrest. When people feel the impact on themselves, you have more of their attention. That's how Trump uses fear to get attention. We can try to keep focus on feelings too - of inconvenience, unfairness, morals.
Largely agree except on guns. Trump has shot his mouth off on this before, then walked it back. Voters who care about 2A issues know this.
I don’t think it would hurt to start muddying the waters on the topic. Trump demonstrated that on abortion where people don’t believe he is committed to the anti-abortion cause. If Democrats came out in support of gun rights while still supporting restrictions most people agree on, that could blunt the rhetoric of them wanting to take away guns.
Dems shouldn't let what Trump does going forward stop them from replaying the "You can't have guns" video on constant repeat for the next 10 months.
Getting the NRA to criticize Trump, even in an extremely mild way, to me seemed a bit different from before, but might be I am wrong. To me that seems like they're wedged. I'd much rather the NRA waste time and money and resources trying to fix the White House's messaging on guns then deploying their resources against Democrats.
DJT always shoots his mouth off. He can't help it.
Well said, but from I understand social media is blocking content on ICE and Epstein, so we have other issues to deal with as well since this is where most people get their news.
Not to mention, Ellison just closed on TikTok which should be interesting as well. Expect misinformation and disinformation campaigns the likes of which we’ve never seen before!….:)
My commenting ability on Instagram got cut off yesterday (which IIRC was the day they started the censorship on Epstein, etc). I deleted my account shortly thereafter.
Good for you, I left Facebook in 2016, and haven’t joined anything but BlueSky since….:)
I shitcanned my FB acct around then, too. IG was the last social media presence I had, unless you count YouTube, where I mostly watch Crooked Media (Pod Save... and Alex Wagner) stuff and Kimmel and Colbert monologues (and Jelle's Marble Runs, lol).
As to Wedge No. 3, Epstein and pedophilia were just used as a subject to get a small subset of Republicans exercised enough about to vote their way. Now that they’re in power, they’re free to jettison it as readily as they jettisoned the abortion issue. We got your vote, thank you very much, ‘bye!
Truly excellent assessment!! Who here has good access to Dem leadership to share this??
Guns is the single best wedge issue in this list.
"Trump says you can't have guns" should be the basis of a multi-year ad campaign that hits literally everywhere in the country.
“OUT TO LUNCH: Donald Trump has always spent lots of time hanging out in these fantasy lands of his own creation. Recently, though, there’s been reason to wonder whether he ever leaves them at all. As the White House has reeled from the death of Alex Pretti and its own insane first-take response of smearing him as a “domestic terrorist,” one figure has been all but absent from the conversation: Trump himself.”
Out to lunch would be an understatement! Perhaps we should be investigating Trump for using an autopen because when asked about anything, he apparently never has a clue.
When asked why did he pardon the former president of Honduras, he replied, “I don’t know much about the guy, they said he was unfairly punished. When asked about Project 2025 he said, “I never read it, and don’t know much about it.”
Clearly, if Biden deserves to be Incarcerated for being “out to lunch” and using an autopen, why does Trump get a pass? Just asking for a friend!…:)
The “double standard” is the strongest hidden article in our Constitution.
Not in MY Constitution. Don't know about yours. I think you mean the one that the Felon keeps under his pillow, loaning it to John Roberts when he is told it is necessary.
David, did you forget to add your daily dose of Sarcasm Alert to your coffee? Or are you trying to cut back?
On the Alerts, not the Sarcasm. 😏
Drink some Jolt. Up the energy of sarcasm!
Touché!…:)
Biden used an autopen but likely knew what was being signed. Trump signs documents himself but likely pays little attention to what he's signing.
That's because he can't read. I'd love for a reporter to ask him about what book he has read most recently.
Mein Kampf. It's the only book he knows about. Or the Bible. Maybe.
The Bible? Well, I expect he's read the bottom line on sales of his "Trump Bible", anyway...
https://apnews.com/article/trump-god-bless-usa-bible-greenwood-2713fda3efdfa297d0f024efb1ca3003
As to Mein Kampf... not likely. But only because I don't think it comes in a picture book edition. Wait...
Well, hell...
https://dynasty-auctions.com/en/items/adolf-hitler-mein-kampf-first-illustrated-edition-in-18-booklets-london-1939/
During the 2016 campaign there was reporting that Ivanka said that Donald kept a copy on his nightstand. There's some dispute about the details, tho.
https://forward.com/schmooze/318664/trump-and-hitler/
Exactly..:)
Maybe he signs a blank page and the writing comes later. The speed those EO’s appeared tells me they were mass produced, and waiting for an opportune time. Felon Trump was asked about a specific EO last year, and said he knew nothing about it. Auto Pen from Miller? Or signed blank ready and available for use.
All ICE agents should be detained at the Milan airport
And while we are at it... FFS, boycott the World Cup. Can you imagine if people just had not shown up to the '36 Olympics?
And my jaw is on the floor that we pay so much for pharmaceuticals that companies would rather pull out of Europe then drop prices here.
Call their bluff. Then the same price will be applied everywhere.
