Friends, it's a tale of two ICEs. On one hand, Democrats and progressives think the Trump Administration is using its tyrannical powers to hunt down and expel every "immigrant" they can find, especially the ones with green cards and even citizenship! Yes, Democrats and progressives really are this gullible. On the other hand, the pace of deportations isn't anywhere close to the level that would be required to send every illegal immigrant home by the end of Trump's term. What's more, the Trump Administration recently decided to dial down raids on restaurants, hotels, and farms -- many of which depend on illegal immigrant workers. That doesn't exactly suggest that Trump's campaign to "end" illegal immigration is all that serious. If employers will continue to get a pass on hiring illegals, then they might as well stay. My guess is that the political furor over ICE and its raids will continue, and raids in deep blue cities will continue, because Trump probably enjoys tormenting them, but what we don't know is if the overall pace of deportations (and self-deportations) will build further, or whether, in the end, the demographic and economic effects of all this hullabaloo will be negligible. The verdict is out.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk2kpk817vo
https://www.breitbart.com/news/ice-raids-paused-on-restaurants-hotels-and-farms/
In other news, the markets are recovering today because there are signs that Iran wants to resume negotiations over its nuclear program. Perhaps, having successfully struck some targets inside Israel, the Iranians feel that they've saved face enough to, well, cave to Western and Israeli demands? Let's hope so.
There were some great big "No Kings" protests across the country on Saturday, and I must say I was even impressed by the turnout in my hometown. Nevertheless, when we consider that only about 1% of the population was involved in these demonstrations, their significance is highly debatable. Polls indicate that a lot of people hate Trump -- no surprise there -- but his approval and favorability numbers have actually improved recently, so it's not quite time for the lefties to declare victory, I'd say.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-kings-biggest-protest-u-172552711.html
Meanwhile, the big military parade in D.C went off without a hitch. Note that it really wasn't a celebration of Trump's birthday at all. It was a celebration of the U.S. Army and its glorious heritage. Leave it to the liberals to find that offensive, huh?
Finally, a Minnesota man has been arrested after shooting two power couples associated with that state's Democratic leadership. It begs the question: are we developing a culture of assassination in this country? Can we expect a rash of such incidents? State lawmakers obviously represent softer targets than Congressmen, Senators, Supreme Court Justices, cabinet secretaries, presidents, etc., but all public officials are vulnerable, given their need to be in the public eye. Luckily law enforcement generally does an outstanding job of protecting these luminaries, which is what makes this assassin's impersonation of a police officer such a diabolical twist.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteI want you to get your butt out to Portland, Oregon so you can participate in the World Naked Bike Ride on Saturday, June 28, 2025. This will be a lot more fun than the No Kings demonstrations happening there now. Keep Portland weird, as they say. Body positivity is the main theme here, and you can show your butt (or any other body part you want) there, literally. Promise me you will be there, okay?
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteFor photos of the Portland Naked Bike Ride see Bike Portland Photo Gallery. This could also be an opportunity for the ICE, DEA, and FBI
people to get together with everyday Portlanders and show their stuff. Also, this could be a day of amnesty for those illegal immigrants who could also participate.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I can't see where negotiations with the present Iranian regime can be constructive of lasting peace in the Middle East; it is proven untrustworthy. Its time to completely disable the last redoubt and nexus of the beyond insane antipathy toward Israel which has raged since 1948. Its time for the final battle and the victory of world civilization must be comprehensive.
ReplyDeleteFirst, any trace, any possibility of an Iranian nuke must be destroyed, NOW! It appears that its down to one site 1/2 a mile underground and the only choices are bunker buster bombs which can only be delivered by American bombers or, its terrible to have to say, tactical nuke(s)dropped by Israel. I pray that site is away from a population center and that it won't become unavoidable. NO country is as justified in using nukes in defense as is Israel. And if the Iranian regime is disempowered, the U.S. radical antisemitic movement could be
much defunded and disheartened ; that might justify our loan of bunker busters and planes to Israel
Second, Iran must provide an unbreachable guarantee that their offensive nuclear capability is gone for good. That could be accomplished by negotiation with a new, good willed Iranian regime.
Third: Iran's regime has terribly misused a religion which has demonstrated it can live in peace with its neighbors: eg. Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia. I traveled through Malaysia without fear and I have what some observe as a "Jewish" sounding name and appearance. The regime must step down and be replaced with one which will not express or enable murderous hatred for Israel. Its way past time for this.
Given peace and without the grim necessity of garrison statehood ,Israel's high civilization can devote its demonstrated almost incomparably constructive capabilities and intent to the many technical and exemplary benefits it can afford its well deserving self , its region(including Iran) and the world.
