Horizons

A question for Vance about morality

2026-04-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

Given Viktor Orban's loss in Hungary and the failed negotiations with Iran, it's clear that J.D. Vance had a bad week. But as an avowed Catholic, he's also having to justify his boss's attack on the Pope.

One of the things he said in that context stood out to me. During an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News, the vice president said that "it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality."

That struck me because conservative Christians have typically narrowed the definition of "morals" to rules about sexual behavior. I suspect that is how Vance was using the term in this context.

But I'd challenge him to answer whether the Bible's 10 commandments address "matters of morality." If so, I'd like to talk about two of them: (1) you shall not kill, and (2) you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (ie, you shall not lie).

In light of those, I'd ask the vice president whether his rhetoric/actions on immigration are "matters of morality." For example, is it moral to justify the murder of two American citizens by ICE officers? How about the 46 people who have died in ICE custody during this administration. Do their deaths raise a moral question?

Of course, Vance admitted that he lied about Haitian immigrants eating our cats and dogs. But pretty much every time he opens his mouth about immigration he lies - accusing immigrants of causing all of our problems with health care, housing, education, etc. According to the Bible, lying is a matter of morality.

In the end, the Pope is doing exactly as Vance has suggested. He regularly calls out those who behave immorally when it comes to the way they treat immigrants. Even as a non-Catholic, I understand that's his job.

Right wing influencers try to convince MAGA that the glass is half full

2026-04-09T14:46:00.001-05:00

Trump approval among 2024 voters from The Economist

While the entire MAGA movement is motivated by fear, I have always been fascinated that - when it comes to electoral politics - Republicans have consistently promoted a message that "the glass is half full." For example, even as it is clear that they'll lose the 2026 midterms, right wing commentators regularly celebrate the fact that voters in blue states are migrating to red states, demonstrating that they're desperate to promote good news to the troops.

Recently I've seen two examples of this:

"Democrats 'lost the plot.' Now they're losing voters" by Ingrid Jacques, and

"5.4 Million People Have Migrated To Pro-Trump Counties Since 2020 As The Great Divorce Continues" by the Editorial Board at Issues and Insights.

The conclusion from the folks at Issues and Insights is simply absurd.

We keep hearing how unpopular Trump and his policies are....While that might be what people tell pollsters, their own actions – picking up and moving to a new county or a different state – speak much louder.

Millions of Americans would rather live among Trump supporters than those voting for the likes of Kamala Harris.

The reasons people move from one state to another are complex. But I doubt that anyone ever said that it was primarily because "I don't want to live among people who voted for Kamala Harris."

It's also quite likely that these commentators are badly misinterpreting the data. Jacques points out that the "red states" people are moving to include Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. Georgia is already a "purple state," while North Carolina and Texas have been (albeit slowly) moving in that direction. To give your some idea of how MAGA is doing in those states right now, Trump's job approval among 2024 voters is -5 points in Texas, -9 in North Carolina, and a whopping -17 in Georgia.

The question I would have for these commentators is whether they've considered the possibility that perhaps the voters who are moving to those states are bringing their "blue values" with them.

Instead of analyzing data from states, the editors at Issues and Insights researched county data. Of the ten counties experiencing the largest influx, five of them are in Texas, and all of those are suburban counties in the metro areas of Dallas, Houston, or Austin. While cities have consistently been blue and rural areas red, over the last decade or so, suburban counties are increasingly moving from Republican to Democratic. It's at least worth wondering if that trend is being impacted by migrants from blue states.

I am reminded of a story a friend of mine told about her white parents moving from Minnesota to North Carolina for retirement. When her mother went in to get a driver's license, she registered to vote. The African American clerk asked whether she wanted to register as a Republican or Democrat. When the answer was the latter, the clerk put her hands together, looked up, and mouthed "thank you."

If you're a MAGA influencer watching people move from blue states to red states, you just might want to consider if the glass is half empty (and draining fast).

The lesson Trump is incapable of learning

2026-04-07T10:49:00.001-05:00

On Easter morning the current President of the United States posted this on social media:

Trump followed that up by telling a Fox News correspondent that he'll "take Iranian oil if they are unwilling to make an agreement." By Tuesday morning. the president was posting that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" if they don't agree to his demands.

Much of the discussion about this escalation has focused on how it demonstrates that Trump's mental health is decompensating. I agree. But he's doing so in a way that simply amplifies the mental health disorders that have been evident for decades.

Trump has always believed that the only way to exert power is via dominance over someone he perceives to be weak. In other words, the only tool in his toolbox is bullying. In that world, there's no such thing as negotiations. The only outcome is capitulation.

I was reminded of this when I listened to a discussion on NPR about why the Witkoff/Kushner negotiations with Iran failed prior to Trump's decision to start this war. Much has been made of the fact that Witkoff/Kushner went into those negotiations without any expertise in nuclear power and might not have even understood the offer put on the table by Iran.

But towards the end of the discussion someone mentioned that, going into the negotiations, the only outcome acceptable to the Trump administration was Iran's total capitulation. Given that wasn't going to happen, the talks were doomed from the start. War was inevitable.

Now - much like Trump and his enablers were baffled by the fact that the people of Minnesota refused to back down - they seem confused about why Iran isn't capitulating to their demands in light of the threats the president is unleashing. They actually think that sh*t works.

All of this reminds me of why the Obama administration was able to be successful in negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran. It was a highly complex effort, but here are a few high points:

1. They were able to get not only our allies, but Russia and China to join the U.S. in applying sanctions to Iran.

2. The sanctions worked. In 2013, Iran came to the table to negotiate.

3. Negotiations weren't conducted bilaterally between the U.S. and Iran. They also included China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K., and the European Union.

4. Obama knew the importance of understanding our history with Iran, telling Thomas Friedman that, "part of the psychology of Iran is rooted in past experiences, the sense that their country was undermined, that the United States or the West meddled in first their democracy and then in supporting the Shah and then in supporting Iraq and Saddam during that extremely brutal war. So part of what I’ve told my team is we have to distinguish between the ideologically driven, offensive Iran and the defensive Iran that feels vulnerable and sometimes may be reacting because they perceive that as the only way that they can avoid repeats of the past."

Those were all critical elements to the success of negotiations, demonstrating what President Obama pointed out during his 2009 speech in Cairo.

For we have learned from recent experience that when a financial system weakens in one country, prosperity is hurt everywhere. When a new flu infects one human being, all are at risk. When one nation pursues a nuclear weapon, the risk of nuclear attack rises for all nations. When violent extremists operate in one stretch of mountains, people are endangered across an ocean. When innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is a stain on our collective conscience. That is what it means to share this world in the 21st century. That is the responsibility we have to one another as human beings.

And this is a difficult responsibility to embrace. For human history has often been a record of nations and tribes -- and, yes, religions -- subjugating one another in pursuit of their own interests. Yet in this new age, such attitudes are self-defeating. Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners to it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; our progress must be shared.

Unfortunately, that is a lesson that Donald Trump is incapable of learning.

A question for Trump: Why are you celebrating the death of the man that supposedly exonerated you?

2026-03-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

Shortly after the news broke that Robert Mueller had died, President Trump went on his social media platform to post the following:

On Meet the Press, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked whether it was appropriate for a POTUS to celebrate the death of a Bronze Star recipient. He responded by saying, "Neither one of us can understand what's been done to the president and his family. We should have empathy for the president." The implication was, of course, that the president's celebration was excusable because the "innocent" person Mueller hurt was Donald Trump.

I recognize that it's a fool's errand to assume we can make sense out of the continual lies being told by this president, but let's take a look at what Trump said when the Mueller report was released.

Trump declared victory and said that Mueller had completely exonerated him. That's the consistent message we've heard from both he and his enablers. If that were true, you'd expect the president to be honoring the patriot who cleared him of all wrongdoing in the so-called "Russia hoax."

And yet, of all the grudges Trump holds against people who've crossed him, he appears to hold the biggest one against Robert Mueller - going so far as to publicly celebrate his death.

