For those so inclined, in the middle of the world burning down, I highly recommend you watch the HBO documentary on Mel Brooks. For me, there was so much hope to be found there about how we could express our outrage and fear productively and constructively in a free society.
Twin Cities resident here. I am so proud of my entire state for what they did yesterday. If you have never been in -10 degree weather, you cannot comprehend how hard it is to be outside for hours. Imagine walking into your kitchen freezer, but it's 10 degrees colder. And the wind is blowing. And no matter how many layers you have on, the cold just seeps into you. And 75,000 of you are marching together. If you want to know how much we hate ICE and Trump, just watch the videos and pictures from yesterday. And by the way, there were smaller rallies and marches all over the state yesterday too. All the way up in Moorhead (next to Fargo) and all the way down to Rochester and everywhere in between.
We will not be broken by this lawless administration. We will not back down and we will not give up. And we thank all of you and everyone for their support as we are going through this. Do not be discouraged. Do not turn away. We are exhausted here in Minnesota but we are going to keep going and we want you all to do the same. Do whatever you can. Find joy when you can as well. Joy is resistance too.,
Minnesota is our North Star. We are with you, no matter how exhausted, how frozen, how afraid, how intimidated. You are our hope and we are yours. You are us and we are you--together, united, committed, unstoppable.
Tim, you and your kindred spirits are leading the way. Minnesotans are true patriots – and every day you are inspiring the rest of the resistance and making us proud!
I think it was -10F which is more than 10F lower than the freezer.
I can remember at least two days when I lived there when it was -40 (that's the point where F and C scales coincide). I'm hoping for that for the ICE guys. It'll do them good. Maybe with a nice brisk wind.
I'm so proud everyone got out though in those conditions.
We are here with you in southern UT. In ruby red St. George we held an "Visibility Brigade" protest against ICE. While it was a small group, we were loud and proud with our signage "MELT ICE STAND WITH MN" It was during rush hour on an I-15 overpass so a lot of folks saw it AND most honked in support!!
Thanks Tim you folks are so inspiring. A few hundred turned out at a Home Depot in east Sacramento yesterday, shivering in the 50 degree weather but there to protest ICE. It was a diverse, working class neighborhood we were in and the energy from drivers was off the charts. You are not alone in your fight.
We are all incredibly inspired by Minnesota's resistance. The world is watching! You all are restoring some faith in Americans, even if our federal government is destroying that faith.
GREENLAND (priceless trolling of Trump and his insanity):
"If Russian ships are sailing freely around Greenland, Ukraine can help. We have the expertise and weapons to ensure that not one of those ships remains. They can sink near Greenland just as they do near Crimea."
Note: If Trump was truly concerned about Greenland’s security, and considered himself an ally of Ukraine rather than Vlad Putin and Russia, he would applaud this offer of Ukraine’s proven drone technology.
As for NATO, here is yet more evidence that Mad King Donald is abandoning our allies:
"Pentagon to offer 'more limited' support to US allies in defence strategy shift"
. "God Punishes Trump by Turning US into Greenland"
THE CELESTIAL REALM (The Borowitz Report) — Stating that He had had “just about enough of this idiot,” on Saturday God wreaked revenge on Donald J. Trump by transforming the United States of America into Greenland.
In a terse public statement, the Almighty declared, “Prayers answered, jerkwad.”
The act of God coupled with His blistering pronouncement left many atheists reconsidering their positions, nonbelievers reported.
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney extended a helping hand to his beleaguered American counterpart, offering, “Since we know how to handle cold weather, we would consider making the United States our eleventh province.”
Simon, our former Presidents and VPs, Democratic governors, and Congressional leaders should travel to a symbolic European shrine such as Normandy to denounce Trump, his attacks on NATO, and the massive civil and human rights violations, including acts of murder and kidnapping, and demand that Trump be removed. Then do the same thing in Minneapolis.
I watched the video from yesterday, Simon. I agree that being open may be more productive in challenging our elected reps. However, Hakeem is an enormous disappointment. As the House minority leader, he has more responsibility than just to his constituents. What message do you think would be effective to convey our massive disappointment in his decision not to whip votes on ICE? The public has voiced massive opposition to this, what are the Dems who voted YES thinking?
Well, irs primary season and those members voting yes are facing the voters.
But the battle is on to the Senate now, and we need to up the pressure there to amend the bill to have ICE take off the masks and bring judicial warrants for the specific immigrants they are seeking.
