{"id":254,"date":"2026-02-02T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/melania-minneapolis-moguls-midterms-many-battles-one-war\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T15:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:25:00","slug":"melania-minneapolis-moguls-midterms-many-battles-one-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/melania-minneapolis-moguls-midterms-many-battles-one-war\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Melania\u2019, Minneapolis, Moguls, Midterms: Many Battles, One War"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\"First

Nothing is more important than saving this country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Certainly not Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s need for still more billions, and not additional yachts forJeff Bezos\u2019s collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet they and their fellow oligarchs apparently beg to differ and continue to enable Trump so as to win his favor or avoid his wrath.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zuckerberg\u2019s Meta has been blocking users<\/a> from sharing links to ICE List, a site that identifies what it believes to be Department of Homeland Security agents \u2014 as a way to increase accountability when so many mask their identity.<\/p>\n

Bezos totally bent the knee to Trump in a bunch of ways. Most notably, with Amazon\u2019s $40 million purchase of the rights to a fawning \u201cdocumentary\u201d about \u2014 and controlled by \u2014 Melania Trump. The rollout has been worthy of a dictator\u2019s wife, with another $35 million for marketing, and a red carpet premiere at the once-Kennedy Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As former Amazon executive and film producer Ted Hope said<\/a>: \u201cThis has to be the most expensive documentary ever made that didn\u2019t involve music licensing. How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe? How can that not be the case?\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news is that the film is at best an embarrassment<\/a>. Well, actually, it\u2019s an instant cult classic (oxymoron intended), as $8 million worth of MAGAs have already raved<\/a> that it\u2019s \u201cwonderful \u2026 classy \u2026 educational,\u201d etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To the eyes of just about everyone else, Melania<\/i> is so genuinely bad<\/a> (a 10 percent Rotten Tomatoes score doesn\u2019t happen every day) that in non-MAGA venues like Boston they\u2019ve reportedly tried paying<\/a> \u201cextras\u201d fifty bucks to sit through it \u2014 and it\u2019s still <\/i>playing to empty houses. Like everything else, apparently, the price of torment is going up.<\/p>\n

Already, the South African theatrical release, ahead of the US one, was canceled by the local distributor, who cited \u201crecent developments\u201d \u2014 presumably, oh, Venezuela, Greenland, Minneapolis, and such \u2014 strongly suggesting that no one with a conscience wants anything to do with the Trumps for obvious reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Similarly, most of us would rather have nothing to do with the likes of Bezos, Zuckerberg, and others who won\u2019t risk even a fraction of their already massive fortunes to do the right thing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regular folks have had enough. According to Rolling Stone<\/i>, about two-thirds of the documentary crew have asked to not<\/i> be credited. And no wonder: The Guardian<\/i><\/a> said it didn\u2019t have a single redeeming quality and called it\u00a0<\/p>\n

[A]n elaborate piece of designer taxidermy, horribly overpriced and ice-cold to the touch and proffered like a medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bezos is understood to be planning major staff cuts at The Washington Post<\/i>, which he owns. We\u2019re all panicked about this because the news desk of the Post <\/i>is such an essential source of information. It\u2019s still doing plenty of solid stories every day, even under the financial and ideological constraints Bezos has imposed since the ascension of King Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, many are wondering whether Bezos even cares about the Post <\/i>and the quality journalism it is known for \u2014 with some speculating he might actually be trying to kill it off altogether as a favor to Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And there we are. It\u2019s high time these titans be called to account for their self-serving and short-sighted behavior when their countrymen need them to find a conscience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some, including Apple\u2019s Tim Cook and OpenAI\u2019s Sam Altman, have joined other CEOs<\/a> to criticize ICE \u2014 not exactly a stand calling for great courage, given polls showing ICE\u2019s overwhelming unpopularity. But more \u2014 much more \u2014 is required of these de facto societal leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We need to pressure them to use their power and influence when it really matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And they don\u2019t seem willing to do that. For example, Tim Cook also joined Amazon CEO Andy Jassy for an exclusive private screening of Melania<\/i> at the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Point of ICE?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The main thing Trump sold his MAGA base on was that the US was being overrun by undocumented foreigners who were committing crimes. <\/i>It wasn\u2019t really ever just about having undocumented people in this country or their stealing your job. It was always hyped that many of these were bad people, doing really bad things.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

And it still is. With ICE beginning to pivot away from Minneapolis, one of Trump\u2019s favorite broadcasters, Brian Kilmeade of Fox News, endorsed this fascist trope, adding, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more criminals out there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Trump characterized the immigrants during a January 20 press conference:<\/p>\n

