AN ILLEGAL UNNECESSARY WAR

By Ruth A. Sheets

March 26, 2026

We are in a war with Iran.  That sounds unbelievable!  There was no vote in Congress.  There was a minor build-up, but little notion of what a conflict with Iran would look like, no strong purpose for this war, and it is being called a war by Donald Trump and the media that are tied to his every word.

It does work to put Baby Donnie's name on this war insanity, but he did not orchestrate this.  He ordered the attacks, so has, as “commander-in-chief,” ultimate responsibility.  But, he had enormous help because he is not smart enough about war to do much.  He blathers a lot, lies a lot, blames everyone when something doesn't work, and cannot plan anything that makes sense.  Trump threatens anyone, with backup from ensnared lawyers, Elon Musk, and the other oligarchs if they don't do exactly as they are told.  His current "helpers" are just about as stupid as he is:  Miller, Vought, Vance, and especially Hegseth.  None of them know anything about conducting a war, even the two who supposedly served in some capacity or other, but not in command of active troops. 

Hegseth fired many among the military leadership that would have been aware of how to plan for conflict, particularly the women because, well, misogyny works so well for our Baby Donnie.  Then the generals, admirals, and whoever else was in charge followed illegal orders as the veterans in our Congress reminded them they shouldn't do. 

I just read recently that there is a whole cadre of US military fools who are trying to bring about Armageddon, thinking that killing a lot of people through starting a nuclear war will send them to "heaven" or something.  It seems to me they are crazy, but crazy is what is present and welcome throughout this entire Trumpian regime!  That is shameful, but also terrifying!

A majority of Americans do not want this war and have made that known, but it seems Trump is so wrapped up in his own fantasy world, he does not care.  He thinks he has “obliterated” the Iranian military and whatever else his brain soaked in dementia thinks has been “obliterated.”  I think our Baby Donnie has fixated on the word “obliterated” and is running with it because it sounds so powerful.  It is not true that our military has obliterated anything in this war except maybe, our positive reputation with our allies.

We the People do need to make known how we feel about this war through signing petitions, writing directly to our representatives and senators, calling them, and attending a “no Kings” rally on Saturday.  Donald Trump and his white house toddler pool think we are all stupid, with him as the smartest guy anywhere, worthy of being king of the world.  We need to find ways to prove he and his handlers are wrong about that, and everything else too.  

ST. PATRICK’S DAY THOUGHTS

By Ruth A. Sheets

March 17, 2026

This morning I was “watching” the St. Patrick’s Day Parade” rerun on CBS Philly.  The parade has been held in Philadelphia since 1771.  That surprises people because we think that the Irish only came here in the 19^th century to build our railroads and because of the potato famine AFTER 1846.  That there was an active Irish community in Philadelphia before the signing of the Declaration of Independence is not usually part of our history lessons. 

We seem to like to put people and events into boxes that we can readily identify and fit those boxes on a timeline that we can easily follow, that is if we care at all. 

William Pen envisioned a colony, Pennsylvania where people of all backgrounds could come and live in peace.  He didn’t understand the Native peoples, but thought they should have a place too, as well as people from all over Europe.  He welcomed the first Germans in 1683 which opened the door to many future arrivals. 

The English came and settled all over Eastern North America, but they were joined almost from the beginning with Scots, Irish, French, and Swedes.

Enslaved peoples from Africa were brought here assumed to be illiterate “savages.”  In reality, many were Muslims who held an important world faith.  Others shared the faith of the peoples from which they came.  They may have been unaware of the ways of English people, but it became clear to anyone who paid attention that Black people were enormously talented, but their talents were used in service to white people whose faith not only permitted enslavement, but even promoted it. 

The white Christian faith of the time also permitted judgment of other people by their color, language, faith, country of origin, and other attributes which were categorized related to which were most relevant to the folks doing the judging. 

Despite the judgments, it is clear Philadelphia had an Irish community large enough to have a parade in the city 5 years before our attempt at independence.  I suspect at that time there were no signs that said “No Irish Need Apply” as one would find   75 or so years later.  I would imagine there were Black people watching the parade and appreciating the marchers too.  There was a significant free Black community in the city due to emancipation by former owners and sailors from ships docked in the harbor.  I suspect if we could check old records, we could find all sorts of other folks who settled here and helped shape this land even before our independence from Britain. 