Let's remind ourselves of what we actually learned from the Mueller report:

Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump and damage Hillary Clinton.
Several members of Trump's campaign had meetings/ties with Russian agents - indicating collusion with Moscow's attempt to interfere in the election, but not enough to prove a conspiracy.
The Trump campaign engaged in ten documented incidents of obstruction of justice.

So which is it President Trump? Did Mueller totally exonerate you? Or did he provide evidence that you colluded with Russia and obstructed justice - which is why you are celebrating his death?

The abuse in women's sports that this MAGA anti-trans activist wants you to ignore

2026-03-12T14:53:00.002-05:00

I hope that by now you've heard Alysa Liu's story. After winning two world championships by the time she was 14 years old, she quit figure skating because she had come to hate it. When she returned to the sport two years later, she had figured out that it wasn't the sport she hated, but the way it had been used to control her life. So she laid down some new ground rules. They boiled down to "I'm in charge now." And it wasn't all about what happened on the ice. She said, "No one's going to starve me, or tell me what I can and can't eat."

While it's clear that Alysa doesn't want to wallow in the past, she was literally told that she couldn't drink water. As she said during an interview with Rolling Stone, "They were like, ‘Oh water weight, you shouldn’t drink water. You should gargle it.'" That's crazy!

Huge kudos to Alysa for breaking out of that kind of abuse. But it brings up the reality of what seems to happen a lot in women's sports.

Due to MAGA and their media outlets, you'd think that the most important topic in women's sports is the one about getting rid of trans women - who they claim pose a threat. The leader of that charge is a young woman named Riley Gaines, who tied for 5th place in an NCAA swim meet against a trans woman.

Riley started her campaign against trans athletes by suggesting that they shouldn't compete in women's sports. That's something we could have a discussion about. But it eventually moved into a claim that merely sharing a locker room with a trans woman amounted to sexual abuse. She even had the gall to compare her experience to the abuse suffered by Simone Biles at the hands of Larry Nassar.

Simone Biles when she had to endure a predatory man

Vs

Simone Biles when other girls have to endure predatory men pic.twitter.com/8p9D51seYr
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 7, 2025

In defending that tweet, Riley said this about her experience with a trans woman in the locker room, "What me and my teammates had to go through was certainly sexual abuse.”

What you might not know is that Riley's coach at the time was a man named Lars Jorgensen. He was initially suspended from coaching for "exceeding maximum practice hours for nearly three years, including not providing required weekly days off or required flex days off." But here's how Riley's teammates described a deeper issue.

Swimmers say Jorgensen mocked teammates’ weight and pressured them to lower their body fat percentage to extremes. “Lars is the biggest reason that an alarming number of the Women’s Swim Team suffers from Eating Disorders,” one former swimmer wrote to UK officials. “The damage from Lars’ words and remarks about female bodies last long beyond the four years of collegiate swimming.”

But it gets worse. Jorgensen is also facing civil suits by at least two former staff members who have accused him of rape. This was all happening while Riley Gaines was on Jorgensen's swim team. She obviously knew about his practice schedule and the way he treated her teammates. It's unclear whether, at the time, she knew about the sexual abuse. But she does now.

Rather than speaking out against coaches who starve female athletes or rape them, Riley is still suggesting that protecting women in sports is all about denying trans women the right to compete. A cynical person might question whether she's a tool being used to distract us from the real abuse that's going on.

The blind spot in David French's column about James Talarico

2026-03-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

David French is one of those conservative evangelicals that I admire. While standing firm in his conservative positions, he's been consistently critical of MAGA Christian nationalists. That's why, when he wrote about James Talarico - the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas - I was interested in hearing what he had to say.

After reading French's piece, I recommend it - even though I disagree with some of the things he said. I also see a giant hole in his reasoning. This is how he opens his argument:

Put simply, if the primary American divide is between right and left, then Talarico isn’t that interesting...

Yet if the primary American divide is between decent and indecent, then the equation changes. Talarico shines.

Or, to put it another way, Talarico is one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian...

Here's what French means when he says that Talarico "acts like a Christian."

For example, when Talarico won his Senate primary, he said, “I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I’m tired of being told to hate my neighbor. It’s been more than 10 years of this kind of politics. Politics as blood sport, politics as trolling and owning, politics as total war. It tears families apart. It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible all the time.”...

One reason politics has been so exhausting — and even so frightening — is that we often know that opposing politicians don’t just disagree with us, but that they hate us. And if a politician hates us, then we know they won’t listen to us, they won’t care about us, and they may well actively try to harm us when they’re in office.

This is what MAGA Christianity has become. In that world, cruelty in the name of Trumpism is no vice, and kindness in the name of progressivism is no virtue.

I agree. "Politics as blood sport" is not only exhausting, it is both dangerous and unproductive. But French isn't looking very hard if he thinks that Talarico is one of the few openly Christian politicians who acts like a Christian. One that comes to mind is Senator Raphael Warnock - an actual minister.

But when reading French's column about Talarico, my mind immediately went to former President Barack Obama - who openly talked about being a "born again Christian." There was a theme that almost always ran through Obama's speeches. Here is what that sounded like during his 2016 State of the Union speech when the top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination were Ted Cruz and Donald Trump:

The future we want - opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids - all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates...

A better politics doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything. This is a big country, with different regions and attitudes and interests. That’s one of our strengths, too. Our Founders distributed power between states and branches of government, and expected us to argue, just as they did, over the size and shape of government, over commerce and foreign relations, over the meaning of liberty and the imperatives of security.

But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn’t work if we think the people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice, or that our political opponents are unpatriotic. Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise; or when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who agree with us. Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.

Obama went on to express his optimism about the future. But it wasn't based on politicians. He found it elsewhere and said, "I see you."

Voices that help us see ourselves not first and foremost as black or white or Asian or Latino, not as gay or straight, immigrant or native born; not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans first, bound by a common creed. Voices Dr. King believed would have the final word - voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love.

They’re out there, those voices. They don’t get a lot of attention, nor do they seek it, but they are busy doing the work this country needs doing.

I see them everywhere I travel in this incredible country of ours. I see you. I know you’re there. You’re the reason why I have such incredible confidence in our future. Because I see your quiet, sturdy citizenship all the time.

I have to admit that, when I read those words today, I wept. The tears are about my grief at where I thought this country was going back then compared to where we are today. But then I had to remind myself that, when it comes to the people Obama was talking about - they're still at it.

But back to French's column. The giant hole I saw is that he completely ignores one of the main themes of Obama's presidency. Perhaps that's because the MAGA era has taught him to look a little more deeply at what it means to be a Christian. But given the fact that he loosely compares Talarico to Jimmy Carter, it's hard not to question whether race has something to do with it.

The truth is that French never bought into the fact that Obama is a Christian. Back in 2015, he wrote about those doubts. I have no way of knowing if French still agrees with that, but his portrayal of Talarico as somehow unique is telling.

The Republican Party spent eight years demonizing President Obama. Now a lot of the never-Trumpers from the GOP are beginning to sound a lot like the former president. When they can embrace that, we'll know that they've confronted their blind spots - regardless of whether they're the result of racism or ideology.

A mad and dangerous king

2026-03-07T11:15:00.002-06:00

A lot of the discussion lately about Trump's unfitness for office has focused on the obvious signs of dementia and the discoloration on his hands/neck. But as he becomes increasingly more volatile, it is important to remember that, before any of these symptoms showed up, he met the criteria of someone with disturbing mental health issues.

Due to the stigma associated with talking about mental health, a lot of people don't know how these illnesses are diagnosed. The standard format for doing so is to review whether their behavior meets certain criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). So, for example, a person is diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) if they exhibit at least five of the following:

Having a grandiose sense of self-importance, such as exaggerating achievements and talents, expecting to be recognized as superior even without commensurate achievements
Preoccupation with fantasies of success, power, beauty, and idealization
Belief in being "special" and that they can only be understood by or associated with other high-status people (or institutions)
Demanding excessive admiration
Sense of entitlement
Exploitation behaviors
Lack of empathy
Envy towards others or belief that others are envious of them
Arrogant, haughty behaviors and attitudes

After having observed Donald Trump on the national stage for over 10 years now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or psychiatrist) to conclude that the President of the United States exhibits all nine characteristics that are associated with NPD. When it comes to his increasingly volatile behavior, this explains a lot.

