Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Consistently wrong since 2002

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / The Gifts That Keep on Giving

The Gifts That Keep on Giving

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Just a small reminder from me that even though we don’t win every election-related effort we support, the things we do win can have a huge impact in the future.

Remember, in 2022 we focused on Arizona in multiple ways.  Four Directions, Worker Power.  Critical races that we called “Election Protection” – governor, secretary of state, attorney general.

So before we pick back up on the active fundraising for The Civics Center tomorrow, I want to share this timely reminder from our friends at Worker Power.

If Kari Lake had won in 2022, last week would’ve been a nightmare for working families across Arizona.

Instead, thanks to supporters like you who helped us turn out the vote and elect Katie Hobbs, 87 dangerous bills pushed by extremist Republicans were vetoed.

Here’s just a sampling of the bad legislation that would have become law if we hadn’t elected Gov. Hobbs:

🚫 Cuts to unemployment benefits

🚫 New barriers to food assistance for struggling families

🚫 Protections for politicians who refuse to certify elections and bans on voting centers

🚫 Anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ legislation

These harmful bills were stopped because, in 2022, Worker Power mobilized over 400 canvassers who knocked on more than 600,000 doors across the state to help elect Katie Hobbs and stop Trump’s favorite, Kari Lake.

Our dollars surely saved lives as well as helping to build a firewall against the firestorm we are in now.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  2. 2.

    No One of Consequence

    Baud Johnson is right!

    WaterGirl is to be praised for posting results and/of positive impact.

    Now quick, someone get on the authentic frontier gibberish.
    -NOoC

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Mitigation or reduction of harm has always been my argument against “both sides” arguments. Sometimes you really don’t have a good choice, but one side is always worse. Act on that.

  4. 4.

    bbleh

    Hundreds of thousands of cheers for all the efforts — organizing, pestering, protesting, and donating!

    And an excellent reminder of the important of STATE-level races, which I think generally are underappreciated and undersubscribed, but where a little can go a LONG way and which can make as much of a difference in people’s lives as national races.

  5. 5.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    @bbleh: Hear hear! (here here? Boo homonyms) State races are as, if not more, important as national races. And as a bonus, they can have a huge effect on national races down the road.

  6. 6.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    @by WaterGirl

    What’s the current status of your Alternative Media Sources project?

     

    You discussed this project in these previous posts:

     

    Picking Up Where We Left Off, With a Twist

    March 19, 2025

    https://balloon-juice.com/2025/03/19/picking-up-where-we-left-off-with-a-twist

     

    Picking Up from Yesterday (News Sources)

    March 20, 2025

    https://balloon-juice.com/2025/03/20/picking-up-from-yesterday-news-sources

     

    Nominations for Alternative Information Sources (Last Call)

    March 21, 2025

    https://balloon-juice.com/2025/03/21/nominations-for-alternative-information-sources-last-call

     

    When were you planning to add this list to the sidebar of the Balloon Juice homepage?

  7. 7.

    Captain C

    @Omnes Omnibus: Generally if you vote for the lesser evil you get less evil!  Sometimes this makes the difference between a salvageable situation and one which is lost.

    Also, I’m starting to hear “I refuse to vote for just the lesser evil!” as “It’s all about me!”

  10. 10.

    H.E.Wolf

    Hooray for Worker Power’s canvassers! And for all of the folks here who’ve donated to their efforts.

    And most of all, thanks to WaterGirl for making it all happen, and keeping us informed before, during, and after.

  11. 11.

    JML

    @Captain C: yeah, there’s frequently a lot of privilege wrapped up in the people arguing against voting for harm reduction. They want the aspirational candidates with big dreams and pure hearts that will inspire wonderfulness…and that’s fine and all, but taking the matches and gasoline away from the arsonists matters too. I’m simply not willing to throw millions of people under the bus for what could be years while we hope for a “backlash” that will lead to theoretical utopian awesomeness…

  13. 13.

    Jeffro

    It’s good to make some hay about all the bad shit voters avoid by NOT electing Republicans!

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    Art Candee 🍿🥤
    @ArtCandee
    It’s not just Elon Musk that went to meet MBS and the government in Saudi Arabia.

    The CEOs of BlackRock, IBM, Amazon, Boeing, Google, Palantir, Halliburton, and more attended with Donald Trump.

    Donald Trump froze the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, so I’m sure they’re all thrilled they can bribe the Saudis now to do business with them.

    If this happened under Biden, MAGA would be screeching for years.
    https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1922284277623882159

  15. 15.

    Jeffro

    @Captain C: Generally if you vote for the lesser evil you get less evil!

    I’m certain we can get this down to bumper-sticker size in time for 2026  =)

    Sometimes this makes the difference between a salvageable situation and one which is lost.

    Excellent point.

