Above: Parthenon Huxley in 2021

I was on Facebook tonight and received the absolutely devastating news that one of my favorite musical artists, Parthenon Huxley, died peacefully in his sleep this morning at the age of 70. It was apparently the result of an illness he had had for months, about which I had known nothing.

Longtime readers might recognize Parthenon’s unusual name from my Patterico Music Project, in which I have published version of songs I wrote that were recorded by some of my favorite recording artists. Nearly 10 years ago, Parthenon recorded a version of my song “Alien Song” which you can hear at this post. In that post, I said this about Parthenon:

Today, I am publishing a version of my song “Alien Song,” recorded by my musical hero Parthenon Huxley. Parthenon, also known as “P. Hux,” has been making great music forever. His Web site is here and his bio is here. Check out some of his music here. His fans tend to be devoted collectors of all his albums, and I am no exception. The guy is a genius, and has a beautiful and unique voice. It’s a special thrill for me that he agreed to record one of my songs.

Parthenon published his autobiography in November 2024, and I have a signed copy sitting around here somewhere. It’s a great book and he is (OK, “was” — this is going to take some adjustment) a great writer, and I think even someone who doesn’t know his music would be entertained by his book. But it’s especially poignant for fans of his like me.

I have been a fan of Parthenon’s for over 30 years, since I first heard his song “Bazooka Joe” on a pop music compilation in 1994. I saw him live many times, including at a show in the living room of a man named Jay Gilbert. (Playing guitar at the show was Hux’s buddy Rusty Anderson, who now plays with Paul McCartney. When I saw Sir Paul in L.A. in 2022, I took a photo of Rusty on the big screen and emailed it to Parthenon, saying I was watching his friend play with Paul McCartney at that moment. He emailed back: “Nice. That’s a wide guitar strap…!”)

The living room show at Jay Gilbert’s was recorded, and the recording was later turned into an album called “Live in Your Living Room.” In 2014, Parthenon gave me a guitar lesson in his room at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles when he was in town for a show with Orchestra, a spin-off band from ELO that contained basically everyone from the original ELO band except Jeff Lynne. Parthenon has a great acoustic album of covers of ELO songs, and while I was frankly never a big ELO fan, I am a huge fan of that album. I think it’s better than anything they ever put out as a band and I think Parthenon’s voice is better than Jeff Lynne’s.

Christi and I had seen him live many times before, including at a hot show at an ampitheatre in Orange County where, according to his autobiography, he met his longtime drummer Gordon Townsend. At the old Largo venue on Fairfax (before it was moved to its current venue on La Cienega) we also saw him play songs from his incredibly touching album Purgatory Falls, a tribute to his first wife Janet, who had died from cancer. (Hux met his current wife, now widow, Helle, at Largo, and refers to that in one of his songs.) The last time I saw him in person was at a backyard show in Eagle Rock on July 10, 2022. He had already recorded Alien Song for me and had already agreed to record another song for me, and was embarrassed he had not done it yet. I said it was fine; I knew he would get around to it. And he did, delivering it last March.

That song is a version of my song “Creation” which was previously covered by Jay Semko of the Northern Pikes as noted in this post. Parthenon’s version is a wonderful piano-based version. The piano was played by Daniel Clarke, who played on Parthenon’s last three albums and has played with Ryan Adams, k.d. lang, and many others. I wish I could share it with you tonight. But unlike his version of “Alien Song,” I never bothered to ask his permission to publish it to my social media and my blog. And now it’s too late to ask his permission. So I have sent the version to Dana and JVW and a handful of close friends, and I listened to it tonight to celebrate Parthenon’s memory. Maybe some day I’ll talk to his wife about whether I can share it beyond family and close friends.

Parthenon was a great man, an incredibly talented songwriter and singer, and a really good writer too. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. What a loss.

[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

Trump sues for $10 billion::

President Donald Trump is suing the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department for $10 billion, alleging that they failed to take necessary steps to prevent a former IRS employee from improperly disclosing his tax returns, and those of his sons and his company, to news outlets.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday at a federal courthouse in Miami, says Trump is suing in his personal capacity, not as president. The other plaintiffs include two of Trump’s sons — Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — and the Trump Organization.

