The 2026 Election, 16th Edition. The skeptical eye edition.

July 11, 2026

As we head into the final days of the primary election, which for most offices is, unfortunately, the election, we here in Wyoming are being subjected to a daily bombardment of election propaganda crap, most of which assumes that if Donald Trump bent over and pulled his oversize trousers down, you'd gleefully kiss his big white ass.

And that's exactly what most of the candidates for Congress are doing.

Having said that, either election fatigue or the rise of local issues is baffling a few.

For the House, Chuck Gray is flopping around like a carp thrown out on the beach looking for something he thinks can outrage you into voting for the little rich carpetbagger whose never had to really work.  Gadfly Reid Rasner, who doesn't stand a chance (and whose been mysteriously absent recently) actually seems to have hurt Chuck by calling him China Chuck.  Chuck's most recently effort is to pretend to be horrified by birthright citizenship.  Given as Trump sort of excused Graham Platner from rape accusations the other day, we can assume lil' Chuck is searching for a girlfriend to make accusations against him so that he can get a Trump accolade.

Foster Friess, another rich carpetbagger, has been running for the same position, Congressman, and has hit on the "I've never had to work a real job but you dumb fucks have to so I'm going to pretend that you want a job on the floor of an oil rig where you will get killed".

As noted, Rasner has just dropped off the screen.

And of course we have Florida cracker Frank Chapman on screen looking like his new cowboy boots hurt his feet and pretending to be one of us.

We can hope that Jillian Balow is getting some traction, as she seems by far the least objectionable Republican candidate for Congress. She also must be the least well funded of the good candidates as we don't see her campaign material nearly as often, unfortunately.

This isn't everyone running on the GOP ticket.  Bo Biteman, of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Kevin Christensen, a vet who'd like to kiss Trump's big white ass, Richard Dodson, David Giralt and Keith Goodenough all are as well.  Goodenough is the most interesting candidate in the race, having been a well know Natrona County candidate whose served in various offices, and who has served both as a Republican and Democrat.

If the primary election were today we would vote for, for Congress, Balow.

Democrats running for this office are Elena Del Real and Boomer Lisa Kinney.  Kinney will win and then go down so badly in the general it'll leave a crater visible from space in her native Albany County.

If we were registered as Democrats and the primary was elected today, we'd just not vote either of these two obvious losers.

If the general election was held today, and we had our choice of candidates, we'd vote for Balow.

For the Senate seat, a propaganda flyer for Harriet Hageman came this week for the first time.  That fact would suggest she doesn't figure she actually has to spend much money.  Other candidates in that race are Jill Edwards, John Holtz, the gadfly Baby Boomer who just won't go away, Sam Mead and Jimmy Skovgard.  Mead is by far the best candidate in this race but he faces an uphill battle against Hageman simply because she's in Congress.

If the primary election was held today we'd vote for Mead.

On the Democratic side  Billy Benavidez is running against James Byrd.  Byrd is a very good candidate and may be the best candidate in the entire race from either party.  A Byrd v. Mead race would really serve the state.

If the primary election was held today and we were registered as Democrats, we'd vote for Byrd.

If the general election was held today and we had our choice of candidates, we're not sure what we'd do.

For Governor the race seems to have Eric Barlow, out in front.  He's a very good candidate.  Megan Degenfelder is running on having been Superintendent of Public Education and that Donald "Grab 'em by the Pussy" Trump has endorsed her.  Brent Bien is running on the "I worked my entire life for the government (USMC) and hate the government ticket".  A lot of WFC people like him as they're gullible and ignorant.  The WFC has a flyer with Bien, Chuck and Hageman circling.  A Curt Blake is also running.

If the primary election was held today we'd vote for Barlow.

On the Democratic side Ken Casner is running as the symbol of the dead Democratic Party in the state, as he's so old he may in fact have already passed on.

If the primary election was held today and we were registered as Democrats we'd scream in anger and refuse to fill out the ballot on this one.