For me it is tremendously sad that this nation’s people have decided to regularly elect people who do not appreciate our real history of diversity.  They prefer the white history that says since the founders were all white men this nation is just white men with the rest of us inferior to them because we have no history here that is worthy of mention. 

Nearly an entire political party, Republican, has chosen this “reasoning” and is sticking to it no matter the evidence to the contrary.  They see those who are not rich, white, and male as those to be used by themselves in whatever capacity they choose for us. 

• They want immigrants of color kicked out of the country.  They don’t realize just how much of the work those folks do and how much a part of our communities, even Philadelphia they are. 
• They want women to be in the home taking care of their hubby and popping babies as fast as possible to “replenish the white race” or something equally outrageous and insulting.  It’s fine to choose staying at home to do that,  but to be forced is criminal!  They have decided that teaching and nursing are not real “professions” of course, because the majority of those professinals are women.
• They want people of color to give up their high-level jobs to white men whenever white men come calling for that job.  We have seen what happens when such a scenario plays out.  The current Trumpian Regime has nominated and the Senate Republicans have approved the most incompetent set of white men in official government roles in our history.  The women they have approved are equally incompetent, but must look like Barbies and act like the inanimate doll too, and they do. 
• They want our “free press” to blurt out constant lies given to them by those incompetent white men and women in charge, I guess to make those ignoramuses seem somehow worthy of their positions.  They pretend the truth is not worth paying attention to, even when it involves the lives of our fellow Americans and immigrants who are our neighbors.  They arrest Black journalists, well, maybe just because they can, hoping no one will care.
• They give huge sums of money to anyone who will do their bidding and use their money and influence to bring more power and money to Trump and his entourage and toddler pool of white folks in government who have no clue.

So, this St. Patrick’s Day, we need to think about the rich heritage this nation holds and the many advances we have because of that great diversity.  Making enemies of those more talented than themselves means this Trumpian Regime is settling for what is often the worst of us instead of the rich talented diversity that is America.  If we don’t stop them, we all lose.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  See you next week at “No Kings 3.”

A CASE FOR IMPEACHMENT

By Ruth A. Sheets

March 2, 2026

Let’s face it, Donald Trump has dementia and no longer (if ever) abides by our Constitution, the founding document he swore to uphold and defend.  It seems a case for impeachment is appropriate at this moment.  In fact, a case for the impeachment of this entire Trump regime is strong.  Here are some of the charges I believe should be made against Trump and his Klan.  I identify Trump as the culprit, but he has been assisted by a wide range of sycophants and cabinet officials as well as many in our military and the rich oligarchs. 

• He has unleashed troops against American cities, our citizens as well as others legally residing here, even leading to murder and “accidental” death in numerous cases. 
• He has established concentration camp prisons for people arrested by ICE and the CBP (border patrol), which are run by contracted rich corporations who treat those incarcerated there as though they are slaves, even animals.
• He has appointed people to critical positions who are unqualified then threatened members of Congress if they didn't approve them.  Those appointees prove every day their incompetence and utter disdain for our Constitution and the American people. 
• He was an insurrectionist who now pretends that insurrection was some kind of act of love for this nation, after he pardoned the whole band of insurrectionists. 
• He threatens our ability to vote, trying to undermine all aspects of our constitutional right to vote, even pushing Republican legislators to pass unnecessary acts to stop people from voting, possibly getting the US Postal Service involved.
• He has attacked small boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific, killing around 140 people, claiming without evidence that they are drug smugglers, threatening the US even though those boats could not have reach the United States.
• He has attacked the sovereign state of Venezuela, kidnapping the President and First Lady of the nation, bringing them here, again with little to no evidence that they have been involved with smuggling drugs to the United States.
• He has threatened Cuba and stopped oil shipments and other necessities, which has put the lives of the people of Cuba at risk.  There is no stated goal for this cruelty.
• He has threatened numerous nations in the Western Hemisphere for US military intervention if they don’t comply with his demands.
• He has illegally accepted gifts, even quite expensive gifts from other nations (emoluments) which the Constitution explicitly forbids.
• He had the East Wing of the white house demolished without anyone’s permission even though he does not own the building and had no right to make changes without oversight.
• He and Elon Musk invented a group called DOGE that raided government buildings, stole our personal information, threatened employees, fired hundreds of thousands of Federal workers, dismissed the investigators who help to keep us safe by checking food and drug safety, aircraft and flight safety, shipping, imports, stopping diseases from impacting our people, and more.
• He has taken over the Department of Justice, installing an AG whose experience would not have prepared her for the job.  She was one of Trump’s personal lawyers, so she now has turned the DOJ into Trump’s personal revenge agency, firing anyone who doesn’t go along with it.
• He has approved the arrest of journalists for covering protests in Minneapolis because they are Black and were attempting to find out the truth about an ICE operative.  
•   And now, he and Netanyahu of Israel have started a war with Iran based on a lie about nuclear weapons, with no evidence, and no approval by Congress.  This is the same BS Bush,Jr. used to get us into a costly war with Iraq. 