I know some disagree but how you phrase something matters. "Defunding" or "Abolish" scares a lot of people and if you have to explain what a term/slogan means, you have lost the battle. We have to come up with a better way of conveying the message. JMO
I'm sorry - I apologize. I wasn't suggesting you were saying this. Rather, I am frustrated and was venting. I probably should have taken a few deep breaths or a break. I'm really upset as we all are with what is happening. I completely agree with you. I hope the Senate amends the bill to have ICE take off the masks and bring judicial warrants as you suggest. Again, sorry for suggesting you said something you didn't. It wasn't my intent.
Most US cities are not Mpls. We are not prepared as they are. The learning curve is steep. They have been building community for years. This kind of thing is a heavy lift.
This is not done by the party, though of course any organizing help is needed. This is neighborhood level organizing across all party lines. Another person was shot just now.
We have started to mobilize in NJ, as we assume we will also be targeted at some point. The beauty of organizing now is that we have very good models to work from. Those states will help your state, I’m sure.
They just killed someone else. I’m not watching the video so details are fuzzy, but apparently a bunch of agents wrestled an observer to the ground and shot him.
It’s horrifying, I can give details. There’s seven guys wrestling one guy. They had him basically pinned down, punching him, maybe even pistol whipping him from what I can tell. Then you hear a gun go off and see them all scatter and the guy is laying on the ground then you hear five more gunshots and can see one of the ice agents shooting at him, but he’s obviously already on the ground.
I'm proud of the people of Minnesota. I used to live there, and it is gratifying to see them standing up.
I checked and the Minnesota Winter Carnival has just started. As a kid I used to go out looking for the Medallion they hid in one of the parks, with clues in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That and there were always ice sculptures and parade I think (never went to that). I would imagine this ICE stuff is going ruin all that.
But Minnesotans will go out a dig in the snow for a hidden medallion when it is -10F. I hope the ICE agents from Texas freeze their asses off.
Self report: Information Warrior message continues on BlueSky
Please help us unite the Democratic Attorneys General, Democratic Governors, Democrats in Congress & Democratic Mayors to protect our freedom & democracy. We need all voices to simultaneously demand that the rule of law be followed, especially our U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of Our Country.
I am in awe of Minnesotans. As I prepare to clean out the garage, fill my bathtubs with water, catch up on all the laundry, etc, I am also doing pro-democracy work. I told my GOP senators they would look back on this moment with shame if they did not speak out on ICE's actions now. I have the second hundred of my news boosting postcards ready to write by flashlight. I am working on info warring with friends and family. I'm so proud of the brave and patriotic Minnesotans. You are showing us the way! (And I'm praying the internet and cell towers don't go down -- Hopium is my daily dose of sanity!)
I have no confidence that they will. House Dems knew about the first shooting and the kidnapping of that little boy—if that wasn’t enough, what would be?
I'm attending my local Democratic Party meeting (via Zoom) this morning. Rep. Larsen is giving us an update. I submitted three questions, but judging by the voting on the questions, mine will not be asked. Now I know how out of step I am with local Democrats.
I've been working on remarks for Tuesday's open session of the Whatcom County Council meeting. I will thank the Council for its recent resolution and, in a very general way, discuss next steps.
Yesterday I had a rough time with a staffer for Sen. Cantwell. I won't go into details. I will just say that I think they are feeling some pressure and perhaps hearing a lot from constituents who are complaining that Sen. Cantwell has not said a thing about ICE publicly for 16 days now.
Subscribing to the Star Tribune is a good idea.
I will try to cool my jets and take most of Saturday and Sunday off.
For those so inclined, in the middle of the world burning down, I highly recommend you watch the HBO documentary on Mel Brooks. For me, there was so much hope to be found there about how we could express our outrage and fear productively and constructively in a free society.
BeeBee you and I think alike. We need art and wit and the bravery of artists right now.
Twin Cities resident here. I am so proud of my entire state for what they did yesterday. If you have never been in -10 degree weather, you cannot comprehend how hard it is to be outside for hours. Imagine walking into your kitchen freezer, but it's 10 degrees colder. And the wind is blowing. And no matter how many layers you have on, the cold just seeps into you. And 75,000 of you are marching together. If you want to know how much we hate ICE and Trump, just watch the videos and pictures from yesterday. And by the way, there were smaller rallies and marches all over the state yesterday too. All the way up in Moorhead (next to Fargo) and all the way down to Rochester and everywhere in between.
We will not be broken by this lawless administration. We will not back down and we will not give up. And we thank all of you and everyone for their support as we are going through this. Do not be discouraged. Do not turn away. We are exhausted here in Minnesota but we are going to keep going and we want you all to do the same. Do whatever you can. Find joy when you can as well. Joy is resistance too.,
We will prevail.
Minnesota is our North Star. We are with you, no matter how exhausted, how frozen, how afraid, how intimidated. You are our hope and we are yours. You are us and we are you--together, united, committed, unstoppable.
