Was ICE Justifiably Enforcing the Law when it Committed a Very Public Killing?
See and Judge for Yourself, Whether Trump is Using ICE to Desensitize the American Public to the Government Use of Violence Against Any Human, Regardless of Citizenship
January 8, 2026 / National News / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.
Here's a link to an video by the Minneapolis Star & Tribune [on 1/11/26 added a second video link to the NYT coverage of the shooting which provides even more context] where they provide video of the incident and context. The videos allow you can see and judge for yourself whether the ICE agent's firing of two shots, killing the driver of the car, Renee Macklin Good, who was an American citizen and mother of three, was the use necessary lethal force. Or, whether it was an unjustified, cold blooded murder by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, a member of the Trump Administration, which they now appear to be covering up with the help of Fox and the other billionaire owned TV News outlets.
This was the first link we posted on Thursday, January 8, 2026.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/G-s0AFakl0o
This link is an update posted on Saturday, January 11, 2026, providing a more complete picture with multiple video angles by the NYT showing quite clearly that 'the president' and 'the vice president' and the ICE lady, Kristi Noem, mischaracterized or even lied about what happened.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html?smid=url-share
CLICK ON FOTO LINK to see shooting video.
Uptick in Violent and Fatal Events in Which Trump's ICE is Involved
It's worth mentioning that ICE agents have killed at least 9 people within the past year, including two American citizens. Additionally about 32 people died in ICE Detention Centers this past year. Since Trump took office Americans support of ICE has fallen from a favorability of +16% to -14% today, with 52% of Americans now disapproving of how the Trump / Noem ICE agency is doing its job. Some detractors are compariing ICE and their detention centers to the Nazis.
The ICE Officer did not Appear to Follow Correct Procedures ... Again
The ICE Officer, Jonathan Ross, who reportedly shot the Minneapolis mother, Renee Macklin Good, appears to have a history of not following proper law enforcement procedure when apprehending suspects or detainees, as Ross had an incident in June 2025, where he was significantly injured because he did not follow proper procedures when approaching a suspects vehicle.
Per law enforcement training, an officer is never supposed to reach inside of a vehicle, because it puts them at risk of injury. Furthermore an officer is not supposed to position themselves in front of a vehicle to block it, for the same reason. In June of 2025 Ross broke the window of the car of a suspect, and stuck his arm inside the window. The suspect, Juan Munoz-Guatemala, drove off, dragging Ross about 100 yards, which put Ross in the hospital.
In the Minneapolis incident, just a few days ago, the victim driver, Renee Macklin Good, is video recorded greeting the officer in a friendly manner. She's an American citizen with no police record, so she was not a suspect. She did not have any weapon and that was clear from the videos taken. Macklin Good was part of a neighborhood watch team peaceful protesting ICE agents trying to apprehend their neighbors. Her vehicle was partially - but not fully - obstructing the roadway, which was shown on the video, as one ICE vehicles in the caravan drove around Mackin Good's vehicle, literally a minute before the shooting. So it seems the use of lethal force, on an American citizen and mother of three, by Ross was completely unwarranted. But use the link above to click into the video so you can judge for yourself.
Did Murdoch's Fox News Fake the News Again?
I believe in the axiom innocent until proven guilty. But I also believe that seeing is believing. And thus far nothing has come out to controvert what I've described above, except false narratives of what happened by the Trump Administration which - like Trump's lies about 'Stop the Steal' and January 6th Insurrection - appear to be aided, abetted and amplified by billionaire Rupert Muroch's Fox News' dishonest, deceitful, manipulative reporting.
Macklin Good's relatives may want to lawyer up and send Fox News and Rupert Murdoch cease and desist letters for what could be their defamatory and misleading coverage. Fox News seems to have a penchant for repeating lies, particularly when the falsehoods serve their owner's private agenda.
What has happened in Minneapolis and the Trump Administration and Fox News response to it, is nothing short of disgusting. Do these people - Murdoch, Trump and associates - have no humanity or decency?
Trump, Fox & ICE Depiction of the Incident Appears to Contradict Reality
Did Trump & Fox Publicize False or Misleading Narratives to Manipulate?
According to a January 8, 2026 report by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the leading local newspaper in Minneapolis, this is how Trump / Noem ICE described what happened which is contradicted by the video posted via the link above.
"... Federal officials described Ross [the ICE agent who shot Good the victim] as an “experienced” officer. Ross was injured in a dragging incident during a June operation in the Twin Cities ... The woman killed was identified by her mother as Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, 37 ... Minnesota leaders are calling on the federal government to allow state investigators to probe the fatal shooting, after the FBI took sole ownership of the probe ... “The FBI informed the [Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension] that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had reversed course: the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI,” said the state’s top investigative agency ...".
If what the Trump Administration said was true, then why have they forced local law enforcement out of 'the investigation'? Or is the Trump / Noem 'investigation' really a a Trump / Noem / ICE cover up like Trump / Bondi / DOJ did with the Epstein Files?
Trump is easily the most famous liar on planet Earth [look it up]. That's a fact. What he says is pretty close to meaningless and he talks a lot. And Billionaire TV News seems to try to not miss repeating even a word of it. The Washington Post said that Trump told over 30,000 lies, made misleading statements or spoke falsehoods in his first term as president. But in the second Trump Administration, Trump isn't the only liar. In fact I'm hard pressed to think of anyone in the Trump cabinet who is not a liar.