If the general election was held today and we had our choice of candidates, we'd vote for Balow.

For Wyoming Secretary of State the GOP candidates are Jason Fearneyhough, Qwenton Eagle Oviatt, Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, Robert Short and Charles Young.  Of these candidates, right now, the only ones I know anything about are carpetbagger Rodriguez-Williams, an odd man off Hispanic in the Wyoming Fascist Caucus, and Robert Short, long time Converse County Commissioner.

If the primary was held today, we'd vote for Short, but we need to look into these candidates more.

For the Democrats, there's Bryan McCarty, whom we know nothing about.

If the general election was held today and we had our choice of candidates, right now it'd be Short, but we're not wedded to that position.  We'd never vote for Rodriguez-Williams.

For Superintendent of Public Instruction the GOP race features Chad Auer, Steve Harshman and Thomas Kelly.  Harsham is a long time teacher and educator and is by far the best choice on the GOP side.  On the Democratic side Ana Cordova and Sergio Maldonado are running, both of whom are educators.

If the primary election was held today we'd vote for Harshman.

If the general election was held today we're not sure what we would do.

The primary will decide the Treasurer's race as only Republicans Curt Meier and Scott Smith are running.  Meier will win.

In other races, we'd like to see Bear, Allemand, and Ide retired to private life. I.e, lose and lose badly.

In news from elsewhere, Graham Platner officially pulled out of the race, but with the least apologetic message ever.

Platner was, of course, lately accused of rape and had some troubling aspects to him early on.  The rape accusations, however, were a bridge too far for Democrats, thankfully.

One of the main aspects of the Platner saga has been the degree to which it really exposed the hypocrisy of the GOP, which started off by attempting to mount the high horse of morality which was bucking wildly. A party that has "Grab em by the Pussy" "I went to Epstein Island but didn't notice it was rapey" Trump and a host of other moral creeps can't really be complaining about morality  When the Democrats in fact demanded that Platner drop out that left them in a bit of a pickle as they got what they were urging but, by extension, that means they have to clear out the bordello in order to have any moral credibility, which they aren't going to do.

Indeed, Donald Trump came to Platner's defense, noting that sometimes the accusatrixes are fibbers, which sometimes they indeed are.  His point is, of course, that he's maintained all along he's not a moral creep and his female accusers are lying.  It's pretty clear not all of them are lying about what they accuse Trump of, but at any rate he came to Platner's defense.  It'd have been amusing if Trump had endorsed Platner, which I could actually see sort of happening.  In a weird sort of way, Platner is what J. D. Vance once was, but with a side order of massively problematic personal issues.

July 12, 2026

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away yesterday at the age of 71.  Once a staunch opponent of Donald Trump, during Trump's first administration he became a strong supporter.  In recent years, almost pathetically so.

Gov. Henry McMaster will appoint a temporary replacement.  He has absolute discretion, but he's a Republican and will choose a Republican.  He's also a strong Trump supporter.

Graham was facting Dr. Annie Andrews who stood a strong chance of defeating him.  His death makes it likely that his successor will prevail in the fall.

It seems quite likely that Graham died of a heart attack.  He was two years older than his father was when his father died the same way.  That event left him raising his 13 year old sister, as his mother had already passed away.

He attended university while raising his sister on an ROTC scholarship and served after law school in the USAF.  After his active duty career he continued to serve in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.  He was always a JAG officer.  He was a government attorney for local municipalities briefly before entering Congress in 1994.  In his first race, he was supported by Strom Thurmond.

Graham never married.

July 14, 2026

The Governor of South Carolina appointed Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late Senator, as his replacement for the balance of his term.  She is unlikely to run for the seat, which is up this term.

Quite a few contenders are lining up to compete for it, with some Nancy Mace practically begging for the seat while pretending that she's being begged to take it.

Closer to home, Chuck Gray (who's never been married and for whom there's no known current or former known former love interest) is complaining about a something gadfly Reid Rasner (who has been married, and divorced, to a man) said in Rasner's doomed campaign.

