I had an insight yesterday about Trump and his nuttiness. None of this makes any sense if you assume that Trump has some vision that he's trying to achieve through policy, executive orders, Truth Social posts, etc. I'll go as far as say that Trump actually has no vision for America (but his underlings like J.D. Vance and Stephen Miller do).
Instead, this reality we find ourselves in, is one where the country and the world are effectively hostages at Trump's farewell tour and birthday party. He's using the office of the Presidency not to actually implement any changes, but to knock off items on his Bucket List.
Trump is miffed over the NFL team owners not accepting him into their circle decades ago? Next year, he'll be MC'ing the NFL draft in Washington DC, and team owners will be crawling over themselves to ingratiate themselves with him.
Trump is annoyed that when it comes to wealth, he's a small fry compared to folks like Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook? He's going to monetize the office as much as his fans will let him to make up the gap, and when that is still insufficient, he'll leverage his control over tariffs and regulatory agencies to get folks like Bezos and Zuckerberg to grovel beneath him.
Trump feels like he missed out on being a movie mogul? He'll threaten to tariff American films so that he can inject himself into Hollywood conversations and become the ultimate Hollywoood exec who decides what gets made and what gets scrapped.
Trump still smarts from the accusations that he's a draft dodger ("Corporal Bone Spurs")? How about throwing himself a military birthday parade with his toy box, which includes the world's greatest army?
I'm hardly the first to compare Trump to the little boy in the Jerome Bixby story "It's a *Good* Life"[1] (later adapted into a "Twilight Zone" episode), but the more I watch the man himself, the more I'm convinced that he knows that his time on this mortal plane is limited and he's doing everything he can with the powers at his fingertips to make up for the times he felt unjustly excluded and maligned (which is ALL the times) in his life and to try and go out and be remembered as some kind of consequential and beloved figure that he would never be, left to his own devices.
It doesn't make things like the impending stagflation, product shortages, or lives destroyed by his ICE goons any better - I used the term "hostages" for a reason - but this perspective at least places events in a context where it all makes some kind of sense, and really illustrates how none of this stuff that is happening is being done with any eye toward actually embedding and maintaining it beyond Trump's lifespan. No laws being passed, everything implemented as executive orders that can be overturned on Day One, etc.
Make no mistake, cleaning up after this geriatric toddler's finished playing Smash Cake with the nation and the world will be no small task, but at least we're dealing with a petulant child who seems more interested in defrauding his own friends (see the recent reporting on his crypto shenanigans) and not some Putin-level mastermind.
Until I see some evidence that ICE is more interested in deporting dangerous individuals here illegally, instead of terrorizing US citizens and folks making good faith efforts at being here legally, I stand by my words.
Until ICE starts bringing folks into court for their status to be adjudicated properly, you might want to avoid using the phrase "the jury is still out".
So I guess the thousands of dangerous illegals that ICE has gotten out of the country don't matter as long as you have a few isolated instances that you can criticize?
[Citation Needed: "thousands of dangerous illegals"]
To put my cards on the table, I'm supportive of ICE deporting criminals (esp. dangerous ones).
BUT, we already have processes to follow to establish whether one is a criminal or not in the first place, and skipping that due process just to ship people overseas is what makes ICE "Goons" lately.
This isn't Mega-City One, where we've empowered wannabe Judge Dredds to act as judge, jury, and executioner. We have processes in place (for very good reasons) to keep the enforcement of the law *just* in the first place.
What process (and restitution) is due to the Oklahoma City US citizens who had their privacy violated and property seized?
"She recognized them as names listed on mail still arriving at the house—likely former residents."
"'We just moved here from Maryland,' she said. 'We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens.'"
"She said the agents didn’t care."
"'They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless,' she said. 'I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything.'"
"Marissa said the agents tore apart every square inch of the house and what few belongings they had, seizing their phones, laptops, and cash as evidence."
"'I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,' she said. 'I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.'"
Due process = innocent until proven guilty. That process may differ depending, but at minimum people have the right to challenge the government's claims against them.
If this is the incident that you're referring to and the Houcks are telling the truth (and I don't have any reason to think that they aren't), then I'm happy to call these FBI agents "Goons" as well:
I found some old comments (just not on this forum, but a private Discord set up after The American Conservative went down the tubes).
In response to a question: "Do you think that the DOJ ordering a SWAT team to arrest a guy on a charge previously thrown out is sensationalizing?"