The president didn't bother to explain why he started a war with Iran, nor did he develop a plan for its implementation. That's pretty classic for someone exhibiting behaviors associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder (what we used to call sociopathy). In order to be diagnosed with that disorder, a person must exhibit at least three of the following:

Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.

One could argue that Trump's NPD keeps him from personally engaging in physical fights or showing a reckless disregard for his own safety. He merely has others do the violence for him. But otherwise, we have a president who regularly engages in criminal behaviors, lies compulsively, has been a con artist for his entire adult life, and never shows an ounce of remorse for the pain he has inflicted on others. But also notice that one of the behaviors associated with APD is impulsivity, or failure to plan ahead. For years it has been obvious that Trump shoots first and aims later. It is horrendous to see that one playing out now in his war with Iran.

In addition to dementia, two things are happening that escalate Trump's NPD and APD. The first, as Leah McElrath pointed out above, is that the president is facing his own mortality, which makes him more dangerous.

Josh Marshall did a great job of articulating the second contributor.

A couple months ago, I said that we were starting to see a pattern. As Trump grew less popular and less powerful at home, he would need to compensate to maintain his psychic equilibrium. He’d lean more and more into the presidency’s prerogative powers that are untrammeled and unrestrained regardless of what’s going on at home or how much support he has. He’ll be increasingly aggressive and violent in those realms of power and he’ll become more constrained and limited in others. In Trump’s world, there is dominating and there is being dominated. For him, the latter is a psychic death. So leaning hard into these prerogative powers where a president is, in effect, all powerful amounts to a kind of grand and bloody self-care...

To my mind, Trump is doing these things abroad precisely because he’s lost control of the situation at home.

I wish there was some magic wand we could wave to stop all of this. But unfortunately that moment passed on November 5, 2024 when too many people voted for this mad man. The important thing right now is to stop normalizing what's going on and name the fact that this president is a mad and dangerous king.

Who is MAGA?

2026-03-05T14:08:00.000-06:00

Cracks are beginning to form in the MAGA coalition. That initially became evident with the Trump administration's mishandling of the Epstein files. Slightly below surface is the ongoing battle over anti-semitism being fueled by people like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes.

No that Trump has started a war with Iran, those cracks are beginning to widen. Many of MAGA's most powerful influencers are breaking ranks with the president in ways that are unprecedented, given the cult-like devotions they've shown in the past. In typical fashion, Fuentes has been the most explosive.

Fuentes calls the decision to start a war with Iran his "breaking point" and that he's "off the Trump train." He goes on to say that he won't vote in the 2026 midterms and if Rubio or Vance are on the ticket in 2028, he'll vote Democrat. Frankly, I'll believe it when I see it. But them's fighting words, for sure.

Fuentes, however, isn't the only one. MAGA influencers breaking ranks with Trump include Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Matt Walsh, Candace Owens, Sohrab Ahmari, and even gun-for-hire Eric Prince. Those are just a few that I've noticed. Perhaps there are others.

At this point, right wing cable news channels like Fox and NewsNation have maintained their allegiance to the president. It's the podcasters and the anti-interventionist faction that aren't happy with their leader's latest move. As has been noted, that latter group includes VP Vance's allies - putting him in an awkward position.

Given that Carlson and Kelly reach the largest audiences, Rachel Bade reached out to the president to ask him for a response to their criticisms.

“I think that MAGA is Trump — MAGA’s not the other two,” Trump said, referring to Kelly and Carlson. “MAGA wants to see our country thrive and be safe. And MAGA loves what I’m doing — every aspect of it."

Of course, that is his narcissism talking. But is it true? Could Trump maintain his dominance over conservatives if MAGA influencers turned their backs on him and quit propping up his lies? I have my doubts.

No, Trump did not set a trap for Democrats with his false dilemma

2026-02-27T15:15:00.002-06:00

During his State of the Union speech, President Trump offered something logicians call a "false dilemma," defined as "an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available." Here's what he said:

Tonight, I’m inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.

Conservatives often use a false dilemma to make their point (ie, "America, love it or leave it" and "You're either with us or against us") because it reduces complex issues to simple either/or options and allows them to demonize those who disagree with them.

Because Democrats refused Trump's premise and remained seated, the White House and MAGA influencers claimed that the president set a trap and Democrats walked right into it. If dumbing down our politics is the goal, I suspect they have a point. But it is pretty easily refuted.

First of all, we need to ask a few questions about how the Trump administration is demonstrating that their first duty is to protect American citizens. What about Renee Good and Alex Pretti - American citizens that were murdered by ICE agents? How about the hundreds of American citizens who have been illegally detained by ICE? Just one example would be ChongLy "Scott" Thao.

ICE agents illegally broke into his house and dragged him outside in below zero temperatures in his underwear and slippers - only to release him hours later AFTER they reviewed his papers.

Back in October 2025, ProPublica documented that more than 170 U.S. citizens had been detained by ICE. That number is much higher after the Metro Surge operation in Minnesota.

So that's how the Trump administration demonstrates its duty to protect American citizens...murder them and/or lock them up.

Democrats want to ensure the safety of American citizens - especially when it comes to upholding the rights established by our Constitution. We also want a few things when it comes to the people Trump calls "illegal aliens?" I'd offer this list:

Stop lying about immigrants being garbage and criminals
Provide due process and judicial warrants to enter private property (this is actually a protection for everyone - including U.S. citizens)
Follow the law for those who are came here legally (ie, TPS, DACA, those with valid asylum claims, etc.)
Stop racial profiling (another protection for everyone - including U.S. citizens)
End arbitrary quotas for the number of people deported
Stop rendition to prisons in other countries
Stop lying about deporting the "worst of the worst" and actually make it a focus
Affirm the constitutionality of birthright citizenship
Allow a pathway to citizenship for those who have been contributing members of their community for years

As I've said before, Democrats have NEVER favored open borders via rhetoric or policy. We are in favor of protecting American citizens AND establishing a humane immigration system. There's nothing radical about that. The problem is that Trump and his MAGA enablers refuse to engage with us on these issues based on truth, the rule of law, and our Constitution.

Minnesota doesn't need lectures on accountability from the corrupt liars in the White House.

2026-02-26T12:53:00.001-06:00

During his State of the Union speech, President Trump said this:

When it comes to the corruption that is plundering — really, it's plundering America. There's been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer...

This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn't believe. So, tonight, although it started four months ago, I am officially announcing the war on fraud to be led by our great Vice President, J.D. Vance. We'll get it done.

And if we're able to find enough of that fraud, we will actually have a balanced budget overnight. It'll go very quickly. That's the kind of money you're talking about.

As he does so often, the president pulled that $19 billion number out of thin air. The U.S. Attorney who had been responsible for prosecuting fraud in Minnesota (before he recently resigned) estimated $9 billion in potential fraud. But that number is also suspect. The Minnesota Star Tribune did the legwork and documented $218 million from court records so far.

When it comes to balancing the budget via fraud, we'd all do well to remember that Elon Musk was going to cut federal spending by $2 trillion via the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse. His DOGE efforts actually increased the deficit by $286 billion.

But there's another problem with Trump's statement. The federal government spends about $600 billion on Medicaid per year (the program being targeted for fraud). The federal budget deficit is currently running at about $1.9 trillion per year. So even if the entire Medicaid program were eliminated, it wouldn't come close to balancing the budget.

The real kicker is that the president (who was convicted on 34 counts of fraud) has appointed Vice President Vance as the so-called "fraud tzar" - the same guy that admittedly lied about immigrants eating our pets.

It didn't take Vance long to get to work. On Wednesday, he announced that the Trump administration will pause $259 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota. The vice president said that these payments would be paused "until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that's being perpetrated against the American taxpayer."

It's really rich being lectured about obligations from an administration that is the most corrupt in this country's history with a president who has pardoned dozens of people who committed billions of dollars worth of fraud. But there you have it.