Gray Calls Rasner ‘A Child' For Bringing His Dad Into Fiery GOP Primary Race

According to the Cowboy State Daily:

From about Friday through Monday, Rasner’s political Facebook page showcased screenshots that depict Jan Charles Gray – who is the father of one of Rasner’s opponents, Secretary of State Chuck Gray – reacting to Rasner’s posts with heart-face and fire emojis. 

“Chuck Gray’s Dad Supports Reid,” says a banner attached to one of the posts.

That upset Chuck who likes to run around calling people names but doesn't like to be picked on.  The Daily reached out to Chuck's father who replied, “Clearly I support my son, Chuck Gray, 100% - and he’s going to win, Reid Rasner is a very troubled individual. Chuck Gray for Congress.”

What seems to be the case is that the elder Gray liked some of Rasner's Facebook posts, which is a pretty good reason to question his political leanings, although they frankly are pretty similar to his son's.

The Gray v. Rasner fight is one that Gray, frankly, deserves.  Rasner is a gadfly, with a campaign so wacky that some have questioned if its a comedy act, but his views aren't really very far from Gray's, which ought to be regarded as comedic.

cont:

Donald Trump is schedule for a television appearance this Thursday which appears to be part of his pathetic fable that he won the 2020 election he lost, and as part of his push for the Stop Americans from Voting Act.

The gullible will no doubt listen to whatever stream of lies he spouts.

July 15, 2026

Early and absentee voting for the primaries starts on July 21 and ends on Aug. 17. 

Primary election day is Tuesday, Aug. 18.

I usually try to vote early since the county decided to consolidate a bunch of voting locations into one, at the Fairgrounds.  I frankly don't appreciate that much.

It was for paranoid security concerns.

A Miller article:

Horses, hats and political propaganda as Wyoming prepares to vote

Miller is spot on.  We are in the hats, boots and horses season, with politicians who don't normally wear Western togs, and probably fear horses, get photographed like they're appearing in Lonesome Dove.

July 16, 2026

Right up until now he was proclaiming his innocence and claiming policy abuse:

Rep. Bill Allemand Pleads Guilty To DUI, Gets Probation And $500 Fine

I don't hold the DUI against him.  Lots of people end up having a one off conviction for this, although you surely should not drink and drive.

No, I do hold the diehard claim of innocence and police misconduct against him, and his lawyer.

And frankly his WFC views.

Don't vote for this guy, there's no reason to.

Nor should you vote for his diehard defender Rozmaring Czaban.  Czaban has an Allemand apologist role the same way that Trump cabinet members have to Trump.  I don't know what the deal is, but Czaban, a candidate for Natrona County Commissioner was defending Alleman as late as earlier this week.

There are a lot of good candidates for Natrona County Commissioner. She isn't one.

Tonight, unfortunately at the same time as the demented fascist seeks to justify stealing elections:

Superintendent of public instruction candidate forum livestream

The forum features three Republican candidates for Wyoming’s education chief.

And also:

Moderate Wyo Republicans battle to reclaim their party

July 7, 2026

In an effort to steal the 2026 election and undermine democracy, Donald Trump, a demented narcissist whose occupancy of the White House is itself illegal and illegitimate, delivered a broadcast which attempted to show that, basically, China had tried to influence the news, but which instead showed that Russia had, and in his favor.

Trump is a traitor to the country and the 25th Amendment or an impeachment, or just a declaratory judgment action demonstrating that he's legally unqualified for the office, should be undertaken immediately.

Anyone claiming to be endorsed by him, or seeking office to support his efforts, is supporting a traitor and should not be voted for.

Republican Party Campaign Poster.

And while Der Fibber was seeking to create a fable, this was included in his release:

Oh my.

