Chris Edelson

If any other president said something like this in a speech to a military academy, it would be a massive scandal. Instead, it isn’t among the ten most dangerous things he’s done this week.

disappointing cowardice but I suppose not unforeseeable

projection

Logan Square neighborhood, Chicago. Man wearing a balaclava in a white, unmarked vehicle, pulls the pin on a tear gas canister and tosses it in the road.

"Just trying to grab some lunch and these fucking losers showed up. FUCK ICE!"
source: www.reddit.com/r/LoganSquar...

like, i don't really know how to adequately express the anger that i feel watching this video. not showing your face, lazily teargassing random people on a neighborhood street without getting out of your car - the image says more about these goons than i could articulate bsky.app/profile/clan...

all 9 of the targeted universities ought to put out a joint statement rejecting trump's extortion. In fact, every university and college in the US, whether directly targeted by the admin or not, ought to publicly stand together against this bullying, anti-constitutional administration

Total evisceration of most basic constitutional protections:
"ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later.

"They just treated us like we were nothing," Fisher said."

Oregon Republican League Carole Hopkinson • 11h • € Wyden's upset ..hes cheering the wrong folks. Terrence K Williams 5 Reels • 15 hours ago • o Follow X ICE riot: BLACKHAWKS have been de... more •• liams • Original audio Terrence K Willi:

During the Obama administration, Oregon Republicans were convinced the federal black helicopters were coming for them at any moment. Today they’re posting videos of black helicopters over Portland & cheering giddily about it. They hate their senator who is speaking out against the black helicopters.

With Comey indictment, Trump shatters norms of US justice system The indictment of former FBI director James Comey comes amid threats of more prosecutorial action, which could have a chilling effect across government. President Donald Trump says he is seeking…

#SPAintheMedia “When [Mr. Trump] acts, he’s constantly seeing how far he can go, and nothing is ever enough for him,” warns SPA Prof. @ChrisEdelson.bsky.social. Read more about the meaning of former FBI director James Comey's indictment here:

trump's mobster presidency continues as he makes war on U.S. cities and states he sees as enemy territory

There are like a dozen videos this bad or worse per week now. This stuff is insane.

ICE Agents Rappel from Helicopter in Overnight Chicago Raid, Dragging Kids from Beds to U-Hauls Overnight on Tuesday, Sept. 30, federal agents from different agencies raided an apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, pulling men, women and children — some of them allegedly naked — from ...

the South Shore raid story seems to have broken containment, it can now be found at your local supermarket checkout

people.com/ice-agents-o...

Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told

trump claims power of 18th C. British monarch to go to war. Hamilton explained in Federalist #69 that, unlike British king, president could not do this. Constitution assigns *Congress* power to declare war. trump seeks to reverse results of American Revolution:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

I hope he can convince Democratic leadership to adopt this message rather than focusing simply on the danger for rising health care premiums

Chris Murphy says Dems should lay down a simple marker for Trump: No Dem support for anything that funds his lawbreaking.

"if you want our votes, it can’t be for rampant lawlessness. This isn't a normal time...the world [is] watching to see what we stand for." 2/

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Remember when Hillary Clinton called some Trump supporters “deplorable“?

YouTube video by MSNBC ‘F--- them kids’: ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building

According to eyewitnesses, armed ICE agents dragged kids out of their beds in the middle of the night, zip tied them and put them in rented vans while raiding an * entire apartment building* on the South Side of Chicago.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOXO...

among other things, trump and trumpists have destroyed the idea of excellence. The notion that anyone can be president used to be inspiring. Now it means that *anyone* can be president--standards of basic competence be damned.

Very possibly no political official in history has made so much corrupt money at a pace like this. Mobutu and Marcos looted a greater share of their countries’ wealth over decades but in absolute terms and in speed, Trump shamelessly puts them to shame.

MELISSA MURRAY: Can we talk a little bit about what you just said? The Democrats have been very clear in their messaging. You are emphasizing that the shutdown is about the Republicans refusing to restore healthcare funding, but some have argued that it would be equally compelling for the party to say that it is refusing to fund an administration and government that is bent on abusing its power. Why focus exclusively on healthcare? Why not carry both messages forward? LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, in the legislation that we introduced as part of our Democratic approach related to avoiding a shutdown—or in this instance, now reopening it—we made clear two things: that we're faced with a massive Republican healthcare crisis related to the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health clinics are closing all across the country, including in rural America. And now Republicans are refusing to renew the Affordable Care Act tax credits for working-class Americans, everyday Americans and those who are struggling in this Trump economy, where life has already become far too expensive. And so, we believe that healthcare is a central issue. Republicans have said it's an extraneous issue. At the same time, in the Democratic proposal to continue funding, we've also indicated that we can't simply proceed as if this is business as usual. If we reach a bipartisan agreement, then we've got to make sure there are enforceability mechanisms to ensure that the agreement that was reached is actually kept and that the Trump administration follows the law.

I've noticed that @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social is getting a little more comfortable talking about the shutdown as actually being about rejecting passage of a budget when the president won't honor it. From MSNBC today:

shocking details out of an ICE raid on an apartment building in South Shore area of Chicago on September 30th abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...

likely makes us less safe as resources better focused elsewhere are focused on this

ICE detains lawfully present Richmond father as son waits for school bus Silviano Mora Vera's U visa should have insulated him from detention.

ICE detains lawfully present Richmond father as son waits for school bus www.vpm.org/news/2025-10...

Rodrick Johnson, 67, is one of many residents who were detained by federal agents during the South Shore raid. A U.S. citizen, he said agents broke through his door and dragged him out in zip ties. Johnson said he was left tied up outside the building for nearly three hours before agents finally let him go. “I asked [agents] why they were holding me if I was an American citizen, and they said I had to wait until they looked me up,” Jones said. “I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer. They never brought one.”

What DHS pulled in Chicago on Tuesday is wildly unconstitutional. They smashed down almost every door in the building, dragged entire families into the street, and detained people for hours ("Kavanaugh stops").

Ms. Fisher was held for five hours and another senior citizen was held for three hours.

“The Govt sometimes makes brief, investigative stops to the check the immigration status of those who gather in locations where ppl are hired for day jobs; who work or appear to work in jobs such as landscaping, construction, agriculture, or car washes…” -Justice Kavanaugh

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

“It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Watson. “Even if you’re not a mother, seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.”…

“Stuff was everywhere…people’s birth certificates, and papers thrown all over. Water was leaking into the hallway. It was wicked crazy.”

Joy Reid did a segment before the election warning in specific detail of something quite similar to what is happening now. I remember appreciated that she was calling attention to what was at stake but also thinking some of the details were perhaps a bit dramatic. Not so.

Any government that relishes occupying its own cities and subjugating its own citizens at gunpoint is unfit to govern.

Clinton's "deplorable" comment got enormous coverage bc it was seen as demonstrating her contempt for half the country. trump and trumpists do much more than name call--they take actions marking half the country as enemy territory to be punished

yes--this is the right comparison. trump claims the kind of power 17th century English monarchs had--*more* power than the tyrant King George had in 1776. I write about what this means in the context of emergency power in my book, to be published early next year: www.rienner.com/title/Above_...