QOTD -- Truth And Reconciliation

 

"... We’ve learned from the unsuccessful attempts to hold Trump responsible for January 6 and from the unwillingness of the federal government to prosecute ICE agents that our existing judicial branch simply is not cut out to deal with that level of lawlessness. We need something dedicated explicitly, and only, to these efforts.

"Truth and reconciliation also requires a commitment to institutional reforms and reparations. Whoever is in power on the other side of the Trump era can’t go back to business as usual, can’t leave something like ICE fully intact and hope that moderate reforms do the trick and get rid of the bad apples. The whole structure is rotten to the core.

"Reparations will be necessary as well. Immigrant communities have been shattered. People have been deported, in violation of court orders, to countries they never lived in and have no connection to. The economic impact on Minneapolis, the epicenter of Metro Surge, ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Communities can’t simply pick themselves up by their bootstraps and move on. Money has to be redistributed from the bribe-fueled, corrupt government that Trump built, and given back to its victims..." -- Lisa Needham, in the "Public Notice" Substack, on "Justice for ICE’s victims requires truth and reconciliation."  ICE's deportation depredations have continued at warp speed with a lower profile but with just as much un-American thuggery as when they descended on major cities, Minneapolis being the epicenter early this year with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.  We're long past the "reform" stage and are in the "uproot the rotten organization and hold the guilty accountable" stage.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Troy Jackson has effectively secured the Democratic nomination in the crucial Maine Senate race, winning the support of a majority of the state delegates who will officially nominate a candidate next weekend.

While they are not legally bound to support him, nearly two-thirds of the 601 delegates have committed to voting for Jackson at that statewide convention. Jackson dominated the county-level meetings this weekend that selected those delegates, with two rivals falling far behind — and one of them, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, dropping out of the race partway through the process Sunday.

The party’s statewide convention in Bangor, Maine, next weekend will cap a tumultuous scramble to replace Graham Platner, who won the primary but dropped out this month after POLITICO reported that a woman he previously dated said he forced her to have sex with him. Platner denied the allegations.

A progressive 5th generation logger from the far-northern corner of Allagash, Maine, Jackson has had a long career in organizing progressive activists and ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had endorsed him in his gubernatorial race earlier this year.

The candidate will have less than four months to spin up a major battleground Senate campaign against GOP Sen. Susan Collins, the only Senate Republican running for reelection in a state carried by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

 Jackson turned his attention to the general election at a Sunday morning rally ahead of the delegate meeting in York County, where he secured the support of enough delegates to cross the 50 percent threshold.

“Whether you supported me from the beginning, or are still deciding, or support another candidate, there is a place for you in this movement,” he told a few dozen supporters in a school parking lot in Sanford, Maine, echoing what has been a familiar line in his speeches since entering the Senate race. “Because we’re not going to defeat Susan Collins by making this movement smaller. There’s no way that that’s ever going to work.”

Bellows dropped out of the race just minutes before voting began on Sunday and encouraged Democrats to coalesce behind Jackson...

The process need not be dragged out any longer.  It's time to get on with the business of defeating the useless Susan Collins and edge closer to flipping the Senate.  No time to waste. (UPDATE:  They wasted no time:  Jackson's the one.)

The bad:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents recently have been told that the FBI will no longer investigate claims of assault against the federal officers, according to a report by The New York Times.

On Thursday, FBI managers received written notice of the change, sources told the Times, and some ICE agents throughout the country were informed by their FBI counterparts.

In incidents where ICE agents have been involved in fatal shootings, the FBI under the Trump administration has been tasked with determining whether the agents were assaulted before opening fire. But evidence revealed during those investigations could later be used in civil rights investigations or prosecutions against ICE agents.

The new guidance would likely mean Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of ICE, would investigate such assault claims by their own agents, according to the Times. Allowing DHS to handle those investigations could lead to less accountability for immigration agents, sources told the NYT.

Since DHS does not have the jurisdiction to investigate civil rights violations, the policy change could lessen the likelihood that ICE agents who shoot unarmed people would be investigated for breaking federal law...

This amounts to legal immunity for brutalizing and killer ICE thugs. Not that lawless, Korrupt Ka$h Patel would have it any other way.

The ugly: 

Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, whose social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities, were arrested Saturday in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges.

The brothers were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant, agency spokesperson Brady McCarron told The Associated Press, placing the United States at the center of an international legal saga that has stretched from Romania to Britain.