This:

Well, this tests the limits of the unitary executive.

Will Trump as president direct Treasury to make massive payment to settle suit by Trump as private person?

Trump's ridiculous $10B lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS rests on leaks from May 2019 through Sept 2020, when Trump was president and thus had formal responsibility over those agencies.
So Trump in personal capacity is suing agencies now in his charge for their… pic.twitter.com/dUiTHU3QgW

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) January 30, 2026

P.S. A reminder that Trump had paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.

Second news item

Agents need to be held accountable:

🚨THREE days before executing Alex Pretti, the SAME agents almost killed another U.S. citizen…🚨

While illegally detaining unaccompanied minors, using excessive force, causing multiple car accidents, and assaulting multiple U.S. citizens… all in one video.

The video starts… pic.twitter.com/Iag8P6R3ES

— Jesus Freakin Congress (@TheJFreakinC) January 29, 2026

They might want to rethink any significant bonuses for agents.

Third news item

He will never let this bullshit go:

President Donald Trump said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is “working very hard” on an investigation into alleged fraud in the 2020 election.

Many lawmakers were shocked and confused when Gabbard was photographed near the FBI’s raid of a Georgia election office on Wednesday. Trump was asked about the DNI’s presence at the raid. . .

“She’s working very hard on trying to keep the election safe,” Trump said of Gabbard. “As you know, they got into the votes. She got a signed judge’s order.”

. . .

The FBI confirmed the agency was executing a warrant that authorized the seizure of “all physical ballots from the 2020 General Election,” in addition to a swath of other election-related materials, according to a copy obtained by WSB.

I guess dredging up his nonsense claims about a stolen election and the need to “protect” the next election is one way to rally and prep his sagging base for the midterms. This all points to a great likelihood that he is getting ready to rig the midterms, and even the next presidential election.

Also, it has been pointed out that Gabbard, as Director of National Intelligence, has no operational role in intelligence or domestic law enforcement, so why was she there (when a search warrant was being executed)?

Fourth news item

He predicted this would happen:

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has been arrested by federal agents in connection to his presence at a Minnesota church protest, according to his lawyer.

. . .

“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards,” Abbe Lowell announced. “Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done.”

Lemon predicted multiple times after the church protest that he would ultimately face charges. He even claimed in a Scripps News that the administration would find a way “around” a judge if they could not successfully bring charges against him.

“If there’s no law to fit, they will try to fit or retrofit something or go around a judge and just do it themselves. And it doesn’t matter and everything that they say pertains to protesters. I was not a protester. It’s very clear about that,” he said.

Another independent journalist was also arrested while reporting on the church protest.

Intimidating journalists is very on-brand for Trump.

From Jake Tapper:

A magistrate judge wouldn’t sign the arrest warrant for Don or his producer.

DOJ appealed and the Circuit Judge — a Scalia clerk and Bush appointee — said Don and his producer “were not protestors at all; instead, they were a journalist and his producer. There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.”

Did DOJ tell the grand jury what the judges had already said? What exactly did they tell them?

Fifth news item

Russia has no interest in a ceasefire with Ukraine. They’ve repeatedly established this, in no uncertain terms:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Thursday he couldn’t predict whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal of a weeklong truce would work, but cast the initiative as an “opportunity.”

Trump’s proposed ceasefire is an attempt to spare the residents of Ukrainian cities from an onslaught of Russian attacks that have plunged civilians into sub-zero conditions by devastating their power grids and central heating systems.
The U.S. president had said Thursday that he secured an assurance from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces would not fire on Ukrainian cities during a period of bitter cold.

Russia has demonstrated repeatedly that there is zero interest in peace:

Indeed, there was little sign of goodwill from the Russian side on Friday.

The Russian armed forces shelled Ukraine with more than 112 drones and various missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force reported Friday.

Although Kyiv has not been attacked on Friday, and no strikes on energy facilities were reported, the eastern region of Kharkiv was heavily shelled. Two people there were wounded, and one person was killed, the governor, Oleh Synegubov, said in a Telegram statement. Civilian infrastructure was hit and power cables were damaged by the attacks. The air force also reported Russian drones in Sumy, Dnipro and Chernihiv regions, as the attacks continued.

