Open Thread

There is still some debate about whether or not Hitler actually hated the Jews or if this was all just part of a program to amass power. Keeping in mind that Hitler was the creator of the Big Lie – the concept that if you brazenly repeat the most absurd lies, they’ll be believed. In addition to this, the doctor who unsuccessfully treated Hitler’s mother for cancer was allowed to slip out of Austria unscathed after the Anschluss. So, there are some indications that it was all drivel. Of course, massively more indications that it was sincere hatred. But in the end, it didn’t matter if it was real or feigned…what matters is what happened.

I bring this up because the Army 250 parade really showed the divisions in our country. While our side was quite delighted with the parade and enjoyed a nice, patriotic afternoon honoring the Army, the Democrats were out at their No Kings marches around the country…and shouting incoherently the whole time. It was like trying to eat your dinner when there’s a couple three tables over having a shrieking fight. I pointed out on X – on a couple different threads – that the protests are over nothing. There is no fascist threat of tyranny. There is nothing unjust going on. Everything is actually pretty nice in the USA right now and getting better. But there the Democrats were…out there getting all shouty. And quite proud of themselves! They really think they stopped fascism cold!

Let’s go over some of the things the Left believes:

  1. Trump is a Russian agent.
  2. George Floyd is a hero.
  3. Luigi Mangione is a dreamboat hero.
  4. The Butler Assassination Attempt was faked.
  5. There is a due process for deportations.
  6. The Judicial is superior to the Executive.
  7. Homo sapiens can be born in the wrong body.
  8. America was built by slaves.
  9. America is stolen land.
  10. Los Angeles is actually part of Mexico.
  11. The 2024 election was stolen by Elon Musk for Trump.
  12. Cloth masks can stop a virus.
  13. Banning gas powered leaf blowers will save the environment.
  14. There is no physical strength difference between male and female.
  15. Trump is a Nazi.
  16. MAGA is all racist all the time.
  17. A violent protest can be “mostly peaceful”.
  18. The Founders were less educated than a purple haired 2025 college grad.
  19. There’s a genocide in Gaza.

You could probably add another 50 to the list – and the common run is not just that its all wrong, it is that it is all laughably, stupidly false. They’re pointing at the sky and saying it is green…and shouting at us when we say, “uh, you know its blue, right?”. Do they really believe all this drivel? I don’t know – I’ll bet that at least some of them (especially in the leadership) don’t believe a word of it. But like with ol’ Adolph, it doesn’t matter if it is sincere or not – it is what is done as a consequence. And among the many things the Democrats would like to happen now is for ICE agents to be cornered by a violent mob so they have to shoot their way out of it…thus making a new George Floyd for them (this is why Newsom filed his absurd suit to remove Trump from command of the CA Guard – the Guard has been protecting ICE as it goes about its raids – which haven’t stopped for a minute – thus preventing the bloody confrontation Newsom and the rest of the CA Democrats were trying to orchestrate from the start). And keep in mind that there’s a violent mob to go after ICE because people believe the nonsense lie that there’s something wrong with enforcing immigration laws…that somehow picking up a drug trafficker illegal in Compton is the same as loading Jews up on the train for Auschwitz. The lies used to gin up the mobs are that stupid…and there’s the mob, at least acting like they believe it.

And once again it all comes back to lies: and the lies are killing people. Some day everyone will admit that I am right – until we start to punish liars, we don’t really get out of this.

Trump caused some tremors among MAGA when he announced a pause on ICE raids for agricultural and hospitality industry workers. From what I’ve learned, this is a bit of window dressing to get a few GOP wets on board with the Big Beautiful Bill. Don’t know for certain if this is the case, but it does make the most sense. Though I also offer the possibility that ICE is overwhelmed with the scale of the task and so this is merely prioritization of resources…while we want all illegals out, there are illegals we should get out, first…and as agribusiness is a generally GOP-friendly constituency why not give them a break? At least some time to readjust their labor pool…and perhaps revamp the guest-worker program? Bottom line is that Trump will not go soft on illegal immigration – but also good to keep in mind that Trump has never been anti-immigration. And he doesn’t want to be mean here – certainly not to some poor guy who is really just trying to make a few bucks working the fields in the USA…but the invasion of illegals is a crisis that must be addressed, very firmly. Until the border is totally secure and millions deported, it is a crisis we can’t let up on.

11 thoughts on “Open Thread

  1. Rdm's avatar Rdm June 16, 2025 / 4:34 am

    “President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ramp up its operations in Democrat-run cities after massive anti-ICE protests erupted in Los Angeles and other cities, leading to civil unrest. 