They make our criminals look like babies<\/a>. They make our Hells Angels look like the sweetest people on Earth. \u2026 These are some of the most vicious people anywhere in the world. They came from the Congo. The prisons \u2014 I know the Congo because I ended the war with the Congo and Rwanda, tough group, very tough group.<\/p>\n

But how many murderers and rapists have actually been deported? Since that was the ostensible top priority of this massive, inflammatory paramilitary operation, it seems fair to ask.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Worst of the Worst<\/h2>\n

Trump\u2019s DHS has claimed to have deported more than 600,000 persons<\/a> and \u201cprioritized removing the worst of the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 20, 2025, the White House website<\/a> featured the names of 16 allegedly violent criminals and provided their pictures, describing them as \u201conly a tiny fraction of the criminal illegal immigrants taken off our streets in recent days.\u201d<\/p>\n

These presentations seem designed to create the impression that just about all of those being deported are probably as dangerous as those who were named and depicted. But were they?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been going through the ICE website<\/a>, trying to see for myself what DHS means when they say they\u2019re arresting the \u201cworst of the worst.\u201d First, I went to their newsroom, looked under \u201cLatest high profile arrests,\u201d where you have a choice at the bottom: \u201cEnter Search Term(s),\u201d \u201cCountry of Origin,\u201d and \u201cState.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Without entering any search terms, I just clicked on \u201cSearch\u201d and got 20,248 names and faces. Browsing randomly, I saw some bad guys who committed multiple serious crimes \u2014 but also found a plethora who did not seem to fit this stereotype.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For example, included in the \u201chigh profile,\u201d \u201cworst of the worst\u201d group were many people guilty of only nonviolent crimes, such as perjury, forgery, conspiracy, mail fraud, larceny, money laundering, failure to appear, DUI, illegal reentry, traffic violations, procuring a prostitute, carrying a weapon, using or selling marijuana.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I backed out of this overwhelmingly large selection, went back to the newsroom, and looked under \u201cNews Releases and Statements,\u201d<\/a> and came upon a story applauding the \u201cearly success\u201d that saw more than 200 \u201cegregious\u201d alien offenders arrested in Portland, ME.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a lot of self-congratulation came this proud statement: \u201cAmong those arrested in just one week of operations in Maine include\u201d \u2014 then 10 names and faces appear \u2014 presumably representative of the egregious<\/i> offenders ICE took off the streets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And yet: <\/i>Only two <\/i>committed what might be considered \u201c<\/i>egregious\u201d <\/i>crimes. <\/i>As for the other eight, their offenses seem barely worth mentioning: four guilty of DUI; one guilty of DUI, mail fraud, and probation violations; one of assault; one of aggravated assault and cocaine possession; one of domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Strange\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Just now, noon Sunday, while checking on links, I tried to go back to the above DHS report from Maine that I\u2019d found yesterday \u2014 and it was gone!<\/p>\n

The articles in this section (News Releases and Statements) are in reverse chronological order. There\u2019s a story from January 30, then January 27, then\u2026 January 20. But what happened to the one from January 24 that contained names and faces of people grabbed by ICE \u2014 most of whom committed crimes that could hardly be called \u201cegregious\u201d?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I was able to find another source<\/a> for that report, dated January 26. (The arrests were made between the 20th and 24th<\/a> of the month.) Just more weirdness from a very weird administration.<\/p>\n

Among the \u201cWorst\u201d: Americans?<\/h2>\n

It seems like a good time to remind ourselves that US citizens commit such crimes too, not to mention far worse ones and with greater frequency. Crime statistics consistently bear out the significantly lower rate of criminal activity among noncitizens<\/a> in America, which makes sense when you consider that the undocumented are the last folks who want to take chances with violating the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ignoring evidence against its claim that undocumented immigrants represent a vast invasion of violent criminals, the administration is in the process of converting industrial buildings across America \u2014 many of them large, open warehouse spaces \u2014 into detention centers that together would hold up to 80,000 people<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asked about this, Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency \u201chas new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Knowing they don\u2019t have enough actual criminals among the undocumented to fill these 21st-century concentration camps, administration spokespeople sometimes switch to a conflicting message: that the real criminals are, wait for it\u2026 American citizens organizing the protests against ICE overreach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much of this unfounded, inflammatory rhetoric comes from an army of recently unknown but now trending influencers that Elon Musk platforms and distributes into the inboxes of millions of X users. Once social media began amplifying the notion that organizing anti-ICE protests was itself criminal behavior, Kash Patel unsurprisingly rushed to say the FBI is investigating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But recent events in Minneapolis, Maine, and elsewhere have raised hopes that when Americans realize the whole anti-immigration \u201csurge\u201d has little justification \u2014 that it\u2019s a pretext for power flexing and fascist cosplay \u2014 plenty of people will be mightily upset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then Trump and his enablers may regret their street-bully tactics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their base doesn\u2019t like federal abuse of individual rights. And they DO like letting people carry a gun anywhere, as Alex Pretti did, legally, when he was pinned down by federal agents and shot. Yet Trump and his fellow Republicans were elected on a platform touting gun rights and hostility to governmental overreach.<\/p>\n

