bureaucracybusters

THE CRUELTY IS THE MESSAGE: PART ONE (OF THREE)

In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on October 13, 2026 at 12:16 am

On July 2, 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its sub-agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):      

“Since early June, this District [Los Angeles] has been under siege.

“Masked federal agents, sometimes dressed in military-style clothing, have conducted indiscriminate immigration operations, flooding street corners, bus stops, parking lots, agricultural sites, day laborer corners, and other places, setting up checkpoints, and entering businesses, interrogating residents as they are working, looking for work, or otherwise trying to go about their daily lives, and taking people away. 

“The raids in this District follow a common, systematic pattern. Individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force, and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from.

“If they hesitate, attempt to leave, or do not answer the questions to the satisfaction of the agents, they are detained, sometimes tackled, handcuffed, and/or taken into custody. In these interactions, agents typically have no prior information about the individual and no warrant of any kind.

American Civil Liberties Union - Ballotpedia

“If agents make an arrest, contrary to federal law, they do not make any determination of whether a person poses a risk of flight before a warrant can be obtained. Also contrary to federal law, the agents do not identify themselves or explain why the individual is being arrested.  

“Further, apparently to accommodate the sharp rise in arrests, the government has resorted to keeping individuals at what is supposed to be a short term processing center and ICE basement holding area in downtown Los Angeles, known as “B-18,” often for days.

“In these dungeon-like facilities, conditions are deplorable and unconstitutional. The government has also unlawfully deprived those arrested of access to counsel. Under such conditions, some of those arrested are pressured into accepting voluntary departure.”

Contrast this behavior with the way Mafia “Boss of all Bosses” John Gotti was arrested on December 11, 1990, when FBI agents and NYPD detectives raided the Ravenite Social Club in Manhattan.

They had arrest warrants for Gotti, boss of the Gambino Mafia Family, and his two lieutenants: Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, his underboss, or second-in-command, and Frankie Locascio, his Consigliere, or adviser.

Moreover, there was no mistaking that these were legitimate law enforcement agents: They wore jackets emblazoned with “FBI” or “NYPD,” showed their credentials, and didn’t hide their faces behind masks.

John Gotti

And when the three Mafiosi were taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, in Manhattan, New York City, they were allowed to call their attorneys.

Every nation has the right to control its borders and decide who has the right to enter—and under what conditions. But nations that pride themselves on adhering to the law should be held accountable when their law enforcement agencies flagrantly and routinely violate it. 

On July 11, 2025, Thomas Homan, the designated “Border Czar” for Donald Trump’s second presidency, said during an interview on Fox News: “People need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol don’t need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them.

“They just need the totality of the circumstances. They just got through our observation, you know, get articulable facts based on their location, their occupation, their physical appearance, their actions.” 

Thomas Homan

This contradicted a statement made in court that week by Thomas Giles, the assistant director of ICE, that the standard for making arrests “is we need to determine probable cause and determine alienage.” 

“And there you have it,” wrote Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who on June 12 was roughed up by security forces while trying to ask Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem questions at a press event.

“Under the Trump Administration, ICE and Border Patrol are being empowered to stop and question you based solely on how you look. No probable cause. No real reason. Just your ‘physical appearance.’ That’s not justice—it’s profiling.” 

Even natural-born American citizens—such as Kenny Laynez—now risk arrest and detention by overzealous ICE agents.

According to the lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the reason for this is: “The government is aware that its actions are unconstitutional and contrary to officers’ training, but deliberately persists because this system allows it to coerce removals, avoid public accountability, and ultimately—given the limited bed space at longer-term detention facilities in the area—keep arrest numbers high.

“Federal immigration enforcement is constrained by law. But since the federal government began its mass immigration enforcement operations in [Los Angeles] on June 6, 2025, all of these legal requirements have given way to one overriding consideration: numbers, pure numbers. Quantity over quality.

”In late May, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security imposed a quota of 3,000 immigration-related arrests per day—with ‘consequences for not hitting arrest targets.’ In order to reach this target, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller directed high-level officials to change their approach to stops and arrests in the field.

“Agents and officers, according to him, should no longer conduct targeted operations based on investigations. Instead, they should ‘just go out there and arrest [unauthorized noncitizens] by rounding up people in public spaces like ‘Home Depot’ and ‘7-Eleven’ convenience stores.”

HOUSETRAINING YOUR STORMTRUMPER

In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Self-Help, Social commentary on October 12, 2026 at 12:15 am

Every family has one—or several: Right-wing relations or friends who treat every word of President Donald Trump as if it comes down from the Most High.   