Prayers for Ukraine.

Have a good weekend.

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Today, from Attorney General Pam Bondi:

Screenshot

It sure doesn’t sound like any law enforcement de-escalation is happening in Minneapolis.

With that, while Bondi may or may not be clear on what constitutes “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement,” it’s very clear that on-the-ground agents are desperately in need of a solid review of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights:

"You raise your voice, I erase your voice.”

This viral video of an ICE agent threatening to silence a Minnesota protester is about as un-American as it gets.

The events in Minnesota give the country a lesson in the First Amendment that we’d all be better off remembering: The… pic.twitter.com/06q7AqN7IV

— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) January 28, 2026

Oh, and here’s some more “assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement”action by a retired couple. We know that’s what the couple was doing, because why else would the agents point their guns at them?

ICE pointed semi-automatic weapons at a retired American couple in a church parking lot. No warrant. No rights read. Just terror.

This is not law enforcement. This is unconstitutional intimidation.
Under the Fourth Amendment, ICE cannot detain or search without a judicial… pic.twitter.com/SzroJ3n0xD

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 27, 2026

Look, ICE agents are behaving lawlessly. It’s dangerous and illegal, and we should all be upset by their actions. Congressional members should be hearing from their constituents. Contrary to the fears and accusations by some, this does not make one a liberal, progressive, Democrat, or anti-law and order individual. To the contrary, it evidences that responsible Americans holding to a righteous belief in the defense of the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

From the CATO Institute:

Immigrant consumption of welfare benefits has been a contentious policy issue for decades. This brief is the latest in a series of Cato policy briefs on immigrant welfare consumption intended to supply more up-to-date information to policymakers and the public.1 We methodologically updated this brief in several ways to improve its accuracy, which means its findings are not directly comparable to earlier Cato briefs on this topic.

Excerpt from the brief:

Total government spending on the welfare state, including at the federal and state levels, amounted to about $3.4 trillion in 2023. That year, the federal government spent roughly $3.1 trillion on welfare and entitlement programs, an amount equal to approximately 50 percent of all federal outlays (an increase from approximately 45 percent in 2022). Nearly $2.3 trillion of federal expenditures went to Social Security and Medicare, and the other $823 billion funded means-tested welfare benefits. States spent an additional $301 billion on means-tested welfare programs.

All comparisons in this brief are calculated on a per capita basis rather than per household, which avoids attributing native-born welfare consumption to immigrants living in mixed-status households. Based on data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we find that, on a per capita basis, immigrants consumed 24 percent less welfare and entitlement benefits than native-born Americans in 2023. Immigrants were 14.8 percent of the US population and consumed just 10.4 percent of all means-tested welfare and entitlement benefits in 2023. Noncitizen immigrants—including those lawfully present in the United States on various temporary visas, lawful permanent residents, and illegal immigrants—consumed 53 percent less welfare than native-born Americans. Noncitizens were 7.5 percent of the population and consumed just 3.2 percent of all welfare. However, naturalized immigrants consumed 20 percent more welfare than native-born Americans because they were an older population—they consumed 6.6 times more Social Security and 5.4 times more Medicare than noncitizens on a per capita basis. Naturalized immigrants were 7.2 percent of the population and consumed 8 percent of welfare benefits.

It’s an interesting piece.

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Here is former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer breaking it all down. Watch the short video in its entirety:

Latest on the investigation of ICE slaying of Alex Pretti: DOJ and FBI are not conducting a civil rights investigation; DHS is investigating itself. State authorities have been denied access to evidence. A Trump-appointed judge has ordered feds not to destroy evidence.

Additionally, from the administration:

Top officials in the Trump administration were quick to say in the aftermath of the fatal shootings that the immigration officers’ actions were justified, and said that a deeper federal criminal civil rights probe wasn’t warranted at this time, raising questions about an independent investigation. Good, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, had been committing “domestic terrorism.” Pretti, top Trump aide Stephen Miller said, was a “would-be assassin,” though eyewitness video contradicts those narratives.