Israel has , at enormous physical risk to itself , embarked on this task and it MUST be carried through to a guaranteed , undeniable end to the running sore of Iranian fanaticism and a coincident deliverance of Iran to a better life. Islam anywhere, including Iran, need not feel threatened by such a result. Perhaps, with the final discreditation of savage hatred for Israel, even the UN could become a more constructive institution.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Use of a nuclear weapon or even its possibility could be fraught with serious consequences. Would China, which has , for trade and strategic purposes, cultivated Iran , come to Iran's aid? Pres. Nixon put the U.S. nuclear force on advanced alert during the Yom Kippur War in '73 for concern that Russia might intervene to support Syria when it looked like Israel might take Damascus. What might be our attitude if China intervenes? That's just an example. Would Israeli use of a nuke relax the defacto animus against the use of nukes the world has shown since 1945?
ReplyDeleteThat would be part of my answer to American politicians who think it unwise for us to be involved in this war. If we do the conventional bunker busting for the Israelis we would save the world the hazards Israeli use of a nuke to immolate Iran's last nuclear facility might cause. And besides, it would be loathesome for our country ever to shrink from support for gallant Israel, which is a
bellwhether of world civilization and humanity.
I am not, in saying this, advocating Israeli restraint for the sake of world opinion. To hell with that! Except mainly the U.S. , the world has given Israel's very existence very short shrift for a long, long time. Why should Israelis give a fig for what the world might think? They are supremely tough hombres, hardened by Judaism's lonely existence for millennia. But they do care what we think, especially with this President, even though it might not stop them from using a tactical nuke (or more than one if one alone does not suffice to smash that last nuclear factory). The U.S. can prevent such hurly burly, which could much sully the peace the Israel may earn for itself and for the world, by this war. So let's get a little more involved and get them B-2s in the air with them "busters" ASAP! The solution to badly willed force is usually MORE force in this still existentially challenging world.
Those who warn against further U.S. involvement may not believe that this IS the mountain to fight on, for Israel, the U.S. and a world which would benefit mightily from a finally unthreatened Israel. When in the past we faced enemies which HAD to be defeated we went all out (except for poison gas against Japan and that was considered). Defeat of the murderously bigoted Iranian regime, its malign international influence (even on our "elite" campuses) and its suicidal ideology, which could lead it to nuke any country which offends it, must be done and this is time to do it! We can take the excoriation of the pariah powers.
Again, an Israel freed by lasting peace to turn its high civilization to such matters would, I am confident, strive to work justice for those it wronged at its formation, when the lives of all Jews were still perceived threatened with annihilation. The U.S. could be its example.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: A news commentator today suggested the possibility that Israeli special forces might invest that final Iranian nuke
ReplyDeletefortress on the its very ground. They are just the hombres to do it! So that presents a third possibility for accomplishing this war's just purpose.
RAY TO DR. WADDY
ReplyDeleteInstead of Israel Defense Force, how about Israel Hombre Force? Just a thought.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Above I should have said ". . . help to justify our loan of. . ."
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Also above. I should have said "Israeli use of a nuclear weapon. . . "
ReplyDeleteRay, full frontal nudity and bicycle seats seem like a counterintuitive and possibly painful combination. Plus, assuming there's overlap between the attendees of the Naked Bike Ride and the No Kings demonstrations, I feel like the aesthetic merits of the former could be limited. I'll be honest: there's a small number of Americans who I would pay to see naked. There's a much bigger number who I would pay to put their clothes back on.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I very much doubt that either the US or the Israelis will be nuking Iran. For one thing, I very much doubt that Iran has stashed its precious enriched uranium, or its capacity for making more, in one underground facility. That would be awfully dumb. Thus, you might nuke it and accomplish very little. To me, the pertinent questions aren't really tactical or military -- they're political. How can we persuade the current Iranian regime that its nuclear program is an albatross they'd be better off without? Failing that, how can we persuade powerful figures in Iran to overthrow the mullahs and institute a less odious regime? I'm skeptical that a nuke could accomplish either. Indeed, it's possible that striking a single Iranian oil facility could have a greater impact on the trajectory of the country than blowing up some underground fortress. Killing the Ayatollah might also scramble the dynamics in Iran in a mighty effective way. But there's little point to any of this if we haven't got in mind someone, or a group of someones, capable of taking the Ayatollah's place...
Dr. Waddy from Jack: You made very good points above. The exceedingly capable Israeli intelligence forces might be able to locate stashed nukes or components but maybe not too. I think there could be an Iranian underground from whose ranks possible leaders of a new regime might arise. We could, with all good intent, haste to aid such a government.
ReplyDeleteLooks like some possibly decisive move is in the near offing.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I think one feature common to almost all assassins is desperation. They have to know that their freedom or their lives are at an end. What produces this? Maybe frustration born of actual or perceived powerlessness.