In 2025 alone, Kristi [shot her dog] Noem and ICE have reportedly made numerous false and misleading statements including: 1) lied to Congress [Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune & Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson have utterly failed the American people by not asserting the powers of the coequal branch of government over which they preside], 2) misrepresented arrest data, 3) per a court ruling lied and distorted facts, 4) defied at least one court order, and 5) allegedly smeared detainee(s).
The Orwellian World of 1984 is Here
How Many Americans Will Ignore their Own Sense of Reality?
George Orwell was an early 20th century journalist, who covered and wrote extensively about dictators and totalitarian regimes, describing how they grab power from the people who don't pay attention [aka not woke], and who don't assert their power and rights - before they lose them. Regarding situations such as the matter of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, and the Trump / Murdoch Fox News response to it, he said this.
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
What did he mean by this statement. He means that when Rupert Murdoch's [a modern day Joseph Goebbels] Fox News team of propagandists, and the Trump Administration team of mythomaniacs, are all lying in concert; and use the power of the federal government and mass media to manipulate the people's perceptions of something the people can witness with their own eyes - the American public has to make a choice.
The choice is whether to a) believe your own eyes and ears and do your own thinking, or b) ignore what you see, hear and think, and accept whatever Rupert Murdoch's Fox News and Donald Trump's Administration tell you. As Orwell says, it will be their final, most essential command, because if you quit relying on your own senses and mental faculties to make your own decisions, you will have completely given up your freedom and own self determination.
I Think, Therefore I Am v. I Don't Think, Therefore I Am Not
The 17th century, French philosopher, Renee Descartes, famously said, "I think, therefore I am." In the 21st century, I wouid like to add an Orwellian corollary to that, which is, "I don't think, therefore I am not.". The essence of this corollary is that if you let the state do your thinking for you, you no longer exist mentally, emotionally or spiritually. The most important part of your existence will have died. Up until she was shot by an ICE agent earlier this week, Renee Macklin Good, was very much alive, according to my Orwellian corollary. You can honor her, by not acceding to the lies and falsehoods spread by the Trump Administration and Murdoch's Fox News, while encouraging others to do the same by showing them the video noted above.
I watched following TV News programs in the wake of the ICE shooting, and here's my grading of each of them. Fox News gets a F- for trying to create their own false interpretation of what happened; NDTV gets an F for being one-sided and asking no insightful questions, NBC & CBS get solid grades like a B or B+ on their first day news shows. I missed watching ABC and the CW. Democracy Now also gets a solid B or B+. And the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper website gets an A to an A+ for great local coverage of the many facets of this important story, as does the NYT for their video coverage to which we provided a link above. Both are free as of this writing.
January 11, 2026 Update. In the half week following the killing, many subsequent broadcasts by the corporate TV networks generally failed to maintain a sense of balance and truth, because of their incessant repetition of the 'official lies' put out by the Trump Administration, without correcting them when they run short clips. Specifically Noem statements, where she claims the ICE agent was protecting himself and the people around him - which is clearly not the case if you watch the NYT video report [see link in first graphic at the beginning of this story]. And the billionaire TV News showed short, edited video clips which failed to show thewhole truth - as the NYT report, to which we linked to above.
Pay attention to this TV News degradation of accuracy and resort to superficiality, and help properly inform your family and friends by refering them to the NYT video report. This will clearly illustrate why Americans MUST shift their news consumption from billionaire controlled TV News to the web, where real journalism still lives.
- CLICK here to read the rest of our report about how Trump's & Noem's ICE agent appears to have committed manslaughter and they appear to be trying to cover it up.
Was ICE Justifiably Enforcing the Law when it Committed a Very Public Killing?
See and Judge for Yourself, Whether Trump is Using ICE to Anesthetize the American Public to the Government Use of Violence Against Any Human, Regardless of Citizenship
January 8, 2026 / National News / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz. Continued.
Will Bondi's DOJ & Patel's FBI lead the Investigation into the ICE Killing?
Or are they Leading the Cover Up, like they did with the EPSTEIN FILES?
So, let's be clear on what's happening here. An ICE agent shot dead a nice, friendly American woman in Minneapolis, who was expressing her right to protest peacefully, as she started to drive away from him, all of which can be seen in the video.
Then Trump / Noem / ICE / FBI decided to take over the investigation and box out local law enforcement agencies from both the city of Minneapolis and state of Minnesota, where the killing occurred. And the participation of city and state officials is being prevented by an Administration that is staffed by proven liars, who have shirked their duty to the American People and U.S. Constitution. And billionaire TV News appears to be aiding and abetting them, by repeating and amplifying their false narratives of the events, which contradict the facts, which the American people can see for themselves on the video [use photo link above].
What Happened: The Minneapolis Star Tribune Newspaper v. TV News
Here's an account of the incident by local reporters on the ground, who do a far, far better job of reporting than the superficial billionaire TV News. As billionaires control America's TV news networks, they too often appear to gloss over important key facts, that don't align with the wealthy owners' business interests.
Too often TV News spreads and amplifies the lies of dishonest pols and government officials, without questioning or fact checking them. It used to be the propaganda press was controlled by the ruling government, but today it's the billionaire oligarchs who control the mass media, and by thus how huge numbers of voters view the world. Voters must migrate some [recommended most] of their news consumption to the web, where the people's press and the truth lives on. Folks might want to add, migrating their news consumption to the web, to their 2026 News Years Resolutions list.
https://www.startribune.com/ice-agent-fatally-shoots-woman-in-south-minneapolis/601559744
Vance Practices Trump-Speak
Vance Tells us that an ICE Agent Killing a Friendly, White, Unarmed, American Citizen & Mother of Three on the Streets of Minneapolis is just an "ICE agent doing his job"
The shooting, as you can see in the video above, was justified by Vice President J.D. Vance, who claims that the manslaughter of an American mother of three was "an ICE agent doing his job". Vance's assertion that the ICE agent "has absolute immunity" is ridiculous, unless we are already living in a completely fascist state, where guilt or innocence is predetermined by 'the leaders' and the trial is just a showcase for TV News propaganda outlets.
https://apnews.com/video/vance-says-ice-agent-involved-in-fatal-shooting-has-absolute-immunity-5109e1f2c2504fc5b3249196cc6ba014
CLICK ON FOTO LINK to see Vance statement video.