Any one of these acts should have been grounds for impeachment, but this war on Iran, hooking up with Israel, a nation that is perpetrating Genocide on Palestinians, and bombing the capital of Iran, killing its leader and civilians, purposely to send a message to the Iranian leadership is the line that should never have been crossed.  How can this entire regime be permitted to remain in power.  The entire cadre needs to be impeached and immediately charged with high treason, then held accountable in our courts. 

We’ll see if Republicans have the guts to do the right thing for a change!  I hope they do before we start wars with more nations and our democracy fades into history.

WHERE DID THIS MESS COME FROM – A BRIEF HISTORY

By Ruth A. Sheets

We the People are living with a sizable political and social mess which didn’t begin with Donald Trump.  It is true he is incompetent, but he, alone, did not create this destructive anti-American cadre of incompetence, although he did release them on the people and institutions of this nation.

As I see it, so much of it began with Gerald Ford's pardoning of Richard Nixon, claiming pardoning a criminal for his actions while president would help to heal America.  The pardon told political operatives that a president, if properly groomed and paid off, can pardon anyone from Federal crimes.  Folks can complain but, pardons can’t be challenged.  In the wrong hands, as we have seen, a president can pardon insurrectionists if he can call them “patriots” or “heroes,” just don’t call them traitors.

Ronald Reagan seemed like such a "good guy," an actor, you know,” but he had little positive experience of governing.  He was a crappy governor of California, having law enforcement attack college student protesters.  He claimed illegal drug use and poverty as excuses to harm his fellow citizens and to give rich white men more power, a chunk at a time.  While in office, his efforts ended a lot of the support for California’s public universities, and cut property taxes for the very rich.  As president he encouraged big business to move into nearly every facet of life, giving them big tax cuts and the warped idea of “trickle-down economics,” if the rich got more money it would drip down to everyone else; it didn’t.”  He blamed people for needing welfare, claiming they were stealing from the American people (welfare queens).  Under Reagan, wages were cut and cost of living raises were not maintained.  Unions were “discouraged.”    

Bush Sr. went right along with the big business good program, even getting us into a war many thought was just great, giving lots of business to large corporations who would produce the weaponry needed for the war.  Racism got a boost too with the “Willie Horton” ad that “hinted” that Black men are unredeemable criminals.  Future president Donald ?Trump used that “theory” to take out an ad in the “New York Times” demanding the innocent Black men accused of the infamous Central Park murder, be put to death.  

Bush,Jr. was not actually "elected" by the popular vote, but with the electoral college, his brother in charge in Florida, and cheating just part of the way things are done in Florida,he became president, again no real experience of governing beyond signing death warrants in Texas.  Bush,Jr. got us into two wars and a major economic crisis (the Great Recession) that Democrats were required to clean up after, just as they had to do after his dad left office. 

The whole time, Republican presidents and members of Congress were being manipulated to blame all the ills of the world on Democrats, poor people of color in particular and immigrants whenever they could work it in.  They ran McCain in 2008, but his age and his pick of Palen as his running mate were marks against him.  The “Great Recession” didn't help him either. 