And local authorities have been cut out from the probe, raising questions about how evidence is being handled.

“Nothing about what is going on here is normal,” Clare Diegel, an attorney with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, said during a federal court hearing Monday, after the county asked a judge to extend an order forcing Homeland Security officials to preserve evidence in the shooting of Pretti.

Unfortunately, if Kash Patel (FBI) and Pam Bondi (DOJ) were investigating, it would still be a sham investigation.

I’ll just leave this here:

In the past, when Americans have been killed by members of law enforcement in high-profile incidents, the Justice Department has launched probes often within days, banking on their public reputations and promises of independence to ease public tensions to assure some form of accountability. . .

The FBI, which typically leads investigations, puts an emphasis on maintaining working relationships with local law enforcement and, in most jurisdictions, would work collaboratively with local officials to gather evidence and probe the case.

In the Minneapolis shootings, though, the Justice Department has taken a back seat. The probes are being led by Homeland Security Investigations and the Office of Professional Responsibility, assisted by the FBI, which has cut out local authorities.

Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division — which would typically be involved in reviewing whether a law enforcement officer should face criminal charges in a shooting — has been gutted. And Attorney General Pam Bondi has de-emphasized investigations into policing tactics, directing attorneys to pursue cases against protesters and instances of “domestic terrorism.”

—Dana

[guest post by JVW]

Just when you thought that urban policy could not get any more convoluted or stupid comes this amazing piece from City Journal regarding a city near and dear to my heart [links are replicated from original]:

Los Angeles’s streets are in notoriously bad shape. Fewer than two-thirds are considered in good repair, according to the city’s Department of Public Works. Broken sidewalks have spawned years of costly litigation, and Los Angeles pays out millions of dollars each year to drivers whose cars get damaged by potholes.

Many cities would see this situation as a mandate for change. And Los Angeles has indeed made a change: last summer, the city quietly stopped repaving its streets. Not slowed. Not fell behind. Stopped completely.

It seems that modern big cities are where efficiency and good governance goes to die. It’s been seven months since the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services has repaved a street. They are still filling potholes, but the egregious number of cracks, seams, splits, and other hazards go un-repaired. “Why?” you might well ask. Because repaving introduces the problem of federal accessibility rules:

The city appears to have invented a new category of street work designed to avoid triggering costly federal accessibility mandates. Instead of repaving streets, StreetsLA now performs what it calls “large asphalt repairs.” As [transportation advocate Oren] Hadar explains, this work addresses localized damage—areas larger than a pothole but smaller than full resurfacing. In effect, the city repaves only part of a street rather than its full width.

But, as Hadar notes, “the thing about large asphalt repair is that it’s . . . not a real thing. It appears to be a term made up by the city sometime in the last year.”

The reason for the invention lies in federal disability law. Under regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act, when a city alters a street, it must also bring adjacent pedestrian infrastructure into compliance—meaning the installation of ADA-compliant curb ramps at every affected intersection.

Repaving is considered an alteration that triggers these requirements. Maintenance activities, such as filling potholes or making minor repairs, are not. The city claims that large asphalt repairs are “pavement maintenance activity” and therefore do not require ADA upgrades.

There you have it. Not only is the road to hell paved with good intentions, but so too are apparently the streets of Los Angeles, as mandated by the federal government. Ironically, these mandates started being enforced right as the Biden Administration was giving way to the second Trump Administration, but I would bet this initiative was implemented by the permanent bureaucracy and little or none of this had to do with who was in the Oval Office.

So, you might be tempted to say, isn’t the problem here really federal bureaucrats who implement these sorts of requirements without really thinking through the ramifications? Well of course it is. But which party runs the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County? Isn’t it the very same party which creates, nurtures, and protects these bureaucrats who then turn around and make living in these cities more and more difficult and cumbersome? Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles City Council could certainly apply for some kind of waiver or some other abeyance so that a badly-needed repaving job doesn’t require the reconfiguration of an entire city block, but of course they certainly don’t want the sort of blowback from disability advocates that they would likely receive. So yet another urban responsibility gets half-assed, and nothing is ever improved.

