I’m not the first, the tenth, or even the thousandth person to observe that one of the most dispiriting and shocking things about the Trump era is not the fascism, it’s the complicity. Big law, big business, higher ed — all have bent the knee. The most powerful institutions in the country squatted and peed like frightened puppies when Trump raged at them. As Ta-Nehisi Coates said not long ago, of Harvard and Columbia, “Y’all are sitting on $40 billion? And you can’t oppose this man? Either you’re cowards or you’re with him. And if you’re with him, you never believed in the things you were talking about to begin with.”
So when someone doesn’t? It’s pretty great.
Chuck Redd, the jazz drummer/vibes player who refused to play his annual Christmas Eve jam at the Kennedy Center? Hero. Bela Fleck, banjo player? Did the same thing, also a hero. And now comes the union auto worker who heckled Tubby as he toured a Ford plant in Dearborn. He’s been suspended, but my guess is, he’ll be back on the job soon. And he, too, is a hero.
We all know why Trump keeps the ass-lickers around him. Because they let him do whatever he wants, and because they spend every moment in his presence telling him how great he is. There’s a reason the Roman emperors had a slave whispering in their ear during their triumphs, telling them the mob is fickle and they are but men made of flesh and blood like everybody else. Blessed be the truth-tellers, for they will come out of this era with their dignity intact.
Meanwhile, I texted a friend in Minneapolis and asked if things are as bad there as they seem. His reply:
Yes. I have a little Catholic school on the next block. Now a lot of Latino kids. Families line up to pick them up in the afternoon. There haven’t been any cars for days. (His son’s) friend got arrested at a protest. ICE detains you and holds you for 10-12 hours then kicks you out. No paperwork. No charges. (Son) works at a restaurant doing double shifts because ICE is patrolling around the homes of Hispanic coworkers. Can’t drive down the street without them on patrol. A woman yesterday was trying to get to a doctor appt. ICE broke her window, cut her seatbelt and dragged her out of her car. Last night Hannity ran a video of it as an example of anti ICE protesters trying to hit agents.
I’ll leave you with that.
Peter said on January 14, 2026 at 12:53 pm
Well, as if you needed any more proof how thin skinned our Fearless Leader is, and how he can’t handle any criticism. Did the auto worker swear at him, or called him rude names? Nope, just two words. If the Democrats had any balls, they should chant that at the next State of the Union address. Better yet, invite that guy to the address.
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nancy said on January 14, 2026 at 1:13 pm
When Tubby spoke to the Detroit Economic Club yesterday, he had a one-hour speech in the prompter that he ignores, as he usually does. But he had his playlist, which ends with that Lee Greenwood song. He doesn’t walk out as the song is ending, but as it’s beginning, and he stands and sways to the music until it’s over. He expects thunderous applause, but I’m told it was…spotty. And polite.
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Dexter Friend said on January 14, 2026 at 1:53 pm
L.O’D played a video of Trump ending a Detroit speech leaning back and forth at the podium and then stepping aside and doing the Trump dance to the gay anthem, “Y.M.C.A.”
All these videos from Minneapolis are gut-wrenching, but lately, yesterday’s of that woman on her way to a family funeral was extra-horrific… yanked out of her car and fucking SLAMMED to the pavement.
A reporter on the ground in Iran stated the figure of 12,000 dead protesters, while estimates from reporters in London and New York and D.C. say more like 2,500. So nobody knows a goddam thing, except thousands of demonstrators are on the streets, many waiting for Trump to annihilate the regime…somehow?
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Jeff Borden said on January 14, 2026 at 2:25 pm
A long-time acquaintance called me “hysterical” the day before Renee Good was murdered because of a post noting that the presence of ICE/CBP created the opposite of making me feel safe when the goons were in my neighborhood a few weeks ago. This was after noting how I witnessed a Hispanic mother pulled from her car, thrown to the sidewalk face down, kneeled on by one thug while another prick zip-tied her hands as tightly as possible. This action resulted in our entire neighborhood turning out volunteers to stand watch on the sidewalks to and from an elementary school and a high school with many Hispanic students. This hysteric will tell you –again– these assholes are the most unprofessional law enforcement goons in my experience. And I live in Chicago, where the police department has generally been viewed with great suspicion, especially by minorities. All of a sudden, they look like the epitome of police work. There are going to be more deaths caused by DHS and soon. It’s all part of the effort to declare martial law at some point.