President Obama and VP Biden, inaugurated in 2009, got about 50 days to get the mess cleaned up.  That couldn’t happen because the crisis was deep and they had next to no support from Republicans.  Instead of giving the “bail-out” money to the homeowners, they paid the banks who had helped bring about the crisis and millions of people lost their homes.  Many are still trying to recover completely, 17 years later. 

Rich conservatives desperately looked for someone who could "relate" to the Republican base and would buy and spread the BS Republicans and the oligarchs were pushing.  They found their guy in Donald Trump, an incompetent rich white businessman who was manipulatable, hateful, resentful of everyone who had things he wanted and would do anything to acquire, in short, a child-man.  A show “The Apprentice” was built around him, an entire fraud.  It was sold as "reality TV," but it definitely was not reality.  Trump was a loose canon, but workable.   While campaigning in 2016, Trump would mouth the lies fed to him by the last guy to talk to him out of his collection of sycophants or from the voices on “Fox News.”  He didn't win the popular vote either, but the electoral college negated 3 million votes and he took office. 

Democrats were shut out of most of what was going on until 2019 when they took the House.  They did keep Trump and his crazies from doing more damage, but what Republicans had done was enormous:  cutting taxes massively for the very rich, allowing immigrant children to be separated from parents and thrown into cages on behalf of scared white guys who can't stand immigrants who are smarter, harder-working, and just all-'round “better” than they are.  Their Supreme Court picks were sycophants who would do what they were told, most of the time.  They mismanaged a pandemic and left the economy in shambles.  Lying was and still is the order of the day for Republicans in power. There seems nothing they won’t lie about!

Russell Vought, a rich nobody, and his whiny white friends at the Heritage Foundation wrote an anti-American white supremacist 900+ page diatribe called "Project 2025" during Biden's term to undermine our government, and turn Americans against each other solely for the benefit of the very rich, mostly white men with far too much money.  Then, I do believe that during the 4 years when Biden was working to make significant advances, particularly related to climate change, international relations, and transportation and general infrastructure, you know, the things America needs, The project 2025ers went to work to get a system in place for “stealing” the election in 2024, and keeping power permanently,  possibly practicing on certain races in 2022.  There is some evidence related to AI interference in "swing state" voting in 2024.  Democrats, fearing to be seen as just like Republicans whining over the 2020 election which Trump definitely lost, didn't challenge the results and allowed the project 2025ers into office to put their nefarious plans in place.  They should have been arrested the night they entered our departments claiming to be the DOGE, a non-existent government entity that was designed by Musk and friends to steal Americans' private information for his own benefit.  The lying, cheating, militarization, etc. continue. 

We are not helpless, despite Trump’s desire that we should be.  There are things we can do to clean up this mess!

1. Get everyone we know and even don't know to be sure they are registered to vote, signing them up NOW and encouraging them to vote in every election.

2. Pressure our media to report the truth.  For example, Ms. Good and Mr. Petty, in Minneapolis were murdered by an ICE operative and Border Patrol officers!  There is no real controversy, no mistake about that, despite Noem’s and Trump’s lies.   The liars need to be called out on their actions and lies, all the time on every social media platform, newspaper, NPR/PBS, and traditional network, as creatively and by as many people as possible.

3. Continue to protest the ICE and Border Patrol killings and abuse, in Minneapolis and in all our communities.  Report on the  bad treatment in the concentration camp prisons, so people will know that this evil is going on in our name and with our tax money. 

4. Write letters, make calls and sign petitions to lawmakers at all levels demanding they follow their oath of office and stop this Trumpian anti-Americanism.  

5. Do not lose hope, give up, or allow ourselves to think that Trump and his crazies are worthy of any respect beyond that of being human beings; they do not care what they are doing except that it will hurt people their boss Baby Donnie doesn't like.

6. Encourage a lot of people to read our Constitution over and over so we can knowledgeably demand our Congress start following and living by it and the oaths they swore.