In the photo above or at right is J.D. Vance. In 2016 Vance said that Donald Trump could be 'America's Hitler'. My, how times have changed.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-trumps-potential-running-mates-harshly-criticized-him-in-the-past
Is Trump's ICE Evolving into a Domestic Terror Org?
And does Trump's Recitation of the Snake, Hint at the Real 'Enemy Within'?
Here's a link to Trump reciting what seems to be one of his favorite poems, The Snake. Trump ascribes the snake to immigrants, but many believe it's Donald J. Trump describing himself as a sort of Satanic Snake. There are many former female associates of Trump's, who would probably agree that Trump is the snake. Pay attention to Trump's facial expressions, as he seems to delight in the woman's death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXIJTa5G2CI
It's also worth asking about who is really 'The Enemy Within'? Trump, like Adolph Hitler did in 1933, claims it's the opposition. But in the end, after so many Germans lost everything, including their loved ones and their own lives, the German people woke up and realized that it was Hitler who was the real enemy within. Hitler was projecting who he was onto others, in order to deflect such descriptions of himself.
Parallels Between Trump's America v. 1930's Germany are Becoming More Real by the Day
It seems clear that the reason ICE agents wear masks is because they know what they are doing in immoral, and they don't want other people in the community to know it. ICE agents are not like our local law enforcement officers, who seem better trained and disciplined. Local law enforcement also generally doesn't do things that make it necessary for them to hide behind masks like ICE does - like masking up and driving around in unmarked vehicles abducting both immigrants and American citizens off our streets.
Unfortunately, ICE increasingly appears to be Donald Trump and Kristi Noem's personal police force, which is why back in May of 2025, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota compared ICE to Hilter's Gestapo. Did Trump select Noem to lead ICE because she shot and killed her own 14 month old dog?
In the early 2000's Wisconsin Senator Feingold voted against both efforts by the Bush Administration to create ICE arguing that ICE would one day be used to trample Americans' civil liberties. Today that point of view seems very prescient.
A Brief History of Trump Tendencies Toward Violence
As you can see from the graphic above or at right, Donald J. Trump is no stranger to violence. Trump's Taj Mahal Casino appeared to be a center for murders in New Jersey from 2008 to 2011 which is only a few years before Trump began his run to become president. Trump also reportedly had mob ties, not just in the 1970's and 1980's via construction, concrete and Roy Cohn; but also as recently as the first two decades of the 2000's through association Felix Sater and the Russian mob. Sater reportedly was working through Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, to strike a deal for a Trump Hotel in Moscow, as recently as 2016. Trump - always a stranger to 'Truth' (Social) - downplays the association in what appears to be his ongoing pattern of deceit and mass manipulation.
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AS OF 1.7.26. TRUMP EXTRA JUDICIAL MURDERS IN CARIB & CNN WRESTLE VIDEO & PUGNACIOUS WORDS AT TRP RALLY & JAN 6TH INSURRECTION AND HANG MIKE PENCE. SAYING HE COULD SHOOT SOMEONE ON 5TH AVENUE AND HE WOULD LOSE HIS SUPPORTERS. SAID HANG THE DEMOCRAT SENATORS AND CONGRESSPEOPLE WHO SAID DON'T OBEY ILLEGAL ORDERS. AND SO ON.
DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DE-SENSITIZED TO THE INCREDIBLE CRUELTY OF THE TRUMP ADMIN. IT'S WHY HEGSETH, WHO'S A COMPLETE MORON, AND KRISTI NOEM SHOT HER OWN DOG ARE IN CHARGE OF ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES LIKE THE DOD AND ICE. BECUZ THEY SEEM TO HAVE LITTLE TO NO SENSE OF HUMAN DECENCY - LIKE TRUMP HIMSELF. REMEMBER THE 'HANG MIKE PENCE' CHANT? THAT WAS NO JOKE. HOW ABOUT THE NAZIS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE? TRUMP MAKES LIGHT OF HIS USE OF INCITEFUL WORDS AND ACTIONS, CLAIMING HE'S JOKING ON THE ONE HAND, BUT DOING SO KNOWING THAT SOME OF HIS FOLLOWERS ARE UNBALANCED AND OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY AND MAY ACT ON IT. BUT IT'S NO JOKE BECAUSE HIS WORDS AND THEIR ACTION HAVE REAL CONSEQUENCES. CONTRARY TO FOX & TRUMP CLAIMS IT'S THE MAGA FAITHFUL WHO HAVE THE REAL TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, BECUZ THEY ARE OBSESSED WITH IDENTIFYING AND PLEASING TRUMP AS IF HE WERE A CULT FIGURE. THEY WEAR THOSE RIDICULOUS 'I'M WITH HIM' RED AND WHITE MAGA CAPS AS IF THEY WERE RED WHITE AND BLACK NAZI ARMBANDS, THAT MAKE THEM MEMBERS OF AN ESPECIALLY IRRATIONAL AND UNCONTROLLABLE GROUP OF PEOPLE as we saw when these people who stormed the capitol to 'stop the steal' in spite of the overwhelming evidence against the notion there was any steal. They shoot people like the congresswoman in Minneapolis, attack Nancy Pelosi's husband, lay pipe bombs in Washington, D.C. because they believed Trump's lies about the Stop the Steal, and do other incredibly thoughtless and dangerous things because they want Trump's media attention. If Thune and Johnson cared a single hoot about this country and its citizens, they would immediately pass a Bill to change the Constitution by extracting the sentence or granting a presidential power to pardon. Our Founding Fathers had more faith in humankind than our generation of humankind deserves. Trump is not worthy of being granted the power of the pardon because he appears to sell it to thieves and drug lords and felons like himself. The pardoning power short circuits too much of the checks and balances in the system.
