79 Comments
User's avatar
JAMES ROY LEE's avatar

News flash: the people we elected aren't the best and brightest. They don't hire the best and brightest. Of course, the people who voted for this clown show aren't the best and brightest, either.

joeinMN's avatar

Incompetence breeds incompetence. There is generally I think a culture of mediocrity that prevails in many circles in business and government wherein those less able-but fortunate land responsible positions then make sure to surround themselves with lesser lights that can't outshine them. Completely the opposite what anyone willing to accept their own limitations does: surround yourself with the best and brightest so you can shine in their reflection. This crowd is the worst and we the people are suffering for it.

Lily who reads The Bulwark's avatar

How can this be, though? We got rid of all the DEI programs! Surely we are a meritocracy now?!

hrlngrv's avatar

They don’t have to be best or bright. They’re ‘Mr’kns. They have a Gawd-given right to ignorance and low egg prices.

rlritt's avatar

My congressman is great. He gets back to me within the a week with a list of what he's doing. The media won't cover the Democrats in congress because they are corporate owned and in the bag for Trump. They want you to believe the congress is useless so you will become apathetic.

Jerry S's avatar

My congressman is great. He takes questions from all comers in big auditoriums. He sends regular email updates about what he is doing and what things could be done to fight the corruption and grift that is the identity of this White House (in case you missed it). And my senators both work hard for ALL of their constituents. They gladly answer questions from the press, and the answers are published. They are Democrats. I am not a democrat. I presume you are a Republican. God bless.

rlritt's avatar

Why would I be reading the Bulwark if I was a Republican? I've always been a Democrat.

Jerry Norman's avatar

Labels matter less than being willing to have conversations and adjust to make a better way. Think a bunch of the Bulwark regulars are former Republicans who went through stages, at first anti-Trump Repubs, but, over the two years, calling themselves independent or libertarian or moderates, Dems in the mix the same way. Facts and wisdom matter.

rlritt's avatar

What did I say they makes you think Im a Republican?

jpg's avatar

My Congressman is Chip Roy 🤣

mollymoe222's avatar

Mike Rulli is mine. Fully in the tank for Trump. And my Senators are Bernie Moreno-ugh-and Jon Husted-ugh. Both in the tank for Trump. No wonder people are moving out of Ohio.

Barbara Clemmensen's avatar

I'm very sorry for you and your fellow constituents.

LauraC's avatar

Congress....Hello???? Anyone home???

rlritt's avatar

Have you contacted your congressman? I contact mine all the time. They will tell you exactly what they are doing. Its more than you think. But if you expecting the media to cover the Democrats in congress, don't hold your breath.

LauraC's avatar

I contact mine all the time as well, to tell him what a good job he is doing, but he's a Democrat. Kinda pissed at the 7 D's who voted for the ICE funding in the House and I'm not at all impressed with Klobucher or Smith. IMHO they should be front and center. Maybe I've missed them, but I've been looking.

DreadPikathulhu's avatar

MAGA Mike is too busy watching paint dry to pay attention to the news.

I contact my congressperson regularly and she does what she can, but until leadership allows a vote....

Justin Lee's avatar

Thank you for reporting this, Andrew, but this story makes me want to throw something at the computer screen. The question of whether this administration is evil or incompetent has now been settled. It's both!

Justin Lee's avatar

P.S. Is this article behind the paywall? If not, I want to send it to everyone I know.

Andrew Egger's avatar

No paywall. Go bananas.

MProvenza's avatar

It doesn't seem to be.

Marni W's avatar

You can share this link to Paul Schnell's televised press conference, too. There are more examples of DHS lies and failures! https://www.youtube.com/live/eFofkRmchII?si=IifQSmtMoI3GdZa-

Eleanor Thorne's avatar

So just what exactly was the point of the enormous DOGE data grab, if they can't even find a convicted sex offender anywhere in it? QED: They didn't look, because they understand that the real target of the DOGE data grab wasn't people like Moua. It's us.

rlritt's avatar

Interesting. I didn't think about that.

Don Gates's avatar

ICE: Incompetence Combined with Evil.

Colleen Kochivar-Baker's avatar

The evil blinds them to any need for competence. I never forget these guys think immigrants are subhuman and deserve whatever ICE does.

Alquitti's avatar

If they were competent we'd be in a lot more trouble.

Julie's avatar

Great work, Andrew, thanks. Somehow with all the horror of the murder, using children to coerce families in their forced deportation actions - this act of terrorism against an innocent and vulnerable elder shocked me. Who does these things and looks in their face in a mirror without shame. Looking forward to getting out in the sub-zero weather tomorrow in Minneapolis to stand together in rejecting cruelty, illegality and gross incompetence.

