One of the things that bothers me about the whole "Mamdani changed Trump's mind" talk, besides being naive, it's more acceptance of this imperial politics - like, this man just *is* in charge forever so we have to manipulate him to get what we want. No, he could be kicked out of office tomorrow!!

we gotta keep hammering over and over again just how fucking unpopular this guy is with every institution and every person in a position of power people hate him and people will hate you for capitulating to him

An American elected official with courage enough to say this in the Oval Office is quietly the biggest news out of the meeting

post leftist intercept comment section types are just so eager to buy into the delusion that fascism can be negotiated with Trump is shallow and was briefly charmed by a charismatic man, by tomorrow he'll be threatening to nuke woke daycare centers again there is no coalition with fascism

Durham, North Carolina showing up!

"Trump has no real beliefs" is provably false. We've been hearing for a decade that he just loves power and fame and the right people could charm him into being good. No. He's a racist and a sexist to the core and those beliefs are what motivates him in everything he does.

They are literally firing all the judges they think might grant relief. They just fired a friend of mine a couple hours ago. They have no shame. The bastards want an assembly line for deportations and nothing more; rubber-stamping bootlickers who’ll yes’sir at every new diktat to deny.

In March, I joined my colleagues in demanding the IRS stop illegally sharing information about tax-paying immigrants to advance their fascist immigration operations.

A couple in Franklin Park was taken by federal agents today when they knocked down the door of this family’s home. DHS strategy in Chicago is changing & is definitely not over post-Bovino and CBP.

U.S. border agents are set to descend on communities in southeast Mississippi as part of "Swamp Sweep," an operation with a goal of arresting 5,000 people in southern Mississippi and Louisiana. www.mississippifreepress.org/border-agent...

NEW: Evanston has released video + reports surrounding a 10/31 incident where a CBP agent threatened to shoot people + another beat a handcuffed man. We found some disturbing X posts from one of the feds, also seen in other viral videos. His name is Timothy Donahue, and it's now public record:

Bovino is building a record as a fabulist that has been noted by federal judges and at least one jury which acquitted a protester that Bovino testified against.

All I want in the world is a politician who genuinely hates Trump and is proud to show it.

Hoping with all my heart that Mamdani will prove with time that he deserves this trust. After how badly Pritzker failed and what we went through here the last couple months... I don't have a lot of patience for playing politics. Trump is a fascist murderer and nobody should ever shake his hand.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately with MTG: a key part of Trump's strategy has always been to say the right thing sometimes. Like on the Iraq War, he will say something true and surprisingly left-wing to earn credibility, drive wedges, confuse people. It's essential to the way he works!

Also: I think most bullies have an instinct for when the person they want to pick on is too popular for them to go at without getting blowback, and they know how to miraculously become charming when that fits their preferred narrative. If you've never seen this, it's confusing! Do not be fooled!

One reason the fascism / anti-democracy charges might not be as sticky as we’d like is that Democrats who correctly make this case, with rare exceptions, don’t follow up with impeachment and demands for prosecution + truth and reconciliation. No wonder some voters think they don’t mean it.

I really really really don’t think T is starstruck. This is his way of trivializing the opposition and asserting dominance by implying that Z is just not a threat.

Our trans siblings deserve every single thing they need to thrive. We must confront and dismantle every policy and hateful practice that would deny them dignity and respect.

in this week's make it make sense, a weekly news roundup from the @chicagoreader.com: 1/ 🪖 border patrol chief greg bovino and his gang of masked brutes skipped town (for now)—but that doesn't mean federal agents are done disappearing chicagoans.

NEW — An investigation by a group of Chicago-area newsrooms and independent journalists found that federal agents used chemical weapons on protesters at least 49 times across 18 incidents across Chicago and the suburbs since October 1. thetriibe.com/2025/11/feds...

Every day the caviar-guzzling mass murderers get on TV so the shameless propaganda hacks can praise them in front of the logos of decrepit corporate empires that have nothing left to sell but this. The world is gonna change soon.

This New Orleans operation is going to closely resemble what we just went through in Chicago.

One issue that I think needs more urgency in US politics, especially now: Statehood or independence for all 5 US territories. PR is getting talked about, but Guam, American Samoa, the Marianas, and the Virgin Islands deserve the choice just as much!

