Short Take Politics

Short Take Politics
I don’t think I am going to do a regular Short Take today because I am upset about the Pretti Good murders in Minnesota and the jack-booted thugs who seem intent upon ignoring my Constitution, which guarantees rights our fascist government has been denying. I am against fascism just as my father and grandfather’s generations were. I am also in favor of variety, equity and being welcoming to everybody. Diversity, equity and inclusion is going too far.
There is no justification for the federal overreach in Minnesota or the murder of citizens. My 1st, 4th and 14th amendments have been failing because they are being ignored.
Alex Pretti was a hero. His licensed firearm remained holstered. He was overtaken, pepper-sprayed and murdered for helping a woman who had been pushed to the ground by goons working for the Trump administration. His murder is unconscionable.

This from Heather Cox Richardson
“Tonight, Susan and Michael Pretti, the parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, issued a statement:
“ ‘We are heartbroken but also very angry,’ they said.
“ ‘Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact.
“ ‘I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed.
‘Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.’ ”
https://Heather Richardsonercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-24-2026

The mess in Minneapolis
As Uncle Neil sang so many years ago, I fear we are forgetting Ohio. ICE training is 13 weeks. It takes 24 weeks at the academy to become a Niagara Falls cop. After those 6 months there are 4 additional phases of training before a rookie cop is in the field alone. It adds up to more than 10 months of training before a cop is in the field even then, they are usually in the presence of a supervisor. ICE's outcomes are those of a poorly trained force. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdVMGKOFIwY

Tom Stahl tells it life it is
“If you talk to God you're praying if God talks to you you're crazy.”
As Stahl sang it several months ago at The Cave, “The pictures they paint may you see things that ain’t.”
The administration immediately after the latest Minneapolis murder began lying to its sycophants who are denying both my Constitution and reality. More from Tom:
“Oh the pictures they paint could make Hitler a saint and we’ll all join the chorus Sieg Heil.
“Seig Heil and don’t lose your smile and we’ll all goose step off the deep end. Seig Heil.”
When he sang that song at Davey O’s Nickel City Sessions he had the whole room ready to sing along to the chorus. Then he abruptly stopped. The point was made. Sometimes we get caught in the fervor of idiocy when what we need is decency.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1530706361372836