    In a recent Truth Social post, President Trump directed ICE to intensify its deportation operations, specifically targeting sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.”

    on the other hand, perhaps to some degree it’s just prioritizing resources?

  2. Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 9:16 am

    Let’s be clear: These are not organic “protests” and they are not “against” a specific federal agency. They are elements of insurrection. Real insurrection—that is, a violent effort to overturn a government and assume power.

    They are an effort to undermine immigration laws. The Left could not openly come out in favor of abandoning immigration laws, so instead they attack the enforcement of these laws. They are doing this with violence, paying mobs to attack law enforcement officials.

    The Left has the option of trying to overturn immigration law, but they know this will never be accepted by the American people. This would be a process, involving debate and discourse, and would never succeed. So they fall back on the standard Leftist tactics of violence and civil unrest.

    They succeeded in their first stage in flooding the country with illegal immigrants during the Biden years, and no doubt intended to continue this until there were many more millions of illegal immigrants in the country. They tried to paper over the illegality aspect by issuing unlegislated decrees attempting to give some legitimacy or legal approval for many of these immigrants but without actual legislation by Congress this was all just to try to provide an illusion of legitimacy for some of the illegals.

    Now they are trying to use them to leverage civil unrest, which is necessary for the advancement of the Left.

    We are in a war right now, a war with two fronts. One is that of illegal immigration and the issue of dealing with these illegal immigrants, and one involves the issue of Gaza, where we have taken a stand to side with Israel. Both of these fronts represent Leftist efforts to overwhelm and then destroy the two main remaining areas of democratic governance, Israel and the United States.

  3. Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 10:28 am

    “Do they really believe all this drivel? I don’t know – I’ll bet that at least some of them (especially in the leadership) don’t believe a word of it. But like with ol’ Adolph, it doesn’t matter if it is sincere or not – it is what is done as a consequence”

    I think you make a great point here. Yes, when we look at some of the howling mob it is easy to think they do believe most of this stuff but they also don’t NEED to believe it because it just feels so good to get riled up about it. I might use the word “accept” instead of “believe” because belief can be based on analysis and the flying monkey brigade don’t do analysis, they do feelz. And that’s what makes them so easy to lead around by the nose, plugging them into whatever mob is being formed at any given time.

    I have often commented on my observation that the most powerful allure of the Left is its promise that it represents a shortcut to the Higher Moral Ground. Digging down through this is the conviction that at heart these people do want to be good, but are so superficial that merely FEELING good is enough—and the Left offers them the illusion of virtue. It invents an OTHER, identifies it as BAD, and then informs its emotion-driven pack mentality base that if they are against this Invented Other this means that they, themselves, are virtuous.

    Your list is an excellent, though partial, summary of the illusions and delusions that are constantly fed to this element of society that depends on a constant infusion of artificial stimulants to feel important and constant reassurance that if they react strongly enough to these artificial stimulants this will prove their own relevance and virtue.

    They still represent only a small fraction of American society but the eager-to-please-their-masters Complicit Agenda Media give them so much coverage and work so diligently to inflate their numbers and their influence that they sometimes appear more consequential than they really are.

    • Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 10:37 am

      I once read a short story in a sci-fi anthology in which a valiant space warrior faced a brutal enemy, but as the story progressed it turned out that this was an illusion, a fantasy. The “valiant warrior” was a barely-sentient slug of a human, so mentally and physically weak that he could only be prompted to do basic work like using a tool to lubricate essential moving parts in a machine by inducing a fantasy in which his tools were glamorous weapons and his physical actions in doing his basic maintenance were, in his induced fantasy world, the use of these weapons against a deadly foe.

      This is how I see the willingly led mobs we see on the streets, ostensibly “fighting” for some invented moral cause but really just flesh machines programmed to go out and go through motions convinced that these motions are really proof of moral and intellectual superiority.

    • Rdm's avatar Rdm June 16, 2025 / 3:45 pm

      I use a Bill Whittle phrase ‘unearned moral superiority.”

      • Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 4:21 pm

        It does explain that odd smugness you see on the faces of Leftists doing really stupid or awful things.

  4. Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 10:57 am

    It’s been about six months since the election, give or take a few days, and one of the things I have noticed is the absence of a long-time troll, the retired Casper, Wyoming school “teacher”. The election temporarily silenced a couple of other trolls, though one in particular does try to surface every now and then when the compulsion to mindlessly attack becomes too strong to ignore in spite of its inevitable result of exposure to ridicule and scorn, but evidently the total destruction of his elaborate fantasies about Harris has driven him into seclusion. Or at least to venues where he will not be constantly reminded of his obdurate foolishness.

