January 26, 2026

Republican ends bid for Minnesota governor, citing 'unconstitutional' ICE surge

Source: The Guardian


Republican ends bid for Minnesota governor, citing ‘unconstitutional’ ICE surge
Chris Madel drops out of race and in video criticizes the ‘federal retribution on the citizens’ of Minnesota

Maya Yang
Mon 26 Jan 2026 12.23 EST
Share
A top Republican candidate for Minnesota governor has dropped out of the race, sharply criticizing what he called a “federal retribution on the citizens of our state” amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement operations – which sparked public outrage after US agents’ killings of ICU nurse Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

On Monday, Minneapolis-based attorney Chris Madel made his announcement, saying in a video online: “I cannot support the … stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/26/republican-chris-madel-minnesota-governor-race-ice

January 19, 2026

Trump wants to invade Greenland because another country's prize committee didn't give him a peace award.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” he said, adding he could now “think about what is good and proper” for the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/19/donald-trump-greenland-threats-nobel-prize-snub-letter


I am beyond disgust and horror. How can the joint chiefs, the Congress, the courts, the GOP, listen to this and think this narcissist sociopath should be allowed to risk our military and our alliances because he didn't get a prize for PEACE????

May 28, 2025

"How long will it be before Melania steps aside for MelanAI?"

Mrs Trump is seemingly so disinterested in her role as first lady that along with being mostly absent from the White House, she’s got an AI to read her audiobook. How long before she replaces herself with a robot?

I listen to a LOT of audiobooks, and an AI narrator is an automatic reject. It's really disrespectful to the readers to refuse to hire a human narrator. These are the weirdest rich people-- cheap in all the wrong ways.
I mean, not that I'd buy her book in any medium. But her fans, such as they are, will not like a robot voice. Then again, it does reflect her personality, I guess.

From the Guardian.

February 7, 2025

He ain't heavy. He's my brother. The Hollies

A song America needs to listen to again:

It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share?
… And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

December 24, 2024

CNN is whitewashing Trump's vision of invading and conquering other countries.

"Trump is teasing US expansion into Panama, Greenland and Canada'
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/23/politics/trump-us-expansion-panama-canada-greenland/index.html

You know, like Hitler "expanded" into Poland and Sudatenland and France.
Like how Stalin "expanded" into Poland and Germany and Slovakia.

It's called INVASION.
And it's called INSANE.

And it's not "teasing". It's THREATENING our allies!

October 30, 2024

Harris 6% up in Wisconsin, 5 in Michigan-- the Guardian

Harris takes lead over Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan - poll
A new CNN poll shows Kamala Harris leading over Trump by 6 points in Wisconsin and 5 points in Michigan, key battleground states.

Harris leads Trump by 48% to 43% among likely voters in Michigan and 51% to 45% in Wisconsin.

Of course, these results are characterized as "a narrow lead."

Infuriating! Anything over the margin of error isn't narrow.

August 17, 2023

"No president in history has ever acted MORE STEREOTYPICALLY LIKE A GANGSTER": TPM

If the Shoe Fits
by Josh Marshall
From TPM Reader AC who knows quite a bit about the history of the racketeering statutes.

Can I remind people that no president in history has ever acted MORE STEREOTYPICALLY LIKE A GANGSTER than Trump? He owned casinos. He has deep connections in the New York City construction industry. His son-in-law’s father did time for extortion. He calls people who inform on him “rats.” He bullies. He threatens to expose people’s private shame to obtain endorsements. He filled his administration with pro wrestling magnates and failed movie producers.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/if-the-shoe-fits

July 25, 2023

CNN: Billionaire Leon Black made $158 million payment to Jeffrey Epstein.Senators want to know why

Hmmm... not sure it was just taxes he was hoping to avoid....

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/business/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-senate-investigation/index.html

May 26, 2023

Meanwhile, back in 1969...

CNN: On 4/26/2023, "A lunar lander likely plummeted 3 miles before smashing into the lunar surface after a historic attempt to make a soft touchdown on the moon, the Japanese company Ispace revealed Friday....
The Hakuto-R lunar lander was aiming to make history in late April in its attempt to become the first spacecraft — developed by a private company rather than a government space agency — to make a controlled landing on the moon."

Consider...On 7/20/1969, 54 years ago-- decades before the internet, with the computing power of your toddler's Speak and Spell-- two Americans not only landed safely on the moon's surface, they also walked around, got pictures, picked up rocks, got back into the landing craft, and shot back up into space to reconnect with their comrade in the orbiter. And all three men arrived home to earth a few days later.

Sometimes, really, governments do it better. And sooner.

December 7, 2022

Help, explain this: Trump lawyers hire outside team to search four properties for classified info

What happens if they find something classified?
Did Trump authorize this?
Can any of this be trusted?


CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/07/politics/trump-lawyers-properties-search/index.html
 — 
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump recently hired a team to search four of his properties for any potentially remaining classified materials, according to a source familiar the matter.

The team of two searched Trump Tower in New York, the Bedminster golf club and two other properties amid lingering concerns from the Justice Department that not all documents had been returned to the federal government.

The four searches, which were carried out in recent weeks, were overseen by Trump’s legal team, the source said. Trump’s attorneys offered to let federal investigators observe the search at his Bedminster properties, but that offer was declined. Given the Justice Department’s response, Trump lawyers did not make a similar offer for the search of the other properties.

It would be highly unusual for the Justice Department to observe searches that aren’t conducted by law enforcement. The department declined to comment.