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David C said on January 14, 2026 at 3:10 pm
All it’s going to take is a firecracker or some other loud noise and these motherfuckers are going to go Boston Massacre with AKs on whoever happens to be standing in front of them. Men, women, children, the won’t give a shit. They get off on killing.
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Dorothy said on January 14, 2026 at 6:54 pm
At least three times in the last few months, anytime they show members of the Cabinet sitting around a table while F*** Face sits with them, silent, I say to my hubby “First they all have to masturbate him with words and announce how wonderful he is, and then they talk about the subject at hand.” That’s all it really is. He demands they talk about what a magnificent specimen of a man he is, the greatest President to draw breath ever, etc etc. I’m so SO sick and tired of it. I honestly don’t know how we’re supposed to sustain all of this for three more years. I wish daily for his demise.
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Deborah said on January 14, 2026 at 10:06 pm
Dexter, gut wrenching is the perfect description of what it feels like and Dorothy, how in the world am I going to make it with my sanity intact for 3 more years I have no idea.
I cry almost every day now over something, it’s so distressing what people are going through. Some poor 17 year old kid sobbing in a parking lot where he was dumped by those thugs after they slammed him on the ground and mashed him into a van, an American citizen no less.
My niece lives just outside of Minneapolis, she’s keeping me abreast and it is shocking. Her area has a lot of Hmong people and they’re being targeted too.
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alex said on January 15, 2026 at 10:35 am
Even my doctor has told me to take a vacation from news because it’s putting me under undue stress but when shit like this is going on I simply can’t ignore it. I’ve been holed up in front of the computer spending whole days there and finding myself unable to do anything else. I’m retired and financially secure and the world should be my oyster, yet I can’t seem to find enjoyment in anything. For better than a year now I’ve been procrastinating on buying myself new art supplies and reengaging in creative endeavors. I think today I’m gonna get off my ass and just do it.
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alex said on January 15, 2026 at 10:53 am
Well those plans got changed pretty fast. My hubby, who left town on business Monday, just texted me that he’s got COVID. So I guess I’ll be going to the pharmacy instead of the art supply store. I had no appetite yesterday and today I’m feeling a little woozy so I’d better get it checked out.
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Pam H said on January 15, 2026 at 10:59 am
Tony Dukopol didn’t look so good on CBS News TV yesterday interviewing asswipe in that auto factory. I’ll bet he thought if he just talked to him calmly and sensibly, everything would go well. Ha! The media cannot schedule interviews for Repubs. They all talk incessantly with no let up as they stream the party line. Tony could take some points from Margaret Brennan. She’s used to it.
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Dexter Friend said on January 15, 2026 at 12:40 pm
God-damned Covid19 got my daughter. She is sure she got it on her flights from Detroit-Charlotte or Charlotte to PBI. She recognized the symptoms and got medicine right away…she is feeling better today. This is never going away, is it?
Sports today: massive gambling scandal involving lesser-known teams…millions of dollars changing hands on point-shaving.
News: Greenland standing tall: U.S. out of Greenland. And no…no Chinese and /or Russian warships surrounding Greenland; this is just bullshit from Trump.
And the Go-Fund-Me for the autoworker has been capped at 809,000 dollars. I was born too soon! When I challenged Spiro Agnew in Fort Wayne in October, 1972, it made the New York Times front page. Way before social media and Go Fund Me. Jokes on me. Ha ha.
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alex said on January 15, 2026 at 4:46 pm
Negative test for me. Yay.
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Jeff Gill said on January 15, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Meanwhile, on the Acela in business class:
https://www.threads.com/@petelx/post/DTgid4QCaEx
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Julie Robinson said on January 15, 2026 at 6:50 pm
Any Nicholas Sparks fans here? Apparently there aren’t too many in Orlando, because he’ll be here on the 17th and free passes are still available through the library. They have a program called Local Wanderers where arts organizations release a quantity of free tickets that cardholders can request. The tickets become available 30 days in advance, and normally you better make your request early that day or they’ll be gone. Poor old Nicholas, two days out and they’re still available.
Better thinking about that than fearing my daughter is gonna get herself arrested one of these days.
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Jakash said on January 15, 2026 at 6:56 pm
Re: Jeff’s post @ 13. Yes, yes, Biden should have announced in 2022 that he wasn’t running again. Yes, his policy of overcompensating in trying to distance himself from the orange felon’s immigration outrages was a mistake. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled poorly.