    But he is not alone. The Harris fantasies continue, though on a much smaller scale as her deficiencies as both a candidate and a human being have been acknowledged even in the Complicit Agenda Media. The other day I saw a bumper sticker with an American flag and the caption: “Don’t blame me, I voted for Harris”. I thought this was really funny, as it so beautifully captured the delusion and confusion of the American Left these days. Starting with the effort to link the American flag (patriotism?) with the Democrat Party, the new effort to try to offset the blatant anti-Americanism of the public displays by Democrats, it went on to say something that made no sense at all.

    “Blame” for what? More secure borders? Arresting violent rioters? Reducing inflation? Bringing important industry back to the United States? Respecting/enforcing the law? Working to reduce graft, fraud and waste in our government spending? Reducing taxes? Reinvigorating the military? It was such a funny self-own, as it was really an acknowledgment that this person voted AGAINST all of these things. Not just admitting it, but bragging about it.

  5. Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 1:51 pm

    CNN is whining about enforcement of immigration laws, though they try to reframe this in terms of Trump “dishonesty”

    Only a fraction of immigrants booked into Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody since October have been convicted of serious violent or sexual crimes, according to internal government documents obtained by CNN. More than 75% of people booked into ICE custody in fiscal year 2025 had no criminal conviction other than an immigration or traffic-related offense. Less than 10% of them were convicted of crimes like murder, assault, robbery or rape. In the last month, almost all of the detained or deported immigrants named in ICE or DHS press releases were convicted or accused of crimes aside from immigration violations.

    • The Trump administration has intensified immigration raids, particularly in Los Angeles, emphasizing the capture of immigrants with serious criminal convictions. However, internal data reveals that a significant majority of those detained have no serious criminal history, with over 75% only having immigration or minor traffic offenses.
    • Less (sic) than 10% of immigrants booked into ICE custody since October 2024 have been convicted of serious crimes like murder or assault, contradicting the administration’s portrayal of these individuals as ‘barbaric’ criminals.
    • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pushed back against CNN’s findings, claiming that ICE targets the ‘worst of the worst’ criminals. However, they did not clarify what constitutes ‘pending charges’ or the nature of these convictions.
    • While public ICE data suggests most detainees lack serious criminal records, internal documents indicate that even among those with convictions, many faced relatively minor charges, challenging the narrative of widespread violent criminality among immigrants.
    • Recent immigration operations in Los Angeles have reportedly led to the detention of many individuals with no prior criminal history, contradicting the administration’s claims that they are focusing on serious offenders.
    • Some Republicans are calling for transparency from the Trump administration regarding who is being detained, emphasizing that resources should be prioritized for violent offenders rather than individuals with clean records.
    • Less (sic) than 10% of immigrants booked into ICE custody since October 2024 have been convicted of serious crimes like murder or assault, contradicting the administration’s portrayal of these individuals as ‘barbaric’ criminals.
    • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pushed back against CNN’s findings, claiming that ICE targets the ‘worst of the worst’ criminals. However, they did not clarify what constitutes ‘pending charges’ or the nature of these convictions.
    • While public ICE data suggests most detainees lack serious criminal records, internal documents indicate that even among those with convictions, many faced relatively minor charges, challenging the narrative of widespread violent criminality among immigrants.
    • Recent immigration operations in Los Angeles have reportedly led to the detention of many individuals with no prior criminal history, contradicting the administration’s claims that they are focusing on serious offenders.
    • Some Republicans are calling for transparency from the Trump administration regarding who is being detained, emphasizing that resources should be prioritized for violent offenders rather than individuals with clean records.

    “with over 75% only having immigration or minor traffic offenses” although deportation in the legal remedy for immigration offenses.

    Less (sic) than 10% of immigrants booked into ICE custody since October 2024 have been convicted of serious crimes like murder or assault” as if arrest for such crimes is not a valid reason for deporting someone already qualified for deportation due to what CNN seems to be dismissing as irrelevant, those “immigration offenses”. And one might think that an allegedly professional news organization would employ writers who understand the rules of grammar well enough to know that the adverb “less” applies to volume, while “fewer” applies to number.

    “most detainees lack serious criminal records” leading to the semantic quibbling over what might constitute a “serious” criminal record. As if any criminal record is acceptable, and don’t forget that pesky little “immigration offense”.

