So, the story was, they were going to find, capture, and deport bad guys living in this country illegally. Key words? ‘Bad guys.’ If you’re undocumented and you cause a bunch of trouble and/or hurt people in this once-great nation, you’re going to be removed. Truth be told, I feel pretty certain that nobody would argue about that. Nobody wants criminals in this country, legal or otherwise. Why do you suppose so many Americans are upset about 47’s criminal regime?

But even 47 deserves due process. He has committed many crimes right out in the open for the public to see. Hell, his cronies insist it’s an honorable thing he does – commit crimes right out in the open for all to see. I STILL prefer that he get due process and I prefer the same for undocumented people, bad guys or not.

The reason? The “or not” bit. It turns out, a LOT of the people being rounded up are not “illegal” or even undocumented. MOST importantly, they’re not committing crimes. 47 is making a big show about keeping his campaign promise to eliminate the unsavory elements doing so much harm to this society and that notion is key: one MUST believe that brown people are de facto criminals. MAGA media has been pressing that message for a long time, now, so the consumers of said media have been properly conditioned. Many of them DO accept that 47 is merely deporting bad guys.

But ICE is showing up at work places to arrest people who have jobs and are contributing members of society. I’m not well-versed on the details of being a gang member, but I presume punching a clock for an eight-hour shift is not high on gang member lists. Showing up at work places seems like low-hanging fruit.

I’ll tell you what’s worse, in my opinion. Arresting them at court hearings on technicalities. One of the stories (read: lies) MAGA media feeds to it’s consumers is that after court dates are given for review of, say, applications for asylum, the people in question don’t show up to court. As it happens, and you will likely not be surprised to hear, something like 95% of those people DO show up for their hearings.

So now ICE is stationing agents outside the door, waiting for documented people who are doing the right thing – that is, doing it the right way – to leave the building after their hearings and then arresting them for deportation. Again, these are NOT Tren de Aragua gang members, rushing to court to make sure the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted in their residency status. These are people who – in every measurable way – are trying to “do it the right way.”

ICE is just out there, tearing apart families and creating fear and confusion. That, of course, is the real point: the fear and confusion. Honestly? It seems like state-sponsored terrorism, to me. They’re using force or the threat of force to impact politics. And, yes, it IS political. That’s WHY they won’t allow due process. So many of these people would be able to show that they have some status that allows them to stay legally, the regime would be hard-pressed to fulfill their daily quota of arrestees.

The basic message the regime is sending is that there IS no “right way” to do it. If you’re brown, there IS no legal path to citizenship for you. If you’re white, they’ll expedite your arrival. Hell, they’ll pay for the flight to get you here. But if you’re brown? Forget about it. Obviously, there’s no racism here, right?

I wonder if MAGA is still completely on board. We ALL want violent criminals out of the country if they don’t belong here – and we want them locked up if they DO belong here. NOBODY is defending the “violent criminal” lobby. But now we’re down to just terrorizing families – even if they ARE trying to follow the rules and come to the country legally. The BEST counter-measure to this terrorist activity is due process – and it speaks volumes about what Team Evil knows about their victims that the one thing they refuse to engage in is due process…

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The estimate for Cadet Bone Spurs’ big military parade – the kind EVERY dictator aspires to – is in the $90 million dollar range. Oh, but, strike that. THAT doesn’t include the damage such a parade is expected to do to the streets of Washington DC. The current estimate to repair the roads after the infrastructure carnage is around $16 million dollars more.

That’s not being reported in right leaning media for some reason. I guess MAGA wouldn’t be happy to know they’re losing their benefits due to ‘financial challenges that must be managed’ at the same time the country is just pissing away $106 million dollars for a parade intended to serve NO purpose other than satisfying the Orange Man’s ego.

Meanwhile, the damage from his on-again/off-again tariffs is starting to show up in the prices for goods and services on the store shelves. His words indicated things would get better – and that means EVERYTHING would be more affordable. His actions have created the exact opposite. Despite claims that tariffs would NOT be felt by the American consumer, the tariffs are starting to be felt by the American consumer – and the pain has just begun.

Small businesses are suffering more than large businesses. Fewer resources, you know. In the end, though, the American consumer is going to suffer the most for Taco’s tariffs. The thing I would point to as the primary indicator that prices are going up because of 47’s ill-advised tariffs is the volume with which the White House is insisting that prices are falling. But my morning coffee jumped from around $15.00 for just over a pound to $19.00 for the same container. Oh, AND, i just paid $15 dollars for 18 eggs yesterday.

Why it’s almost as if the words he’s spewing don’t match the actual reality of the facts on the ground in any way, shape, or form. I wonder which I should believe, what I’m being TOLD is happening, or what I’m actually experiencing? I guess that’s a very difficult equation for some people…

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So… there’s a story from MAGA’S “culture war” and a story about the economy sitting side-by-side. Neither story is playing out the way the Drumpfster promised or insists is happening. He’s not deporting “bad guys,” he’s deporting “brown guys.” The economy is not booming. It’s crashing and burning. I don’t guess MAGA will have any problem with the deportation thing, but the money thing? That’s going to hit them where they live – right along with everyone else…