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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