    Which Republicans, specifically, are arguing that illegal aliens should not be deported if they have not been convicted of additional crimes? Let’s name these “Republicans”.

    Note the prevalence of weasel words, depending on semantic interpretation and allowing for endless quibbling, such as “serious”, “minor”, “widespread”, and of course the repeated mantra that no charged or convicted criminal activity other than illegally entering and remaining in the country should mean amnesty for the illegal entry.

  6. Amazona's avatar Amazona June 16, 2025 / 9:14 pm

    INSURRECTION: Seattle police chief tells city council he will do everything in his power to help criminal aliens evade justice even if he is arrested and prosecuted for his crimes.

    Of course this is just bluster, as he has to actually COMMIT the crimes he brags he is willing and eager to commit. So far he is just posturing for his political base. But I hope that he is being watched and will FO if he does anything to harbor or shield any illegal alien or conspire to do so. US Code 1324 is pretty explicit about this. And if he harbors or shields, or conspires to harbor or shield, any illegal who then injures someone the penalty rises, even more so if the protected illegal kills someone.

    BTW it’s a separate count for every illegal harbored or shielded. And none of this even touches on the obstruction of justice charges, interference with law enforcement, etc.

    8 U.S. Code § 1324

    (A)

    (iii)

    knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;

    (v)

    (I)

    engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or

    (II)

    aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,

    shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).

    (B)A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—

    (ii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;

    (iii)

    in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and

    (iv)

    in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both.

  7. Amazona's avatar Amazona June 17, 2025 / 12:09 pm

    It has always been obvious that the sudden targeting of Elon Musk by the rabid radical Left has been prompted by DOGE’s threat to the financial support of radical Leftist causes and programs by the US taxpayer. Certainly the mere image of Musk appearing to have a friendly relationship with Trump was enough to trigger the more unbalanced of the Loony Left, but it was not enough to get them out in the streets with their preprinted signs and organized efforts to damage Musk by attacking Tesla (and Tesla owners, BTW). No, that called for the organizational skills and deep pockets of the Left itself.

    Now we are seeing some examples of the largesse scooped up by the Left coming under scrutiny and facing elimination. Efforts have been made in the past regarding reining in the fraud and abuses of USAGM (United States Agency for Global Media).

    The U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General (OIG) found security vulnerabilities at USAGM and determined that RFA leadership awarded insiders millions of dollars in grant funding. Reportedly, the Biden Administration reversed “long-overdue and necessary reforms, including security reforms” that the first Trump Administration implemented to address repeated requests “by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) that had been ignored by USAGM.” There are serious concerns that “USAGM is vulnerable to exploitation by foreign spies.”

    The concerns continue from there, especially when it comes to what we don’t know, and what the letter also references as being an issue thanks to USAGM vulnerabilities:

    Evidence of this vulnerability is a disturbing finding that “over 1,500 USAGM personnel (nearly 40 percent of its total workforce) were performing their Tier 3 and Tier 5 national-security-sensitive positions with falsified and/or unauthorized suitability-for-employment determinations and with access to sensitive federal building and information systems.” Reportedly, “[i]n many cases, records (including Social Security numbers), were falsified or replaced with notional placeholders, and fingerprints (in many dozens of cases) were never submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for basic background investigations.”

    The article references many areas of concern, touching on both national security and financial fraud. When nearly 40% of its total workforce held national-security-sensitive positions with “falsified and/or unauthorized suitability-for-employment determinations” that is truly alarming–but then

    Many of these individuals ultimately left USAGM and “rolled into other federal agencies with reciprocal clearance authorizations” while others “disappeared into U.S. society.” Today, the whereabouts and clearance status of these individuals is unknown.

    And then, of course, in addition to the agency acting to implant possible bad actors deep within our system, with high level security access and clearances that allow them to move into other agencies (serious concerns that the USAGM exposed the U.S. to security threats and even served as a conduit for foreign spies to infiltrate the U.S. government and obtain access to highly sensitive, even classified information“) there is the financial aspect:

    Additionally, the OIG found what has been characterized as “waste and self-dealing, including security vulnerability and RFA leadership awarding insiders millions of dollars of grant funding…”

    No wonder the radical Left tried to shut down DOGE, seeing the existential threat posed to its infrastructure of both federal funding and interior pathways to “highly sensitive and even classified information”. Fortunately, some serious members of Congress are working on investigating this, while DOGE continues without the lightning rod of Elon Musk drawing all the attention and vitriol.

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