Who furiously assert that:

  • Trump is not a pedophile.
  • Trump is winning the war he needlessly provoked with Iran—a war now into its eighth month when he promised it would last only four to six weeks.
  • Legitimate media stories of Trump’s crimes and failures are “fake news.”
  • It’s OK for Trump to attack the leaders of democratic nations like Canada and Germany while embracing the dictators of China and Russia.
  • Only Trump can be trusted to safeguard America.

What to do? 

There are three methods to cope with such behavior.

Method One: Challenge the Stormtrumper

Bring up an embarrassing incident that even the Stormtrumper can’t deny.

Example: A Stormtrumper accuses former President Joe Biden of “groping” women.

Response: Mention how Trump openly bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy.” Then ask: “Would you leave your mother / wife / sister alone in a room with him?”

Related image

Donald Trump

No matter how the Stormtrumper replies, you have him.

  • If he says “No, I wouldn’t,” then ask: “How can you support a candidate like this?”
  • If he says, “Yes, I would,” then assert: “So you’d leave your mother / wife / sister alone with an admitted sexual predator?”

Odds are the Stormtrumper will back off—or try to change the subject.

If he opts for the latter, don’t let him. Keep attacking him for supporting a sexual predator until he flees or shuts up.

Method Two: Fight Fire With Fire

Trump has long relied on slanders and insults to successfully attack his opponents—in business, politics and media.

He has falsely accused:

  • The father of Texas United States Senator Rafael “Ted” Cruz of being a party to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 
  • Barack Obama—who was born in Hawaii—of being born in Kenya, and therefore ineligible to be President.
  • Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris—who was born in Oakland—of being born outside the United States.

SLANDER | Linda4444 Disinformation Agent

Among his insults:

  • “Little Marco” [Rubio]
  •  “Pocahontas” [Elizabeth Warren]
  • “Lyin’ Ted [Cruz]
  • “Crazy Bernie [Sanders]
  • “Crooked Hillary” [Clinton]

Amazon.com: The Trump Book of Insults: An Adult Coloring Book ...

These slanders and insults need not be taken lying down.

Slanders can be attacked with counter-slanders.

For example: It’s widely assumed that Trump’s failed response to the COVID-19 plague resulted from mere incompetence. But maybe it was a deliberate effort to sabotage the American healthcare system—to curry favor with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin

Trump’s ties to Putin—and the monies he’s received from Russian oligarchs—are well-known. Perhaps this was his way of repaying that debt.

If this assertion is false, let the Stormtrumper prove it. 

Vladimir Putin

And insults can be countered with insults—such as:

  • “Commissar-in-Chief”
  • “Fake President”
  • “Carrot Caligula”
  • “Putin’s Poodle”
  • “Coronavirus-in-Chief”. 

There’s no need to insult your Stormtrumper friend/relative (unless you want to).

Just keep jabbing at his infamous idol. If he ends your relationship because you don’t subscribe to his brand of treason and criminality, the loss is his.

Of course, if he insults you and you feel like responding, here’s a reply that’s always useful: “Everybody has a right to be stupid, but some people abuse the privilege.”

Then walk out, hang up or block him if he’s on your Facebook or Twitter page.

Method Three: Use Diplomacy

But suppose you’re peace-loving by nature and don’t want to get into a verbal (and possibly physical) combat with your Stormtrumper relative/friend.

At the same time, you don’t want to prostitute your integrity by agreeing with the sheer ignorance and lies coming out of his/her mouth. (And often it’s impossible to tell which is at play.) 

In that case, you can honorably defuse the situation by simply saying: “Of course.”

Most Stormtrumpers come from the ranks of high school dropouts or, at best, graduates. 

They dismiss legitimate news media who chronicle Trump’s crimes and failures as “fake news.” Thus, they remain—proudly—ignorant of what’s going on in the world. 

In short, they’re not exactly the sharpest knife in the box.

So when you say, “Of course,” they will most likely think you’re agreeing with them. When what you mean is: “Of course only a Fascistic moron like you would believe that.”

This will save you from wasting your time in trying to educate them.  (Remember the adage: “Never try to teach a GOPig how to sing. It only wastes your time and annoys the GOPig.”)

It also allows you to preserve the relationship. (That’s assuming you want a relationship with someone who actively supports a master criminal and traitor.)   

* * * * *

The key thing to remember when dealing with Stormtrumpers is what Ernest Hemingway said about Fascism: “Fascism is a lie told by bullies.”

Stormtrumpers are Fascistic bullies who tell lies. They give you two choices: You can be their slave—or their enemy.  

If you choose to be their slave and you have any sense of self-worth, you will despise yourself for doing so. 

If you choose to fight, you might not win, but you’ll have preserved your own integrity—which the Stormtrumper forfeited long ago.

BIRTHING FASCISM–AND TRUMP’S EVIL: PART FOUR (END)

In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on October 9, 2026 at 12:10 am

There were numerous instances where intervention by Federal legislators or law enforcement authorities could have utterly changed the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election.                          