An example of somebody who should not be voted for:

Degenfelder Releases Trump Double-Down Endorsement With A Month Before Primary

Republicans with lots of self bucks:

GOP candidates in Wyoming’s US House race self-fund campaigns to the tune of nearly $6 million

Republicans who aren't Dixiecrats or Fascists:

Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming Voter Guide Now Available

July 18, 2026

FEC Report: Four Wyoming House Candidates Loan Themselves More Than $1 Million Each

This edition is only a week old, and it's already uncomfortably large, so we'll close it out and move on to the next one.

Related threads:

Tonight Der Führer will speak to you of the Reichstag Fire, um, no, Donald Trump will speak to you of the stolen 2020 election. Same lie, same theme, by the same people, 93 years later. Let's blow American democracy's brains out to calm the wounded feelings of childish Donald Trump, loser.

Pollice Verso. The 2026 Political Negative Endorsement. The Don't Vote For List.

2026 Election, Chuck Gray, Cynthia Lummis, Dixiecrats, Eric Barlow, Harriet Hageman, Ignorance, Megan Degenfelder, Populism, Public Land, Republican Party, Trailing thread, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Last edition:

The 2026 Election, 15th Edition. Trump will attempt to steal the election.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, 2027, Chuck Gray, Conspiracy Theories, Donald Trump, Harriet Hageman, John Barrasso, The Second Trump Administration

The 2026 Election, 14th Edition. The “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor" edition.

Labels: 120th Congress, 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, Alaska, Chuck Gray, Colorado, Distributism, Enemies of Public Lands, Graham Platner, Lisa Engebretsen, The 2021 Insurrection, Wyoming Freedom Caucus, You heard it here first

Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 6. Two things greater than all things are edition.

It's been a while since we hand an entry in this category as the rank stupidity of King Donny has put the entire Middle East at war while he simultaneously declares its not a war, it is a war, and that we've won and haven't won, while asking for help from Allies and declaring we need no help. 

That's what happens when the formerly most powerful nation in the world elects a demented narcissist octengenarian to office.

While the rest of the world watches the United States circle the drain, the following has been going on.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom

Matthew, Chapter 24.

When spring-time flushes the desert grass,

Our kafilas wind through the Khyber Pass.

Lean are the camels but fat the frails,

Light are the purses but heavy the bales,

As the snowbound trade of the North comes down

To the market-square of Peshawur town. 

In a turquoise twilight, crisp and chill,

A kafila camped at the foot of the hill.

Then blue smoke-haze of the cooking rose,

And tent-peg answered to hammer-nose;

And the picketed ponies, shag and wild,

Strained at their ropes as the feed was piled;

And the bubbling camels beside the load

Sprawled for a furlong adown the road;

And the Persian pussy-cats, brought for sale,

Spat at the dogs from the camel-bale;

And the tribesmen bellowed to hasten the food;

And the camp-fires twinkled by Fort Jumrood;

And there fled on the wings of the gathering dusk

A savour of camels and carpets and musk,

A murmur of voices, a reek of smoke,

To tell us the trade of the Khyber woke. 

2 

The lid of the flesh-pot chattered high,

The knives were whetted and—then came I

To Mahbub Ali the muleteer,

Patching his bridles and counting his gear,

Crammed with the gossip of half a year.

But Mahbub Ali the kindly said,

“Better is speech when the belly is fed.”

So we plunged the hand to the mid-wrist deep

In a cinnamon stew of the fat-tailed sheep,

And he who never hath tasted the food,

By Allah! he knoweth not bad from good.

We cleansed our beards of the mutton-grease,

We lay on the mats and were filled with peace,

And the talk slid north, and the talk slid south,

With the sliding puffs from the hookah-mouth. 

3 

Four things greater than all things are,—

Women and Horses and Power and War.

We spake of them all, but the last the most,

For I sought a word of a Russian post,

Of a shifty promise, an unsheathed sword

And a gray-coat guard on the Helmund ford.

Then Mahbub Ali lowered his eyes

In the fashion of one who is weaving lies.

Quoth he: “Of the Russians who can say?

“When the night is gathering all is gray.