'“This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips,” Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala told a local radio station this week. “It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt.”'
About the best summation of what ICE is that you'll see from anyone, anywhere. The world is watching Minneapolis; they endured Trump's handling of Greenland. They've taken our measure, and we're as highly regarded as Putin and Russia now. Quite a fall from grace in a mere 12 months.
Hopefully Italy will refuse to admit ICE personnel. Trump's reaction might kick up an international incident that might be helpful.
Democrats MUST hold the line on this. Period. The end.
We are all watching, and if they allow funding to move forward for the brown shirts of our generation, then they are complicit.
I know, I know, it sucks that they always have to be the responsible ones, but in this case it is a no brainer.
We will not hesitate to primary and vote out any Democrat who does not fight like hell so that we CAN have a country still (a little twist on Trump’s own words).
It might hurt the economy, but not as much as the economic strike that is being planned if this situation continues.
And they should think about that, too. Because we are not accepting this.
The only way to get Trump's attention is to hurt him in the wallet, and the only way to do that is to get the money oligarch's attention, and the only way to do that is boycotts and strikes.
And, tangentially, it neuters The Bulwark's message when there are links to Amazon and ads for United Health Care on the site.
The wallet is the only way to influence ANY Republican, and it has been true for half a century. I haven’t seen the ads, but I use the Substack app only. That is a bit disturbing.
I only use the Substack website, and every link to a guest author's book, and that sort of thing is always a link to the Amazon page. And there was a UHC ad on a Triad piece the other day.
Gross.
I've asked in a number of ways that they stop taking ad money from fascist sympathizers (DMs, emails, comments), but it keeps slowly getting worse.
I said this in another comment elsewhere, but it's not YET enough to stop supporting them, and I'd be much happier if they'd get the fascist ads (all ads, really) out of my face as a paying cohort.
Democrats should demand that ICE and border patrol should only be deployed to a state or municipality if they are requested by the local government OR if there is a finding by a federal judge in the district that a significant and disproportionate amount of undocumented immigration activity exists in that region with the standard being that there is no other region that better fits the objective criteria. This would eliminate much of the potential for abuse with targeting Democratic controlled states and cities and point out the hypocrisy and stupidity of ICE and border patrol operating in Minnesota instead of Texas.
I do think we need to start seriously considering that Trump and Miller see CBP and ICE as their SS or brownshirts, and they need to be significantly dismantled.
Even if Dem's focus group this to hell and decide "abolish" is the wrong messaging framework, these agencies need to go back to 1/20th the number of staff, and put them back in windbreakers, khakis, and shirt sleeves. No more little-green-men secret-police keystone cop toy soldiers. I don't care what anodyne bullshit phraseology they come up with, whether it's Freeze ICE or Melt ICE or Reform ICE or whatever.
And...they don't need weaponry.
Also, local governments have taken the position that they will not cooperate with ICE. This should be reversed and cooperation with local police departments demanded. Disarm ICE and local law enforcement provides the security for ICE....billed to DHS.
What does cooperation mean in this context? Does it mean calling up ICE whenever city police pick up someone who has an accent? Does it mean contacting ICE when a drunk driver who is undocumented is released from the drunk tank? Does it mean housing an undocumented person for however long it takes until ICE gets through the deportation process after that person has served the criminal sentence that landed them in jail? What's the cost to the local department for doing these things?
Costs to local departments should be billed to DHS including but not limited to providing mandatory security to ICE agents who want to conduct operations in the jx and dealing with protestors since ICE has demonstrated that they can't do it.
Your examples are what has traditionally been thought of the imposition of requirements on local police departments by DHS, it should be reversed and the local police departments demand that DHS coordinate with them before conducting operations.
I don't see any reason that a local police department should detain someone purely on the grounds of their immigration status. In certain cases (DUI, domestic violence, etc), they may want to, but for the most part no.
What security is needed for ICE to do their jobs? I fear we've been warped by current events into thinking that ICE has to run down folks ala a cop show or movie smashing car windows, busting down doors, facing armed people who will resist . In the olden days ICE went to fields and meatpacking plants and rounded up the workers...ignoring those who hired those workers. Maybe security is needed then, but why shouldn't ICE provide its own security for doing that sort of operation?
Ironically, the great weapon used so often by arch conservatives to defeat the liberal agenda is now the best weapon to use against Trump's fascist war on America. States Rights! This is the real push back!
The 2nd Amendment gives to each State the right to keep an armed militia to protect people's freedom and security in its State.
Today the State's "armed militia" is the National Guard. The undisputed threat to freedom in the States is Trump and his private army; ICE and CBP.
We should not expect private protestors to stand up to fully armed, undisciplined agents of the Federal government.
"Democrats can now force such a debate."
That they "can" is basic. That they "should" and "must" is the issue. Schumer has drawn his line in the sand again ... again. --- and again. Give him and the others enough backbone to carry through and try to convince the few Republicans who have said they would not vote for more ICE funding to hold the line even if it means stopping everything again.