Read the original piece for more exasperating news about the mismanagement at 200 N. Spring Street. In 2016 the city settled a class-action lawsuit by agreeing to spend $1.4 billion over 30 years to make city streets more accessible to people with disabilities, but a 2021 audit found that the city had repaired less than one percent of its sidewalks over the first five years. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the city spends about $50,000 on each curb ramp. Yet come November the city and county will continue to elect the same cast of characters, and sit around wondering why nothing ever gets better.

– JVW

[guest post by Dana]

A warning to Trump:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his leadership deputies on Tuesday issued a warning to President Trump to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, or Democrats “will commence impeachment proceedings.”

Additionally:

“Federal agents who have broken the law must be criminally prosecuted,” [Democrats] wrote in a statement Tuesday, adding, “Taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, not kill them in cold blood.”

Trump responded to the Democrats’ warning when asked whether he was going to fire Noem:

President Donald Trump said Tuesday Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem won’t resign amid calls from top Democrats in Congress for her to be ousted “immediately” or face impeachment proceedings and criticism from some Republicans over her response to Alex Pretti’s shooting.

. . .

Trump said “no” when asked by a reporter if Noem would step down, adding, “I think she’s doing a very good job.”

As a reminder, this is what Noem said immediately after the killing of Alex Pretti:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti “attacked” officers, an assertion echoed by FBI Director Kash Patel, but no footage available as of Sunday afternoon shows Pretti committing any attack.
Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a gun, but no available footage shows Pretti even holding a weapon in his hand at the scene; a concealed gun appeared to be taken from his waistband area by a federal agent moments before he was shot.

. . .

Noem claimed Saturday that Pretti “had a weapon on him, and multiple – dozens – of rounds of ammunition; wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that.”

. . .

Noem claimed Sunday on Fox that Pretti had been improperly carrying the gun with “no ID.” If that were true, it would be a petty misdemeanor in Minnesota, not a crime, punishable by a fine of up to $25.

In a new report sources say that Noem is taking an unfair hit regarding her comments. It’s no surprise who fed her the information:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is under fire for issuing misleading and incendiary information that claimed immigration agents killed an armed Minnesota protestor Saturday because he wanted to “massacre” them.

But that language was dictated to Noem and her department by the man most responsible for the controversial operation: Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and top Trump adviser, four sources tell Axios.

If we’re not surprised, why should she be surprised? She knew how the MAGA game was played when she signed up to be a part of the Trump administration.

While most Americans want to see an improved legal immigration process in place, most voters do not approve of the violent and unlawful tactics being used by agents. This includes violating civil and constitutional rights, as well as the recent fatal shooting of Americans.

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

From Jack Smith:

In his first public testimony before Congress about his investigations into President Donald Trump, former special counsel Jack Smith warned Americans not to take the rule of law for granted, and insisted he would not be intimidated by the president despite his attacks.

“I have seen how the rule of law can erode. My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in this country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted,” Smith said during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

“But, the rule of law is not self-executing — it depends on our collective commitment to apply it. It requires dedicated service on behalf of others, especially when that service is difficult and comes with costs,” he said. “Our willingness to pay those costs is what tests and defines our commitment to the rule of law and to this wonderful country.”

Oh, and this:

“Our investigation revealed that Donald Trump is the person who caused Jan. 6, it was foreseeable to him, and that he sought to exploit the violence.”

Trump responds :

Based on his testimony today, there is no question that Deranged Jack Smith should be prosecuted for his actions. He destroyed the lives of many innocent people, which has been his history as a prosecutor. At a minimum, he committed large scale perjury!

Second news item

Of course they did:

House Republicans on Thursday barely defeated a bid to block renewed military action against Venezuela without congressional approval.

The GOP pulled out all the stops to back President Donald Trump’s aggressive foreign policy moves, managing a 215-215 tie vote that saw just two GOP lawmakers defect while all Democrats supported the measure.

. . .

The vote is a win for Trump, who averted a GOP-backed reprimand of his foreign policy for the second time in as many weeks. It follows a vote last week in the Senate, where GOP leaders and top administration officials convinced enough skeptical Republicans to switch their votes and kill a war powers measure in the upper chamber.