See - https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/12/16/trumpcriminals/
Trump's Violent Tendencies are Exemplified in the Militarization of American Civil Society
Since January 2025, Trump has increasingly militarized our nation by federalizing the National Guard based on 'trumped up' emergencies, and deploying them to states and cities that do not want them. Trump has also vastly increased the ranks of ICE agents, who have been sent into cities and states that also generally do not want them. The need for ICE has fallen significantly this year because the flow of illegal immigrants across the southern border has, for the most part, ended. Thus the need for ICE is ebbing, while Trump continues to grow the force. That, in itself, should be a warning sign that growing ICE may no longer be about immigration enforcement, but rather civilian and voter intimidation. Trump has been destabilizing the world order by using the U.S. military to strike targets in seven different nations in 2025, including major strikes in Nigeria, Venezuela, Iran and other nations in the Middle East. Let's not forget the 35 strikes in the Caribbean and East Pacific, by the U.S. military, resulting in 115 extrajudicial killings / murders, under the leadership of Pete Hegseth. And, lastly but not leastly, take note of the uptick in violent events and fatalities in which Trump's ICE is involved.
On January 23, 2026 Trump told a crowd that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not lose a single voter. What's wrong with someone who thinks that way and perhaps even more disturbing is to ask what's wrong with vast numbers of people who are ok with that? It's not funny anymore. This isn't some phony 'Reality TV' show, it's not a show at all, it's very real, and another innocent person has been killed.
Trump, Hitler and the Boiling Frog Metaphor
The boiling frog metaphor is about how a frog immediately jumps out of boiling water, but when placed in a pan of cool water doesn't jump from it as the heat increases, until he's boiled to death. It's a fictional metaphor used to highlight the human tendency to remain complacent, as threats grow gradually, until such time as a situation has spun out of control. This is what happened with Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1930's. And I have misgivings that that is what is unfolding here in America in 2026.
Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, followed by Czechoslovakia in two stages in 1938 & 1939. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, the Allies woke up and WWII broke out. Trump is talking about annexing Greenland, invading Columbia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran and god knows what else our demented Donald says, that the propaganda billionaire TV News mindlessly broadcasts daily.
Fascists start by normalizing behaviors that are considered ghastly in a normal modern civil society. Then little by little they ramp it up, so that by the time enough members of society catch on, it's too late to stop them. Within the last century this happened in Germany and Italy, and within the last 25 years in China and Russia and Hungary.
Trump, a Republican, has NO RESPECT for the Spineless Republican Leadership
Failed Leadership in the Senate and House. This past year Trump began an incredible assault on not only our federal government, but on our democracy. He started with the federal government by appointing Elon Musk as head of DOGE, and together they began castrating the regulatory agencies of the federal government first by removing all of the Inspectors General, who were part of the 'Deep State' - meaning these people were competent, experienced, apolitical and took their responsibilities to the American people seriously, by diligently and generally fairly executing them. Then Trump and Musk appeared to hack through all of the security and systems in the federal government with little to no oversight.
Trump and Musk were able to do this because of the incredibly weak Senate and House leadership. Thune & Johnson failed the American people by not exercising their check on Trump's unbridled use of the Executive branch power, and unfortunately, continue to fail to do so.
Trump has Little Respect for Thune or Johnson. Trump Informed Oil Execs of Impending Attack on Venezuela but Not the Senate or Congress. The graphic above or at right tells a sad tale. Trump had informed Houston Oil Executives about his planned attack in Venezuela on January 3, 2026, but did not inform John Thune's Senate nor Mike Johnsons House, which tells you exactly how little respect Trump has for either of them. As for not respecting John Thune or Mike Johnson, I find myself in agreement with Trump on this topic.
Democracy Failures - Academic & Media Institutions & Republican Congress
Failed Academic & Media Organiztions. While Musk was hacking through the federal government, Trump began hacking through American society by extorting academia, attorneys and the media through the withholding federal funds. By using federal funds as an extortion lever, Trump was able to bend the institutions to his will. Many of the institutions Trump assaulted this past year proved to be as spineless as some Democrats, and nearly all of the Republicans in the Senate and Congress. Notable disgraces include Columbia and NYU for caving to Trump's demands for funding. And both ABC and CBS settled lawsuits filed by Trump against them, seemingly to intimidate them, that observers believed both media outlets could have won.
The Yellowback Republican Senate and House. Make no mistake about it, the billionaires run the Republican party - not the people. Not even conservatives. The Republican Senate [John Thune] and House [Mikie Johnson] leaders have almost entirely abidicated their responsibilities, out of fear of Trump's bully pulpit wrath or lost campaign funding by the super wealthy. So many of the Senate confirmations of Trump's cabinet, and the U.S. Attorneys in the Administration, should never have been confirmed by Thune's Senate which becomes more apparent almost daily. Noem's ICE murders a Minneapolis mother last week, and this weekend we learned that former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a decade(s) long Trump sychophant, just filed a phony, trumped up criminal lawsuit against the Federal Reserve [see update above].