    Also means thousands fewer lives lost to (insert dumb MAGA policy here)

  16. 16.

    rikyrah

    Magdi Jacobs (@magi_jay) posted at 8:57 AM on Wed, May 14, 2025:
    Here are some things we know from empirical research:
    -Voters already view Dems are more feminine/weak & Republicans as more masculine/strong.
    -Voters view people of color as more left-wing (radical) than they actually are
    These + other factors: Kamala gets dinged harder
    (https://x.com/magi_jay/status/1922652601423696007?t=uk5mvTjB2–JdIItkZeLXw&s=03)

     

    Magdi Jacobs (@magi_jay) posted at 9:02 AM on Wed, May 14, 2025:
    I also think the fact that KH is a woman of mixed *non-white* ethnic background may have activated both subtle biases & outright bigotry against her in ways that deserve to be examined. Easier to paint her ideas as both ~dangerous & unknowable~. I’m doing research on this now.
    (https://x.com/magi_jay/status/1922653765343056261?t=rg-c4rWd_qsIOupP49wQKw&s=03)

  20. 20.

    Jackie

    Our dollars surely saved lives as well as helping to build a firewall against the firestorm we are in now.

    Such a good reminder during these fraught times.

    Good post, WaterGirl!

  21. 21.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: Fox News: I think we would be crazy not to accept the plane.

    cool, cool…then let’s have a vote of Congress on it, shall we?

  22. 22.

    Jackie

    CNN reports:

    “Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two career officials leading the National Intelligence Council, the senior most analytical group in the intelligence community whose job it is to understand and assess the biggest threats facing the United States,” CNN reports.

    “The dismissals come as Gabbard has vowed to root out what she has described as politicization of the intelligence community, and launched a war on leaks to the media that critics say is hollowing out the intelligence community of needed expertise from experienced professionals.”

    Gabbard fired Mike Collins, the acting chair, and his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof, on Tuesday, a spokesman confirmed to CNN.

    Jonathan Panikoff, a former intelligence official who served on the NIC and has worked with both people, said Collins is “an unbelievable professional who’s served selflessly for 30 years and is a real China expert,” and Langan-Riekhof “is not just a strategic thinker but an unbelievably gift analyst.

    The dismissals come shortly after the ODNI — which Gabbard leads — released a declassified assessment from the NIC about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua that undercut the Trump administration’s key argument for invoking the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations, the key provisions of which had already leaked to the media and which Gabbard has said is under investigation.

    Gabbard, when asked about the assessment, blasted the media for “twisting and manipulating intelligence assessments to undermine the president’s agenda to keep the American people safe.”

    That’s rich, coming from YOU, Tulsi.

  23. 23.

    West of the Rockies

    I really appreciate the reminder that our efforts make a difference.

    But a dark question:  are we having any effect in Florida?  I hope so.  Seems like a lot of money and hope flow down that way.  Is it proving effective? (I’m asking in earnest, and am hoping the answer is yes).

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    Good piece today from Jamelle Bouie: trump is who they were waiting for

    (gift link)

    Of the endless torrent of illegal, unconstitutional — and anti-constitutional— actions flowing from the Trump administration, there are three that stand out for their contempt for the rule of law.

    There is the president’s ongoing assault on the right to due process…there is the suggestion, by that the president might suspend habeas corpus to keep federal courts from releasing the administration’s detainees…and the last, and by comparison relatively minor, instance of constitutional subversion by this administration is the president’s plan to accept a $400M luxury aircraft, [which] meets every reasonable definition of the term ‘corruption’…

    To that point, the Constitution includes three separate clauses forbidding the collection of “emoluments” by federal office holders, including one that is as explicit as anything you’ll find in the document: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

    Take these constitutional violations together and you have a clear picture of how this president sees himself and his office in his second term…

    This is the president as elected despot. It is a conception of the office that is inimical to the American political tradition in every respect.

    But somewhat more interesting than the president’s abuse of power is the indifference — or active support — of both the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

    One might think that even with its zeal for tax cuts and right-wing social engineering, the conservative movement’s reverence for both the founding fathers and the nation’s revolutionary heritage would not overwhelm a basic respect for the hard-fought rights and privileges of the American way of life. You would think that those who elevate 1776, who fetishize the Constitution as an object and who practically spend every waking moment reminding the public of their patriotic bona fides would, at some point, have something to say about this perversion of the American republic.

    You would be wrong.

    …conservative support for this type of governance is not an aberration. It belongs to a consistent pattern of enthusiastic support for tyrants and would-be tyrants. This is who they are, this is what they’ve been and, whenever the age of Trump passes, this is who they’ll be. What it should signal to observers of American politics is that there won’t be a time when either the conservative movement or the Republican Party truly changes course.

  25. 25.

    Captain C

    @Jackie:

    The dismissals come as Gabbard has vowed to root out what she has described as politicization of the intelligence community

    She can start by looking in the mirror and then doing the honorable thing.

  26. 26.

    oldgold

    The corruption is unbelievable.