In light of that, it might be helpful to take a moment to document what Minnesota has actually done to combat fraud. Bullet points should suffice.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has conducted more than 3,000 investigations since 2020 and referred more than 500 cases to law enforcement.
94 defendants have faced criminal charges for fraud since 2021.
Tim O'Malley was appointed as head of program integrity across state government (ie, state "fraud tzar'). He is a judge, former superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and former FBI agent.
An outside firm was hired to audit payments to high-risk programs at the Department of Human Services and a specialized fraud-fighting law enforcement unit was created at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Payments to providers in 14 Medicaid programs were paused while systems were audited.
Housing Stabilization Services, which used Medicaid dollars to help people find and keep housing, was discontinued.
The day before the president's State of the Union speech, Tim O'Malley released a nine-pillar overhaul on how Minnesota prevents, detects and responds to fraud.
State Democratic leaders have proposed a dozen anti-fraud bills this session.
As I write, Gov. Walz is introducing his own anti-fraud legislative package.

If you got through all of that - congratulations. Gov. Walz put it best, I think.

Detecting fraud is resource intensive and time consuming — especially when it comes to the federal Medicaid programs that have a complex interplay between private insurance companies and federal, state and county governments. Is it impossible? No. We have made significant progress. We have much more to do.

The one thing that isn't going to help is to get lectures on accountability from the corrupt liars in the White House.

What happened to Ilia Malinin?

2026-02-14T11:54:00.004-06:00

I have always loved figure skating because it combines three of my favorite things: athleticism, music, and dance. So, of course, I've been keeping an eye on Ilia Malinin (aka, "The Quad God") recently. He has revolutionized the sport and taken it to a whole new level in a way that only a handful of athletes have ever done.

When Malinin stepped onto Olympic ice on Friday in Milan, Italy, he led the field by five points. Beyond that, skaters from Japan and France - who were in second and third place - had skated poorly. Based on the technical merits of Ilia's program, it wouldn't have mattered if they had skated perfectly. A clean skate by the American would have given him the gold medal with lots of room to spare.

If you've been paying attention to the Olympics, you know that's not what happened. Malinin's program was a disaster - so much so that he wound up in 8th place overall. Like the rest of the world, I was in shock.

Almost immediately, the recovering therapist in me began to try to construct what happened because it was obvious that the failure was a result of Ilia's mental game. In an interview immediately after his skate, he mentioned that perhaps he was overconfident and owned that he blew it.

That's when I thought about his performance two months ago at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Japan. Ilia hadn't skated well in the short program and found himself in third place - a position he hadn't been in for quite some time. Under those circumstances, here's how he responded in the free skate.

At the end of that program, Ilia almost looked like he was angry. He was fighting back and skating as if to prove something to himself and the audience. The result was a perfect skate that included a quadruple axel (something no other human has ever done in competition) and seven quad jumps (another feat no other human has ever accomplished). The announcers were absolutely speechless. Ilia's score for that skate was 238, a world record and 82 points higher than he earned Friday at the Olympics.

More than the pressure of the Olympics (which must have been epic for this young man), I'd suggest that the difference between his performance at the Grand Prix Final and the Olympics captures the biggest takeaway when we wonder WTH happened to Ilia. At the former, he had to go out and fight for it. When it came time for the Olympics, the gold medal was practically handed to him on a platter.

This is part of Ilia's personality that he he's talked about before. For example, after placing second in the U.S. Nationals competition, he wasn't invited to be part of the 2022 U.S. Olympic team. He's said that it was his anger at that decision that pushed him to stretch and expand what is possible in the sport. Fighting back is what made him the phenomenon he became.

On the one hand, this is an obstacle Ilia will have to figure out how to overcome. There's no going back on his talent and skills as the best figure skater in the world today. On the other hand, it will be fascinating to watch how this disastrous performance at the Olympics affects his skating going forward. I have a hunch that the next time he steps on the ice he will do so with a vengeance that could rock the figure skating world. It's likely to look something like this:

Struggling with the yin/yang of this moment

2026-02-08T11:59:00.001-06:00

Every morning as I peruse the news I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. I feel the rage/grief as I read headlines like "Immigrant whose skull was broken in 8 places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked." On the other hand, I feel hope/pride as I read ones like "Nearly 30,000 Minnesotans trained as constitutional observers."

I suspect that's precisely why these lines from the Charles Dickens book, "A Tale of Two Cities" are so often quoted.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way...

Dickens captured something important that flies in the face of much that we believe about the world. It is in moments of darkness that light shines its brightest.

All of that is why today, I'm thinking a lot about the ancient taoist idea of Yin/Yang.

Don't ask me what I mean by all of that because honestly, I don't know. It just seems like a truism we're living out on a daily basis right now. I suspect it's has something to do with embracing the fact that we're intensely experiencing both the dark/light and not getting caught up in denying either one.

Or maybe it's about something that showed up on my Facebook feed a few days before the winter solstice.

This is how I see humanity most days. Right when it feels like everything is tightening. When empathy gets quieter, patience runs thin, and it seems easier for people to choose outrage over understanding. When it feels like we’re losing more ground than we’re gaining.

But that’s the trick of the season. The darkest stretch convinces you this is how it will stay.

We’re three days from gaining daylight again. Not because anyone fixed everything overnight, but because cycles still exist. Because even after all our noise, the planet keeps reminding us that contraction is not the end of the story.

The light doesn’t rush back. It returns slowly. A minute here. A breath there. And somehow, that’s enough to change the direction of everything.

Maybe humanity is there too. Not healed. Not solved. Just quietly turning back toward something better, whether we notice it yet or not.

One thing I DO know is that this is still my favorite Bruce Springsteen performance.

Trump's organizing principle: racism

2026-02-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

During a discussion with Chris Hayes, Adam Serwer offered a great response to Donald Trump's racist social media post about the Obamas.

Adam Serwer: “Donald Trump is still psychically wounded by the election of Barack Obama.” @adamserwer.bsky.social

[image or embed]
— Barbara Kaskosz (@kaskosz.bsky.social) February 6, 2026 at 7:45 PM

Here's what Serwer said:

What people have to understand is that people like Donald Trump think that they are better that other people, not because of something that they've done, but because they are white. And so when they are confronted with an example of Black genius - for example, the first Black President of the United States - they have this violent emotional reaction, because they feel like their place in the hierarchy has been disturbed. And so they have to put Black people back in their place...What's very clear is that Donald Trump is still psychically wounded by the election of Barack Obama and his ongoing popularity.

Chris Hayes also noted that, for Trump, racism is "an organizing principle." He's right. And it doesn't just apply to the Obamas.

To demonstrate, let's go back a couple of months to late November when the New York Times published an article about welfare fraud in Minnesota. Then in December, right wing podcaster Nick Shirley released a video of lies about fraud in Minnesota daycare centers. For most of December, MAGA was on offense, having hit the trifecta of a way to undermine Democratic Governor Tim Walz, demonize immigrants, and trash the social safety net. Democrats were on their heels trying to figure out how to respond - leading Walz to drop out of the governor's race in Minnesota.

How did Trump respond to all of that? Did he send in teams of prosecutors to investigate and prosecute fraud? No. He called Somalis "garbage" and said he wanted to kick them all out of the country. Then on January 6th, DHS announced the launch of the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, sending 2,000 agents to Minnesota.

Last week Mark Mitchell, head pollster at the right wing firm Rasmussen, wrote something I agree with - but from the opposite perspective.

The discovery of rampant alleged fraud in Minnesota was a gift. It offered a rare opportunity to shift the national conversation away from Republican dysfunction and toward something Americans overwhelmingly agree on. Three-quarters of voters are angry about the level of waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government...

This was the moment for a full-scale, anti-blue-state fraud push. Follow the money. Subpoena everything. Make examples. Send every agency in, even the 80,000 armed IRS agents we should have fired. If fraud is that widespread, maybe austerity is not the answer. Maybe arrests are.

Instead, the focus shifted.

