Never mind. More capitulation from Democrats: By all indications, at least nine Senate Democrats will vote to advance the Laken Riley Act, a sweeping measure that mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants who have committed nonviolent crimes, all but ensuring that it will move forward. This is a classic GOP “message bill”: It forces Democrats to either oppose the package, creating instant ad fodder against them, or swallow the whole thing, even though it contains some awful policies that most Democrats would surely oppose in isolation. Unfortunately, some Senate Democrats are making this mess worse than it has to be—and in so doing, are flirting with an early surrender to Donald Trump. It suggests that some Democrats, spooked by Trump’s comeback, have already decided there’s no percentage in even attempting to challenge anything carrying the aura of “toughness” on immigration. That doesn’t bode well for their capacity to resist the terrible crackdown that’s coming, but fortunately, it’s not too late to find a better path.
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100 Executive Orders Trump and his henchmen met with Republican Senators yesterday to preview his immediate plans. They want to put on a really big show right out of the box: The incoming Trump administration is considering conducting a high-profile raid targeting undocumented immigrants in its initial days, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The raid could target immigrants allegedly living in the United States illegally at a workplace in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, the people said. In meetings between the Trump transition team and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the Trump team has repeatedly asked about resources and logistics immediately available to carry out workplace raids, the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to the media about transition discussions, said. Maybe they could come out here to LA to do it. They could find some immigrants who’ve been left homeless from the fires and really give their rabid base a thrill. It sounds like they are going to get the show on the road the minute they get back in the White House.
I have been told that we’re not supposed to talk about Hitler and the Nazis because it evokes unpleasant comparisons to the modern authoritarian movement that’s getting ready to assume power in the United States. Indeed, we’re supposed to try to “make deals” with them so it wouldn’t be prudent to say anything that might make them mad. At least that’s what I hear… Nonetheless, I don’t see how we can talk about this without mentioning the Nazis so I will: President-elect Donald J. Trump is likely to justify his plans to seal off the border with Mexico by citing a public health emergency from immigrants bringing disease into the United States. Now he just has to find one. Mr. Trump last invoked public health restrictions, known as Title 42, in the early days of the pandemic in 2020, when the coronavirus was tearing across the globe. As he prepares to enter office again, Mr. Trump has no such public health disaster to point to. Still, his advisers have spent recent months trying to find the right disease to build their case, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
President-elect idiocy Believe it or not, the same guy who doesn’t know how maps work doesn’t understand engineering either. It’s Friday. Allow me to geek out a bit. I worked for decades as a mechanical engineer, a P.E., specifically in piping departments of major consulting firms, even more specifically, in pipe stress analysis. (Here’s the Generative AI explanation.) The nonsense being spewed by Trump 2.0 and other RW hacks about the fires in Los Angeles and hydrants with no water gets under my skin. Especially Trump’s “little fish” idiocy. Variety: Thursday night’s late-night shows were focused on the devastation of the Los Angeles fires, as well as incoming President Trump’s bizarre response to them. “Daily Show” host Desi Lydic played a clip of Trump rambling on about smelt, continuing to spread a debunked conspiracy theory about the state’s water supply.
Know your DNC members Over at The American Prospect, Micah Sifry has assembled a list of DNC members ahead of the election of new party officers on Feb. 1. The New York Times reported on the two front runners in November. (I have a favorite for chair.) Your state’s members might want to hear from you about yours. March for our Lives co-founder and Parkland school shooting survivor, David Hogg, is running for 1st vice chair. I haven’t followed who else is running. Sifry writes: So, while some joke that the race for DNC chair is the ultimate high school class president election, whoever holds the office will have a significant role in how Democrats respond to Trump, how they rebuild, what changes they make to their media, technology, and fundraising practices, and how the 2028 presidential selection process plays out. The problem is that the DNC member list is not publically available. Some state parties publish the list of their members (mine does), but others do not. Some you can figure out. Kinda.
A meaningless sentence empowering him further It’s done: The historic New York criminal case against Donald Trump — the first of its kind against a former president — closed with a whimper Friday morning, with the president-elect facing no consequences for faking business documents to cover up a sexual affair from American voters in 2016. “Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Justice Juan Merchan said from the bench. “This has been a truly extraordinary case.” However, the judge pointed out that the soft landing to such a weighty case was directly due to Trump’s impending return to office — and he reminded Trump that the legal protections sparing him what could have been a more serious sentence, which could have included years in jail, belonged not to a man but to the person who temporarily sits at the White House’s Resolute Desk. “Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections,” Merchan said as he delivered his sentence.
I’m having a hard time gathering my thoughts today. It’s been a couple of very long nights here in the LA area. I have friends who lost everything and having to cope with the ignorant sociopath who will soon be the most powerful man in the country again is almost too much to bear. I’m outsourcing my commentary for the moment to California native son Brian Beutler: My exact words would be a bit more profane but that’s why I’m not a public official.
The only person at the funeral who openly snubbed that miscreant was Karen Pence. Karen Pence! I’m with Murshed: All I feel is betrayal right now. It’s not rational, I know. But that’s how it is.
More at the LA Times And please spare a thought for all the animals. It’s just devastating for pets and wildlife alike. This article has many links to help for pets. Here are some instructions for how to help the wildlife. Wildlife Rescue FundSantaMonicaMountainsFundCalifornia Wildlife rescueCanine Rescue ClubPasadena HumaneSPCLA
Apparently: Putin is very eager to meet Trump face to face, the Kremlin is making no prerequisite demands for the meeting to take place. There has presumably been a lot of back channel diplomacy before this official meeting. The Russian side aims to exclude Ukraine from the process completely and present itself to Trump as the side willing to compromise, while blaming Kyiv (and Biden’s administration) for the continuation of the war. Sounds totally believable. I wonder if Trump will let anyone take notes. Two buds hands in glove.