Every tech "innovation" now is like: What if your bed needed an internet connection? What if your passport could run out of battery? What if your toothbrush required a heavily-polluting, energy-guzzling server farm in a poor town that begged us not to build it there?

And Raleigh. And Durham.

mr president sir theres a story coming about how you intervened to help a sex criminal. no sir, not that sex criminal you helped….no not that one either…sir, please stop guessing sex criminals that you helped. ill give you a hint sir, hes a trafficker. no sir, not that trafficker a different one

My first piece for @theguardian.com on MBS’s visit to the U.S., seven years after Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. Trump’s America is beginning to look like MBS’s Saudi Arabia— which Jamal warned me about. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s comments are vile. I am just as angry at the media outlets that bothsided Jamal’s murder, wrote puff pieces for MBS (Atlantic). And, the Washington Post opinion page that dismantled the platform that Jamal wrote for, ended the fellowship in his name, and purged its human rights writers.

Greg Bovino may have moved on to Charlotte, but federal immigration agents maintain a presence in the Chicago area. Northwest Side Rapid Response has confirmed agents detained at least one person around 9:45 this morning off Kedzie and Wabansia.

An interesting thing here, given the news, is that the secretary of education is the defendant in a suit accusing her of turning a blind eye to the operations of a child molestation ring that, there is no dispute, operated within her business from the 1970s to the 1990s

"Collectively, the enrollment declines in Miami-Dade erased about $70 million from the district’s annual budget, forcing administrators to scramble to cover the unexpected shortfall." https://to.pbs.org/4a5aHvI

I watched a clip of MBS and our sham president in the Oval Office and what he said about Jamal Khashoggi was so offensive and such an outright and disgusting lie I'm surprised no one in that room was struck by lightning. It was cruel, it was inhumane and it was so utterly shameful.

Federal agents from ICE, DEA and the FBI raided a St. Paul paper distributor Tuesday morning. Hundreds of community members responded in protest, clashing with officers. At least two people were detained by authorities, according to a witness.

The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund launched in 2020 to provide bond assistance to people navigating the complex immigration legal system. That mission has become more difficult under the second Trump administration, the group said. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/17/b... via @blockclubchi.bsky.social

Over 20,000 students stayed home from school Monday in Charlotte amid ICE raids, representing 15% of enrollment The district is nearly one-third Hispanic, per WBTV www.wbtv.com/2025/11/18/n...

The federal blitz moved to Charlotte, but the trauma and damage in Chicago are still with us—and DHS says 1,000 agents will hit our streets in March. I wrote about what this moment demands of us: care, clarity, and preparation.

615 of the estimated 3,000+ detained immigrants who were kidnapped in Chicagoland during Midway Blitz are expected to be eligible for bond this week. The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund shows up for people in detention who need bond, but it costs, at minimum, $1,500 per person. Pls help them.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"The east Charlotte church where the raid took place on Saturday said it was suspending services & yard work until congregants felt safe to gather again, 15-year-old Miguel Vazquez told the Charlotte Observer. “We thought church was safe and nothing gonna happen,” Vazquez said. “But it did happen.”

I'm seeing people wonder why ICE is going after Charlotte. ICE has been at war with Charlotte's sheriff ever since he won in 2018. We'd covered this at Bolts back in the day; this quote is from that sheriff:

Sending in ICE to terrorize people in a swing state is, on top of everything else, a remarkably stupid thing to do.

National Guard troops are leaving the Chicago area while Homeland Security has shut down its immigration enforcement command center at a nearby naval station, according to reports. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/16/n...

[obligatory Chicago image]

Border Patrol moving through Charlotte as videos document arrests, confrontations | By @jmarusak.bsky.social and a team of reporters at the Observer www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/a...

Mafia governance in action "the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."

I was not aware of this story, and I'm guessing that the University of Virginia wanted it that way augustafreepress.com/news/shame-o...

Note: The pastor being thrown to the ground and arrested here while protesting outside an ICE facility here — who police single out — appears to be Rev. Michael Woolf, a Baptist pastor (he’s ordained by both American Baptist Churches USA and Alliance of Baptists).

Incidents in Chicago deportation blitz: 8 with car chases 19 with collisions 12 with forced entries 36 with tackling 16 with strikes 4 with kneeling on back/neck 5 with chokeholds 9 with spraying 18 with pepper balls 14 with tear gas 5 with stun grenades 4 with tasering www.wbez.org/immigration/...