    The trip has also drawn attention to Trump’s family businesses, including the cryptocurrency firm World Liberty Financial.
    That company’s USD1 currency was selected by state-owned UAE firm MGX to pay for a $2 billion investment in Binance earlier this month. The deal was announced by WLF co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
    During a press gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, Swan asked Trump about the deal. The president claimed not to know about it, but declared himself “a crypto fan”:
    JONATHAN SWAN: Mr. President, an Emirati government-backed firm did a $2 billion deal–.

    PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What?

    JONATHAN SWAN: An Emirati government-backed firm did a $2 billion deal using the Trump digital coins. How did that deal come about?

    PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know anything about it. I really don’t know anything about it. But I’m a big crypto fan, I will tell you. I’ve been that from the beginning, right from the campaign. I’m a believer in crypto.

    If we’re not gonna do it, China is going to do it. It’s like AI. I’m a believer in AI because we have to have it. We’re leading China by a lot and it’s nowhere leading China by a lot. So I’m a big fan of crypto.

    JONATHAN SWAN: You didn’t know anything about that?

    PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No.

  27. 27.

    Ghost of Joe Lebling’s Dog.

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker:

    You left out the demand for the five bullet points covering what — if anything — was accomplished last week.  Probably ought to check your template.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Joseph Patrick Lurker: I totally suck.  I have all those threads open so I can pick up where I left off.  This is like getting your tax stuff together – you spend more time dreading it and thinking you need to do it than it actually takes to do it.

    I’ll have my house back in less than a week, and I will make it a priority then.

  29. 29.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Every time one of those “both sides” or third party curious people tells me “I’m tired of voting for the lesser of two evils” I say, I will always vote for less evil, why don’t you?

  30. 30.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Jeffro: You would expect people who obsess over WW2 documentaries to be able to spot a Nazi, and yet…

  31. 31.

    Almost Retired

    @West of the Rockies:  We supported Ground Game in the Florida special elections last month – they registered and turned out voters.  One of the races (Mike Waltz’ seat) was close enough to rattle Trump and led in part to Waltz’ ouster as National Security Advisor.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @Almost Retired: Yes!  It led the orange monster to pull the nomination of the person who was going to vacate the House seat in NY.

    Lose your leadership position in the House.  check

    Lose the nomination for the cabinet. check

    Get a token fake leadership position in the House.  check

  34. 34.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    @Ghost of Joe Lebling’s Dog.:

    It was not a demand; it was simply an inquiry concerning a subject of great importance to me.

    As Trump and his allies flood the zone with larger volumes of disinformation, I want to identify new reputable sources I can consult to counter this unprecdented tsunami of bullshit.

  35. 35.

    cain

    JFC, I can’t believe we have to endure all this for 4 years. I have no idea what is going to happen after 2 or even 4 years with this mal-administration in charge.

  36. 36.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: I liked how New Yorker Tom Watson (guitarwatson.bsky.social) put it, after Trump picked Waltz for the UN post:

       She’s truly a horrible human being with malign intent towards the people of New York, but holy cow, Elise Stefanik got the full underbus treatment from Trump. Then he backed it up and rolled over her again. She’s stuck as a powerless nobody under Johnson and Waltz gets the penthouse

    Ed. The UN Ambassador job comes with a very deluxe apartment.

  37. 37.

    Belafon

    @Jackie: How to tell people that when someone launches a successful attack on America because Trump and Co have weakened our national security, they will use it as an excuse to go full fascist.

  38. 38.

    Trollhattan

    Okay Jan.

    Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during Wednesday testimony before a House panel that he would “probably” vaccinate his child for measles, if he had one today, Axios reports.

  39. 39.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    @WaterGirl:

    Thanks, I look forward to the fruits of your labor as well as the multitude of jackals who offered their suggestions.

  40. 40.

    prostratedragon

    @rikyrah:

    As mentioned recently on this blog, not a spy movie:

    In 1985, the building’s columns and walls were found to be so riddled with listening devices that classified information had to be handled in the old embassy. Construction was halted and all Soviet workers were removed from construction work. Additionally, in retaliation, Soviet diplomats were not allowed to occupy their new embassy in Washington, D.C. The standoff was resolved in 1994 when American workers were allowed to partially dismantle and rebuild the embassy, replacing the top three floors of the New Office Building (NOB) with four completely new ones.

  41. 41.

    Captain C

    @JML:

    while we hope for a “backlash” that will lead to theoretical utopian awesomeness…

    Backlash which conveniently falls on someone else, not the person who essentially voted for it.

  43. 43.

    prostratedragon

    Putting it out there:

    Rep. Julie Johnson to Noem: “Are you aware that ICE agent jackets are available on Etsy for $20? Anybody can throw a mask on and run around and terrorize people of color without any regard for the law because your agency does not have proper protocols to make sure your agents are clearly identified”

  44. 44.

    West of the Rockies

    @Almost Retired:

    Okay, good to hear.  Sometimes Florida seems like a sinkhole.  But it won’t ever not be without our trying.  Maybe more failure than success, but gotta start somewhere.

  45. 45.