Third news item

When he’s right, he’s right:

“A year ago here in Davos I ended my speech with the words: ‘Europe must know how to defend itself.’ A year has passed and nothing has changed. I must say the same words again.”

“There was so much talk about the protests in Iran. But they were drowned in blood. The world did not help the people of Iran enough. And what will Iran become after this bloodshed? And if this regime survives it will send a clear signal to every aggressor — kill enough people and you will remain in power.”

“Maduro is in court in New York. I am sorry but Putin is not in court. And this is the fourth year of the largest war in Europe since World War II and the one who started it is not only free — he is still fighting for his frozen funds in Europe and he is having some success. Putin was able to stop Europe unfortunately.”

“There is still no real progress regarding the creation of a special tribunal for Russian aggression against the Ukrainian people. Europe has not even reached the stage where there is a building for the tribunal. Often in Europe there is something more urgent than justice.”

“Today Europe relies mainly on the belief that in case of danger NATO will take action. But no one has ever seen the alliance tested at full strength. If Putin decides to seize Lithuania or strike Poland who will react? NATO exists thanks to the belief that the US will take action — that they will not stay on the sidelines and will provide aid. But what if that does not happen?”

“Europe must learn to defend itself. Sending 14 or 40 soldiers to Greenland — what is that supposed to achieve? What signal does it send to Putin? To China? And perhaps most importantly what signal does it send to Denmark?”

“Ukraine can help protect Greenland. We have the necessary expertise and weapons; Russian ships will sink near Greenland just as they sink near Crimea. We could act if we were asked, if Ukraine were in NATO. But we are not in NATO.”

Fourth news item

It gets worse:

Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches.

The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities.

This:

The DHS Form-205, a “warrant” of removal/deportation, is signed by an ICE official, not a judge. That’s precisely why it does not meet the Fourth Amendment standard.

Fifth news item

What’s the plan for Iran?:

President Donald Trump has touted a “massive” naval force was on its way to Iran in a warning to the Islamic Republic’s rulers, who are facing their biggest protests for years.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday “we have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”

. . .

There have been reports of the U.S. increasing its military presence including by deploying the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has over 90 multi-role fighter jets, helicopters, and reconnaissance aircraft, and is accompanied by navy destroyers.

Trump has issued warnings about the demonstrations which have rocked Iran, which started over the state of the economy (primarily high inflation) and have morphed into anger at the ruling regime.

Sixth news item

ICE using children for bait:

A 5-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota was taken by federal agents along with his father to a detention facility in Texas, school officials and the family’s lawyer said, making him the fourth student from his Minneapolis suburb to be detained by immigration officers in recent weeks.

Federal agents took Liam Conejo Ramos from a running car in the family’s driveway Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters Wednesday. The officers told him to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait,” she said.

The family, who came to the U.S. in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country, Stenvik said.

With that, look at this:

As Trump’s discontent with the results produced by New York Times/Siena pollsters indicates, this survey was not great for the president. Trump’s overall job approval rating has fallen to 40 percent — 16 points behind his 56 percent disapproval rating. Moreover, of the ten major issues his administration has tackled, Trump is only in positive territory on one — “the border between the U.S. and Mexico” — and only by 3 percent. But, as with other surveys that break out the issues under the heading “immigration,” this poll found that voters make a distinction between border security and deportations.

When respondents were asked what they think about the tactics deployed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, only 26 percent of registered voters said the agency has taken the “right” approach. Another 11 percent said the agency has “not gone far enough.” But a significant majority, 61 percent, said ICE had “gone too far.” That figure includes almost every self-described Democrat (94 percent) and more than 70 percent of independent voters. Even among self-identified Republicans, only 56 percent expressed faith in ICE’s tactics. And while almost one-quarter of GOP respondents wanted to see ICE go even farther, nearly 20 percent — roughly one in five Republicans — agreed with the majority of Democrats and independents that immigration enforcement had “gone too far.”

