Waddaya Do About a Problem Like Fascism?
With much consternation, anger and fear in the air in the US and the growing sense of alarm in countries around the globe formerly known as ‘our allies’, I only have a limited amount of my own words to add to today’s collection. There are just too many eloquent and essential voices I’ve observed this past week.
The best advice I can add: check all of them out, hear and see what they have to say, take some pause time to reflect on their messages. Then take some more time with or in contact with your loved ones today.
And after all that, then decide how best to alter the course our government is on and how it will impact your loved ones. I don’t need to advise you about what to do. I can say I’ll be calling multiple lawmakers on Monday and Tuesday because phone calls have more impact than snailmail or email. Republican and Democrats will be contacted by me.
That’s for starters, on my part. Then I’ll take what steps I deem necessary to protect family, friends and neighbors from this full frontal assault on our democracy and everything I hold dear. All things I deem necessary because I think it pretty clear there’s a freight train barreling our way, loaded with arrogance and hubris without a moment of hesitation or a teaspoon of shame.
I trust that you will do you, with all the consideration and humanity you possess. This is America’s cognitive test. Take a good look at the videos. Identify which is the giraffe, the murderer, the mom, the heaping pile of bullshit and the anti-American crime family.
Article: Four Top DOJ officials just resigned, in part because the DOJ chief refused to investigate the murder of Renee Good.
”“Everyone’s seen it,” Trump replied. “A woman who’s very violent. She’s a, you know, very radical person. Very sad what happened. Her friend was very radical.”
Friends and family say Renee Good has never been a part of a political protest and went there to observe ICE in action. She has no criminal record and no aggressive behavior by her was seen in any of the videos. Other vehicles passed her car, proving she wasn’t stopping ICE vehicles from passing either. She was murdered in cold blood. That’s what everyone saw. Trust your own eyes.
From Facebook, here’s Jacalynn:
That’s one perspective from an American woman. Think about what it’s like to be a woman in America these days.
You may need a Facebook account to view this short video reel.
Another Facebook reel about a Border Control report published in 2014. That’s when their training was officially changed to make it clear that stepping in front of moving vehicles must be avoided, as well as shooting into a moving car.
Training that the murdering agent Jonathan Ross completely ignored.
The report with key parts highlighted make it clear.
An unnamed friend of mine sent this message to me describing the situation in nearby St Paul Minnesota on Sunday:
”Lots of protesters. I haven't heard about any counter protesters.
They might not like the cold and icy streets & and sidewalks, or maybe some of them are starting to be embarrassed about what they voted for. ICE is out in droves, pulling citizens etc out of cars and halfway houses and off school grounds.
My adult adopted kids ( who live at home) are Hispanic and terrified of being picked up. They are hiding in the house, not going out in public, creating escape plans, and putting an attorney in place should the worst happen.”
The administration plans to fast track the hiring of 10,000 more ICE agents to add to the 20,000+ they currently have. As 85% have law enforcement experience, when they’re done, more than 4,000 agents will have no previous law enforcement experience.
I hear the gig pays well, up to $90K for new hires. Pay attention to the script below AMERICA NEEDS YOU.
“Invaded.” Due to conflicts in El Salvador and Nicaragua that the Reagan administration was involved in, immigration surpassed it’s previous 1930 high in 1981. That’s when the steep rise in immigration began.
It was declining in the early 2020s but a one year spike in 2023 provoked the alarm that this administration exploited to get elected in 2024. Biden tightened the rules for 2024 and Biden exported more people in 2024 than Trump did in 2025. Without terrorizing US cities, without building a host of detention centers, without sending them to foreign prisons known for brutality, without detaining US citizens, without blocking access to families and attorneys, without violating court orders and without torture.
Heather Cox Richardson weighed in Saturday in her Letters From An American newsletter.
And her Sunday newsletter - documenting the series of events from December 19th to January 10th - is breathtaking in the reveal of the President’s megalomaniacal ambitions that threaten our Treasury, our financial markets, our allies, and our own national security ought to be required reading for everyone 15 and older in this country.
Reporting from Minnesota on Monday makes it clear that the Twin Cities are under siege by these non-law enforcement agents, with other cities in Minnesota also in the ICE gunsights. City police are operating with nearly 100% of their officers deployed, most doing overtime. While most citizens are carefully protesting peaceful, Minneapolis police had to de-escalate a situation and disperse one crowd that did result in 30 arrests. Most city residents understand that not just ICE but rightwing agitators are trying to incite violent responses from protesters and are refusing to take the bait.
But schools face lockdowns when ICE agents approach, many families are housebound, afraid to work to go to school, to shop or go to church. Community messaging that used to be done by phone is now by word of mouth or by Signal apps, essentially building an underground resistance. ICE has been following food delivery drivers, detaining many legal residents with some being roughed up. And some are displaying improper handling of weaponry that exposes their lack of training.
And the Twin Cities have filed a lawsuit against ICE and border patrol to try to stop their invasion that has made their cities less safe. Here’s another FB reel with a retired couple in Richfield, Minnesota describing their encounter with ICE agents.
To make clear what risks we are all under across the US, it’s important to understand how extensive federal surveillance has become. They now treat US citizens as having no rights to be secure in our homes as their spying capabilities amount to warrantless searches.
Two months ago, Rachel Maddow covered the surveillance processes being used in a 6:37 minute video.
An article from last June offers a number of ways to protect one’s self from the surveillance of a government gone rogue. I plan to do a more thorough description of evading detection, which is necessary for modern underground resistance movements, which now appears we’ll need. (Click on the image to read the article)