The subsequent, continuous shape-shifting on what they stand for underlines the fact that they don\u2019t actually stand for anything<\/i> but retribution against perceived adversaries, and about winning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as we wait for fence-sitters \u2014 and even some of Trump’s less Kool-Aid-drunk base \u2014 to wake up and speak out, the opposition, once cowed, is now coming at the would-be autocrat from every direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just one example: the many bills being proposed across the country at state level<\/a> that would hobble ICE and put other restraints on overreaching federal agencies. Another is the growing roster of Republican-appointed judges<\/a> who have had enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And even some legacy media are showing signs of becoming more fight-ready in this extraordinary moment. I\u2019ve noticed how The New York Times <\/i>has increasingly abandoned its traditional insistence on labeling as \u201canalysis\u201d or \u201ccommentary\u201d any forthright journalistic prose that might previously have been considered even slightly subjective. For example, this paragraph, where super-obvious facts are treated simply as\u2026 facts:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has honed a survival tactic over many years facing criticism in the public eye: He creates diversions to barrel from one news cycle into the next. But in other moments, when he has faced particularly intense \u2014 and politically damaging \u2014 public outcry, he has taken stock of news coverage and decided to take a different tack, often temporarily.<\/p>\n

Indeed, faced with mounting, broad-based criticism, Trump has no way out of this except to continually shape-shift, blame others, backpedal, and \u2014 most importantly \u2014 create still more distractions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

One distraction, of course, is to point the finger at others. In the toxic matter of his long and close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, Trump has sought to shift attention to Epstein\u2019s relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton. They, in turn, have been fighting off a subpoena to appear before a congressional committee. But whereas the Clintons have presented a coherent if self-serving justification for resisting a charade designed to help Trump, Democrats are not unanimously closing ranks. They\u2019re being more savvy about appearances. Thus, a fair number of Democrats joined Republicans in supporting contempt resolutions on both Bill and (to a lesser extent) Hillary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It looks like the Clintons will have to own up, show up, and argue in public that they did nothing untoward vis-\u00e0-vis Epstein. And maybe that will turn out to be the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most interesting thing here \u2014 aside from some Democrats joining Republicans in demanding that a former president answer their questions under oath \u2014 is that, when and if Trump leaves the White House, a precedent will have been established that he, too, can be subpoenaed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court may have granted him unlimited immunity for his acts in office, but I doubt that includes immunity from having to put himself before Congress at some future date.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking of immunity, on Friday, within minutes of the DOJ announcing that it had posted millions of new Epstein documents, I did a search and came upon a report containing allegations of coerced sex between Trump and a girl of approximately 13 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I posted about it on social media, and a short time later that document had been taken down \u2014 and then the whole DOJ Epstein portal stopped working. It\u2019s back up and so is the document. I am not going to post it here because it could be untrue. All I know is that such allegations should have been investigated by the authorities at the time, and should be investigated even now. The victims of this alleged abuse deserve nothing less.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Election, Stupid<\/h2>\n

We\u2019re all pulled in a million directions. We all have our own ideas about what is most important at any given moment. To some, it is the headlined issue of the day \u2014 like the ICE murders in Minneapolis. For others, it is the bigger picture \u2014 ongoing existential threats like climate change or nuclear war.<\/p>\n

It seems pointless to argue over this distinction. What\u2019s crystal clear is that the immediate issues are the ones that engage public attention at a time when it\u2019s harder than ever to cut through the Internet noise and social-media slop. The existential issues are the hardest to engage the public on \u2014 if ultimately the most important. Yet educating people on things that have immediacy is often the best way to get them to care about the \u201cbig stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because that is inarguably true \u2014 and because this is an election year, and a hugely consequential one \u2014 I\u2019d argue that it is the election that will matter most \u2014 in the short and<\/i> long run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why: The outcome of this election will come down to a handful of factors. Among them:<\/p>\n