    Geminid

    @prostratedragon: There were credible reports that Turkiye’s intelligence agency M.I.T. bugged Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul and in October of 2018, they listened to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in real time. They couldn’t stop it, but they let allied intelligence agencies listen to the tapes afterwards.

  46. 46.

    Jackie

    Perfect state for the “suppressed” Afrikaner refugees: The White state of KKKdaho!

    President Donald Trump’s government has moved to resettle white South African “refugees” in Idaho — a state known for its white supremacist movement.

    The Idaho Statesman reported that at least nine of the dozens of Afrikaners would be sent to Twin Falls after they claimed to face anti-white discrimination in South Africa.

    “The move meant the Trump administration prioritized the South Africans ahead of about 12,000 already approved refugees, including more than 400 who had been poised to resettle in Idaho this year, according to the Idaho Office for Refugees,” the paper noted.

    In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center determined that Idaho was the most hateful state in the country, with growing white supremacist and alt-right movements.

    In addition to anti-Muslim groups, Idaho was also known for Ku Klux Klan chapters and Neo-Nazi movements.

     

  48. 48.

    Allen Henderson

    Keep meaning to boost signal on a friend’s idea. In an era of increased facial recognition software, he suggested that we protest in mesh masks that have DOGE/Admin/Clearview faces printed on them. Confounds the software while flagging exactly the correct wrong person.

    References:
    1. Why to consider wearing a mask to protests.
    2. Whose face to print on it.
    3. One place where you can buy one.

    No idea how many jackals will see this; I’ll repost occasionally.

  51. 51.

    Trollhattan

    @Jackie:

    Having been to Twin Falls, can confirm they’ll blend right in. Hope they’re prepared to swim among the Mormons, as SE Idaho is basically Alta Utah.

    Them nazis like the Panhandle.

  54. 54.

    prostratedragon

    @Geminid:  Oh, I do remember hearing that, as one reason to know that atrocity really happened. Again, not a spy movie. (As if all movies are mere fantasies.)

  56. 56.

    Redshift

    @Captain C:

    She can start by looking in the mirror and then doing the honorable thing.

    “Politicization” has the same meaning as “bias” and other conservative scare words – anyone/anything that doesn’t enthusiastically support the party line.

  59. 59.

    suzanne

    @Geminid:

    Elise Stefanik got the full underbus treatment from Trump. Then he backed it up and rolled over her again.

    Very few people deserve it more. LAWL.

  60. 60.

    jowriter

    @prostratedragon: Yes.  This whole unidentified masked supposed ICE person is making me crazy.  Who in the actual F are these people?  And, has anyone noticed, these goons are doing their dirty work predominantly in blue states, or blue areas of red states.  I am almost at the point of not looking at Bluesky either. Between these reports of “ICE”–I mean, who knows at this point who they are–and the general “Democrats are weak and have to do something” tenor of many comments there, I just am sick of blocking people who don’t understand–Thank you, Omnes–less bad outcomes beat the alternative, and throw every Democrat under the bus.  Today is a despair day for me and I have to go hide under the bed or something.

  61. 61.

    Trollhattan

    You’ll be happy you got out of bed today once you learn this Idaho fact.

    Dickshooter is the name of a trailmarker and also of at least three features in Owyhee County, Idaho: a ridge, a reservoir, and a creek. These are in close proximity to each other in the southwestern corner of the state, in a wilderness area approximately 24 miles northwest of Riddle.

  62. 62.

    jowriter

    @suzanne: This comment brightens my day.  She is completely horrible and Harvard should be ashamed that she is an alum.

  64. 64.

    jowriter

    @Trollhattan: I will never visit that state. A good friend rented a condo in Idaho while she and her SO were trying to get a house built in Wyoming.  Her experiences tell me that despite any beauty it may have–and the West is so beautiful in so many places–the hate overrides everything.

  65. 65.

    Gvg

    @Jeffro: they don’t spend much if any time worshiping the founders. They spend oodles of time praising the southern rebel generals of the civil war. The traitor side.

    Don’t mistake who they are or fail to notice what history doesn’t get brought up all the time. They may make vague statements about the founders but few are ever specific about events, dates or names because they don’t know. It was left behind decades ago.

    A few of them do still bring it up, not many. Some of them are terribly wrong or liars and the masses still don’t find it interesting.

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP

    Acyn
    @Acyn
    Swalwell to Noem: I’m a former prosecutor. I have put people away for life sentences who are gang members. I don’t need to wear costumes to show how tough I am. What makes me different from you is when I put those people away, I did it with the weight of the law behind me
    https://x.com/Acyn/status/1922669118232113388

  67. 67.

    Geminid

    @prostratedragon: Speaking of movies, from Syian American Hassan I Hassan:

       Everything about the Syrian President is mind-boggling. Take this for example:

    Exactly 30 years ago he was captured by the Americans in Iraq and jailed.

    Today he met (and impressed) the American president in Riyadh.

    His life reads like a ready-made Hollywood script.