Democracy Failures & Heroes - The Supreme Court v. The Lower Courts, Respectively
The Courts, the Constitution & Rule of Law. In his year end report, Chief Justice Roberts said that the Constitution remained a 'firm pillar' of our democracy and that the nation's founding documents remain 'firm and unshaken'. While those words may be true, the meaning is not. Faith in the Supreme Court is significantly below 50%, this year reaching 39% at one point. And John Roberts' stewardship as the Supreme Court Justics isn't anything to crow about, as when Rpberts first became Chief Justice in 2005, betwen 60% - 70% of Americans held a favorable view of the court. Thus, during the course of Roberts' term in office to date, approval of the court has fallen from 60% - 70% to 39% - 45%.
The Fascist use of the SCOTUS Shadow Docket. This past year the Roberts Supreme Court seemed to cave to Trump pressures, by virtue of its heavy reliance on the Shadow Docket. The shadow docket is named as such, because Supreme Court shadow docket rulings, which have incredible impact on our society, do not provide the normal level of transparency found in the regular docket. The orders coming through the shadow docket have limited briefings, no oral argument, are unsigned and provide little to no explanation. That's not rule of law, that's rule by fiat. The shadow docket has been used to issue orders immigration, public health and civil liberties and executive power this past year. The shadow docket historically has rarely been used. But in the first year of Trump's second term it's been used a lot. One of the characteristics of the shadow docket is that it has been used for urgent matters that the Executive Branch wants expedited, and has been using the court rulings to justify what could be the Trump Administration's unlawful actions.
The Constitution & Lower Courts. So far the lower courts have generally done the heavy lifting to enforce the rule of law and keep Trump in check. The Supreme Court has not [see details above].
Democracy Heroes - Academic & Media Institutions that Defended the Republic
Thankfully, not all of our institutions capitulated when Trump and his cabinet launched their blitkrieg to implement Project 2025. Many organizations and groups resisted, and those that did push back, did so in a meaningful enough way, so that the Blitzkrieg launched in the first year of the 2nd Trump Administration's did not topple the our democratic republic. Notable heroic mentions in academia are Harvard and MIT for standing up to Trump. The NYT and the BBC have not caved. ABC briefly took Kimmel off the air, but when faced with massive defections for their viewership and Disney and other business interests, Disney / ABC reinstated Kimmel. The same is true of Sinclair Broadcasting, which is a very large U.S. TV stations group, controlled by the billionaire Smith family.
And thankfully not all Democrats are as wimpy as the Republican Leadership & Democratic Minority Leader. The Governors of California [Gavin Newsom], Illinois [J.B. Pritzker] and Minnesota [Tim Walz] have all stood up to Trump. Specifically pushing back on Trump's unnecessary overreach in their states vis-a-vis the federalization of the National Guard, and his over aggressive deployment of ICE into the businesses, schools, churches and most recently the homes within their states.
Current Legislators who were also Former Military & Intelligence Personnel, Post Video Reminding Service Members it's their Duty to Disobey Illegal Orders
Also, in an unusual, but timely video [roughly around 11/20/2025], a number of Senators and Congresspeople reminded our men and women in uniform that they must not obey illegal orders. Not obeying illegal orders is part of their training, and the video reminds them of that, because increasingly the Trump Administration appears to be using our military force and ICE illegally.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/93iyxmzl82I
A Justified Law Enforcement Response or a Murder by ICE?
For example the Minneapolis shooting of a friendly, unarmed mother of three, in what appeared to be a non-threatening situation, is in my opinion, very illegal. Some have called it murder. But view the videos above, and judge for yourself.
After the shooting Trump, Vance and Noem all defended the killing, telling us that the ICE agent was protecting himself, his team and the people of Minneapolis. It was really quite incredible to see them all telling us lies, falsehoods and truth distortions, when we could see the videos taken by the locals showing something that is almost completely contrary to their claims. And then they started the cover up by blocking Minnesota and Minneapolis law enforcement officers from participating in an investigation of this ICE shooting / murder, which is not normal. And assigning the Trump Administration's top cover up team to investigate it. The same team that investigated the Epstein Files: Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.
A Justified Military Action or Extra - Judicial Murders in the Caribbean?
Then there's the situation in the Caribbean and in the East Pacific where Trump's Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, has been bombing boats, clalming without proof, that they are narco terrorists [that used to be the reason we invaded Venezuela, but now it's the oil]. Hegseth claims that his orders are acts of war in a military operation - and not extra judicial murders in violation of international law.
It's worth mentioning that in September 30, 2025, Hegseth convened much of the top military brass to Quantico, Virginia to introduce them to Hegseth's new 'Warrior Culture', that he and Trump 'the peacemaker' had put together. Among other things, the new culture requires less academic / online training to allow more time working the motor pool or shooting on the range, it loosened the rules for keeping records of minor infractions, and ended 'politically correct' [aka culturally respectful] leadership, ostensibly to focus on more traditional discipline and risk taking.
Since the conference Trump Admin / Hegseth have been bombing alleged narco boats. After one bombing there was a video of two people hanging onto a capsized boat in the Caribbean, reportedly defenselessly. It's been reported that Trump Admin / Hegseth subsequently decided to bomb / kill the survivors in a violation of international law. After telling us they would release the video, they subsequently told us they would not release the video. The pliant TV News dropped to topic.