Sure, another shut-down will hurt the public, but the public will be hurt more now and in the future by another show of D "Oh gee, we are in the minority, we have no power" BS because they will never have more public support than they do now.
Hang the anchor ICE around the necks of Republicans for the Midterms. After that do the same to Vance in28.
Yes! The iron is hot and the pot's at the boil. Friday is a day of propitious convergence. Simple morality demands it. Let those who choose T over basic and American morality defend their choice while we act on ours. Not complicated: now is the time to rein in self-signed permission slips, masked state agents of terror and the man who put it all in motion.
Rather than funding ICE or border patrol, perhaps that money would be better spent going to the city of Minneapolis to pay for the trash the agents left behind in the streets (tear gas canisters etc), paying for the car windows they busted out, the emotional suffering of the people of Minneapolis and the free towing at the city 's expense of the cars left behind when they rip people out of them. If I wrote everything I am feeling right now my comment would be longer than your article Bill, so I will stop here. Thank you!
"She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” Trump told ABC’s Rachel Scott.
Trump has lost the ability to know how his words will land. This phrase hit the internet like a bomb, with millions of people crying out, "This proves he faked his assassination attempt! Projection!"
I'm working up a new Universal Theory of American Enshittification that begins and ends with "These people are just the laziest people who have ever been in charge and everything they do is about avoiding work." As far as I can tell, the government doesn't work and is completely focused on making social media content. I guess I'll wait until my parents tell me their Social Security didn't show up, as that's the only thing that will shake their community out of their celebratory stupor.
Love the new theory of Enshittification!
"although how much that will actually lower costs remains to be seen"
Trump said he lowered drug prices by 1400%, which explains why I get a wad of cash every morning when I swallow a handful of pills. Now I understand why the cash is in Euros. Thank you Emmanuel.
Given the current exchange rate, I would rather be paid in euros than dollars.
"She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her," says Miracle Ear.
Every accusation is a confession
“Miracle Ear” I love that! 💜😂💜🤣
I feel a little sorry for U.S. Olympians, who have worked incredibly hard for years for their opportunity and are going to be representing a pariah nation in Italy.
I know I'm rooting for the Canadian hockey and curling teams, and Americans rarely medal in other winter sports (I don't bother with stuff like figure skating, so maybe that team has a shot).
FINALLY! I understood and adored “Cheap Shots” this morning! Amen, Senior Sisters of the Lutheran persuasion! Drive on, you Subarus!
Senior Lutheran Lady here. Aux barricades, mes soeurs!!
RE: Rep. Ilhan Omar
From what I've known of her, she's too far left for a good portion of her politics to align comfortably with mine. However, I don't live in her district, and she doesn't represent me. But I'll tell you what... I've got a whole new respect for the lady...
And after last night, I'd take her all day, any day and twice on Sunday compared to a lot of Dems and any lily-livered, spineless milquetoast Republican you can name, just on the strength of the character she displayed after being physically assaulted during her town hall meeting.
Here's what happened after she made a statement that ICE is too broken to fix and should be shut down, and that Kristi Noem should either resign or be impeached, both ideas with plenty of merit in my book, whatever else I may disagree with her about.
Pay attention to her reaction, since actions speak louder than words...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHyMtQfycKM
Did Omar look afraid? Was she intimidated? Hell no, she went for the guy, and it appears she would've probably cold-cocked the son of a bitch had one of her security people not tackled him to the ground first.
When asked by some of her supporters to cancel the rest of the meeting out of concern for her safety, she refused, saying adamantly that she would take anything that was thrown at her and that she wouldn't be intimidated by anyone.
After the meeting, when the press descended on her as she was leaving, in a bit more restrained and almost subdued manner (I expect the adrenalin had run its course by then), she said she was "fine" when asked by someone if she were OK. She then perked back up and stated again her refusal to be intimidated, saying, "I'll be here. Because that's the way I'm built."
I'll be here. Because that's the way I'm built.
We should all be so eloquent in expressing resolve to resist the fascism and reprehensible tactics and policy of the feds who wish to be our overlords.
If ever there were words to represent what Minneapolis and all the rest of America now need to be telling Donald Trump and his goons loudly, clearly and with the pride and resolve of genuine patriotism about his immigration agenda and tactics if he persists with the inhumanity and violence, it would be these:
We'll be here. In the streets. In your face. Because that's the way we're built.
The main difference between Trump and Omar isn't origin, sex or skin color. It's toughness.
(And he got more money from his daddy.)
She didn't hesitate a second and went right after that guy.
She cocked her right arm as she neared him.
She was ready to go, that's for sure.
This is a well constructed and argued strategy for Senate Dems to follow. There can be no backsliding on this. The country is understandably revulsed by the events in Minneapolis. Now is the time for Senate Dems to plant their flag and stand as firmly as Alex Pretti did in defending the woman who was being pepper sprayed by the ICE barbarians, except for the clueless John Fetterman, that is. The Senate Dems need to frame the argument such that if Republicans balk at stripping out the additional funds for ICE and CBP, they are choosing to shut down the government