ICE was surged into Minneapolis. What could have been a systemic fraud investigation became a performative deportation spectacle. Predictable protests followed. Then escalation: more ICE presence, masks, tear gas, aggressive enforcement. Within days, the headlines were no longer about uncovering fraud. They were about clashes, optics, and ultimately the tragic shooting deaths of two protesters.

Donald Trump is so consumed with racism that he missed the opportunity to implement a "full-scale, anti-blue-state fraud push" and, instead, let his goons loose in Minnesota to terrorize people of color. The political backlash to the latter has been epic.

Meanwhile, when it comes to fraud, the administration's actions have resulted in a decimation of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota, leading to a level of incompetence that is staggering.

Trump's posting of the video of the Obamas demonstrates that, rather than learning from his mistakes, he is preparing to double-down on racism. I suspect that he is not capable of doing otherwise. His narcissistic ego is dependent on thinking he's better than other people because he's white.

The Big Lie of Trump's Second Term

2026-02-06T15:24:00.000-06:00

During an interview with Megyn Kelly on Wednesday, VP Vance said that the Biden administration let in "20 million illegal aliens." On the same day, President Trump told NBC News anchor Tom Llamas that "We allowed in our country, I say, 25 million people with an open-border policy for four years under Biden" It's something that we hear consistently from this administration. Way too many people believe that those claims are true, so let's do a bit of a fact check.

First of all, what about those numbers? It is true that, during the Biden administration, the country saw a record number of people attempting to cross the border. Factors that led to that crisis include the reality that the U.S. recovered from the COVID crisis much faster than other countries as well as the fact that there was economic and political upheaval in places that led to an increase in the number of people fleeing their home countries. Here's what that looked like:

The claim is that Biden had an open border policy, allowing all of those migrants to enter the U.S. But with that increase in "illegal crossings" came an increase in the number of deportations, returns, and expulsions.

In terms of percentages, Trump removed 47% of border crossers during his first term, while Biden removed 51%.

The other way to fact check the claim about Biden allowing 20-25 million people to enter the country illegally is to take a look at how many undocumented immigrants are actually in the country. The most respected organization on that front is Pew Research. They documented that the number did grow sharply from 2021-2023, but nothing near the numbers we're hearing from MAGA.

Rather than an increase of 20-25 million, we see an increase of about 3.5 million. It's important to note that the increase during the Biden administration came almost exclusively from immigrants with some form of protection from deportation.

There are other actions that Biden took that give lie to the claims that he had an open border policy (not all of them supported by immigrant rights groups).

The first bill he sent to Congress was the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 - a measure for immigration reform. It was rejected by Republicans.
He kept Title 42 in place until its expiration on May 11, 2023.
He sent 1,500 National Guard troops to the border and hired processing coordinators to free up Border Patrol agents to carry out expulsions.
He increased US removal flights by 55 percent.
In February 2024, he negotiated a bi-partisan border control bill that would have closed loopholes in the asylum process, limited the use of parole for migrants at the border and given the president new authority to effectively shut down the border to migrants when attempted crossings are high. Trump told Republicans to reject the bill and they complied.
In June 2024, he shut down asylum requests once the average number of daily encounters reached 2,500 between official ports of entry.

That last bullet is one of the main reasons why so many of these data points stopped being compiled after 2023. As Pew reported, migrant encounters fell sharply in 2024.

It is important to recount this history because the lies about the number of undocumented immigrants and claims about Biden's open border policy form the basis of MAGA's complete embrace of the white nationalist great replacement theory. As an example, this video was recently reposted by Trump on social media.

WATCH: The Democrat Open Borders Plan to Entrench Single-Party Rule | Explained in Under Two Minutes pic.twitter.com/uWJxBiKive
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) March 19, 2024

Those lies have become so entrenched that this morning on CNBC Joe Kernan brought them up with Democratic Senator Chris Coons.

As Republicans attempt to pass voter suppression efforts like the SAVE Act and Trump talks about the federal government taking over state elections, these are the lies they'll rely on to go beyond terrorizing local communities and start attempting to control elections. It is important that we all stay armed with the facts.

Stephen Miller and his pals want medicine to be racist again

2026-01-31T13:19:00.001-06:00

While Stephen Miller is busy directing a terror campaign across America in an attempt to implement his white supremacist vision for the country, the law firm he founded - America First Legal - is working to inject racism back into medicine .Yes, you read that right. Here's the backstory.

For decades, the test used to determine whether a patient is eligible for a kidney transplant (GFR) was modified for Black people to artificially elevate their kidney function scores by 16-21% based on flawed assumptions about higher muscle mass. One study estimated that without that race correction, 3.3 million more Black Americans would have been diagnosed with a higher stage of chronic kidney disease.

It wasn't until 2022 that UNOS, the organization that manages the kidney donor list, ordered hospitals to use only race-neutral test results in adding new patients to the kidney waiting list. But they took it a step further.

The transplant network gave hospitals a year to uncover which Black kidney candidates could have qualified for a new kidney sooner if not for the race-based test — and adjust their waiting time to make up for it...Between January 2023 and mid-March [2024], more than 14,300 Black kidney transplant candidates have had their wait times modified, by an average of two years.

It's that last part that has white supremacists lighting their hair on fire about DEI initiatives in the Biden administration.

Mr. Biden’s health czars discovered “systemic racism” everywhere they turned, and their remedy for this malady was to impose reparations. They granted preferential treatment to certain ethnic groups when they needed an operation to replace their kidneys...this meant paying less attention to the 40,000 white men and women who are just as desperate for the chance to stay alive.

“With thousands of Americans dying on transplant waitlists each year, the public has a right to full transparency into how this program was created, because discrimination has no place in medicine,” AFL attorney Megan Redshaw said in a statement.

Did you catch that? What they're suggesting is that any attempt to remedy discrimination is, in fact, discrimination. As I wrote previously, "They aren't just attempting to roll back civil rights protections. They're claiming that any move to enforce civil rights is discrimination" against white men. A simpler way of putting it would be to say "they're using the concept of civil rights to enforce white supremacy." Stephen Miller and his pals at AFL want medicine to be racist again.

Dr. Oz does his best imitation of Nick Shirley

2026-01-30T12:50:00.000-06:00

On December 25, 2025, right wing podcaster Nick Shirley released a video full of lies about fraud in Minnesota daycare centers. Trump responded by launching Operation Metro Surge - which has now turned into a nightmare for his administration.

The president and his MAGA allies desperately want to turn the national narrative back to allegations of fraud in Minnesota. As part of that effort, Dr. Oz, who is in charge of Medicare and Medicaid services, travelled to the state with his buddy, Jim O'Neill (HHS Deputy Secretary) and did their best to imitate Nick Shirley.

🚨 BREAKING: Dr. Oz and Jim O’Neill said they discovered a former linen factory in Minnesota that was converted into 400 Medicaid businesses, generating nearly half a billion dollars. 🤯

pic.twitter.com/as3BquX2i4
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 23, 2026

This effort would be humorous if it weren't so tragic. Almost everything Dr. Oz said is a lie. For example, the Griggs-Midway building was originally a food manufacturing plant when it was built in 1912 - not a linen factory. It was converted into an office building in 1955.

While it is true that there is an industrial area to the northwest of the building, it is surrounded by residential areas to the west and south.

I know about this building because it used to house one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the city. It has also been home to state and public offices including the Ramsey County Workforce Center, MN Department of Human Rights, MN State Arts Board, and Public Defenders. It's a hub for government, nonprofits, and small businesses.

One of Dr. Oz's statements is particularly problematic for Twin Cities residents. The Griggs-Midway building is in St. Paul - not Minneapolis. Those of us who have lived in the former find this kind of confusion particularly troublesome.

But let's get to the heart of the matter. Here's the big lie:

Roughly 400 Medicaid businesses were started in the building behind me over the last several years. They generated about $380 million of billing that you, the taxpayer, were putting up. That means roughly every business had a million dollars of billing...

The question is, how is it possible 400 businesses billing almost $400 million were able to thrive here? What did the owener of this building think was happeing inside? Why did no one in the state think this was a concern?

I have no idea where the allegation of 400 Medicaid businesses billing almost $400 million comes from. But here's what happened back in July 2025.