But, man, I feel pretty bad for the guy. Joe in 2022 didn’t know what Joe in 2024 was gonna be like. What elderly man wants the car keys taken out of his hands and doesn’t hold on way too long if they can? Now, imagine being the “most powerful man in the world” and having to decide to give that up. When (in 2022) you think you’re doing pretty well and fully (though wrongly) believe that you’re the only one who can keep the felon from returning. Look at how the presidency ages any normal occupant.
He ran a pretty solid administration overall. In October, 2024, The Economist magazine (no left-wing rag, that) called the U. S. economy “the envy of the world” while Sir Grift-a-Lot convinced many delusional folks that he was going to bring the price of GROCERIES down, when he didn’t even know that was still a word.
Let’s see, on one hand Biden had the “scandal” of his son’s laptop, and the biggest liar in history referring to him as the head of a “crime family.” On the other hand, we now have a leader and a government that is so blatantly corrupt that you can’t even keep track of all the schemes. And an ACTUAL, not notional, crime family!
I wish folks in this country were capable of even acknowledging nuance when it comes to how they view the world. Biden was flawed, but did a pretty good job. “Oh, hell no — he was the worst president in history, you libtard!”
I hope in his daily life people treat him well, because to have worked one’s whole life trying to make things better for people only to end up mercilessly shitcanned and denigrated by many of those same people must be pretty tough to take.
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alex said on January 15, 2026 at 8:21 pm
Jakash — and to be lionized and sainted by the people whom you’ve hoodwinked, my God what a powerful ego trip that must be.
I always love it when psychoanalysts dissect what a clinically sick fuck he is:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/opinion/trump-presidential-power-addiction.html?unlocked_article_code=1.E1A.IJap.cupC3L_hKKy3&smid=url-share
Gift article.
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ROGirl said on January 16, 2026 at 5:26 am
This was apparently included in his wake at the Ford plant:
https://x.com/LincolnSquareHQ/status/2011197095064092844
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Jakash said on January 16, 2026 at 6:26 pm
Thanks for the gift link, Alex. There’s way too much to unpack there, so I’ll just comment on this:
“In the current divided political environment, where checks and balances have become significantly eroded and critical stakeholders, possibly out of fear of bullying, are unable to push back on his behavior, we may be in for more bad behavior from Trump.”
If Supreme Court justices, U.S. Senators and House members, along with some of the most powerful universities and business titans are knuckling under due to “fear of bullying” by the least impressive, least virile load of lard around, it would seem unbelievable.
To me, it’s not fear of bullying, it’s trying to stay on the maniac’s good side because all he cares about is if you say nice things about him, and if you stay on his good side, perhaps you’ll continue to receive some of the plunder that he’s corruptly reaping via both the “system,” such as it is, and his gullible followers.
Completely aside from that, now the Nobel Peace Prize has all the cachet of the FIFA Peace Prize. What a world!
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Julie Robinson said on January 16, 2026 at 6:44 pm
Yes, it’s true, Trump can ruin anything just by talking about it.
As a palate cleanser, a delightful interview with our niece and her business partner, discussing their yarn shop. She’s had a difficult path in life and it’s so great that she’s found her niche.
https://www.ipm.org/show/nicework/2026-01-16/the-peoples-yarn
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susan said on January 16, 2026 at 9:19 pm
Julie, what neat people! with great attitudes. Thanks for posting that. (Is Mary or Evie your niece?)
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Julie Robinson said on January 17, 2026 at 7:14 am
Mary is our niece. She grew up in Seattle and has faced many losses which left her rudderless. So I love that along with selling yarn, she’s created a welcoming space for others. She’s still working her day job and we dream of the day the shop can sustain her.
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Deborah said on January 17, 2026 at 10:19 am
My niece in Minneapolis sent me a heartening email this morning:
I went to a Happy Hour with a coworker last night. She said she hadn’t seen any Ice Agents yet either. But she said her mother was shopping at Target the other day and suddenly over the intercom Target announced: “Attention Target Guests. We just wanted to let you know that ice is in the parking lot.” And then all of a sudden all these whistles started blowing at the front of the store.
Everyone in Minnesota is carrying whistles now. In fact at the brewery they had a big jar at the checkout that was full of whistles. And there was a sign that said “Free whistles!” And customers could take one as they got their beer.
Strange times.