    Hassan include four pictures with this post; two from Ahmad al-Sharaa’s meeting today in Riyadh, one of a young al-Sharaa with a dozen jihadis, and one of a downcast prisoner al-Sharaa.

    I read that al-Sharaa was born in Riyadh. His Syrian parents raised him in Damascus. Al-Sharaa might have gone to college, but instead he went to Iraq to fight the Yankee invaders.

  69. 69.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @JML: The ballot count doesn’t give a F what your very principled reason for not voting was (obviously I don’t mean you).  Anyone who doesn’t vote because the candidate isn’t to their liking, whether it’s because they are privileged or because they are oppressed, does the same amount of damage and has the same blood on their hands for that bullshit.  As the social justice saying goes: intent is not magic.  All the assholes who refused to Kamala for whatever principled, Progressive reasons, threw us all under the bus just as hard as the MAGA assholes and everyone else who didn’t bother to vote.  Whether their reason was Gaza, Student Loans, whatever…it doesn’t matter.  The vote tally doesn’t care about anyone’s motivations.

  70. 70.

    Jackie

    @rikyrah:

    “Pursuing white-collar cases, they were told, will be deprioritized for at least the remainder of 2025…”

    Of course! FFOTUS will pardon them anyway, so why bother…

  71. 71.

    suzanne

    @jowriter: I am not above enjoying when terrible people suffer. (I’m an asshole.)

    Insert gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn here.

  72. 72.

    jowriter

    @suzanne: I am never sad when the karma police pay a visit to someone deserving of their wrath.  I find it satisfying, and don’t consider myself an asshole for appreciating the little spark of joy it gives me.

  75. 75.

    jonas

    @cain: And it was just because groceries had gotten expensive. We blew it all up in hopes of getting back to a $2.99/doz carton of eggs.

    At least the Germans had gone through losing a war, a decade of hyperinflation, political violence, and the start of the Great Depression before opening the door to the Nazis. All it took for Americans to do the same was getting pissed their morning donut and joe at Dunkin’ was a $1 more than it used to be. Oh, and Hitler hadn’t even been chancellor previously and fucked everything up.

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @prostratedragon: Hassan I. Hassan is editor of the excellent New Lines Magazine. They published an article today about the Venezuelans trapped in El Salvadoran prisons after being deported from the US:

        They Wanted a Better Future in the U.S. Now They are Jailed in El Salvador.

    The detention of Venezuelans by President Bukele has left the relatives protesting for their freedom, with little hope in sight.

    The article leads with a photo of prisoners’ relatives holding signs at a Caracas demonstration. Link:

    https://www.newlinesmag.com/reportage/they-wanted-a-better-future-in-the-us-now-they-are-jailed-in-el-salvador/

    The article begins:

        The last time Miriam Aguilera spoke with her 27 year-old son, Gustavo, was March 14. He told her he would be deported to Venezuela the next day….But instead he was sent 1,600 miles away [from Venezuela] to a prison in El Salvador.

    Aguilera’s son called her from a detention center in Texas, where he’d been since ICE agents detained him the previous month at his home in Lewisville (outside Dallas-Fort Worth). He’d been living with his Venezuelan partner and their son, who was born in the US June of last year.

     

     

    @Geminid:

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    @jowriter:

    @prostratedragon: Yes.  This whole unidentified masked supposed ICE person is making me crazy.  Who in the actual F are these people?  And, has anyone noticed, these goons are doing their dirty work predominantly in blue states, or blue areas of red states.

     

    UH HUH

    UH HUH

  80. 80.

    WTFGhost

    @Jackie: One thing that people don’t understand, is, when a well run organization is under attack, it responds, and if you beat the responsiveness out of it, you beat the “well run”-ness out of it.

    Which raises an interesting point. Is Gabbard so stupid, she doesn’t realize that she really is the one trying to politicize intelligence? That’s what’s dangerous – if she remembered that she was in on the con from the beginning, and intel wasn’t politicized, she could raise a ruckus, and do nothing. But if she’s stupid enough she’s forgotten, she’s definitely going to beat all the well-run out of things.

    @West of the Rockies: I don’t know how much I’d invest in Florida elections, but I’d like to see an effective Florida Democratic Party, because Florida is going to collapse, and it will be obvious that the Republicans done effed the arfer, and you want Democrats who are both mature and well groomed (politically speaking, but remember HOT MUGGY in the summer, trowel on the anti-p)ready to step in.

  81. 81.

    WTFGhost

    @prostratedragon: Reading goddamned DISCWORLD would tell you, an arresting officer should be clearly identifiable, in case of wrongdoing on the part of the arresting officer; the arresting agency should be clearly identified; and the location of incarceration should be clearly identified, all to protect the rights of the accused, and the integrity of the department. Sam Vimes would walk out in disgust at the sight of these mob actions, but only because he wasn’t lawfully authorized to crack skulls (metaphorically speaking – no actual cracking should occur).

  82. 82.