So this video, released around November 20, 2025 by former service members currently serving in the Senate and Congress, was and still is, very relevant legally, morally and ethically. Donald Trump seems to be someone who does not have a moral compass, and he has surrounded himself with similar people, such as Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed them all.
After the video was released, Trump attacked the Senators and Congresspeople for making and posting the video, which reminds service members to do what they are trained to do, which is to disobey illegal orders. A servile Hegseth [see our discussion of people like Hegseth in the Deep State paragraphs below] even went so far at to initiate hearings to demote former Senator Kelly, a former U.S. Navy Captain, a combat pilot and astronaut who served with distinction, for making the video. Our Consitutionally-ignorant President said they should be put to death for seditious behavior. This statement, like so much of what comes out of Donald Trump's mouth, is categorically false. Four generations of Kellys have served in the U.S. military over the past century, while not a single member of the Trump family has ever served in the U.S. military. And Trump himself, deferred the draft five times by claiming he had bone spurs [and college] in the 1960's. Kelly responded more kindly to Trump's statement, saying, “Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we’re all less safe for it.".
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5616884-kelly-angers-trumps-execution-call/
Trump Age & Possible Dementia. While the republic is still standing, it has been severely damaged by the events of the past year. Trump has also lost some measure of his invincibility, because of his failed, self-serving actions throughout 2025 and what appears the increasing encroachment of old age, if not dementia. Trump's losses this year include a number of some of his most stalwart supporters, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, the January 6th Shaman rioter and at least for a while - Elon Musk.
Will Trump be Able to Keep Fooling Enough of the People, All of the Time?
Not if Voters Continue Migrating their News Consumption from the Lightweight, Superficial TV News, to the Real News Sites on the Web
Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people, all of the time [hard core MAGAs]. All of the people, some of the time. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time." A con loses it's believability over time, as people begin to pay closer attention, and wake up to the deceptions.
Is Trump Really Making America Great Again or Just Saying So? And all of the Trump b.s., which is his specialty, now mostly looks like what it is - b.s. The roaring Trump economy never materialized, none of Trump's Doge dividents or tariff rebate promises materialized [but the Billionaires tax break did], America's debt (for which Trump is more responsible than anyone else) is ballooning out of control rising to parity with our annual GDP for the first time [ever?], the dollar tanked to one of its most significant lows in decade(s), inflation is still ravaging the household budget, now we're being sucked into Trump foreign wars which he promised he would never do ... Farmers have been screwed, the jobs boom never materialized as Trump has fought for Billionaire AI, working families are being terrorized by ICE and / or inflation. Where's the good news? Oh, yes, sorry I forgot, the billionaire stock holdings have hit record levels.
Is Trump is running out of new Cons to Sell the Same Package? And Trump is doing all the things he said others were doing, but he's doing them more grandly. He's literally turned Washington, D.C. into a filthy disgusting swamp of what appears corrupt crypto currency profiteers and presidential family grift on a massive scale, including receipt of a plane from Qatar and numerous real estate deals in the Middle East, where we're seem to be warring in favor of Trump business interests more than the national interest [why hasn't anyone awaken John Thune or Mike Johnson from their Trumpian slumber?]. Trump appears to be quid pro quo'ing the oil industry which spent $445 million in 2024 to put Trump back in office. This factoid also helps explain the real reason we're in Venezuela, versus the phony Trumped up lies about 'Narco Terrorism' and drug trafficking immigrants. Look up Trump's oil and gas donors like CITGO, but they're not alone. Then there's the Donald's rigging the system by changing the postal rules so that the mail in ballots can be disqualifed based on failed postmarks. Trump also initiated an effort to gerrymander Republican held states nationwide, most notably in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. Indiana rebuffed the effort. California swung toward the Democrats. And Trump lost his fervor for supporting QAnon conspiracies like the Epstein Files because it hit far too close to home. Even a dolt should be able to figure out why that narrative of a lying president, who's been found guilty of rape, ran beauty contests with young girls, including Charlie Kirk's wife Erika, changed here. And what happened to the 'Waste, Fraud & Abuse' that Trump campaigned on and that Elon Musk's DOGE was supposed to expose? I'll tell you what happened. The same damned thing that happened to Hillary's and Hunter Biden's laptops. Nothing, because nothing meaningful was there. The con men - Trump, Murdoch and Musk - are the real waste, fraud and abuse.
What Murdoch's Fox News Won't Tell You - Trump's Broken Promises. Trump claims he's kept his promises, but from where I sit I see a lot of broken ones. For example, we still haven't seen his taxes, we still haven't received our DOGE dividend checks, we still haven't received our Tariff Rebate checks, we still haven't seen the Democratic Hoax Epstein Files, we still haven't seen Trump's repeal and replace healthcare plan or even his 'concept of a plan' [only an effort to repeal] and he never drained the swamp - only made it filthier and stinkier than it's ever been over the past century, and possibly ever in our 250 year history. Trump makes the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920's look like child's play. But we won't know exactly how bad it is until there's a new president who is not a Republican [see Peter Thiel graphic below].
Trump & Billionaires are Destroying Our Government
So They can do Whatever They Want, without the Government Protecting Us from Them
Billionaires call it government interference. I call it rule of law in a democracy. The rule of law to an extent holds the very rich and very powerful in check from exploitation extremes.
Rupert Murdoch's phony Deep State narrative is all about billionaires discrediting and then ousting - a very dedicated, qualified, competent cadre of civil servants, appointed by both parties, who have been stewards of the public trust in our government. The billionaires discredit the civil servants in order to replace them with the incompetent, self-serving, self-dealing, spineless weasels who will do whatever the billionaires want and the public be damned.