I replied: "Neither story reported enough about the case for me to know whether the DOJ was justified in this case or not. I don't know how the FACE Act laws work, what Houck's history is, or any additional details that (had they been reported) would have filled in those gaps for me. From the two links, ***I'd say that an armed FBI team of 25 to 30 agents seems excessive, but I don't know if Houck is one of these Second Amendment "cold dead hands" guys either***. (Neither article reported whether this was Houck's first run in with the law, either.) That's why I found both stories very lacking - there was a TON of context that was missing." (2025: *** emphasis added)
I didn't use the word "Goons" to describe the FBI agents at the time, but 2022 Chris thought that behavior was excessive and wouldn't have any problems calling those agents Goons if the word was more on the top of my mind then.
That said, at least in the Houck case, he had been indicted for breaking the law, which landed the FBI on his doorstep in the first case. I don't see such cause (such as an indictment) to justify the behavior of the ICE goons in the cases I cited.
At least you are consistent, that is to be applauded. We can still disagree about methods employed to get dangerous and not dangerous illegals out of the country. Notice I included not dangerous illegals, although how do we know if they are not dangerous? I guess they would have to commit a crime or crimes to find out? Even so, they have no business being in America if they came here by illegal means.
"although how do we know if they are not dangerous"
The phrase you're struggling to reach is "due process".
People acting on behalf of the gov't need to be following the law. Warrants, hearings, all that stuff. If the gov't finds the law too difficult to follow, what lesson should anyone else take from that?
Your relentless and baseless claims that Trump is mentally unstable says more about you than it does about him. As he said, he could find a cure for cancer and you would spin it negatively. I say he could walk on water and you would accuse him of copying Jesus and faking it.
Points for the LEGO Movie reference.
Everything is awesome.
I had an insight yesterday about Trump and his nuttiness. None of this makes any sense if you assume that Trump has some vision that he's trying to achieve through policy, executive orders, Truth Social posts, etc. I'll go as far as say that Trump actually has no vision for America (but his underlings like J.D. Vance and Stephen Miller do).
Instead, this reality we find ourselves in, is one where the country and the world are effectively hostages at Trump's farewell tour and birthday party. He's using the office of the Presidency not to actually implement any changes, but to knock off items on his Bucket List.
Trump is miffed over the NFL team owners not accepting him into their circle decades ago? Next year, he'll be MC'ing the NFL draft in Washington DC, and team owners will be crawling over themselves to ingratiate themselves with him.
Trump is annoyed that when it comes to wealth, he's a small fry compared to folks like Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook? He's going to monetize the office as much as his fans will let him to make up the gap, and when that is still insufficient, he'll leverage his control over tariffs and regulatory agencies to get folks like Bezos and Zuckerberg to grovel beneath him.
Trump feels like he missed out on being a movie mogul? He'll threaten to tariff American films so that he can inject himself into Hollywood conversations and become the ultimate Hollywoood exec who decides what gets made and what gets scrapped.
Trump still smarts from the accusations that he's a draft dodger ("Corporal Bone Spurs")? How about throwing himself a military birthday parade with his toy box, which includes the world's greatest army?
I'm hardly the first to compare Trump to the little boy in the Jerome Bixby story "It's a *Good* Life"[1] (later adapted into a "Twilight Zone" episode), but the more I watch the man himself, the more I'm convinced that he knows that his time on this mortal plane is limited and he's doing everything he can with the powers at his fingertips to make up for the times he felt unjustly excluded and maligned (which is ALL the times) in his life and to try and go out and be remembered as some kind of consequential and beloved figure that he would never be, left to his own devices.
It doesn't make things like the impending stagflation, product shortages, or lives destroyed by his ICE goons any better - I used the term "hostages" for a reason - but this perspective at least places events in a context where it all makes some kind of sense, and really illustrates how none of this stuff that is happening is being done with any eye toward actually embedding and maintaining it beyond Trump's lifespan. No laws being passed, everything implemented as executive orders that can be overturned on Day One, etc.
Make no mistake, cleaning up after this geriatric toddler's finished playing Smash Cake with the nation and the world will be no small task, but at least we're dealing with a petulant child who seems more interested in defrauding his own friends (see the recent reporting on his crypto shenanigans) and not some Putin-level mastermind.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Good_Life
"ICE goons?" I say, thank the Lord for them!
Until I see some evidence that ICE is more interested in deporting dangerous individuals here illegally, instead of terrorizing US citizens and folks making good faith efforts at being here legally, I stand by my words.
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5365410/student-activist-arrested-by-ice-at-his-citizenship-appointment
https://kfor.com/news/local/were-citizens-oklahoma-city-family-traumatized-after-ice-raids-home-but-they-werent-suspects/
The problem ICE - and more broadly the administration - has is that most immigrants, whether legal or illegal, do not commit crime.
The jury is still out on the impact of 11 million illegals ushered in by Biden and Mayorkas.
Until ICE starts bringing folks into court for their status to be adjudicated properly, you might want to avoid using the phrase "the jury is still out".