British prosecutors announced Saturday that they were seeking the brothers’ extradition on charges alleging they raped and trafficked women between 2010 and 2017.

The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the Romanian case hasn’t gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.

Last year, they were allowed to leave Romania and flew to Florida on a private jet.

The brothers are expected to appear in Miami’s federal court early next week, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations.

The pending charges in the United Kingdom accused the brothers of abusing women in an area north of London, where they grew up. Their lawyers had said they denied the allegations.

Joseph McBride, an attorney representing the Tate brothers, said in a phone interview Saturday evening that he has not been able to speak with his clients but called the new charges out of the U.K. “filth and slander” intended to derail defamation lawsuits filed by the brothers in the U.S.

“They’re pulling out all the stops to make sure these guys never get their day in court,” McBride said.

“We are confident that once a competent judge sees the facts, and once the Department of Justice confronts this egregious abuse of its own authority, Andrew and Tristan Tate will walk free. America does not do Britain’s political dirty work.”

Andrew Tate, 39, first reached a mainstream audience as a contestant on the U.K. reality television show “Big Brother” in 2016. He was removed from the show when a video surfaced that appeared to show Tate assaulting a woman. He and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Of course, these sleazebags are vocal supporters of the adjudicated rapist sexual abuser MF.  Of course, their mouthpiece thinks the fix will be in for them because of that.  Let's see how corrupt the MF's "Justice" Department is in how they handle this.

Straight Up: No ICE!

  

A federal judge in Chicago is attempting to rein in Trump's personal goon squad and its local gauleiter.  From AP:

A judge on Tuesday ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to meet her each evening to discuss the government’s immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, an extraordinary step following weeks of street confrontations, tear gas volleys and complaints of excessive force.

“Yes, ma’am,” responded Greg Bovino, who has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps in America’s big cities.

Bovino got an earful from U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis as soon as he settled into the witness chair in his green uniform.

Ellis quickly expressed concerns about video and other images from an illegal immigration drive that has produced more than 1,800 arrests since September. The hearing is the latest in a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who say agents have used too much force, including tear gas, during demonstrations.

“My role is not to tell you that you can or cannot enforce validly passed laws by Congress. … My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws, the agents are acting in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution,” the judge said...

The latest example of ICE thugs gone wild:

Ellis zeroed in on reports that Border Patrol agents disrupted a children’s Halloween parade with tear gas on the city’s Northwest Side over the weekend. Neighbors had gathered in the street as someone was arrested.

“Those kids were tear-gassed on their way to celebrate Halloween in their local school parking lot,” Ellis said. “And I can only imagine how terrified they were. These kids, you can imagine, their sense of safety was shattered on Saturday. And it’s going to take a long time for that to come back, if ever.”...

One more example for good measure: 

A federal agent blatantly violated a court order against using excessive force against journalists and protesters last Thursday by pointing a gun in a veteran’s face, saying “Bang, bang” and “You’re dead, liberal.”

The Chicago Headline Club, a nonprofit representing journalists in the Chicago area, filed a complaint in federal court after the incident, which took place in the city’s Little Village neighborhood. Local residents had gathered to observe and protest a large presence of federal agents in the area, and Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino did not respond well or care to take the earlier court order into consideration.

According to the complaint, combat veteran Chris Gentry was “lawfully standing on the side of the road voicing his opposition as agents were driving by in their vehicles.” That’s when an agent pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him...

Chicago and other major metropolitan areas have plenty of people capable of recording ICE violations of the Constitution, or just simply bad or illegal behavior.  We wonder how much more of this is happening in less populated places, or at night, or out of range of cameras.  This bunch of violent hoodlums masquerading as law enforcement needs to be disbanded -- and some prosecuted -- as soon as the people of this country retake it.  Then, maybe deport Greg Bovino to Italy, if they'll have him.

(Photo:  The Goon Squad / via The Milwaukee Independent)

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

Instead of letting the Republican Party's Senate leadership wheel and deal with the megabill budget hold-outs, Donald Trump inserted himself — and now has been called out by the editorial board of the conservative Wall Street Journal for his bullying which, it wrote, could put his presidency at risk.

In a late Sunday afternoon editorial, the editors wrote that the president's attacks on Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are not helping and, in fact, are hampering the prospects of getting a deal done.

On top of that, they note, driving Tillis to announce he won't run for re-election could lead to a lost GOP seat in purple North Carolina — and with it the GOP's slim hold on the Senate.