The latter group currently populates the Trump Administation top positions. Some good examples of what I'm talking about have been on display all year, like ICE Lady Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Blondie, the FBI's Wide Eyes Patel, Secretary of War Pete Hogshead, Scott Bentbent of the Treasury and Baby Marco of the Department of Stately Stupid. Within the past year each and every one of these people has shown that they are lacking integrity, that they are not working for us, the American People; and that the only qualification for their job that matters is loyalty to Donald Trump.
Update January 11, 2026.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell just released a video statement announcing that Trump's DOJ, headed by Pam Bondi, is filing criminal charges against the Federal Reserve about the restoration and renovations of its almost century old building. The statement will take only two minutes of your time to watch, and is an incredible example of what I had stated above. Trump decade(s) long sycophant, U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro, formerly of Murdoch's Fox News, filed the lawsuit. Based on the integrity of her old newscasts and some of her former legal failings, she's not very competent, so it's unlikely the case will make much progress with an impartial judge.
Pay attention to how billionaire TV News downplays or ignores this important two minute statement, which is expected to rattle markets on Monday, January 12, 2026. Superficial TV News is more likely to focus on the impact on the markets, than what appears to be Trump's effort to undermine the institutional independence of the Federal Reserve, which would destabilize U.S. monetary policy and continue the precipitous slide of the U.S. Dollar which lost 9 - 11% of its value last year. Investors around the world are reassessing the old perception that America was a safe harbor, due to its stable political system and democratically powered economy.
In the graphic above or at right, is Bill Pulte, who is the Housing Finance Agency Director and the grandson and heir to one of [if not the] largest home building companies in America. According to Bloomberg, he was the instigator for the trumped up lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Chairman.
Is Trump trying to undermine the U.S. Dollar to strengthen crypto assets and companies - like the crypto assets he and his family own?
Regardless of what's driving the effort to pressure Powell out, Trump's DOJ appears to be using their office and the law extort people and institutions, by filing frivolous lawsuits [lawsuits that have no merit]. Somebody should consider filing complaints to have these people's attorney licenses revoked [this would trigger their dismissals], because they are clearly violating the code of conduct, if not the law itself.
CLICK PHOTO LINK
End of January 11, 2026 update.
Trump Foreign Policy is Directed in the Private Interest, not the Public Interest. In one of the previous graphics above or at right [headline states - Trump Admits Oil Companies Knew About Attack on Venezuela - Congress did Not], you can see that not only is Trump's cabinet not working for the American People, but neither is Trump himself. The strike on Venezuela had nothing to do with narco terrorism as claimed by Marco Rubio and the Trump Administration but rather the oil. Trump informed oil executives about the planned strike before it happened, but did not inform the Senate or Congress. Seems like fascism to me and incredibly weak leadership in the Senate and Congress.
I'm going to make a public prediction, which to date I have not done. And that is that America's debt and all of the Trumpian chaos, and Republican party ineptitude, is going to severely damage this nation economically and possibly militarily. By the time Donald Trump leaves office, even some of the slow learners within the MAGA universe, should be able to see it. Just like he did last time - but this time even worse because there's no pandemic (least not yet) to cover up some of the very real institutional destruction.
As the MAGAs awaken, please welcome them back to reality as they arrive, instead of scolding them. It will take courage for them to admit they made a huge mistake, that they threw the nation and world into chaos, and that their support of Trump mortgaged their descendants' futures, by transferring trillions of future generations' wealth to the current set of billionaires, in the form of debt funded tax breaks. You can thank Rupert Murdoch, who controls Fox News, for his role in making the huge wealth transferrence from our kids to the super wealthy (like himself) happen - by changing channels when Fox is on or turning off the TV. Murdoch has always used his mass media outlets to support lower taxation for rich people, by increasing government debt, and dumping the added debt onto the public and future generations.
I'm not enthusiastic about the old guard in the Democratic party either. But they have inflicted less damage than the MAGAs. Democrats need to seriously ask themselves whether the leadership - most notably Senator Chuck Schumer - should be replaced. Democrats need to geographically diversify the party's leadership geographically from one banking district in NYC [Schumer / Jeffries], to other parts of the nation. Not having any leadership diversification is why the Democratic party is out of touch with the reality of most Americans who live outside the NYC - D.C. corridor.
The graphic above or at right [the link below will take you there] shows the Real Clear poll of polls of the top federal leaders in the U.S. government. The numbers are as follows: Johnson -6%, Jeffries -6%, Thune -6% and Schumer -21%. Schumer has an unfavorable rating differential that is over 3x greater than the three other leaders, which may help explain why the Democrats don't fare well in polls. Schumer has all of the charisma of an undertaker.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/favorability/political-leaders
Why we need a strong federal government. We need a strong government to protect us from the extreme exploitations of the wealthy and powerful. This manifests itself in fair courts, clean air and water, public safety, an educated and healthy workforce, fair / decent wages, safe and reliable transportation, safe workplaces, and life / career opportunities. Many of these government services and benefits have been rolled back in the short while since Trump became president in January 2025. The billionaires were winning before Trump, but now they are winning wildly, and they've already started working on continuing their run again in 2026. So take note as the government of, for and by The People is under siege.