    Geminid

    @ExPatExDem: I’ve noticed a lot of people who are mad at the President of Syria because he won’t fight their wars for them. They are very disappointed that Ahmad al-Sharaa cares more for the interests of the Syrian people than he hates the State of Israel.

  84. 84.

    ExPatExDem

    @Geminid:  Any thoughts on his compatriots’ recent slaughter of Alawites, Druze, and Christians?  Or does he get a mulligan for that?

  85. 85.

    Jay

    @Geminid:

    Are these the same Tankies who were denying Assad’s chemical weapons attacks and claimed the White Helmets were crisis actors?

  86. 86.

    JML

    @UncleEbeneezer: That’s an outstanding point about how the ballot count doesn’t care about intent.

    I suspect that few people consider it in those terms.

  87. 87.

    ExPatExDem

    @Jay:  Right.  Who could have any good faith doubts about the intentions of a man now relying on the good character endorsement of Prince Bonesaw of Saudi Arabia.

  89. 89.

    Jay

    @ExPatExDem:

    DJTdiot?

    Or are you commenting on Sec. Bessent bowing, scraping and shaking the hands of the family who’s terrorists killed 648 of his own employees including his own brother?

  90. 90.

    Geminid

     

     

    @ExPatExDem: I followed those tragic events, and I also followed the disinformation campaign that exaggerated them with the goal of isolating and discrediting al-Sharaa and his government. Fortunately, it did not work.

  93. 93.

    Trollhattan

    @Baud:

    Does “obstructing” include grabbing that sweet parking spot right in front of the raid location? Been to Boston and I know how hard those are to get.

  94. 94.

    Jay

    @Geminid:

    A Civil War that lasted 13 years, with mass atrocities by almost all sides, and hundreds of factions,  before it ended, is not going to suddenly result in a mass out break of singing kumbaya.

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    @ExPatExDem: Don’t forget Turkish President R.T. Erdogan. He also put in a good word for al-Sharaa with his friend..

    But Erdogan and bin Salman want a peaceful and stable region because their people live there. They don’t have the privilege of Western keyboard warriors, who encourage others to fight their causes for them from their own positions of safety.

  97. 97.

    prostratedragon

    @WTFGhost:  Had a couple of rough encounters recently with what should have been learned from history in one case, and from historical fiction in another. The former was a summary of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, which necessarily reminds us how unbelievably barbaric that was. The other was The Ox-Bow Incident movie from 1942, in which one of the most determined lynchers was a ridiculous character who, 20 years after the Civil War ended, built himself a house out West that looked like Tara and dressed up in his Confederate uniform for the formal rite of hanging three hapless men. Tonight I might watch basketball.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    @Jay: Yes, there’s a lot of bad blood and scores to settle. Considering that Syria is the size of Florida with a similar populstion of 25 million, and was awash in weapons of war when Assad fell, I think al-Sharaa has done well limiting bloodshed.

    And this stupid Israeli government has been trying to bait him into a fight since the New Year. Al-Sharaa wouldn’t bite though, and that is what many of his detractors hold against him

    But for some reason, the Israelis seemed to have backed off. Their clueless Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar has been talking up Syrian stability lately. He was singing a very different tune a few weeks ago. I thought this was one good thing about Trump backing Al-Sharaa. There were people in his administration who wanted to encourage Israel’s troublemaking.

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Belafon: MA actually has an old unenforced law on the books that could be interpreted as a mask ban (I think it’s technically a law against disguise for purposes of concealing identity), so there’s the possibility of someone trying to enforce that. State law though.

    I masked up for the April 6 protest, didn’t do it in May.

  103. 103.

    Matt McIrvin

    @WTFGhost: Also, to prevent easy impersonation of an officer. At this point, any random mobster could claim to be ICE and start snatching people off the street without resistance if people think the law is going to come down hard on them. All you need is to dress like a bum with a neck gaiter.

  104. 104.

    sab

    @Jackie: But wasn’t the movie Napolean Dynamite set in Idaho?

    Idaho. I have been there on business ( yes, really) and my recollection it is very white (plus hispanics), very conservative and very LDS (Mormon.)

    Also too very barren. Dry, so all the trees are planted and carefully nurtured, not like trees in Ohio that are almost weedlike in their profusion.

    The Twin Falls Airport handles baggage by hand on wheeled racks. No such thing as a baggage carousel. Very 1950s.

    These South Africans seem to be British not Boer (Boer being sort of Dutch farmers.)

    I won’t say I wish them well, but they and most Idahoans deserve each other. Just keep them out of Nevada and California.

  105. 105.

    Jay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    There was a comment earlier, with a link to a website. They sell mesh masks, and over printed mesh masks, to confuse facial recognition software. They suggested getting a mesh mask with one of DJTdiot’s mobsters face printed on it.

     

    Aaron Rupar

    ‪@atrupar.com‬

    Follow

    Rep. Julie Johnson to Noem: “Are you aware that ICE agent jackets are available on Etsy for $20? Anybody can throw a mask on and run around and terrorize people of color without any regard for the law because your agency does not have proper protocols to make sure your agents are clearly identified”

  106. 106.