 

Those are just a few things, each doing our little or big part to stop this Trumplican mess.  Trump has dementia and needs to be gone from office, but so do Vance and Trump’s handlers whose plot is to destroy this nation so their rich buddies can take over.  We don't have to allow it, so let’s not!

FACING OUR HISTORY

By Ruth A. Sheets

February 6, 2026

 As I listen to and contemplate current news briefs, I am reminded that doing harm to people white men don’t like, as ICE is being permitted to do, has been part of the American experience nearly from the beginning. 

 Slavery happened and Black people were the victims no matter how much white folks want to believe that enslavement saved Black people from ignorance and savagery and want to cut slavery from American history; it won’t happen!  After the Civil War and supposed freedom, in our south and in some northern locations too, Black men and women and their allies were lynched for wanting something better, more fair, more equal.  Those white perpetrators were extremely rarely held accountable.  White women and children came to sites of lynchings and cheered, jeered, and showed themselves and their white male perpetrators to be worse than anything those being lynched could possibly have done. 

People were killed for their faith at least as long as there have been “Christians” in this nation.  There have been reports of possible killings of Irish Catholics working on railroads in the middle 1800s.  KKKers targeted Catholics as well as Black Americans in the south and Chinese and Japanese were attacked for just being who they are, mostly in the West.  Then, there are the many Native Americans who were killed just because white men wanted their land and them gone.  The one thing these events have in common, white people, most of them men.   

 

Trump, Miller, and the rest of the white house white toddler pool have grabbed onto that "right" to be white and hateful, even murderous if they choose.  America until January 20, 2025 was better, but the strains of that old white male destruction are being revived and heard, even in the ICE recruitment ads.  I would bet those ICErs would be delighted to hang a few people and commit the same horrors their ancestors did to those who wanted their right to a piece of the pie.  They’ve already dragged innocent people face-down along the street, including a pregnant woman, smashed car windows, broken into homes, kidnapped people and sent them, even children and old people, into appalling prisons far from home and any legal defense.  They committed murder on several occasions while Donald Trump implies only 2 out of thousands is no big deal. 

Trump and his sycophants forget their heroes:  Trump, Miller, Musk, and a bunch of others have recent immigrant ties, Trump’s mother was not a citizen when he was born and his father a second generation American.  Miller’s Lineage in America is not long, neither is Musk’s (overstayed his visa).  The hypocrisy is astounding!  Those white men don’t care because, well, they’re just so special, you know! 

This country needs to face the reality of who we have been and what we want to become.  I know we don’t want to be what we were, particularly many white Americans don’t.  We have a responsibility to work hard to make things better for more than just the super rich white guys who want to rule.  We do need to be protesting in every way we can, doing our best to stop the violence against women and people of color, citizens and immigrants alike.  That's what we are called to do.

In our protests, we must do everything possible to keep our elections free and untrumped,  and ICE off our streets.  Our Congress needs to be held accountable, anyone in either party who supports ICE and the other things DHS is doing need to be unelected ASAP, every single one!  Some things we can do include:  watching for ICE in our streets, giving warnings, filming, and getting in the way whenever we can show this Trump regime we are done with their hate, anger, fear and resentments that lead to revenge.  We are not in a schoolyard with a bunch of toddleresque bullies; we are ordinary Americans and our allies who are tired of the Trumpian toxic garbage!  We are looking for quality adult leadership!

 

 

HOPE IN THE NEW YEAR

 By Ruth A. Sheets

The first month of the new year has passed and the political upheaval that began just over a year ago continues at an alarming pace.  We are not helpless!  Here are a few of my ideas to direct some of our efforts to stop this tyrannical takeover.  The Substacks I connect with regularly present actions we can take.  Here are a few of my responses, slightly modified in some cases to include more recent events.

  

Lilla, I like your idea of finding ways to educate the American people about the truth. We could do it

• through supposed innocuous advertisements by decent corporations and agencies, mentioning kindnesses people have done as part of their ads, giving a fact about our constitution and its amendments at the beginning or end of each ad, “did you know that . . .” 
• presenting cartoons with positive themes about immigrants and others who do good works to help the people of this nation and the world and make it "cool" to watch them and share them among young people.
• Introduce local scholarships for people who do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly, but not too humbly in this world.