ReplyDeleteDemocracies may be quite vulnerable to this because of its prolix and sometimes apparently irrational nature. Excitable people may work hard for a candidate or cause and be motivated by a real possibility of
winning only to see it fall. The agonies of Hillary's supporters can be well imagined ;they expected to see a woman elected President. But it would seem no assassination attempts have been prompted by it. Maybe there has also to be the probability of one's insignificant self actually making a big difference in important matters. Sometimes they do succeed in this (Oswald) and the prospect of such reward must be an incentive to some.
This Minnesota thug was methodical and painstaking; he probably had an axe to grind though what is not clear.
The only assassination culture I know of in modern times was Japan between the World Wars. Some very patriotic and otherwise law abiding people thought it a duty, even as far as eliminating the advisors who were urging the Emperor to surrender in August , 1945.
I've been following American politics since 1960 and I've never seen such bitterness in it. (I attribute that to the far left's shocking devotion to destroying America and to America's equally passionate determination to preserve itself.) Maybe that especially is generating increased occurrences of assassination.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Dems are very upset about the use of regular troops to control the LA anarchy. But being the exalted champions of civil rights (except those confirmed by the 2nd Amendment) its reasonable to think the y agree with what Pres. Eisenhower and Kennedy did to enforce civil rights in the South when they used the regulars. The law abiding people of LA and America have rights to peace and good order and to see our Immigration laws enforced faithfully. But the "rights " of illegals and their riotous supporters appear to matter more to the dems.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Re: the Army parade.I think some far left types have never outgrown their '60s originated or inspired "loathing for the military" (to use Slick Willy's disdainful wording). They simply cannot countenance the reality that peace and security are protected only by strength and the willingness to use it in this still savage world. It follows that they condemn those countries which embrace this truth,
ReplyDeletebut especially the U.S. During the Vietnam era many of them showed no animus against our enemy in time of war (grinning antiaircraft gunner Jane; "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh!" celebrants). Some of those types are still around but they have been chastened as much by today's America as to show some grudging facile "respect" for our military.
Some pacifists truly work the honorable intent of ridding the world of the curse of war. But many American pacifists think that disarming America would accomplish this. Its a foolish notion in a still exceedingly dangerous world. The historical fact is that the American military has done the world unprecedented benefit. No country has shown the good will toward those we have defeated which we have. We saved the world from technologically enabled 20th century ferocious totalitarians and we are continuing that tradition this very day.
Those who think our military "icky" should grow up and keep their own counsel. Their muttered ingratitude for the almost fantastic blessing of living in America and for those who assure it has gotten way beyond tiresome! And the wrong it does our service people is still despicably manifest.
The Iranian underground? Unless the underground is composed mostly of disgruntled insiders, I doubt it will amount to much. Note that no one is taking to the streets right now. Unless the mullahs decide to nuke their own economy (metaphorically), then I view a popular uprising as unlikely. No, I think generals and leading politicians are the best prospects to overthrow the Ayatollah, but the problem is that, in that case, Iran's new rulers could be as bad or worse than the current ones.
ReplyDeleteYou make some excellent points, Jack, as usual. This is a country positively brimming with people who wish violent deaths on Democratic or Republican politicians...but we don't seem to have all that many citizens willing to risk their own lives to achieve that result. Perhaps, as the mental stability of the country deteriorates, we'll have marginally more?
Jack, the objection that I've heard to the deployment of the National Guard in LA was that the riots there were "small" and easily containable by the LAPD. Of course, that may be true, but only if the LAPD was willing and able to engage with the rioters.
Jack, we are certainly seeing how shallow is the Democrats' and the leftists' regard for law and order, federal law enforcement, the military, etc. They have an ingrained suspicion of, and contempt for, authority, after all, just as conservatives have an ingrained appreciation for it.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: But the left in power seems always to embrace intense authoritarianism. A good example is to be found in the intolerant dictatorial mien manifested by the "sensitive" Aquarians once they took over wide swaths of the American academy.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to guess the LAPD as a whole was willing to confront the anarchists right from the get go. Police work is a hard won profession, especially if one has invested many years and has the personal responsibilities and the strong friendships so many in law enforcement have.
So its a very hard thing to risk it all when you know your civilian supervisors are ideologically contemptuous of your profession and eager to make punitive examples of you and your fellows in order to signal virtue. Understandably, its often better to "go along to get along", as bitter as it may be. Look what happened to courageous NY state Corrections Officers when they made a stand against injustice. They were viciously scorned by apologists for criminals in the NY state house.
Jack, the men and women of the LAPD have my sympathy! What a thankless task it must be to "police" a loony leftist city like that. My advice to them: move to Florida, post haste!
ReplyDelete