    Jay

    @sab:

    They are soutpeils, “salt dicks”. One foot formerly in South Africa, one foot in the Atlantic. They moved from Britain and Commonwealth to make money off Apartheid and it’s slavery.

     

    Felon Husk’s people.

  107. 107.

    Jay

    The drummer for Austin metal band Lord Buffalo (a legal green card holder) has been seized by ICE off of a plane as the group was departing for their European tour. His current whereabouts are unknown. http://www.metalsucks.net/2025/05/14/l...

    Lord Buffalo Forced to Cancel European Tour After U.S. Border Police Detained Their Drummer
    We live in dark times.

  109. 109.

    sab

    @Jay: Green cards apparently mean nothing anymore in America. Also too, law means nothing anymore in America. First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendment mean nothing.

    Unidentified thugs in masks can grab people off the street and spirit them away, and anyone complaining or protesting or resisting is “obstructing law enforcement.” What law is being enforced?

  110. 110.

    Jay

    @sab:

    It’s not even to their race. Most of the “farmer killings” are white on white violence. One of the most notorious cases was a wife, hiring an ex-Police Officer to kill her husband and all the farmhands, so she would get everything.

    It’s not Zimbabwe.

  111. 111.

    sab

    @Jay: Do they realize Idaho does still have white on white law enforcement?

    ETA And Mormons are very law abiding.

  113. 113.

    Jay

    @sab:

    I don’t think they got to pick where they get resettled, other wise it would probably be close to the 90210 code.

    I am guessing Steven Miller asked Grok which county in the US, had the most neo-Nazis.

  114. 114.

    sab

    @Jay: Yes! I believe that and hope it is true. Can we keep them there?

    ETA I keep forgetting you are not us, just a previously friendly foreign neighbor.

  115. 115.

    Jay

    @sab:

    They won’t last one winter. They aren’t “farmers”, they are lifestyle coaches and a wanna be “influencer”. Soft pasty white nepo babies, surviving off privledge their parents and grandparents stole.

  116. 116.

    Jay

    @sab:

    We are still friendly to the “right type” of Americans. We just had two gay nurses from TexASS get fast tracked through their quals and move to Nanaimo. They start at the hospital next week.

    They accepted an invite in Feb to come to a picnic/festival in Nanaimo for Americans to visit, came up, and were amazed that they could kiss and hold hands in public with out anybody screaming death threats at them or even paying attention.

    Once locals heard they were nurses, they were told about the nursing shortage, the fast track program, given a tour of the hospital, ( which they thought was better staffed and equipped than the ones they worked in).

    And here they are, for the next 5 years with options to extend or become citizens.

    And I class Nanaimo as more than a bit “redneck” as far as BC towns go.

  117. 117.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jay:

    What if they hadn’t have been nurses? What if they worked in other fields that weren’t as in demand in Canada?

  118. 118.

    sab

    @Jay: That makes me so happy. I love my country, but I want us happy in our lives wherever. If my country chooses to run off its best, then I wish the best happiness wherever they land.

    ETA My great grandmother was from Ontario, wanted to be a nurse in the late 19th century, and couldn’t find training in Canada, so she went to the US and lived the rest of her life here.

  119. 119.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Canada is built on Immigration. Our “lesser” demand areas rely on Temporary Foreign Workers and Foreign Students who are supposed to be working part time.

    There are many paths here.

    The easiest is to get hired by a Canadian Company. They do all the paperwork and some, even retail, will jump through the hoops just to not have to deal with a staff change over every 6 months.

  120. 120.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jay:

    The easiest is to get hired by a Canadian Company. They do all the paperwork and some, even retail, will jump through the hoops just to not have to deal with a staff change over every 6 months.

    But I assume that’s not very common. Why would a Canadian retail company go through such trouble to recruit an American for an entry-level position that does not require a university degree, which I basically work, when they could hire a Canadian citizen?

    Like I’m glad those two women got that opportunity, but how many other vulnerable people aren’t so fortunate, y’know? It all comes back to, “What can you do for me so you’re not a drain?” and the haves and have-nots.

    ETA: And to be clear, every country is like this, so I’m not just picking on Canada

  121. 121.

    Jay

     

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Back in the day, the Tech Company I worked for at the time, got fed up with having to send me down to Milwaukee to fix stuff on short term visas.

    The issue was, every time we hired somebody in the US to do “the job”, they either quit in frustration, used the new job title to take a “better” job, ( that was subjective), or screwed everything up.

    So they got me an H1B. 3 weeks in Milwaukee, working 7-5pm, then doing Vancouver stuff until 9pm Milwaukee time, ( I still had job responsibilities in Vancouver), one week in Vancouver, working part time.

    Did that for three years while the “job search” went on.

    They offered me the job. Big pay raise, golden health care, moving expenses, subsidized living accommodations and pension, Green Card.  I asked T if she would come with me, she said no. She had already been a Trophy Wife for a Prestigious Software Genius, in the US. He never followed through with anything.