They wrote that Trump couldn't leave well enough alone as recalcitrant GOP caucus members were being wooed by Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune (SD).

The editorial stated, "A common feature of Donald Trump’s two terms as President is that he can’t stand political prosperity. When events are going in his direction, he has an uncanny habit of handing his opponents a sword." The writers added that the Tillis debacle is a classic example.

Tillis announced his retirement over the weekend after Trump threatened he'd be challenged after expressing doubt about the bill.

According to the editors, Republican control of the Senate is already teetering.

"The GOP has a 53-47 majority now, but Susan Collins always has a tough race in Maine if she decides to run again. Democrats are targeting Joni Ernst in Iowa. In the suicide-isn’t-painless department, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. Mr. Paxton may be the only Republican who could lose in Texas given his record of harassing business with lawsuits, impeachment, and other embarrassments," they reported.

Combined with a possible loss of the House with its tiny GOP majority, losing the Senate could make for a dismal two years for the GOP...

While we enjoy seeing the Murdoch- owned WSJ coming to the right conclusion for the wrong reason, the point that the Malignant Fascist's psychopathic narcissism makes it impossible for him to allow for any deviation from absolute obedience -- if not adoration -- to him as cult leader.  (See also Musk, "Leon", etc, etc.).  It's a huge weakness Democrats need to take advantage of every time it's offered to them.

The bad:

Donald Trump’s administration is on pace to have one of the worst years for deaths in immigrant detention in decades following the recent deaths of a Canadian citizen and a Cuban man in federal custody.

A 75-year-old Cuban man died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, CBS News reports, citing a notice sent to Congress of the alleged death.

The agency has not publicly disclosed the death yet, though it often announces such fatalities at a delay.

His death would bring the total to at least 12 dead in ICE custody since Trump took office.

At least two of those deaths were suicides.

Critics accuse the administration of allowing conditions to worsen in a sprawling network of overburdened immigration detention centers as the White House pushes to deport millions of migrants in rapid time.

The Independent has contacted ICE and the Cuban foreign ministry for comment.

All told, 15 people have reportedly died in detention this fiscal year, which includes the final months of Joe Biden’s administration.

At worst, there were 12 deaths in a single calendar year under the previous three administrations.

At the current pace, as many as 24 people could be dead by the end of this calendar year, a staggering figure, though deaths climbed even higher under George W. Bush, reaching 28 in fiscal year 2004.

Critics say ICE, in an effort to arrest some 3,000 people a day, is straining the nation’s capacity to safely house immigrants slated for removal.

More than 56,397 migrants were in immigration detention as of mid-June, or about 140 percent of the agency’s ostensible capacity to hold them...

This is as dark a period in American history as there has ever been.  And it's going to get worse.

The ugly: 

Senate Republicans restored major Medicaid cuts to Donald Trump’s signature economic legislation, re-fashioning a key provision to overcome a procedural obstacle.

Spending cuts to the health insurance program for the poor and disabled partially offset revenue losses from tax cuts in the measure and are a crucial demand of GOP fiscal conservatives.

The revision helps Republicans shore up the spending cuts they need to fund the bill, but it could also alienate three crucial senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — who have been pushing to scale back the Medicaid cuts.

Senate Republican Leader John Thune is trying to navigate competing demands from conservatives and moderates as he rushes to pass the massive tax and spending package to meet a July 4 deadline Trump has set for congressional approval.

The Senate’s legislative rules-keeper had judged a series of key health care provisions in the legislation ineligible for a special procedure Republicans are using to bypass the Senate’s normal process so they can avoid making concessions to Democrats.

That earlier decision swept aside $250 billion in spending cuts fiscal conservatives had sought.

But Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled acceptable a revised provision that would limit states’ ability to tax health care providers to help fund Medicaid, Senate Budget Committee Democrats said in an email on Sunday...

The reverse-Robin-Hood Republicans are determined to slash Medicaid and SNAP in order to pay for their tax cuts for billionaires.  Depending on Murkowski and, especially the duplicitous Collins, to do the right thing is asking more than their tiny souls can likely muster.

Today's Dispatches From The Republican War On Latinos

Pursuing their campaign to "Make America Great White Again," the regime of white nationalist Donald "Rump" Trump together with his sycophantic toadies throughout the Republican Party are adopting policies of malignant neglect (Puerto Rico) and malignant hostility (brutal ICE tactics) that would never be visited upon non- Latino populations. You don't need to be an acute observer to notice what's gone on since January 20.