💙 🗽 Thank you, Tim, for your leadership, courage and patriotism. 🗽💙
Tim, you and your kindred spirits are leading the way. Minnesotans are true patriots – and every day you are inspiring the rest of the resistance and making us proud!
I think it was -10F which is more than 10F lower than the freezer.
I can remember at least two days when I lived there when it was -40 (that's the point where F and C scales coincide). I'm hoping for that for the ICE guys. It'll do them good. Maybe with a nice brisk wind.
I'm so proud everyone got out though in those conditions.
I just looked it up, I guess freezers are set around 0F. Tim's right. It's colder than I thought.
It's dangerous cold. Frostbite can occur within minutes.
We are here with you in southern UT. In ruby red St. George we held an "Visibility Brigade" protest against ICE. While it was a small group, we were loud and proud with our signage "MELT ICE STAND WITH MN" It was during rush hour on an I-15 overpass so a lot of folks saw it AND most honked in support!!
I tell people that it is so cold the mucus in your nose freezes as soon as you step outside. -10 in VT today, wind chill -20.
Rock stars all! We are with you. Can’t come there but visualizing you all every day. Freedom NOW.
Thanks Tim you folks are so inspiring. A few hundred turned out at a Home Depot in east Sacramento yesterday, shivering in the 50 degree weather but there to protest ICE. It was a diverse, working class neighborhood we were in and the energy from drivers was off the charts. You are not alone in your fight.
We are facing an ice storm, but local leaders are calling for a quick protest this afternoon in solidarity with Minnesotans.
We are all incredibly inspired by Minnesota's resistance. The world is watching! You all are restoring some faith in Americans, even if our federal government is destroying that faith.
And yes, we *will* prevail.
GREENLAND (priceless trolling of Trump and his insanity):
"If Russian ships are sailing freely around Greenland, Ukraine can help. We have the expertise and weapons to ensure that not one of those ships remains. They can sink near Greenland just as they do near Crimea."
– President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine
Note: If Trump was truly concerned about Greenland’s security, and considered himself an ally of Ukraine rather than Vlad Putin and Russia, he would applaud this offer of Ukraine’s proven drone technology.
As for NATO, here is yet more evidence that Mad King Donald is abandoning our allies:
"Pentagon to offer 'more limited' support to US allies in defence strategy shift"
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9r8ezym3ro
And in other news:
. "God Punishes Trump by Turning US into Greenland"
THE CELESTIAL REALM (The Borowitz Report) — Stating that He had had “just about enough of this idiot,” on Saturday God wreaked revenge on Donald J. Trump by transforming the United States of America into Greenland.
In a terse public statement, the Almighty declared, “Prayers answered, jerkwad.”
The act of God coupled with His blistering pronouncement left many atheists reconsidering their positions, nonbelievers reported.
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney extended a helping hand to his beleaguered American counterpart, offering, “Since we know how to handle cold weather, we would consider making the United States our eleventh province.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/god-punishes-trump-by-turning-us
Love Andy Borowitz.
And he's not joking, after they turned Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, into a submarine very early in the war.
Thank you, Simon, for this encouraging news!
I'm continuing to work on postcards to NC voters today.
Stay warm, everyone!
Simon, our former Presidents and VPs, Democratic governors, and Congressional leaders should travel to a symbolic European shrine such as Normandy to denounce Trump, his attacks on NATO, and the massive civil and human rights violations, including acts of murder and kidnapping, and demand that Trump be removed. Then do the same thing in Minneapolis.
I watched the video from yesterday, Simon. I agree that being open may be more productive in challenging our elected reps. However, Hakeem is an enormous disappointment. As the House minority leader, he has more responsibility than just to his constituents. What message do you think would be effective to convey our massive disappointment in his decision not to whip votes on ICE? The public has voiced massive opposition to this, what are the Dems who voted YES thinking?
Well, irs primary season and those members voting yes are facing the voters.
But the battle is on to the Senate now, and we need to up the pressure there to amend the bill to have ICE take off the masks and bring judicial warrants for the specific immigrants they are seeking.
I know some disagree but how you phrase something matters. "Defunding" or "Abolish" scares a lot of people and if you have to explain what a term/slogan means, you have lost the battle. We have to come up with a better way of conveying the message. JMO
I am not suggesting either. I'm saying legalize it: masks off, officer i.d., , warrant.
I'm sorry - I apologize. I wasn't suggesting you were saying this. Rather, I am frustrated and was venting. I probably should have taken a few deep breaths or a break. I'm really upset as we all are with what is happening. I completely agree with you. I hope the Senate amends the bill to have ICE take off the masks and bring judicial warrants as you suggest. Again, sorry for suggesting you said something you didn't. It wasn't my intent.