“But we look that the gloom of the night shall die

“In the morning flush of a blood-red sky.

“Friend of my heart, is it meet or wise

“To warn a King of his enemies?

“We know what Heaven or Hell may bring,

“But no man knoweth the mind of the King.

“That unsought counsel is cursed of God

“Attesteth the story of Wali Dad. 

4 

“His sire was leaky of tongue and pen,

“His dam was a clucking Khuttuck hen;

“And the colt bred close to the vice of each,

“For he carried the curse of an unstanched speech.

“Therewith madness—so that he sought

“The favour of kings at the Kabul court;

“And travelled, in hope of honour, far

“To the line where the gray-coat squadrons are.

“There have I journeyed too—but I

“Saw naught, said naught, and—did not die!

“He hearked to rumour, and snatched at a breath

“Of ‘this one knoweth’ and ‘that one saith’,—

“Legends that ran from mouth to mouth

“Of a gray-coat coming, and sack of the South.

“These have I also heard—they pass

“With each new spring and the winter grass. 

5 

“Hot-foot southward, forgotten of God,

“Back to the city ran Wali Dad,

“Even to Kabul—in full durbar

“The King held talk with his Chief in War.

“Into the press of the crowd he broke,

“And what he had heard of the coming spoke.

“Then Gholam Hyder, the Red Chief, smiled,

“As a mother might on a babbling child;

“But those who would laugh restrained their breath,

“When the face of the King showed dark as death.

“Evil it is in full durbar

“To cry to a ruler of gathering war!

“Slowly he led to a peach-tree small,

“That grew by a cleft of the city wall.

“And he said to the boy: ‘They shall praise thy zeal

“So long as the red spurt follows the steel.

“And the Russ is upon us even now?

“Great is thy prudence—await them, thou.

“Watch from the tree. Thou art young and strong,

“Surely thy vigil is not for long.

“The Russ is upon us, thy clamour ran?

“Surely an hour shall bring their van.

“Shout aloud that my men may hear.’ 

6 

“Friend of my heart, is it meet or wise

“To warn a King of his enemies?

“A guard was set that he might not flee—

“A score of bayonets ringed the tree.

“The peach-bloom fell in showers of snow,

“When he shook at his death as he looked below.

“By the power of God, who alone is great,

“Till the seventh day he fought with his fate.

“Then madness took him, and men declare

“He mowed in the branches as ape and bear,

“And last as a sloth, ere his body failed,

“And he hung as a bat in the forks, and wailed,

“And sleep the cord of his hands untied,

“And he fell, and was caught on the points and died. 

7 

“Heart of my heart, is it meet or wise

“To warn a King of his enemies?

“We know what Heaven or Hell may bring,

“But no man knoweth the mind of the King.

“Of the gray-coat coming who can say?

“When the night is gathering all is gray.

“Two things greater than all things are,

“The first is Love, and the second War.

“And since we know not how War may prove,

“Heart of my heart, let us talk of Love!”

 Rudyard Kipling, Ballad of the King's jest

March 23, 2026.

Pakistan v. Afghanistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fighting a border war.  

March 28, 2026

Mexican Drug Wars

Self defense militias are forming in the cartel ridden portion of Mexico, armed with military style semi automatic rifles, AKs and ARs, smuggled in from the US.

This actually provides a good example of the utility of something like the 2nd Amendment.  Mexican civilians are having to illegally arm themselves, which in the US they would not have to.

Russo Ukrainian War

If we had to be fighting a war, we should have been fighting this one.  But then, Donald Trump loves Vlad Putin.

Ukraine Is Starting To Wage Systems Warfare

The US Might Consider Paying Attention

April 6, 2026

Sudanese civil war

April 21, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

Russia is losing more men per month in Ukraine than it can recruit.

This war has seemingly been forgotten in the US, but then the US is now an aggressor nation as well.

April 30, 2026

A second U.S. Ambassador has resigned over the embarrassing American conduct towards the embattled country.