Puerto Rico

As we noted last Monday, the human suffering following Hurricane Maria 90 days ago continues to afflict our American brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico. Dana Milbank summarizes the current state of the island:

... Some 1,065 more Puerto Ricans died in September and October of this year than in previous years, almost certainly storm-related deaths, according to the Center for Investigative Journalism. When all is tallied, the destruction in Puerto Rico will be very much on par with what Trump considers “a real catastrophe like Katrina,” which killed about 1,800. 

Incredibly, a large portion of the island remains without power — three months after the storm. It was reported this week that power may not be fully restored until May. Puerto Ricans — American citizens — are still awaiting tarps and temporary roofs to shelter them after an untold number of homes were destroyed. 

A new report from Refugees International said, “Thousands of people still lack sustainable access to potable water and electricity and dry, safe places to sleep.” The group faulted the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “bureaucratic and opaque assistance process” for leaving survivors with “enormous challenges.” [snip] 

In October, when Trump was tossing “beautiful, soft” rolls of paper towels at Puerto Ricans, he offered lavish promises of aid and said Wall Street lenders were “going to say goodbye” to Puerto Rico’s $72 billion debt. But the debt was not written off, and disaster-relief aid has been inadequate and piecemeal. Now, Trump and congressional Republicans are hitting Puerto Rico with an additional, man-made catastrophe. 

The GOP tax bill, which Trump celebrated this week, treats Puerto Rico as a foreign country, imposing a 12.5 percent tax on the income companies there receive from intellectual property — a big hit to its crucial pharmaceutical and medical-device sector. Rather than give Puerto Rico special tax treatment, which it urgently needs, Trump and his congressional allies gave employers a powerful reason to move jobs off the island. (our emphasis)

Dreamers

The future of the Obama- era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Dreamers) program is in limbo following failure by timid, spineless Democrats to use their leverage to include a fix in the recent continuing resolution. (If Democrats can find a way to de- energize-- if not screw-- their base, they'll sure try.) They can try again when the current continuing resolution expires, or they can finally push to get action on the DREAM Act to create long- term stability for 700,000 Dreamers. (If Democrats don't step up to the plate, they'll rightly be seen as occupying the same moral swamp on this issue as Republicans.)

Nevertheless, Republicans created this mess when Rump had Confederate States Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III cancel the Dreamers program in September.  Now Republicans are caught between their anti- immigrant, frothing base and their desire to save the necks of members running in swing districts. As Jonathan Blitzer reports:

... To minimize the political fallout from the cancellation, Trump called on lawmakers to pass legislation to restore the protections he had just ended. He set a deadline of March 5th for Congress to act. “Trump created this crisis, set a date to push recipients off of a cliff, and then left it to Congress to prevent it,” Cecilia Muñoz, a former Obama official who helped develop the DACA policy, told me. [snip]

Trump’s DACA deadline coincides with congressional primary season. Many incumbent Republicans will need to shore up their bases of support on the right, and others will be facing Steve Bannon-inspired conservative challengers; they won’t want to appear too conciliatory on a contentious issue like immigration. 

ICE 

Living up to their acronym under the racist Rump regime, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Homeland Security is considering pursuing a heartless strategy to discourage families with children from seeking refuge in the United States:

FAMILIES AND unaccompanied children detained at the Mexican border are often fleeing horrific conditions in Central American countries, especially El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where violent gangs, drug trafficking and rampant criminality contribute to some of the world’s highest murder rates. Now the Trump administration, alarmed at the recent surge in border crossers, is considering a new strategy to deter them. The message: “You think your native country is cruel? America is even crueller.” [snip] 

That’s the logic behind a proposal under consideration by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen that would try to discourage migrant families from crossing the border by threatening to separate parents from their children when they are taken into custody in the United States. 

If Ms. Nielsen gives the green light to break up migrant families, many of whom have plausible asylum claims, she would be responsible for a policy whose heartlessness would rival that of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forcible internment of some 110,000 U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Four decades after that act of mass inhumanity, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation formally apologizing for it.

That's, of course, when ICE agents aren't

... stalking a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy’s ambulance and staking out her hospital room, classifying any person caught in an ICE raid as a “criminal” and [...] attempting to deport a journalist back to a country where he faced death at the hands of the drug cartels he’d exposed.

If you feel like you're living in a different country than you were 12 months ago, you're not alone.