Have a good weekends

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

This should surprise no one. It is, however, another giant red flag in a big long line of alarming giant red flags:

Speaker Mike Johnson now supports the push inside his party to bring impeachment articles against judges perceived as antagonistic of President Donald Trump’s agenda — a notable shift for the Louisiana Republican who over the summer sought to squelch such effort.

“I’m for it,” Johnson told reporters at his weekly news conference Wednesday, responding to the question of whether he would endorse impeaching judges who have ruled against the administration.

Amazing.

Remember U.S. district judge James Boasberg? Think back to when Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act and deported 137 Venezuelan men who were alleged to have been Tren de Aragua gang members after Judge Boasberg said don’t do it:

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg upholds the rule of law by forcefully asserting judicial authority, notably finding “probable cause” for criminal contempt against the Trump administration in April 2025 for defying his orders to halt deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, emphasizing that willful disobedience by government officials undermines the Constitution. His rulings underscore the principle that no one, not even those in the Executive Branch, is above the law, demanding compliance with court orders to prevent a “solemn mockery” of the Constitution.

According to the report, Trump and the Republicans continue to pressure members to go after Boasberg:

Trump allies and Hill conservatives have argued Boasberg is an activist who ought to be ousted from the bench. Johnson, over the summer, tried to tamp down the enthusiasm among hard-liners to remove him.

But judicial impeachment cries among House and Senate Republicans have flared up again in recent weeks. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has written to Johnson urging him to take up impeachment proceedings against Boasberg, while the Judiciary committees of both chambers have held hearings on the matter broadly.

From Johnson, the House speaker famous for never having read or heard about some pressing issue when questioned by the press, has amazingly strong opinions about this vexing matter:

Johnson also acknowledged. . .that “impeachment” would be “an extreme measure” and “we’ll see where it goes.”

He added, however, that “some of these judges have gotten so far outside the bounds of where they’re supposed to operate [that] it would not be, in my view, a bad thing for Congress to lay down the law, so to speak, and … make an example of some of the egregious abuses.”

No words. Imagine viewing judges who uphold the Constitution and refuse to bow to pressure from powerful entities, like the president, deserving impeachment. Actually, this is exactly what I would expect from such a corrupt administration.

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Today:

A federal appeals court on Jan. 21 paused a lower court’s order that had ordered federal immigration agents in Minnesota to stop using aggressive tactics such as tear gas and arrest against peaceful protesters.

The move by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a win to the Trump administration, which had vowed to appeal the lower court’s order that restrained federal agents.

About the lower court order that Trump sued to have overturned:

In her order last week, U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez said agents appeared to have engaged in “chilling conduct” and “intimidation tactics.” She noted actions such as the “drawing and pointing of weapons,” the “use of pepper spray and other non-lethal munitions” and “actual and threatened arrest and detainment of protesters and observers.”

We can concur with Judge Menendez’s observations because we’ve seen it happen repeatedly via videos taken by media outlets and private citizens, as well as having heard eye-witness testimonies.

Now, let’s look at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s response to Menendez’s order to protect the fiat amendment rights of protesters:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” called Menendez’s order “a little ridiculous” and said it didn’t “change anything for how we’re operating on the ground.”

Oh, I get it. Fuck constitutional and legal violations, because protecting said rights is just “ridiculous”! What a gem she is.

And then Noem lets us know that the order didn’t change ICE agents’ tactics. She wants us to believe that either the agents were already complying with Menendez’s concerns before her order was issued, which we know is a lie, or that she has never had any intention of abiding by a legal order that doesn’t line up with Trump’s demands.

This belief that DHS and ICE agents are above the law and free to violate the constitutional rights of individuals says all we need to know about the legality of what they are doing. Lawlessness. No wonder agents behave the way they do. They know that they can do whatever they want, even commit murder, because no one is going to stop them. Not even the agency charged with investigating their actions:

Some very disturbing news in the Renee Good case: We’re now learning that the FBI actually opened a civil rights investigation into the shooter—ICE agent Jonathan Ross. But DOJ quickly shut it down. This is a coverup at the highest levels. https://t.co/0PPgPF0nzC

— Liz Oyer (@lawyeroyer) January 21, 2026

—Dana