..no sweat Mrs CQ... nor offense taken neither...
there will be accountabilty for these monsters.
My partner thinks today is "...our Kent State moment".
i'm inclined to agree, if we step into the opportunity...
"Hang together or hang alone" means boycott/walkout in our own communities is the best way to support MN.
Work more, worry less if we can...
Abu Ghraib comes to the United States.
The Twin Cities residents' defense of their community has ruined the Trump gang's plan to terrorize every American big metro area.
Most US cities are not Mpls. We are not prepared as they are. The learning curve is steep. They have been building community for years. This kind of thing is a heavy lift.
That is one of the reasons Hopium raised money for the Democratic party of MN (DFL) -- to share success strategies among states. https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/a-new-campaign-to-support-the-courageous?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share
This is not done by the party, though of course any organizing help is needed. This is neighborhood level organizing across all party lines. Another person was shot just now.
No time like the present. In the long run, all communities are going to have to organize themselves against the threats we face--and created.
We have started to mobilize in NJ, as we assume we will also be targeted at some point. The beauty of organizing now is that we have very good models to work from. Those states will help your state, I’m sure.
I regret to inform everyone but there’s been another ICE murder in Minnesota. It’s a horrifying video as well.
They just killed someone else. I’m not watching the video so details are fuzzy, but apparently a bunch of agents wrestled an observer to the ground and shot him.
They are everywhere today.
It’s horrifying, I can give details. There’s seven guys wrestling one guy. They had him basically pinned down, punching him, maybe even pistol whipping him from what I can tell. Then you hear a gun go off and see them all scatter and the guy is laying on the ground then you hear five more gunshots and can see one of the ice agents shooting at him, but he’s obviously already on the ground.
Just…retribution. Against all of us.
This is so horrifying!
I'm proud of the people of Minnesota. I used to live there, and it is gratifying to see them standing up.
I checked and the Minnesota Winter Carnival has just started. As a kid I used to go out looking for the Medallion they hid in one of the parks, with clues in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That and there were always ice sculptures and parade I think (never went to that). I would imagine this ICE stuff is going ruin all that.
But Minnesotans will go out a dig in the snow for a hidden medallion when it is -10F. I hope the ICE agents from Texas freeze their asses off.
Self report: Information Warrior message continues on BlueSky
Please help us unite the Democratic Attorneys General, Democratic Governors, Democrats in Congress & Democratic Mayors to protect our freedom & democracy. We need all voices to simultaneously demand that the rule of law be followed, especially our U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of Our Country.
Posted on the BlueSky pages of additional Members of Congerss using these lists: https://www.dems.gov/who-we-are/our-members
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/about-senate-dems/our-caucus
Yes please do this. Thank you Deborah.
You're welcome, Simon. The direct links to their BlueSky page is included on these websites.
I am in awe of Minnesotans. As I prepare to clean out the garage, fill my bathtubs with water, catch up on all the laundry, etc, I am also doing pro-democracy work. I told my GOP senators they would look back on this moment with shame if they did not speak out on ICE's actions now. I have the second hundred of my news boosting postcards ready to write by flashlight. I am working on info warring with friends and family. I'm so proud of the brave and patriotic Minnesotans. You are showing us the way! (And I'm praying the internet and cell towers don't go down -- Hopium is my daily dose of sanity!)
It is being reported that ICE murdered another constitutional observer this morning in Minnesota.
I have no understanding, no grace for anyone who voted to fund them more, or for the leaders who allowed it. They are gestapo.
This has to be a turning point. The Senate must amend the DHS appropriation, the general strike in MN must gain traction in other regions.
Stay safe and hold courage. We are with you!
I have no confidence that they will. House Dems knew about the first shooting and the kidnapping of that little boy—if that wasn’t enough, what would be?
What I'm doing:
I'm attending my local Democratic Party meeting (via Zoom) this morning. Rep. Larsen is giving us an update. I submitted three questions, but judging by the voting on the questions, mine will not be asked. Now I know how out of step I am with local Democrats.
I've been working on remarks for Tuesday's open session of the Whatcom County Council meeting. I will thank the Council for its recent resolution and, in a very general way, discuss next steps.
Yesterday I had a rough time with a staffer for Sen. Cantwell. I won't go into details. I will just say that I think they are feeling some pressure and perhaps hearing a lot from constituents who are complaining that Sen. Cantwell has not said a thing about ICE publicly for 16 days now.
Subscribing to the Star Tribune is a good idea.
I will try to cool my jets and take most of Saturday and Sunday off.