MAGA's are the Real RINOs
I used to have quite a bit of respect for the Republican Party and the values for which it stood. In fact I was, for a few years, registered as a Republican. But the republican party starting selling out in the 1980's. Since the 1980's the Republican party has undergone a huge transformation so that today most Republican officials are now laser focused on the interests of the billionaires who fund their campaigns, instead of the voters who elected them. The reason for this is that the campaign funding is used to manipulate voter perceptions, generally via TV News and related programs, so that ignorant voters will elect pols who will do what the billionaires tell them to. Thus voters have increasingly given up their power, as Republicans keep changing the laws to enable the billionaires to consolidate power, most notably via media consolidation.
Today the Republican Party doesn't really stand for anything except what Donald Trump and other billionaires tell them they stand for - like taking over Venezuela for oil - not drugs. And the Republican Party certainly doesn't stand for anything it once did. You can't stand for family values and vote for a rapist, felon, possibly [probably?] pedophilic president. You can't stand for Christian values and vote for someone who appears to have cheated on his taxes [NYS], defrauded investors and/ or customers [Trump University], cheated contractors and employees [includind a dishwasher], defrauded banks, defaulted on banks and appears to be a non stop compulsive liar. You can't stand for fiscal conservatism and vote for someone who is responsible for racking up more U.S. government debt than any other human being in our 250 year history [includes the next three years, but doesn't have to]. You can't stand for Christian values and vote for someone who takes food and healthcare from the poor and middle classes and transfers it to the rich [2025 big bogus bill and 2017 Trump Tax Cuts for the Rich].
The Republican Party chose to do what was easy, instead of what was right, probably starting around Nixon's time, but definitely going into high gear with Reagan. Fox News Rupert Murdoch and his propaganda press made inroads into the Republican party apparatus, by seeming to exchange media support for legislative support - meaning changing the rules in Murdoch's favor and giving Murdoch big tax breaks funded by piling debt on future generations of Americans. That seemingly quid pro quo corruption, has grown to include giving the tech billionaires, multi-million & billion dollar government contracts. For example Elon Musk has contracts with the U.S. government valued at between $15 - $38 BILLION, while his buddy, Peter Thiel of Palantir [shown in graphic above or at right], has about $299 MILLION in ICE contracts. Both have been major donors to the Republican Party, Republican candidates and Republican supportive PACs that buy a lot of TV ad time to manipulate the perceptions of voters who rely on TV to inform / disinform them about the world.
In time Republicans were winning victories because of Murdoch mass manipulation and Murdoch was gobbling up more and more of our mass media - along with other billionaires - until it was very challenging for the Democrats to win, because of Murdoch's mass media distortions of the truth. After Roberts became the Supreme Court Justice, Republicans opened the floodgates to billionaire purchases of elections via mass media manipulation, since which Murdoch profited handsomely, because a huge share of that spending runs through his manipulative mass media outlets. I think the old adage is, 'Buy a Fox, NY Post, WSJ ad and get the Murdoch Mass Media manipulation free.'
So, here we are today, and most Americans still don't know that all of their TV networks are controlled by billionaires (or close enough). And that because of billionaire ownership / control, TV News omits stories if they don't serve the billionaires' business interests and they also amplify and distort stories when it serves their business interests. Take note that the billionaires also control most social media like Facebook, Twitter and Tik Tok etc - but not BSky.app. And they control the two biggest search engines.
So, unbeknownst to many / even most Republicans, it's the MAGA's who are the real RINOs [aka Repubicans In Name Only]. Those who stayed true to the values the Republican party once stood for, cannot by definition be MAGAs. MAGA's happened because the billionaires - most notably Rupert Murdoch and subsequently Donald Trump - hollowed out traditional Republican values and transformed the party into their own taxpayer funded billionaire cash machine. The only way the rest of us in the community are going to right things is to wake up, wake up others, and stay focused on who's who and what's what, which can't be done by relying heavily on TV News to stay informed. While some news may be found on TV, the web is the best place to find it, and local and national news sites are the best, as most social media [not BSky.app] have reliability issues. I started a Web News Sources page, but it needs quite a bit of work. It has an NYC focus, but also some national and eventually some international news sources. For example, internationally I find the Israel Times, Al Jazeera and Haaretz to be far more reliable sources of what's going on in Israel and the Middle East, than any U.S. based news sources.
Meet Two of the Weakest Legislative Leaders in America's 250 Year History
I keep wondering, what will it take to wake the American people up, to the incredible amorality of Donald Trump and his Administration. When are people going to quit being afraid of being labeled 'WOKE' by the billionaire press, like Murdoch's Fox News, which appears to have flipped paying attention and staying alert, from something good, to being something bad.
If people are awake or 'woke', they'd know that Murdoch's Fox News is constantly manipulating them to vote for things in his billionaire interests. Fox viewers get tax break parade candy, in exchange for giving the billionaires the proceeds from a full mortgaging their houses [aka the debt racked up via deficits that are used to fund the billionaire tax breaks].
And when are the Amercan people going to start pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, to start doing their jobs. When are the American People going to demand that these two men start exercising the checks and balances levers they have control over in the American system of governance? When are the American People going to demand that John Thune and the Republican dominated Senate claw back the loose cannons they confirmed to populate the Trump Administration?
In the photo above or at right stand Mike Johnson and John Thune. Johnson is the current Republican Speaker of the House and Thune is the current Republican Senate Majority Leader. Both white men have failed the American people by not exercising the powers vested in them as a separate and coequal branch of the American system of government - per Article I of the U.S. Constitution. They are, in a large measure, why the Trump Administration is out of control, creating chaos at every turn, since its arrival in Washington, D.C. a year ago. These men have prioritized keeping their jobs, over performing the duties required to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them by the American people.
We will be returning to our normal programming sometime between this weekend and next week.