Donald Trump, whose declared that the US has won the war its losing against Iran, declared that Ukraine lost the war its winning against Russia.

Trump repeatedly shows himself to be one of Putin's best friends.

Ukraine destroyed a Russian oil facility in a major long range drone attack and followed it up with a second drone attack yesterday on a different facility.

May 2, 2026

Mali insurgency

Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali carried out "intense air campaigns" in Malian territory against Al Qaeda backed militants.

May 3, 2026

Syrian Civil War

And the US is now out.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Not a war item, but it could help lead to one, the US is withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany and threatening to withdrawal more as Trump is upset that everyone has fallen behind him in the war on Iran.

NATO and Germany aren't reacting to these developments the way Demented King Donny thinks they should.  Rather, Europe is arming and the US is no longer a superpower.  Germany in particular is taking a view towards its military that it has not since 1945.  Donald may not wake up to this, if he ever does, until later this month when he visits China which may principally choose to treat him as a spoiled little kid. . . or not.  My prediction there is that he'll come back from China with whatever "deal" the Chinese choose to dictate.

What is occurring in Europe is exactly what National Conservatives wand, however.  They see the US, and Europe, as walled fortresses with their own interest.  They don't have much interest in helping to defend Europe against anyone, and some are pretty sympathetic with Russia.  Those people don't worry about defending democratic ideals, as they don't share them.

May 4, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine hit a Baltic petroleum loading facility in a drone strike yesterday.

May 29, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine has been pounding Russia with drone attacks.  This war is getting little attention in the US right now, with our unhinged alleged president threatening everyone and the GOP consisting of a bunch of sissies, but Ukraine appears to be flat out winning.

Russia hit an apartment complex in Romania yesterday with drones in an apparent accident.

June 1, 2026

Russo Ukrainian War

Full transcript: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 31, 2026

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 5. Trump's forever war. King Donald's War, Part 1.

Labels: Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, King Donald's War, The Second Trump Administration, United States and Israel v. Iran, War, Wars and rumors of wars

The Manchurian Candidate. It's like Donald Trump and MAGA really are the Reds.

The hammer and cycle in red. . . it might as well be the symbol of the Trump presidency.

We've remarked before on how the GOP has adopted the color red, the color of the far left, as it's own.  That's beginning to seem more appropriate than ever.

Our dim illegitimate chief executive has gone to China and returned.  In the process, it seems clear that he's getting ready to abandon Taiwan.

Trump's entire trip to China was a complete and utter humiliation for the United States.  An embarrassment of the highest order.  But it fits a pattern.

Trump loves Russia's Putin.  He's super impressed with Xi.  He's kind of a bit of a fan boy to Kim Jong Un.  He loved Orban who was a Putin ally.

If our adversaries from former Communist states had conspired to place into office a man to act as a sleeper agent, they could not have succeeded more wildly than Donald Trump has done without being one. . . presumably.  He's brought a US that was already in trouble down from a world power to a second rate collapsing nation.  It's utterly incredible.

Sunday, March 31, 1946. Arresting Nazis, Russia pays up, you have to wonder about Дональд, Field Marshall Gort passes.

7,000 Allied soldiers served warrants on Nazi officials.  Ausgezeichnet!

The first Greek elections since 1936 took place, with the Communist Party of Greece refusing to participate.  

Russia, as a political subdivision of the USSR, paid its U.N. dues of $1,725,000, under the thesis that the USSR had multiple representation in the UN.

Trump would probably support an effort of Russia not to pay, which was feared at the time, sending the leader of the nation a Я люблю тебя, Дональд note, like he does in an implied way to the current leader of Russia constantly.

What's up with that?

Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort became yet another World War Two senior officer to die following the war, albeit his death was due to liver cancer.

He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross in World War One.

Last edition:

Monday, January 14, 1946. Wartime and Post War foodstuffs.