    So I passed.

    They made the same offer to a co-worker, He said yes. His wife said yes.

    Another way, probably the easiest, is just “just come North”.

    Our Immigration Services deports about 16,000 people a year, out of the 520,000 “undocumented” living here, all pretty much for criming, and even that takes over a year.  Get a job in a community, embed yourself in the community.

    You will need a SIN number, it’s XXX-XXX-XXX. For my age, it start’s with a 7, your age, an 8.

    If you get caught, and you are a good, upstanding member of the Community, even your local MP and MLA will fight for you to stay.

  122. 122.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jay:

    I don’t want to be an illegal immigrant. I’ve seen how they get treated and I have no confidence the conditions and disposition of the government/public of Canada (or any other similar country) would stay that way going forward with all of the dislocations likely to happen in the future. They’ve already been restricting legal immigration. I don’t want to have to be constantly looking over my damn shoulder or be hindered from other opportunities I could take if I had actual legal status.

    I would like to be able to become a citizen/resident legally, to be able to take my life savings/property with me

  123. 123.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Retail hiring costs a Company in Canada between $35K and $60K.

    When we were unhoused, I got my Orange job, basically for being able to spell and pronounce carburetor. There were 1500 applicants for that job, (Repair Tech).

    In the larger cities with higher costs of living,…………

    Well, Vancouver learned that even with tips, you can’t get waitstaff or dishwashers for $15 an hour. So now the minimum is $17.85 Province wide. And that’s still a shitty wage.

    I know of small town jobs, that have been empty for 3 years.

    We have a “boomer” issue here, like much of the West. They are retiring, retired, didn’t have many kids, move to small towns, where the kids in those towns are trying to get out as fast as they can. EG, in Kamloops, there are pubs. No Clubs. No Gay Bars. The biggest thing is a techno 3 day Festival not far from where we lived at the time, but you needed a 4×4 to get there. Basically, a Bush Party with a generator and a DJ.

    Almost all of the “service” jobs in Kamloops rely on TFW’s.

    They come in from the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Guatemala, and can work for 6 months, then they have to leave or a year. They have no path to permanent resident status, or citizenship.

  124. 124.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Got $450K?, buy your Permanent Residence Status.

    Buy an apartment, (outside of Vancouver, 1 bedrooms are going for $945K in West Coquitlam, the ‘burbs), rent it out.

    Meets the “investment” threshold, meets the “income” threshold.

  125. 125.

    Geminid

    @Jay: Laura Rozen reposted this from Sam Stein:

        At the same time the Trump administration is tossing hundreds of students out of the country for anti-Semitic* tweets it has actively welcomed an Afrikaner who says Jews are “untrustworthy and dangerous.”

    Wait, there’s more:

    https://www.the bulwark.com/p/an-afrikaner-refugee-has-some-thoughts-about-the-jews-trump-antisemitism

    * This seemed sloppy to me. The students are being tossed for social media posts about Israel’s actions in Gaza. They aren’t neccesarily anti-Israel (although many are), much less anti-Semitic (although some may be)

    Ed. Okay. Let’s try a 3rd time

    https://thebulwark.com/p/an-afrikaner-refugee-has-some-thoughts-about-the-jews-trump-antisemitiskaner-refugee-has-some-thoughts-about-the-jews-trump-antisemitism

    The article is third down the list.

  126. 126.

    sab

    @Jay: That makes Akron and Youngstown OH seem more Inviting.  I.e.Affordable.

    I never sneeze at affordable.

  127. 127.

    Jay

    @Geminid:

    Yup, you can’t get much more “anti-Semitic” than DJTdiot’s Cabinet and appointee’s.

    But you know, students vs. Dollar Store Himmler.

  130. 130.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    No. So eg. there is a gas station halfway between  Salmon Arm and Sicamous. Nobody lives there. Usually in December/January, they are hiring. Too far to commute from either town for what they pay, so they have a trailer in the back. Live rent free, but December/January. Most people don’t last long.

    @Eunicecycle:

    No age limit.

  131. 131.

    Jackie

    Who’s surprised?

    “Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares of Trump Media the same day that President Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that caused the stock market to plummet,” ProPublica reports.

    “Trump Media, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, fell 13% in the following days, before rebounding.”

    *snip*

    As part of her ethics agreement, Bondi had pledged to sell her stake of Trump Media within 90 days of her confirmation, a deadline that would have allowed her until early May to sell the shares.
    On April 1, Trump Media filed a disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission with details about holdings of various top shareholders, including Trump and Bondi. The purpose of the filing is unclear, as is whether it relates to Bondi’s sales the next day. It appeared to reregister for sale shares held by several of the company’s top shareholders.

  132. 132.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jay:

    I’m sorry if I’ve came across badly or anything but I just feel trapped and it’s very frustrating and soul crushing.

    Thanks for your advice in the thread

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