Case #12: Democrats expected to receive support from their traditional allies—such as blacks and Hispanics. But that didn’t happen.            

Despite Donald Trump’s overt racism, blacks deserted Vice President Kamala Harris in droves. About three in 10 back men under age 45 went for Trump, roughly double the share he got in 2020.   

A clear majority of young black voters described the economy as “not so good” or “poor,” compared with about half of older black voters.

Despite Trump’s demands for “mass deportations,” numerous Hispanics, when interviewed, said they didn’t feel threatened. They felt certain that Trump would deport “only the bad people.”

Young Latinos, particularly young Latino men, were more supportive to Trump than in 2020. Roughly half of young Latino men voted for Harris, compared with about six in 10 who went for Trump.

Majorities of black and Latino voters said the economy was in bad shape. They wanted a bigger paycheck. And they were willing to re-elect a man who despised them in hopes of getting it.

Case #13: Muslims—especially those living in Dearborn, Michigan—played a losing blackmail game with the Biden administration

On October 7, 2023, under the cover of thousands of rockets fired from Gaza, Hamas terrorists slaughtered an estimated 1,139 men, women and children in Israeli streets, houses, kibbutz communities and at a rave music festival.

About 250 others were kidnapped and taken into Gaza.

Israel responded by declaring a state of war—pounding Gaza with bombs, missiles. tanks and soldiers. 

Why Hamas and Israel reached this moment now — and what comes next | WBUR

Palestinians celebrating the attack on Israel

Terrorism-sympathizing Islamics—especially in Michigan—demanded that the Biden administration stop sending military equipment to Israel—and force Israelis to stop their military campaign to free the hostages. They threatened: “If you don’t do what we want, we won’t vote for Kamala Harris.”

Biden and Harris rejected their demands—and Islamics voted for Trump or didn’t vote at all.

The result: Harris lost—and was replaced with a Right-wing administration so pro-Israel that it made the Biden one seem pro-Palestinian by comparison. 

Case 14: Ignorance of and/or contempt for history. 

“Low information voters” is a euphemism for people dangerously ignorant of and indifferent to the issues affecting their lives.

After World War II ended in 1945, the United States proved a force for worldwide stability. Its “nuclear umbrella” prevented a Russian takeover of Europe and a Chinese takeover of Asia. 

But voters ignored Trump’s “bromance” with Communist dictators Vladimir Putin (Russia), Xi Jinping (China) and Kim Jong-Un (North Korea). They also ignored his proven disdain for the leaders of democratic nations—such as Canada and Great Britain. 

As a result, Canada and Mexico, America’s biggest trading partners, are now treated—by Trump—as enemies. Meanwhile, he cozies up to Putin against Ukraine’s legally-elected President, Vododmyr Zelensky.

 * * * * *

Countless historians have tried to answer the question: “Was the rise of Adolf Hitler—and the catastrophe he unleashed—inevitable?” 

Future historians will ask the same question about Donald Trump—and the almost certain disaster of a second Trump Presidency.

Competent historians will conclude that no one factor was responsible, but a combination of otherwise unrelated ones. Among these:

  • Republicans: Who feared that Trump’s Fascistic supporters would deprive them of political office if they didn’t abase themselves to a lifelong criminal and would-be dictator.
  • Republican judges: Who bent and/or broke the law to enable Trump to escape justice.
  • Justice Department prosecutors: Whose awe of the Presidency allowed Trump to slander and threaten federal prosecutors and judges.
  • Attorney General Merrick Garland: Whose cowardice prevented him from appointing Jack Smith Special Counsel until November 18, 2022—giving Trump time to delay justice and again win the Presidency.

Official portrait of United States Attorney General Merrick Garland

  • Democrats: Whose cowardice toward Trump encouraged Republicans to ever more extreme measures.
  • Blacks: Voted for a racist in hopes of a bigger paycheck.
  • Muslims: Refused to vote for Kamala Harris because Biden wouldn’t stop Israel’s military campaign to free Hamas-captured hostages.
  • Hispanics: Like the Jews in Hitler’s Germany, who couldn’t believe that Trump would carry out his threats to imprison and/or deport them.
  • The Biden administration: Which  refused to stem the tide of illegal aliens invading America—and thus enraged millions of law-abiding Americans into supporting Trump.
  • Toxic masculinity voters: Whose misogynistic attitudes toward women led them to reject a former local and state prosecutor for a 34-times convicted felon.
  • American voters: Whose hatred of Hispanic illegal aliens and inflationary grocery prices led them to ignore overwhelming evidence of Trump’s intent to overturn the democratic process and make himself absolute dictator.

In short: Those opposed to Trump’s evil  were too divided and shortsighted to combine against a common danger.

As John Adams, second President of the United States, observed:

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence and cruelty.