Labels: 1940s, 1946, Army, Cartoons, Iran, J.R. Williams, Mountain Troops, Personalities, The Cold War, U.S. Navy, United States, USSR, World War Two

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 114th Edition. The Armed Citizen and ICE. He never served but they did. Geographically ignorant. He's demented. Canada comes to the US's aid. . . again.

Trump Tweet.  My prediction is that gun control is coming for the very reasons that the NRA always warned us about, and the NRA is going to roll over like a pet dog. (Note, this later proved to be a bogus tweet, but Trump said things that were relatively close to it).

Killed while carrying, you don't need that gun after all.

For years and years the National Rifle Association warned us about "jack booted thugs" working for the Federal government.

It also told us that part of the reason we needed a Second Amendment was to protect ourselves against a  repressive government.  It runs a column on its site every couple of days extolling the virtues of being an "armed citizen".

The Armed Citizen® Jan. 19, 2026

Yesterday a Border Patrol Agent in Minneapolis took offense, apparently, along with another officer to Alex Jeffrey Pretti filming their activities.  They started pushing people around and pepper spraying, actions which with municipal police forces would get the department and the officers sued.  They wrestled Pretti to the ground.

He was a permitted concealed carry holder, and he was carrying a concealed handgun.  According to one news source, the officers had secured his handgun before shooting him, which they did.

Apparently, once again, more than one shot was fired.  Apparently, ten shots were fired.

Ten.

I know what the defenses are going to be and what is going to be claimed.  Videos are always a bit difficult to discern and so we really don't know what the officers saw.  Here's what a witnesses affidavit states:

I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting.

On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value.

I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE.

I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on.

I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle."

It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.

I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack.

I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video.

An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk.

The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun.

Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.

Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.

The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them-he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.

14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.

15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1.

16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.

17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building.

18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bear witness, because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values.

What we do know is what the NRA told its members, like me, is now revealed to be complete crap.  Where are the outcries from firearms permit holders (and I am one).  I don't blame Pretti for being armed when this group of Brownshirts is around.

The lesson is clear.  Interfere with ICE at the risk of being beat up or killed.

And the message from the defenders of freedom on the right wing are clear.  They never meant what they said, or they'd be outraged by the gunning down of a man who was legally carrying.

For years I've been warning that the result of the NRA's slavish support for Trump would be an irony, the Trump Administration will come after legal gun owners.  It's starting:

Peaceful protesters do not have 9-millimeter weapons with two extra magazines.

Rep Van Drew, New Jersey.  There you have it. What used to be a position of the left.  You don't really need that gun.

It's only one step to, you don't need that gun, give it to me.

And the NRA is just going to stand there and do nothing whatsoever.  They've simply become a fundraising branch of MAGA.

I'm not, I'll note, the only one who holds this view.  After I first posted this I came across this:

Exercising Your 2nd Amendment Rights Is Not A Death Sentence

ICE just executed an American in Minneapolis for legally exercising his Constitutional rights

In that article, Siler states:

The shooting is troublingly reminiscent of the 2016 murder of Philando Castile—a black man—who was murdered by police in Minnesota for exercising his Second Amendment rights. During a routine traffic stop Castile, who also possessed a valid Permit to Carry, informed the police officer that he was in possession of a firearm. The officer instructed Castile not to reach for that firearm, to which he responded, “I’m not.” The officer then fired seven shots at point blank range, hitting Castile five times.

In the wake of Castile’s murder, so-called “gun rights” organizations like the National Rifle Association failed to issue any substantial statement, or to call for any changes to police training, procedures, or similar. As of the time of writing, the NRA has yet to issue any statement about this execution.

I’ve been making the point for years that the real purpose of so called, “gun rights” organizations like the NRA has nothing to do with gun rights, but is instead to radicalize low-information Americans into voting for tax cuts for billionaires using guns as a nexus of radicalization and disinformation. The NRA’s language has nothing to do with its actions.

Take, for instance, this commercial which sets out to recruit members for the NRA. It expressly argues that immigrants need to own guns in order to defend against torture, assassination, and, “hanging the people in the streets.”