Beth's avatar
Jan 22Edited

“Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSE to cooperate with ICE law enforcement and will not let us into their jails"

I worked in a county jail and we had inmates with ICE detainers; it's not complicated and is accomplished by paperwork completed by someone in an ICE office; no one from ICE needs to walk into or be allowed into a jail in order to place a detainer. And if our inmate went to prison, the detainer went with them, so that the prison would know that ICE wanted them when their prison sentence was served.

Edited to add: And when the inmate is set for release, the jail/prison is required to notify ICE if a detainer is on file and release the person to them.

Gianni Coastal's avatar

My health insurance company checked my ID before I had a lab test yesterday to verify it matched the lab order in their hand. These shameless goons didn’t even bother to check Mr. Thao’s ID or maybe just ignored it because they didn’t want to look stupid in the moment and they knew they could do whatever they want in their miller crap diaper faced outfits with hidden badges. Everybody’s citizenship is cheapened by these thuggish actions including these thugs, they just don’t know it.

Dave Yell's avatar

Of course you won't hear any apology of wrongdoing to Mr. Thao. You will get silence. And maybe some sort of spin. But they take after their boss. Never admit wrong, never apologize, move on.

JMP's avatar

And who will pay for the repair of the door they destroyed? Who is paying for all the car windows ICE is breaking? Who is paying the repair bill when they ram and bash the cars of innocent people? How do they justify cutting the seat belt of a woman, then forcing whoever drives the car away to drive unsafely and unlawfully? ICE is causing all kinds of property damage and instead of acting responsibly, they just drive away, leaving cars in the streets and unaccounted for damage in their wake. This is preposterous. Innocent citizens should be suing ICE for damages and emotional distress. The individual who wreaked the havoc should also be held accountable, but they are masked and nameless - and they will never have to face any consequences. This is criminal.

Dave Yell's avatar

Because they know that whatever they do they are immune. Their boss says so. The other day a federal judge forbade ICE. from using pepper spray and gas.But Bongino is on video throw gas canisters.

Kentuckistan's avatar

The "Blackstone Rule," or Blackstone's Ratio, is a fundamental legal principle stating, "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer". Attributed to English jurist Sir William Blackstone, this rule emphasizes the extreme importance of protecting the innocent by setting a high bar for conviction (beyond a reasonable doubt) to minimize wrongful convictions, even if it means more guilty individuals go free, reflecting a cornerstone of Anglo-American justice systems.

I'm an Electrician not a Con Law expert but I know how to use the Google machine

Mark P's avatar

Unfortunately ICE"s Ratio is "It is better that ten innocent persons suffer than that one guilty person escape.

Chris Riess's avatar

This actually all happened in St Paul, right over the river from Minneapolis, as ICE spills over across the state. Thrusting the newly elected Mayor of St Paul into the spotlight. Up until now, she had been keeping a low profile as most of the activity centered in Minneapolis. As things escalate and spread, eventually, everyone will be forced to make a choice. An innocent American dragged out of his house in his underwear in the cold Minnesota night, the 5-year old boy grabbed on his way home from pre-school used as bait to get his father to give himself up. I would like to think that we would have already crossed a line for almost everyone, but apparently not, but we will get there eventually, because there is no where for this to go, but to get worse.

Al Brown's avatar

"General Warrants" were one of the things that sparked the Revolution. Happy 250th, America!

Bart Harley Jarvis's avatar

Nice reporting, Andrew. And no evidence of your Eagles Derangement Syndrome (EDS). Keep putting in the hard work!

Andrew Egger's avatar

Has anyone ever told you you have a massive underbite and a completely flat back of the head?

Bart Harley Jarvis's avatar

Well, I am the bad boy of the competition.

Thomas Witt's avatar

It's police-state bullshit. They're probably practicing for November's elections.

Jobi Linn Schaeffer's avatar

This is why they should be working with the local law enforcement instead of against them. What a disgrace. I admit that I didn't vote for this crap, but these people are just awful!

Mary Duncan's avatar

How are the republicans ignoring this?!?

Jerry S's avatar

It would make them look bad.

Kat's avatar

In fairness, a lot of Democrats are complicit too. We’ll see which way people vote when the DHS funding bill is put up. Every single yea vote should be the end of their career.

Mary Duncan's avatar

Amen! It’s grotesque. They are once again failing us

Kat's avatar

It’s unreal. There’s no excuse. We’ll see what happens in the Senate. Oy vey.