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basset said on January 17, 2026 at 10:55 am
Meanwhile, preparations for Monday night’s game continue in Bloomington:
https://www.idsnews.com/article/2026/01/showalter-fountain-fish-vanish-iu-championship-game
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susan said on January 17, 2026 at 3:06 pm
Live, from Minneapolis
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Deborah said on January 17, 2026 at 5:26 pm
This is fantastic, I got this from the Musical Coda of Paul Krugman’s substack today (he’s done like 3 of them today I think) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS0wFiWpU4U
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Deborah said on January 17, 2026 at 5:51 pm
Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe home for sale: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/former-gene-hackman-residence-outside-santa-fe-hits-market-for-6-25-million/article_de177f51-4365-4884-b931-412d066b4f80.html
I’m just back from the Abiquiu cabin and catching up on what I missed online.
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tajalli said on January 17, 2026 at 8:58 pm
Loved the music videos, Deborah, especially the spirit designed to eat him from the inside out through his dreams, plus the snipers.
Susan, thanks for the live footage – watched in its entirety, amazed at the restraint and the chasing.
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alex said on January 18, 2026 at 11:27 am
I subscribe to a small local chain of community newspapers (where one of our NN.C commentariat is a reporter, btw) and found it quite heartening today to read some of the most candid and scorching criticism I’ve ever seen of the GOP and Trump from this outlet, which generally tilts conservative and runs syndicated crap by the likes of Adam Shapiro and John Stossel, and mostly seems to go out of its way not to offend the MAGA faithful. It simply bowled me over to see the wife of the publisher weighing in, as well as Hoosier economist Morton Marcus and Hoosier political writer Brian Howey speaking to the urgency of the moment without fear of offending and being accused of apostasy. I’d link but it’s paywalled. It gives me hope that red country is finally waking up.
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Sherri said on January 18, 2026 at 1:43 pm
I see prominent elected Dems are scared of the Abolish ICE groundswell, and instead want to talk about better training and body cameras for ICE agents. In a different reality, where the GOP response to the murder of Renee Good hadn’t been to call her a domestic terrorist, maybe that wouldn’t be a ludicrously inadequate proposal.
In this reality, though, the problem with ICE is not a lack of training or body cams or even masks and lack of identification. The problem is that they are performing exactly the way Stephen Miller wants them to. (Well, almost, he would like more cruelty and violence and deportations, faster.) And Trump may occasionally express some dismay at how bad it looks, but he doesn’t really care because it’s all happening to bad people in his mind.
Of course ICE officers aren’t being trained the way they should be, to respect the law and the rights of everyone. But our government doesn’t believe in that anymore, so calling for more training for ICE officers won’t change a thing.
And I repeat, Jonathan Ross had training. He was trained in the National Guard, he was trained in Border Patrol, he was trained in ICE, he trains others in firearms. Yet he still felt justified in shooting an unarmed woman just because she pissed him off.
Culture trumps training every time. Improving police officer training hasn’t made much difference in police violence (nor have body cams), either.
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alex said on January 18, 2026 at 2:52 pm
Fort Wayne has a Burmese refugee population of 9,000 and their protected status is being revoked effective January 26. The local press hasn’t said shit about it but a friend who’s worried about what might happen to her own family informed me that it’s about to get real around here.
She’s married to a Honduran man who was adopted as an infant and raised by American parents and he’s fully a naturalized citizen. She’s worried for him and for their children in this atmosphere of racial profiling and brutality and she told me that we won’t be able to do any public meet-ups for a while (we regularly dine out together).
So far 2026 is shaping up to be a shit show worse than 2025, and we’re not even one month in.
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Deborah said on January 18, 2026 at 3:42 pm
I bought 100 whistles from Amazon (I know, I know) for $24. If I can ever find a protest here in Santa Fe, I’m going to give them away, they have cords and everything. Ice has been working very quietly for months, that maybe needs to change. If they’re going after gang bangers and criminals fine, but who knows. Santa Fe is a sanctuary city, or at least it was. The population has a hispanic majority.
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susan said on January 18, 2026 at 4:24 pm
Deborah, and I bet much of Sante Fe’s Hispanic population has family ties there, going back 300 years or more….
Also, you don’t need whistles, if you have a car fob….
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LindaG said on January 20, 2026 at 3:21 pm
I hate seeing what ICE is doing and listening to the person(s) in charge. I have a feeling these ICE guys would rather be home with families and regular jobs, but when you’re offered $50,000 sign-up bonus and whatever else they get, how can you turn it down? What is all this costing us? Just read “Dust Child” by Nguyen Phan Que Mai about Vietnam experiences of soldiers, bar girls, and “dust children” of these encounters. It’s pretty horrific what people experience, but it all seems pretty much hidden. Most of us have no idea!
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