ICE, in reality , are highly paid brownshirt thugs, paid to kill and cause as much mayhem as possible in Blue States and Cities, so that Trump can somehow get elections in some key Blue States stopped, perhaps using the insurrection act.
And when I write "Trump" I am, of course writing "the Miller/Bannon/Trump" gang, American fascism on the march.

I suspect this all was supposed to be hidden away and done in the darkness..so no one would know how utterly corrupt the legal system is these days. Florida, the state that daily is losing coastline to human caused global warming but whose leaders keep on insisting that global warming is a hoax.

Weirdly, if a Texas resident, I could see me, an atheist, seriously considering voting for Talarico, as I think he would be a wonderful representative of "we, the people". I wish him well, and I hope for a great primary season leading up to the midterms.

Fascism and Trumpism are one and the same in our America, and to be a Republican Party member is to be a fascist...yes, moron. I remember Trump;s first Secretary of State saying that on further reflection..,.,Trump is a moron.

A man who would order the execution of criminal suspects, in Trump's case drug suspects in boats, would order the execution, or disabling, of opponents by any means necessary, even on American soil targeting Americans. Putting a clear fascist in charge of our constitutional democracy, twice, defines MAGA as dangerous to the world and to our republic itself.

I thought Nixon was as bad as the Republican Party could get...but he was a child compared to Trump's fascist impulses and actions. Trump won't be satisfied until his patron Putin is satisfied and that would mean America divided and in full Civil War.

Americans deserve and want a strong border...but brownshirts violently intimidating people in Blue areas of Blue states is an attack on the sovereignty of such states and their right to vote as they see fit.

I probably should worry more, but after all this time, I seem to be accustomed to the news being dominated by a cruel and incompetent man "running" things from the White House, much as Reagan "ran" things in his second term. Sure hope there is no major conflict, like war with China, since we are led by Hegseth and Trump...not our greatest military minds.
As a child of the sixties, I understand that America is in a constant conflict with its oligarch masters who want to strut out from the shadows and run things...as Musk did when Trump took over.

I have watched a lot of his YouTube videos, and find myself, an atheist, a fan. He uses his religion as a source of strength, not as a cudgel to force people to bend a knee. He knows firsthand what it is like to be poor and in dire straits...
Since the MAGA right is insisting on empowering the far right christian nationalists to say christianity is the national religion, he would be a good one to take them on.

Now, let us play for a moment with the future...imagine that the Supreme Court actually steps away from their role of being corrupt supporters of the fascist in chief, and rule that his tariffs are illegal taxes imposed by the Executive Branch which does not, Constitutionally, have those powers. As I understand it, 96% of the tariffs were paid for by Americans, and if they have to be paid back to the countries and businesses and individuals...going to be mass confusion.
Trump loves confusion, so I imagine he will try some move to declare Martial Law to give him the power to ignore the Constitution.
Are we really that far gone down the rabbit hole?

When the Soviet Empire fell, it was the billionaire oligarchs who reaped the profits, grabbed for everything that wasn't nailed down. Navalny, the Russian Patriot, in his autobiography "Patriot", said that as the Soviet Union fell, first they had senile leaders, then local gangsters took over power, until the great gangster Putin took it all over, to run a pretend democracy with pretend rule of law.

Two things I know for sure. The first is that Trump is, at his core, a true fascist and should not be applauded for strutting about.
The second is that MAGA/ICE are his brownshirts...and there will be more bodies. Chaotic blood filled violence will bring out the far right...it was what got Nixon reelected and got Trump back.

Greed and hate clearly feel like the world is theirs, that a few should dominate the many, and traditionally, those of us who oppose that domination are dealt with. One wonders how long Trump will truly wait to go after FDRs safety net of social security and Medicare and all the rest. If the Republican Party and its gang, MAGA, still run things after the midterms, I figure it will be then.

Sure does feel like, writing as one the same age as Trump, I am aging out of living in what was, truly, an inspirational land of hope for those who yearned to be free from the tyranny of dictators.
And what looks like to be a falling Empire.

One has a nagging persistent thought that for decades now, the refusal to attend to the needs of the people in regards to firearms, as in, protect Americans from all those with hate and despair in their hearts and AR-15s in their hands, is a deliberate lead up to another Civil War. I can understand MAGA no other way.

These days, I seem to respond to dark humor more than ever before...and pretending that machines can ever, at least in our lifetimes, run around the planet without human guidance, is just madness. In fifteen years or so, whose job won't be replaced by AI? Lawyers, doctors, teachers, truck drivers, prostitutes...

If I had it to do over again, I would have gone to college to study things I want to learn about, and not worry about the remuneration factor. Life is so damn short...

Musk is example number one of someone who simply cannot be trusted in any way, at any time. But then, I am one who thinks giving him billions to spend decades getting ten or twenty humans to live on Mars is absolute idiocy. We need the food, shelter, medical care, and all the rest, right here on our very own Earth, not on the paradise he is constructing for Mars. And by the way, his paradise isn't Mars, no, in his mind, the paradise is his being lord and master of all with all the money in creation in his greedy hands.

Freedom of speech, such a small price to pay for keeping our dear leader happy, though, of course, one cannot be sure that next is our right to assemble and petition our government for a redress of our grievances and then there is the freedom of religion thing...

It seems being a brownshirt pays really well, though one has to sacrifice one's honor and authenticity.
And for the record, of course ICE has an important role, has had an important role in the past, but today, it is all about Trump using them as his violent thug army to intimidate and terrify people in Blue States.

As out of touch Presidents go, Trump is at, or near the top of the list, maybe in a tie with George w...
But then, one does not expect one's dear leader to know everything, one expects one's dear leader to rule everyone with an iron hand, he makes us all belong to one family, and the brownshirts love it.

Good reporting, thanks for the info. First article I saw this morning, and it, I suspect, helps me understand the dark "devotion to duty" that ICE agents exhibit. Brownshirts, by the way, tend a short time at the top, and then they are disbanded in dishonor.

One wonders if Trump really would resign, and have his underling, elevated automatically to President, pardon him from any and all crimes past, present and future...and then hello Qatar.

I am not a nuance kind of thinker...after all this time I have come to the place that I see our government as being on the same path as the government under Putin, a path that imprisons and/or kills democratic thinking people. Trump is an enemy to our Constitutional Republic. It is all, or will shortly be, a gangster fascist enterprise. One doubts even one's social security will be protected from being a tool of repression and division.

What rights of privacy to we, as citizens, enjoy in relation to other citizens? Did some research and it seems most of the laws, certainly Constitutional protections are in regard to our protection from governmental intrusions.
One wonders just what a court is going to rule on all this.