FBI agents on Wednesday raided five Twin Cities businesses and two homes as part of an investigation into Medicaid housing assistance fraud...

Twenty-two purported providers have business addresses at the Griggs-Midway Building on University Ave. in St. Paul. They collectively billed taxpayers $8 million over 17 months and used fake documentation to back their claims, the FBI alleges.

By September 2025, four of the five businesses targeted in the raid were charged in federal court. The fifth business was charged in December. While Dr. Oz wonders why no one is concerned, the truth is that state and federal officials have been on the case for months now. As all of that was unfolding, Gov. Walz completely shut down the housing assistance fund in October last year.

The good doctor ends his nonsense with this:

There has been a censoring of the truth, and an inability to own what is happening in this state that is concerning to me. They talk about being "nice" in Minnesota, I want to be nice too, but a good person doesn't always have to be nice. They have to be truthful and honest.

Excuse me while I get a little blunt here, but - much like his pal Nick Shirley - Dr. Oz wouldn't know the truth if it bit him in the *ss.

Why did the Trump administration target Minnesota?

2026-01-29T14:23:00.003-06:00

The question in my title is one a lot of people are asking, but not many in the media are addressing. As I've pondered it, I've come up with four reasons.

First of all, Donald Trump is a racist. He wants to rid the country of people from places he calls "shithole countries." Given that Minnesota is home to the largest number of Somali residents, the state became a target when Nick Shirley posted his video with lies about fraud in Somali-run daycare centers.

Secondly, the state's governor, Tim Walz, became an enemy when he ran for vice-president on a ticket with Kamala Harris.

Thirdly, Trump lost Minnesota in all three of his presidential campaigns. As a matter of fact, the state hasn't voted for a Republican in a presidential race since 1972.

I'm going to let Timothy Snider explain the fourth reason.

To give you some idea of what Snyder is talking about, Gov. Tim Walz posted this on Facebook last October:

Just this year, Minnesota has ranked:
A top 10 state for safety.
A top 5 state to live in.
A top 3 state for jobs.
A top 3 state to retire.
The 2nd best state to raise a family.
The 2nd best state for children.

A bet against Minnesota is a bad bet.

As an example, WalletHub recently rated Minnesota as the second best state to raise a family. Their ranking included measures like affordability, safety, strong job opportunities, and access to quality education, healthcare, and entertainment. Here's what they wrote about Minnesota:

Minnesota is a great place to find a job to support your family, as it has the second-highest median family income, at over $109,000, adjusted for the cost of living. It also has the second-lowest poverty rate for families and the eighth-lowest wealth gap between the lowest and highest earners. In addition to good pay, residents also receive reliable long-term benefits, as Minnesota ranks 13th in the country for employer-based retirement plan access and participation.

Another great thing about raising a family in the Land of 10,000 Lakes is what it can do for your children’s health. The state has the fifth-highest life expectancy at birth and the sixth-best public hospitals in the country. It also encourages children to stay fit amid the obesity epidemic, as it has the eighth-highest percentage of children who live in neighborhoods with a park or playground.

To top things off, families tend to stay together in Minnesota, as it has the fifth-lowest separation and divorce rate in the country.

Also worth noting is that Minnesota consistently rates at the top in terms of voter turnout.

The history that contributed to Minnesota being a state that works has been documented by many people. I've written about it a couple of times in the past myself. I would also point out that, while the rest of the country was still recovering from the COVID pandemic, state and federal officials were already investigating fraud in the Feed Our Future program. Similarly, state and federal officials began investigating fraud in daycare centers over a decade ago. Can you name a state that has done a better job of prosecuting fraud?

The occupation of Minnesota has been an attempt to destroy a state that works. But ironically, everything that contributes to that success has also contributed to the failure of Operation Metro Surge. Adam Serwer captured it best in an article titled, "Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong."

In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

As Gov. Walz said, "a bet against Minnesota is a bad bet."

The entire ICE operation in Minnesota is based on lies

2026-01-28T13:39:00.002-06:00

A few days before Alex Pretti was murdered, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem released a ridiculous statement.

We have arrested over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were killing Americans, hurting children and reigning terror in Minneapolis because Tim Walz and Jacob Frey refuse to protect their own people and instead protect criminals. In the last 6 weeks, our brave DHS law enforcement have arrested 3,000 criminal illegal aliens including vicious murderers, rapists, child pedophiles, and incredibly dangerous individuals. A huge victory for public safety.

The numbers can't be verified because DHS won't release all of the names of those that have been arrested. What they HAVE done is release the names of 240 individuals they call "the worst of the worst." As I noted previously, the Minnesota Star Tribune analyzed the list and found that those with actual felonies were either in federal prisons (managed by federal - not state - authorities) or were transferred to ICE when their prison sentences were completed.

But the lies coming from DHS about their operations in Minnesota have become so ubiquitous that the state Department of Corrections has developed a web page, "Combatting DHS Misinformation" to document them. Here's what they wrote about Noem's claims:

DHS’s “Worst of the Worst” (WOW) website...allows users to search by state and city for “criminal illegal aliens that have been removed from their state.”

DOC quickly identified 68 cases in which individuals were lawfully transferred from Minnesota Department of Corrections custody directly to ICE, only for DHS officials to falsely claim these same individuals were “arrested” by waves of federal agents deployed into Minnesota communities...

What is troubling is DHS taking credit for “arrests” which are, in reality, state-to-federal handoffs occurring at prison facilities after individuals complete their state terms of imprisonment, as has been the long-standing practice.

Again, DOC is compelled to release this information because DHS continues to rely on these misrepresentations to justify expanded federal operations in Minnesota.

As just one example, Bovino said that the operation that was underway when Alex Pretti was shot involved a criminal illegal alien with a violent rap sheet that included domestic assault involving intentional bodily harm.

MN DOC officials reviewed public records and found "no felony commitments associated with this individual." Here's what they DID find:

DOC records further indicate that an individual by this name was previously held in federal immigration custody in a local Minnesota jail in 2018, during President Trump’s first administration. Any decisions regarding release from federal custody at that time would have been made by federal authorities. DOC has no information explaining why this individual was released.

So Bovino and his thugs were out trying to track down someone the Trump administration had released from federal immigration custody in 2018. Furthermore, the individual in question is Ecuadorian - which might explain why ICE agents attempted to illegally enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

It is important for all of us to recognize that the Trump administration isn't just lying about the murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. They're lying about the entire operation in Minnesota. They make up numbers about how many people have been arrested and claim they're deporting the "worst of the worst" when what they're really doing is simply what has always been done: those in prison who are undocumented are being turned over to ICE to be deported once their prison sentences are complete.

Meanwhile the entire population of the state is being terrorized by agents randomly grabbing folks because of the color of their skin or the sound of their accent in the hopes of finding someone who is undocumented to fill the quota set by Stephen Miller.

Why MAGA will never understand Minnesota

2026-01-25T12:25:00.002-06:00

On Memorial Day 2017, Donald Trump and his then-chief of staff John Kelly went to Arlington Cemetery. After visiting the grave of Kelly's son Robert, who was killed in Afghanistan, Trump said, "I don't get it. What was in it for them?" More than anything else he's ever said, that gives us a window into the perverted soul of the man who is currently the president.

Donald Trump and his MAGA administration literally don't have a clue about what it means to sacrifice for your neighbors or your country. That's precisely why they'll never understand Alex Pretti, Renee Good, or anyone else who is standing up against the tyranny we're witnessing.

I am reminded of something Sun Tzu, wrote in The Art of War.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

For years now it's been clear that the only play Donald Trump and Stephen Miller know is dominance. They spread fear and assume we'll cower in response to force. That isn't how things are playing out in Minnesota. The more they terrorize, the more the resistance grows.

One of the hallmarks of sociopaths like Trump and Miller is the inability to experience empathy - which is defined as the ability to perceive another person's perspective. Meanwhile, MAGA is being told that empathy is toxic, a sin, the feminization of our culture (as if that's a bad thing), and the fundamental weakness of Western civilization. That makes it impossible for them to incorporate Sun Tzu's advice about "knowing your enemy."