We have to be creative now in what we do because the creeps have had a half-century+ to do their dirty work against our nation and the world.

 

David, I heard Eli Wiesel speak once and wondered how he, Victor Frankel, and so many others maintained hope in the face of what they had experienced in the Holocaust.  It makes me see that we have within us individually and in groups, the ability to not only sow hope, but also to live it ourselves, making connections with people to keep us/them from losing hart and falling into the chasm of hatred, fear, unchecked anger, and utter cruelty that feed the fascists and other authoritarians who want only power to keep people under their thumb to get whatever they want with impunity.  We need to become the actors, as Bernie Sanders, AOC, and so many progressives have done, speaking, writing, drawing, composing works that can break through the walls that fascists and others build.   Hiding our heads and pretending none of this matters and there is nothing we can do is not acceptable. 

 

Joseph the challenge is that we don't all have the same idea of what it means to be "a good person" or virtuous.  For Trump and his toddler pool, it is to get as rich as possible, stepping on whoever happens to be in the way of their accumulation of money and power.  People who want to just be rich as their life's goal think a good person is one who can do whatever it takes and not look back.  I think we can put out some portraits of what it means to be a person of virtue, "a good person" through children’s books, articles, posters, Tee-shirts, and social media directed toward young people.  We can include civics education in our schools from Kindergarten through college, incorporating it through reading, science, and social studies, even math with material at each child’s learning level, making lessons fun and compelling.  We can emphasize, in our news and entertainment programs, people who have done positive things that matter, large or small (skipping quickly over those who are not people of virtue instead of dwelling on them).  We could do this through a campaign , pushing networks, social media platforms, and even NPR/PBS to stop putting Trump’s various actions and his name as the first thing on all of their news reports; he isn't worthy of the honor, particularly when he has done something illegal, like bombing boats in international waters, kidnapping the president of Venezuela, and threatening to invade other nations.  Cover these, but only with facts, reminding people that these are wrong actions. 

 

Marc, It can be pretty dark now, but we will come out on the other side of this as a different nation, hopefully for the good. Again neighbors are helping neighbors and many on our courts are working to stop the insanities of this regime. It is giving us a good look at those who do not value this nation, our constitution, and our laws. We need to focus on them to see who they are, what they are doing, and how they can be redirected. The oligarchs need to be addressed directly with higher taxes on all their wealth as well as their corporations. Having too much, as they do is bad for everyone. We could make a big difference on how this insanity is moved out.  We all need to stay vigilant and peaceful, protesting whenever we can and encourage others to protest with us no matter the obstacles. Courage, our values,  and our Constitution should be our guides.  Hope should give us what we need to keep moving forward.

 

It’s time more effort is placed on covering the actual courage being displayed in our nation, and it isn’t in the white house or among ICE or the Border Patrol.  Kudos to the people of Minneapolis for weathering the bitter cold to stand up to Trump’s paramilitary thugs.  Thanks to people all  over the country who are finding their voice and courage to protest in the face of this Trumpian regime.  Keep in mind the next “No Kings” event is set for March 28^th.  I hope to see you there in person or in spirit!

WHAT WILL WE DO AS AMERICANS?

 

By Ruth A. Sheets

January 21, 2026

This morning Robert Reich presented a challenging “Office Hours” in his Substack column.  He asked what we would risk “to counter ICE’s Bullying and Brutality?”  He gave 4 choices from “doing nothing” (writing to members of congress and signing petitions) to putting one’s life on the line.  I was not the only respondent who had some difficulty with this question.  Issues of racism, immigrants, and ignorance came up as one would expect.  These are some of my thoughts on this question. 

To one comment, I said, how terribly sad that whole communities have chosen to teach and curate hatred of anything they don't understand or fear instead of working together to understand and include.  There is value for some in this kind of negative behavior performed while claiming a religious faith that demands love and inclusion as well as service.  It helps some people to believe in their own superiority. It is a deeply engrained hypocrisy that has for many, become normalized.  Trump is just the most current practitioner, the con artist who sets one group against another and models how to do it while looking like the "good guy" just passing on the  secrets of life.  It seems We the People, or at least the part of us that cares about this nation will have to stand en masse to show others that they don't have to build their lives on hatred, dismissal of others,  and ignorance unless they choose, and it is  a choice.  Trump will never stop his conning ignorance because dementia does that to a person, but We the People can help each other become more like the people we claim we are.    