That's not the number, and you know it. It's around half that present in the US, and not all of them came during Biden's admin.
Yeah, maybe. I will edit but there is considerable dispute total illegals brought in by Biden and Mayorkas and the grand total.
Except illegal immigrants by definition are committing crime.
What crimes did the people in the instances I cited above commit?
Typically one misdemeanor, and not the sort of crime you or Trump mean when we talk about crime.
So I guess the thousands of dangerous illegals that ICE has gotten out of the country don't matter as long as you have a few isolated instances that you can criticize?
[Citation Needed: "thousands of dangerous illegals"]
To put my cards on the table, I'm supportive of ICE deporting criminals (esp. dangerous ones).
BUT, we already have processes to follow to establish whether one is a criminal or not in the first place, and skipping that due process just to ship people overseas is what makes ICE "Goons" lately.
This isn't Mega-City One, where we've empowered wannabe Judge Dredds to act as judge, jury, and executioner. We have processes in place (for very good reasons) to keep the enforcement of the law *just* in the first place.
The enforcement of immigration laws is most often administrative rather than judicial. Due process or what process is due
What process (and restitution) is due to the Oklahoma City US citizens who had their privacy violated and property seized?
"She recognized them as names listed on mail still arriving at the house—likely former residents."
"'We just moved here from Maryland,' she said. 'We’re citizens. That’s what I kept saying. We’re citizens.'"
"She said the agents didn’t care."
"'They were very dismissive, very rough, very careless,' she said. 'I kept pleading. I kept telling them we weren’t criminals. They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything.'"
"Marissa said the agents tore apart every square inch of the house and what few belongings they had, seizing their phones, laptops, and cash as evidence."
"'I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here,' she said. 'I have to feed my children. I’m going to need gas money. I need to be able to get around. Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog.'"
Due process = innocent until proven guilty. That process may differ depending, but at minimum people have the right to challenge the government's claims against them.
You know that those here have said repeatedly that if proven in the appropriate processes that deportations or jailing can and should occur.
Did you know there's someone trying to self deport but ICE wanted to force him to stay and be imprisoned for some period of time before deporting him?
The cruelty is the point in that example.
We should criticize when our government takes wrong actions, especially when the point of the action is just cruelty.
But did you have anything to say when Biden's FBI agents raided a family of Catholics at 3 in the morning, terrorizing them with guns drawn?
If this is the incident that you're referring to and the Houcks are telling the truth (and I don't have any reason to think that they aren't), then I'm happy to call these FBI agents "Goons" as well:
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252393/fbi-disputes-accounts-of-swat-raid-at-pro-life-catholic-familys-home
I found some old comments (just not on this forum, but a private Discord set up after The American Conservative went down the tubes).
In response to a question: "Do you think that the DOJ ordering a SWAT team to arrest a guy on a charge previously thrown out is sensationalizing?"
I replied: "Neither story reported enough about the case for me to know whether the DOJ was justified in this case or not. I don't know how the FACE Act laws work, what Houck's history is, or any additional details that (had they been reported) would have filled in those gaps for me. From the two links, ***I'd say that an armed FBI team of 25 to 30 agents seems excessive, but I don't know if Houck is one of these Second Amendment "cold dead hands" guys either***. (Neither article reported whether this was Houck's first run in with the law, either.) That's why I found both stories very lacking - there was a TON of context that was missing." (2025: *** emphasis added)
I didn't use the word "Goons" to describe the FBI agents at the time, but 2022 Chris thought that behavior was excessive and wouldn't have any problems calling those agents Goons if the word was more on the top of my mind then.
That said, at least in the Houck case, he had been indicted for breaking the law, which landed the FBI on his doorstep in the first case. I don't see such cause (such as an indictment) to justify the behavior of the ICE goons in the cases I cited.
At least you are consistent, that is to be applauded. We can still disagree about methods employed to get dangerous and not dangerous illegals out of the country. Notice I included not dangerous illegals, although how do we know if they are not dangerous? I guess they would have to commit a crime or crimes to find out? Even so, they have no business being in America if they came here by illegal means.
"although how do we know if they are not dangerous"
The phrase you're struggling to reach is "due process".
People acting on behalf of the gov't need to be following the law. Warrants, hearings, all that stuff. If the gov't finds the law too difficult to follow, what lesson should anyone else take from that?
This isn't rocket science.
Nice whataboutism.
There were several episodes of Scooby Doo that took place on Alcatraz!
Your relentless and baseless claims that Trump is mentally unstable says more about you than it does about him. As he said, he could find a cure for cancer and you would spin it negatively. I say he could walk on water and you would accuse him of copying Jesus and faking it.
Just gotta listen to him talk, Patricia.
Lol, duh....