Well, NRA, masked government thugs are executing law-abiding Americans in the streets, in broad daylight, in front of cameras. And they say they’re doing that because we’re exercising our Constitutional right to self-defense. Where are you?

FWIW, if I went anywhere near one of these protests, I'd be carrying.

And make no mistake. We're about to get massive gun control. The Dear Leader has decreed that only criminals carry guns in the street.

The coffins of Danish troops who died in Afghanistan following the US invocation of Article 5.

The man with no service slanders our allies.

Following the entire demented embarrassing episode over Greenland, Дональд Трамп has had an entire series of demented rages.  I use the term "demented" here advisedly.  

Donald Trump was of military age, and a graduate from a military school, during the Vietnam War.

Trump was initially classified as 1-A in 1966.  He received four educational deferments during the war, the chickenshit policy of the draft at the time that let the upper class and middle class get a bit of a free ride to avoid the draft.  In 1968 he was given a one year medical deferment for a bone spur.  In 1969 he received a high lottery number, making it unlikely that he'd be called.

The real question is the bone spur item, and whether he really had one or not.  He was, reportedly, in pretty good shape back then.

Trump has a track record of insulting service members, and it's pretty clear, in spite of what he's said this term in office, that he basically regards them as losers.  And that comports with his world view, where the only people that matter are the rich. Rich people don't join the service often, although there are exceptions.

The Трамп rages this time insulted NATO and claimed that NATO had never done anything for the US. This brought an immediate rebuke from Denmark and the UK.  Трамп  tried to then say that sure, they'd sent troops, to Afghanistan when we invoked Article 5, but they'd stayed behind the lines a ways.

What a hugely ironic statement for a man who stayed so far behind the lines, he wasn't in the same country as the lines.

He's now apologized to the UK.

The man is an idiot.

FWIW, our NATO allies fully supported us in Afghanistan.  Many of the same nations supported us in Iraq, twice.  In the Vietnam War, the one that Дональд didn't go to, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea sent ground troops.  Spain sent medical troops. Canada sent a hospital ship.

A meme only an ignoramus could post.

Penguin stupidity

Трамп is still smarking overy his humiliation over Greenland.  The man who wrote the "art of the deal" appears to have secured the exact same deal we had in the 1950s.  That's some negotiating.

Anyhow, a hallmark of the Трамп  administration is the use of social media, and this was released.

Penguins don't live in the Arctic.  Somebody in the Trump administration is do dumb not to know that.

Nonetheless, the members of the Administration stood right up to be counted in the ranks of morons and all posted their own penguin themed memes, making the entire administration look stupid to anyone with an education, and the entire country look stupid to people who live elsewhere.  A really clever retort about coveting Austria (which so far Trump hasn't) is here:

It's gone on too long

Anyone who eyes to see knows that Trump's mental status is rocketing into oblivion.  Why does Congress and the Cabinet allow this madman to continue to be in office.

Well, the Cabinet you frankly can't expect much out of.  Probably only Rubio is ready to flip the 25th Amendment switch, and he's been invisible recently.  Scott Bessent tends to get sent instead, and always appears scared.

Congress could do something, but Republicans just can't seem to do so, so afraid of the aging senile man are they.

Helping after being insulted.

Canadian electrical service companies are sending linemen into the US to repair storm damage.

This after the demented clown in the White House says Canada (which has defeated the US twice in war, I'd note) wouldn't exist bur for the U.S.

Being neighborly is a Canadian thing.  It used to be a U.S. thing, but right now being a complete asshole is a U.S. thing.

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 113th Edition. Some things you aren't hearing much about right now and some things that require explanation that we're not getting. The Venezuelan Distraction Edition.

Labels: Donald Trump, Economics, Epstein Scandal, Espionage, Greenland, Harry Dexter White, Judaism, Russo Ukrainian War, Stephen Miller, United States v. Venezuela, Vladimir Putin, Weather, Zeitgeist