Compliance was a topic because of the way a lot of Republicans, white people in power, and some others have “obeyed in advance” to the illegal orders and actions of Trump and those around him.  My response to that is, people who so easily comply and go along with what the rest of us know is nonsense do it because they think it is what their group expects of them.  If they don't, they won't be accepted by that group, for them, a disaster.  We so often teach our children to comply "because I said so" and forget in our frustration that an explanation is necessary, if not at that moment, shortly afterward.  Women are groomed and threatened into compliance from birth and it is amazing that so many of us manage to break out and say "no."  Peer pressure is enormous in most people's lives and unfortunately those peers who are bullies and bad actors get by far the most attention and coverage.  Just look at our media to see how this works in real time.  Trump was often covered far more than Obama or Biden when they were actually president.  Those who are most susceptible definitely took notice and got the message that Trump was something special or the media wouldn’t cover him so much, and their loyalty went directly to him.  It still rests there no matter how much those people suffer from Trump's actions.  I do not believe these people are stupid, just willing to follow what is expected of them with as little fuss as possible.  We encourage that kind of compliance and blame people who don't comply as being "bad mothers" or "absent fathers" or "troublemakers" or whatever term those doing the manipulating come up with to shame people back into line.  Thank goodness there have always been people who would resist that shaming and called it what it is "BS."  We need more of that standing up right now, but without insulting too badly, those who have been cowed by the social pressures to conform and comply. 

Related to the many comments about the Trumpian treatment of immigrants, I said, yes, immigrants have always been America's strength, but rarely seen as that until the masses had become used to their presence, their accent as it disappeared, and their different customs.  Unfortunately, many Americans never allowed themselves to "get used to" Black and Native Americans, possibly because those folks had been present here from the beginning.  It was so hard for people who had been groomed to believe in the inferiority of Black and Native peoples, to readjust to the fact that they are at least as intelligent and capable as white folks and due to appalling treatment over the years had become even more resourceful in their efforts to survive.  It seems a whole lot of people like believing in their own superiority and will do nearly anything to keep that false idea alive and kicking.  We saw that on full display in the 2024 election when a woman of color who was eminently qualified ran for president.  I am sure there was some fraud perpetrated by Musk and his AIers, but if the same number of Democrats had come out to vote as had in 2020 for Biden, the Musk cheating would have been obvious and caught.  They didn't and despite all their whining about something or other, the real reason was racism and misogyny, the deep-seated need to keep a woman of color out of high office.  I am guessing we don't think about it much, but it is there and part of nearly everything white people do.  I taught in a disadvantaged school district with about 85% of the students Black, Hispanic, and other people of color.  I told them that it was likely I, as a white woman, would do or say something racist in my time with them, even though unintended because that is how endemic racism works.  I asked them to tell me if/when I did.  I don't know if I did because they never said anything, but I did know it was a definite possibility that racism would raise its ugly head at times.  The mostly white men recruited for ICE are guaranteed steeped in the racism that is endemic and are encouraged by their "leaders" to grow it and use it to "identify" immigrants of color they can snatch (kidnap) and drag off to the prisons that they are told those people deserve for daring to come into this supposedly "white country."  It is clear this is racism and also that our Supreme Court's Roberts 6 embody that racism, even Thomas whom one would think should know better.  ICE operatives are permitted to whine "I was scared for my life" as they murder and brutalize people when they are the only ones armed, masked, and wearing combat gear.  Does that mean white men are more easily damaged than unarmed people of color?  Inquiring minds want to know.   

This issue will not go away.  I am hoping Congress will be sick of the anti-American behavior of ICE and Sec. Noem of the Dept. of Homeland Security, and will totally defund and disband ICE.  ICE is a menace and we all need to think of how we will respond if/when they show up at our door.