ICE is indefensible, irredeemable, and illegitimate

Another American citizen has been murdered in the streets of Minneapolis at the hands of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. This victim, a 37-year-old ICU nurse named Alex Pretti, was killed on January 24 while tending to the injuries of a woman pushed to the ground by ICE. The previous victim, Renee Good, was a 37-year-old mother of three who was executed in her car on January 7.

In both of these cases, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed the agents were acting in self-defense. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem immediately issued a statement accusing Good of “domestic terrorism”. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller denounced Pretti as “a would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement.” These statements, released before any investigation took place, seem intended to halt any investigation at all and make the “official” story the only one that counts.

But anyone who’s watched the videos of these killings knows that neither of them were in self-defense. Good’s car was pointing away from Officer Jonathan Ross when he put three bullets in her. Her last words were, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Pretti was lawfully carrying a holstered gun, but he was unarmed and down on the ground when an ICE agent emptied a magazine into him.

The executions of Good and Pretti are only the tip of the iceberg. In Minnesota alone, ICE’s reign of terror has included blinding a young man with a nonlethal round, shooting teargas into a car filled with children, and abducting children as young as five years old. Videos of these incidents and countless others, filmed daily by ordinary Americans around the country, show the unforgivable violence that President Trump and ICE are unleashing on the American people.

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Republicans slowly rehabilitating “fascist” as an approved political identity

For the last few weeks, Republican Party leadership has been carrying out a campaign to, essentially, classify the word “fascist” as hate speech against right-wingers. But while some Republicans shy away from the term, plenty of others, particularly among their base and their influencers, find it edgy and hip. Some have even begun to wear it as a badge of honor.

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America’s cold civil war heats up

Charlie Kirk tosses MAGA hats to the audience at his American Comeback event.

On Wednesday, the entire country witnessed the gruesome assassination of Charlie Kirk as he spoke before a crowd at Utah Valley University. His death was shocking both for the visceral nature of the gory footage and for the deep implications and ramifications it holds for America’s heated political moment.

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South Park cracks the code for dealing with fascists

For ten years, opponents of President Donald Trump have struggled to adequately deal with his myriad abuses and scandals. When you run through the litany of crimes, lies, Constitutional violations, and cover-ups, you can’t help but sound like a complainer. Many Americans simply tire of hearing about it all, while MAGA supporters retreat to their own impenetrable infotainment ecosystem.

Maybe, then, the answer isn’t to give more persuasive arguments, but to simply show the Trump Administration for what it is, using the most grotesque, over-the-top caricatures possible.

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Welfare is national security

Welfare has become one of the dirtiest words in America. In the dictionary, it means the “health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.” In government, it refers to a range of programs designed to support people. But in common political parlance, it’s come to mean a transfer of taxpayer dollars from honest, hard-working Americans to lazy, undeserving moochers.

So it’s no surprise that when Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and puppetmaster of the Trump Administration, scours the government for waste with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), welfare programs will be scrutinized. Musk recently called Social Security a “ponzi scheme” and said on his social media platform, X, that Medicare “is where big money fraud is happening.” Despite President Trump’s campaign pledges to the contrary, Musk appears to be looking hard at deep cuts to Americans’ entitlements.

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The depths of depravity of Donald J. Trump

As the 2024 election speeds to a close, Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’s closing argument against former President Donald Trump is this: He’s a fascist, a threat to democracy, and too dangerous to elect.

That argument holds a lot of weight, but it has two big problems. One is that Democrats have been making this argument for nine years, with mixed results at best. Two is that Trump served as President for four years and did not become a full authoritarian — though not for lack of trying.

With the election apparently so close, it may feel like political malpractice to trot out the same unpersuasive argument and allow Trump to come so close to the White House again. But in all the furor and focus on his latest politically incorrect outrage, it can be easy to lose sight of the simple truth: This man is extremely dangerous and corrupt, and he must not be allowed back into the White House.

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Madame Vice President, Do the Right Thing on Gaza

The coronation and ascent up the polls of Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris has been remarkable to witness. From out of nowhere, a person widely considered a relative dud of a Vice President, who received zero delegates during her primary bid in 2020 and zero votes in the 2024 primary (during which, of course, she was not a candidate), is now the woman chosen to beat Donald Trump. And if vibes and momentum are any indication, she may be well on her way to doing it. She has galvanized Democratic enthusiasm and is being celebrated by multiple factions of her party.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Harris and the liberal coalition. While the Republican opposition is flailing, unable to build a meaningful counter-narrative and falling back on their usual canard of hysterically painting every minimal reform as communism, on her left is a potentially more disruptive force: Americans who want their country to stop arming and funding Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

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Why Overturning Roe Could Be the Last Straw for Many

On June 24, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that has been the focus of America’s abortion debate since 1973. In that decision, the 1973 court ruled that the Constitution protected a woman’s right to an abortion, with some limits. By overturning that decision, today’s court leaves abortion laws up to individual states, allowing them to ban abortion under any circumstances and at any point during pregnancy. In doing so, the Supreme Court has placed millions of women across the country at grave risk.

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Why we should think beyond “returning to normal”

The COVID-19 pandemic affected nearly everyone on the globe, bringing with it a great deal of suffering and significant changes in the way people work and live. Despite the initially dismal US response to the pandemic, we are now among the most vaccinated countries on earth. All across the country, restrictions are relaxing, masks are coming off, travel is resuming, and people have begun returning to normal.

Unfortunately, “normal” in the US is a dire situation to begin with.

As bad as COVID was, it also brought with it several silver linings. The scope and horror of the situation forced us, for the briefest moment, to prioritize something other than profit. The rich weren’t immune to COVID-19. A far-right Republican government temporarily instituted an eviction moratorium and student debt relief, issued stimulus checks, and expanded unemployment benefits. Some essential employees received pay increases. Those who were able worked remotely, reconnecting with their families, clearing up the roads, and allowing nature some respite from our constant hustle.

For a while, it seemed like some of these changes might become permanent. Pundits and politicians seriously discussed universal basic income and student debt forgiveness. As we realized society is only as healthy as the least-healthy among us, the need for a Medicare-for-All system became apparent. Businesses explored more flexible work models, and some made work-from-home permanent.

Now, there is no “new normal.” Instead, we are rushing back to the old normal as quickly as possible.

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