What MAGA substitutes for empathy is projection - the mental process in which an individual attributes their own internal thoughts, beliefs, emotions, experiences, and personality traits to another person or group. So Renee Good and Alex Pretti become "domestic terrorists" and protesters become "paid agitators" while MAGA continues with its fantasy that increased fear and terror will result in compliance.

That's the cycle we're in now. It's the same one that we witnessed between Sheriff Bull Connor and civil rights protesters. The former assumed that fire hoses, dogs, and jails would subdue those fighting for their rights. It didn't work. Instead, too many white people got disgusted with the tactics of terror and supported the end of Jim Crow.

I'm still wrestling with questions about why so much of this is playing out in my home state of Minnesota. Perhaps I'll write about that soon. But I DO know something about why it's not going as Stephen Miller planned. Here's something that showed up on my Facebook page about a week after Renee Good was murdered (emphasis mine):

Winter teaches you quickly that survival is collective. You pay attention. You intervene. You do not leave people stranded. Ever.

In Minnesota, ice is something you learn to negotiate together. You slow down. You help. You know how easily things can go wrong if you don’t.

That’s why this other ICE feels like such a violation of who we are.

In Minnesota, we don’t solve danger by making it worse. We don’t respond to fear by escalating it. We show up. We de-escalate. We get each other home.

So yes, we will keep saying Renee Good’s name. We will help our immigrant neighbors. We will bear witness.

Because this is how we survive here.

People who lack empathy will NEVER understand that. They'll never understand that Renee Good and Alex Pretti (along with the 50,000 who marched on Friday) simply wanted their neighbors to be treated humanely. Instead, Trump would wonder "what's in it for them?"

Fact checking Trump's "worst of the worst"

2026-01-21T12:36:00.003-06:00

At a press conference on Tuesday, President Trump held up pictures of some of the "worst of the worst" criminals that ICE has arrested in Minnesota. They come from a list publicized by the Department of Homeland Security.

Thanks to the Minnesota Star Tribune, we now have data on what those numbers represent for Operation Metro Surge in this state. Federal officials say they’ve arrested 3,000 immigrants in Minnesota.

They've only released the names of 240 (7%) of those arrested and described as the "worst of the worst." Of those:

70 have felony convictions for violent crimes. For example, one man, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2005 and has been in prison, was released and deported in October - before Metro Surge started.
70 have been in Minnesota serving time in federal prison. Federal policies require immigrants who commit crimes to serve their sentences before being deported. ICE is aware they are in custody and can deport them upon release.
48 violated immigration law by re-entering the U.S. after deportation.
12 had petty misdemeanor offenses like traffic tickets.
12 had no state record of past convictions or prison sentences.
Others had criminal histories that are decades old and have completed their sentences.

In other words, after all of the terror being inflicted on this state, the best that can be said about deporting criminals is that ICE has arrested about 50 immigrants who either re-entered the U.S. after deportation or have committed petty misdemeanor offenses. The remainder of the "worst of the worst" would have either been deported regardless of the surge, or there is no history of criminal activity.

Trump used the accusations of fraud in Minnesota to implement the surge targeted at Somalis. The problem the administration faced with that goal is that only about 5,000 Somalis in this state (with a population of 5.8 million) are not citizens. That figure includes people here through other legal means, such as permanent residents and green card holders.

Overall the number of undocumented immigrants in Minnesota is very small.

Finding that less than 1% is pretty close to the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack. When so few of that 1% are violent criminals (most of whom the state or federal government has already prosecuted), snatching brown/black people off the street or at gas stations is obviously not an effective strategy.

None of that has stopped this administration from terrorizing the entire state. So I'll take a hard pass on all of this having anything to do with either immigration or crime.

ICE is terrorizing an "All American City"

2026-01-17T15:01:00.001-06:00

It's important to understand that ICE hasn't just invaded the Twin Cities metro area. They're also in places like the town of Willmar, MN, which is about 100 miles west of Minneapolis. For example:

Federal agents detained three workers from a family-owned Mexican restaurant in Willmar, Minn., on Jan. 15, hours after four agents ate lunch there...

An eyewitness who declined to give a name for fear of retribution, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that four ICE agents sat in a booth for a meal at El Tapatio restaurant a little before 3 p.m. Staff at the restaurant were frightened, said the eyewitness, who shared pictures from the restaurant as well as video of the arrest.

The arrest happened around 8:30 p.m. near a Lutheran church and Willmar Middle School as agents followed the workers after they closed up for the night.

Here's a personal account of another abduction from Facebook:

My husband was kidnapped tonight by ICE.

He is a born and raised Willmar, Minnesotan. Officers rushed his car. He gave his ID and complied. Without running his license, he was slammed against the car, hand cuffed, and thrown in a vehicle and was taken. They must have finally ran his ID 1/4 mile down the road, because they pulled in a parking lot, uncuffed him, threw him out of the car and threw his ID at him and took off. He then had to walk back to his car to drive back to work.

This is wrong. This is terrifying. This is completely unjust. I am full of rage and terror. This must stop. ICE does not care what you look like. They are taking everyone and asking questions after kidnapping.

Immigrants have been a vital part of Willmar for decades. Latinos first came as agricultural workers in the 1920s and settled in the town to work at the turkey-processing company, Jennie-O. In the 1990s, Somalis joined other immigrant groups working in the same plant. Here's an interesting perspective on that from Willmar's former mayor, Les Heitke.

Coincidentally, the founder of Jennie-O—Earl B. Olson—had an immigrant background himself, being the son of Swedish émigrés. Thus, as Heitke points out, the current influx of Somali and Latino immigrants into Willmar is by no means an unprecedented trend. Rather, it can be understood as a continuation of the city's long history of immigration. According to Heitke, the area started out as a service center for passing trains and was settled by immigrants working on the railroad. As time passed, businesses sprang up and the community grew...Somalis are only the most recent addition.

In 2005, Willmar received the "All-America City" designation from the National Civic League for outstanding civic accomplishments. Then, in 2006, this happened:

From that video, here's a still shot of the moment I teared up.

In 2019, NYT columnist Thomas Friedman visited Willmar and invited Donald Trump to do the same, stating that diversity was the lifeblood of the town.

America is actually a checkerboard of towns and cities — some rising from the bottom up and others collapsing from the top down, ravaged by opioids, high unemployment among less-educated white males and a soaring suicide rate. I’ve been trying to understand why some communities rise and others fall — and so many of the answers can be found in Willmar.

Eight years later, when Trump referred to Minnesota Somalis as "garbage," a woman from Willmar invited friends to join her for lunch at a local Somali restaurant as a way of showing support for their neighbors. Here's what happened:

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This is an example of just one community being terrorized by ICE in Minnesota.

Why MAGA does't understand us

2026-01-15T13:52:00.000-06:00

Here's what Renee Good's wife, Becca Good, wrote about her:

[I]f you ever encountered my wife, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, you know that above all else, she was kind. In fact, kindness radiated out of her.

Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine.

Here's what Renee's family had to say about her:

It would be understandable to assume they were exaggerating...until you saw the video of Renee saying "That's fine, dude. I'm not mad at you" to the officer who murdered her seconds later. Calmness and kindness did, indeed, radiate from her.

That didn't stop Trump from describing her as "very radical,” “very violent,” and “highly disrespectful” toward law enforcement. For MAGA, Renee is representative of everything they believe to be true of those who protest: we're paid operatives, domestic terrorists, and radical leftists who hate America.

Regardless of whether they're intentionally lying or really believe all of that, it is a gross misunderstanding of what is happening. Without empathy, all these MAGA folks have is projections, leaving them clueless about us. That's especially true when it comes to Minnesotans.

For example, today I saw a gorgeous post on Facebook. Here's a bit of it:

I grew up in Texas. But I’ve lived in Minnesota for more than twenty years, long enough to know what it asks of people and what it quietly gives back.

I don’t love the cold. I especially hate the ice. But I love what the cold has made necessary.

She went on to describe her own personal experiences of getting stuck in the snow/ice and the strangers who came to her aid. Then she wrote this (emphasis mine):

Winter teaches you quickly that survival is collective. You pay attention. You intervene. You do not leave people stranded. Ever.

In Minnesota, ice is something you learn to negotiate together. You slow down. You help. You know how easily things can go wrong if you don’t.

That’s why this other ICE feels like such a violation of who we are.

In Minnesota, we don’t solve danger by making it worse. We don’t respond to fear by escalating it. We show up. We de-escalate. We get each other home.

I was reminded of something that happened about a month ago in a residential area of the Twin Cities when a bus got stuck in the snow. A man who was walking his dog saw what was happening and went home to get his truck and shovel. As he began shoveling, the entire neighborhood showed up to help.

So is it any wonder that, when our friends/neighbors are under attack from ICE we offer any kind of support we can?

Of course we're angry - even rageful. But here's what Rebecca Solnit wrote about that a few months ago:

[B]ehind that rage is care...you are angry the children are being bombed or the forest is being cleared because you care about them, so it’s not the feelings about the forces of destruction that is primary. It’s the love, and not losing sight of that is crucial.

Stephen Miller, who is obviously the mastermind behind the fascist invasion of my home state, recently told Jake Tapper that "we live in a world, in the real world, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power." That is why he and his MAGA followers will never understand what is happening in Minnesota. We know that survival is collective...and we're intent on sticking together.

How Trump is radicalizing Minnesota (and America)

2026-01-10T13:51:00.000-06:00

Two years ago, Rep. Angie Craig was one of fourteen Democrats who joined Republicans in voting for a non-binding resolution "Denouncing the Biden administration’s open-borders policies, condemning the national security and public safety crisis along the southwest border, and urging President Biden to end his administration’s open-borders policies."

Craig had won re-election in 2022 with only 50.9% of the vote in one of the only swing districts left in Minnesota. So, leading up to the 2024 election, she seems to have felt the need appeal to the anti-immigrant vibe sweeping the nation.

Fast forward two years and we are in the midst of an invasion of Minnesota by the Trump administration based on the notion that there is a need to sweep up immigrants, deny them due process, and deport them. It has resulted in the murder of a 37 year-old mother.

I was struck by how much Craig has changed her tune. Here she is with Ali Velschi after being denied access to an ICE detention facility. You can tell that she's really pissed - especially with her reference to "ICE Barbie."

I was reminded that this was one of my favorite signs from the No Kings demonstration.

In that sense, Craig - a natural centrist - has been radicalized by the actions of this administration. I suspect that's true of a lot of Minnesotans (and perhaps Americans in general).

Donald Trump is too ignorant to understand that the harder he comes at us, the harder we fight back!

Why MAGA lies work

2026-01-06T11:40:00.004-06:00

I said my "thank you" to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and support him in making the decision to not seek reelection - especially given that his daughter Hope has affirmed that his family's safety was a factor in that decision.

But from a purely political standpoint, I disagree with Ed Kilgore, who wrote that it was a wise move by Walz.

[A] burgeoning scandal involving fraud in pandemic-era child care and Medicaid initiatives in Minnesota had become a huge national GOP talking point, reinforcing MAGA narratives of criminal immigrants entering the U.S. to rip off taxpayers and prey on law-abiding citizens. It guaranteed a 2026 gubernatorial campaign fought on exactly the wrong grounds for Walz and his party, offering a big blue-state upset opportunity for Republicans.

Kilgore is right that this story became a huge national talking point. As I wrote previously, it gave MAGA an opportunity to attack Walz, demonize immigrants, and go after this country's social safety net. The Democratic Party should never back down from those fights.

A former associate of mine, Nekima Levy Armstrong, articulated the issue very well.

Watching Democrats repeatedly step aside under political and media pressure has become deeply dispiriting. Not because controversy doesn’t matter, but because the party continues to treat it as fatal rather than something to confront and survive. In a political climate where attacks are constant and often deliberately manufactured, this reflex doesn’t signal integrity. It signals vulnerability...

When Democrats respond to bad-faith attacks by retreating, they don’t just lose candidates. They legitimize the tactic. They teach voters that propaganda works, that cruelty carries no cost, and that marginalized communities can be used as political weapons without consequence. Whatever the intentions, the cumulative effect is strategic capitulation.

In case you doubt what she's saying, just take a look at that screenshot of Nick Shirley's latest video up above. The lying racists are claiming victory. And if you think that's the end of it, take a look at how the right is ramping up the same claims in Maine against Gov. Janet Mills. Or the fact that MAGA influencer Benny Johnson just announced that "Next week our team is traveling to the fraud capital of the world: California. The fraud uncovered in Minnesota was very bad and led to the destruction of Tim Walz’ career. But Gavin Newsom’s California is far worse."

This isn't about blaming Walz for his decision. But where were Democrats and major media outlets in calling out the racism/lies. All some intrepid journalist would have to do is actually watch the video represented by that screenshot up above and they'd hear a constant stream of hateful Islamophobia and outright lies. And yet most media outlets stood by and let these assholes take down one of the most accomplished governors in the country - while liberal pundits claim that retreating from our core values was a wise move.

I felt the same frustration when President Biden stepped aside. I'll now re-write what I said previously:

The truth is that Tim Walz's governorship was a tremendous success. There is a reason why that poses a big threat to Trump and Republicans.

Republicans want Democrats on their heels apologizing for Tim Walz because, as the Trump administration focuses on undoing everything Democrats have accomplished, they want to ensure that no governor in the future tries to replicate it.

I, for one, will not capitulate to that nonsense and I'll call out any Democrat who does. What Tim Walz accomplished in office was a huge step forward for this state. I'm not only grateful to him personally, I proudly embrace his vision of making the government work for ordinary Americans.

Democrats should NOT adopt the same smear campaigns as Republicans. But what we CAN do is stand up and fight for each other when one of our own is under attack. That's what teamwork is all about. I really don't understand why Democrats (not just elected officials and party leaders, but pundits and voters too) are so bad at that.

Thank you Gov. Walz

2026-01-05T11:33:00.001-06:00

I am both angry and sad to learn that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will not run for re-election.

The anger I feel is because the firehose of lies about Walz and my home state seem to have worked. I don't fault Walz for getting out - he and his family have been dealing with this sh*t for years now. They deserve a break. I blame every MAGA who jumped on the bandwagon - regardless of whether they were motivated by Walz himself, their hatred of immigrants, their desire to dismantle our social safety net, or all three.

But there is a sadness about all of this as well. That's because, over the years, I've come to respect Tim Walz and his family. The Minnesota Indivisible Alliance captured a lot of the reasons why.

Tim Walz didn’t enter politics chasing power. He came in because the kids he taught forced him to think that he— a teacher, a Guardsman, a coach —owed the country something. He won a deep-red congressional district by showing up and listening.

When he ran for governor, he ran on steadiness, competence, and “One Minnesota” on the promise that there was no we/them but one us. ..

In 2022, reelection and a Democratic trifecta allowed him to get stuff done. Allied with Melissa Hortman and Kari Dzic they got: abortion rights codified into law, expanded paid family and medical leave, universal free school meals, and gun safety measures. Hard, quiet work that improved lives.

Then Kamala Harris picked Walz to be her running mate in 2024, bringing us moments like this:

That election will go down in history as one of the biggest mistakes this country has ever made. I didn't know that this happened after that loss:

After the [VP] run, Tim Walz had been thinking about stepping away. In private conversations with Melissa Hortman, he confided he was considering not running again in 2026 and urged her to consider doing so. After her sudden death, he carried on.

That makes this moment at a vigil for Hortman even more poignant.

I join MN Indivisible in this:

So we close this chapter of his life by saying, while the country may remember the politician, we’ll remember the neighbors..

The guy walking his dog in the neighborhood.
The wife shopping in local stores.
The daughter working at a homeless shelter.
The son playing volleyball with joy.

The man cheering on marathoners, reading to kids, stopping for a Juicy Lucy — moments that remind us behind every public image are real people living real lives.

So this is a thank you.
For serving our country
For carrying a job that changed underneath him and not walking away.

From me, this one goes out to the Walz family today: