Thursday, October 16, 2025

Idiots JD Vance, Jim Johnson, Tim Sheehy and Young Republicans

First up Katie Phang.




Okay, now let me note this story C.I.'s already covered in the snapshot and I'm just swiping this from her snapshot:


Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway.

They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans’ vice chair, used the words “n--ga” and “n--guh,” variations of a racial slur, more than a dozen times in the chat. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, referred to rape as “epic.” Peter Giunta, who at the time was chair of the same organization, wrote in a message sent in June that “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”

Giunta was referring to an upcoming vote on whether he should become chair of the Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s 15,000-member political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40 years old.

“Im going to create some of the greatest physiological torture methods known to man. We only want true believers,” he continued.

 

 The reporters note:

The private rhetoric isn’t happening in a vacuum. It comes amid a widespread coarsening of the broader political discourse and as incendiary and racially offensive tropes from the right become increasingly common in public debate. Last month, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated video that showed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero beside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose fabricated remarks were about trading free health care for immigrant votes — a false, long-running GOP trope. The sombrero meme has been widely used to mock Democrats as the government shutdown wears on.
In his 2024 campaign, Trump spread false reports of Haitian migrants eating pets and, at one of his rallies, welcomed comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and joked about Black people “carving watermelons” on Halloween.


So that's what I swiped so we're all on the same page before we bring in Miss Sassy JD Vance.  Hopefully, whether you just heard about what POLITICO's reporting or if you heard it earlier, you were as appalled as I was.  There's no excuse for that.  And, to their credit, some Republicans have publicly made that clear.

And then there's Miss Sassy.  JD doesn't see it as a big deal and states he won't clutch his pearls over this -- because he's shoved them up his hiney after mistaking them for Ben Wa balls?  He is so disgusting.  I don't ever want to hear lectures from that liar about how people need to speak.  Two comments on the article that I want to note:

 
B UU
2 hours ago
Not surprised. This blatant racism and hate is the platform Trump and Vance ran on. It's not some small group; it is the GOP as a whole. Any of them pretending to be offended are just upset they got caught. If the where truly offended, they wouldn't support the racist and chief in the white house or his racist policy's.

user-jkut0v5ksf
17 minutes ago
GOP wants people fired for not respecting a dead podcaster, but fully supports praising hitler in groupchats? Hmm


Those chat files are disgusting and represent the worst of America.  People defending it or minimizing it are disgusting.  Nikki McCann Ramirez (ROLLING STONE) reports:

Unsurprisingly - given the generally caustic tone taken by the Republican party towards minorities and migrants - some prominent conservative lawmakers and commentators jumped to defend the participants. 

Perhaps most notable among the white knights was Vice President J.D. Vance, who downplayed the texts 
[. . .]
It also bears noting that while "Young Republicans" may sound like a group composed of baby fresh, underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes, the national organization accepts members of the  Republican Party between the ages of 18 and 40. Some of those in the chat were not only well past their collegiate career, but held leadership positions within Young Republicans and had  cultivated relationships with members of the Trump administration. Regardless, Vance and others are pretending that those implicated should be given the benefit of childhood naivete for fantasizing about putting their opponents in gas chambers. 

"I literally do not care what a bunch of magger college kids said in a group chat," right-wing streamer and commentator Tim Pool wrote on  X.

Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich took a similar tact, writing that "Young Republicans blowing off steam in immature group texts isn't in the same universe as a powerful Democrat fantasizing about killing kids. Couldn't give a crap less about that nonsense." 


Here's Chris Hayes calling out Miss Sassy's bulls**t.

 

 


Let's move from Idiots in the Young Republicans to Republican Idiots in Congress. Take Senor Tim Sheehy.  He took to CNN to lie for Chump but Kaitlan Collins wasn't having it:

“[Healthcare] is not for people who are here illegally,” Collins said. “It's people who have different legal status, people who are seeking asylum, refugees … But I ask on the program's part because—“

“Yeah, but saying non citizens is accurate, though,” Sheehy insisted.

“You said people who are here illegally,” Collins explained. “But those are different things. I mean, maybe you don't like Temporary Protected Status, but you're an immigrant with legal status.”

Sheehy tried to stop Collins from moving on, arguing “you can't just pave over that because a lot of people come under asylum, claim asylum, which are not actually asylum seekers."

“That's a legal process,” Collins replied. “You can change the law if you don't like it.”

As Sheehy continued to complain that people falsely claim asylum status, Collins told him he’s “getting off topic.”

“I think it's very much the topic,” Sheehy shot back.
Collins then got to her main point: The Department of Energy’s decision to cancel a $1 billion project that Montana’s own governor said would have created good paying Montana jobs and boost American-made energy.

“They just yanked $1 billion from that,” Collins noted. “So is that taking away good paying jobs in Montana?”

"Of course it is, we want the government to be open,” Sheehy said.

Collins asked Sheehy to clarify if he thought the Trump administration’s decision to pull funding “is hurting [his] state.”

As Sheehy argued the shutdown as a whole is hurting his state, Collins noted “the Trump administration didn't have to make” the decision to pull “billion dollars from your state.”

"Well, I think the reality is we wouldn't be here if the government was still open,” Sheehy said. “And now we're going on week three of a pretty unnecessary shutdown."
Collins noted the U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright "actually" told her “they would have [shut down the project] even if the government wasn't shut down.”

“That was months in the making, even before the government shut down,” Collins said Wright told her.

“Well, that's unfortunate we're still shut down,” Sheehy replied. “We shouldn't be.”

What a moron.  If he were my US senator, the only thing he'd be seeing right now was all of us voters waving him goodbye. 

 Speaking of morons in Congress, Jim Jordan.  Sarah K. Burris (RAW STORY) notes:

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to former special counsel Jack Smith demanding that he give a "transcribed interview" to answer questions about his prosecution of President Donald Trump and alleged "surveillance" of members of Congress. But a keen legal analyst noted Jordan faces a major problem.
Posting the letter from Jordan, legal analyst and commentator Allison Gill posted to her "Mueller, She Wrote" Bluesky account that Jordan will have a difficult time getting Smith to testify about the "raid" on Mar-a-Lago — Smith wasn't working for the Justice Department or even affiliated with the special counsel's office when the FBI conducted its search of Trump's country club to obtain the classified documents taken from the White House.

"Jim Jordan wants to question Jack Smith about his search of Mar-a-Lago, but Merrick Garland executed that search months before Jack Smith was even appointed. One of several lies in this letter demanding Jack Smith's testimony," said the "Mueller, She Wrote" comments.


You know the only thing that seems to calm down the high strung Jim Jordan?  Sweaty young men, stripping off their clothes and walking into the showers.  Poor Jim, he peaked too soon.


Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Wednesday, October 15, 2025.  Chump's followers shine back at him with all the shared hate in their hearts, Chump's reopened Gitmo again, Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin wants serious answers regarding ACA, and much more.



Let's start with Lawrence O'Donnell last night on MSNBC.



Michael Bartels remains on the government dime via his job in the administration.  He's still being paid by the US taxpayers.  

The disgusting I-Love-Hitler chats was reported on by POLITICO's  Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo:

Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway.

They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

William Hendrix, the Kansas Young Republicans’ vice chair, used the words “n--ga” and “n--guh,” variations of a racial slur, more than a dozen times in the chat. Bobby Walker, the vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans at the time, referred to rape as “epic.” Peter Giunta, who at the time was chair of the same organization, wrote in a message sent in June that “everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber.”

Giunta was referring to an upcoming vote on whether he should become chair of the Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s 15,000-member political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40 years old.

“Im going to create some of the greatest physiological torture methods known to man. We only want true believers,” he continued.


Read the article, these are disgusting people.  And they are ugly people.  Bobby Walker, for instance, i a surprisingly overly confident male who must have never encountered a mirror or any other reflective surface in his entire life. Or do most Young Republican males today aspire to look like an obese female stand up comic from 1984?

 The reporters note:

The private rhetoric isn’t happening in a vacuum. It comes amid a widespread coarsening of the broader political discourse and as incendiary and racially offensive tropes from the right become increasingly common in public debate. Last month, Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated video that showed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero beside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose fabricated remarks were about trading free health care for immigrant votes — a false, long-running GOP trope. The sombrero meme has been widely used to mock Democrats as the government shutdown wears on.
In his 2024 campaign, Trump spread false reports of Haitian migrants eating pets and, at one of his rallies, welcomed comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and joked about Black people “carving watermelons” on Halloween.




Two more members of a Young Republican group chat strewn with racist epithets and hateful jokes stepped down from their jobs Tuesday after POLITICO published an exclusive report on the Telegram exchanges.

Peter Giunta’s time working with New York Assemblymember Mike Reilly “has ended,” the Republican lawmaker said. Giunta served as chair of the New York State Young Republicans when the chat took place. Joseph Maligno, who previously identified himself as the general counsel for that group, is no longer an employee of the New York State Unified Court System, a courts spokesperson confirmed.

Another chat member, Vermont state Senator Sam Douglass, faced mounting calls for his resignation as well, including from the state’s Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, and Douglass’ fellow Republican lawmakers, who called his statements “deeply disturbing.”

POLITICO’s in-depth look into how one group of Young Republicans spoke privately was met Tuesday with widespread condemnation in New York, Washington and beyond. The members of the chat — 2,900 pages of which were leaked and reviewed by POLITICO — called Black people monkeys, repeatedly used slurs for gay, Black, Latino and Asian people, and jokingly celebrated Adolf Hitler.

In a bipartisan outcry, members of Congress and other political leaders from around the country said they were appalled by the contents of the group chat. The board of directors of the National Young Republicans said every member of the chat “must immediately resign” their state organization.



THE BULWORK has already covered this appalling story.

 

And Ben's covered it at MEIDASTOUCH NEWS.


 

Ben: Notable that Donald Trump, happy to give 20 billion dollars to Argentina 
while ripping away healthcare from 20 million Americans.  I guess that's Putting America Last now, isn't it Donald? 

We're focusing on the Young Republicans and 'peace deal' but I thought Ben's point there needed to be highlighted.  Here?  We've never credited Chump for a peace deal because there has been none.  What he did was a "pause" or "cease-fire."  That's what we've called it while the American press has too often embarrassed themselves.  And as Ava and I noted Sunday in "Media: Can Dems stop caving, can the media stop whoring?" the British press has had no problem being accurate while too many in the US press have lied and whored.  


British outlets continue to tell the truth.  Kevin Schofield (UK HUFFINGTON POST) writes:

A BBC Middle East expert has delivered a brutal reality check to Donald Trump’s claims that the war between Israel and Hamas “is over”.

The US president made the bold prediction as world leaders gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to sign a peace deal ending the two-year-long conflict.
Under the agreement, Hamas agreed to hand over the remaining Israeli hostages it had been holding captive in Gaza, while Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

However, lengthy negotiations are still due to take place to agree the finer details on how the agreement will deliver a permanent peace.

On Radio 4′s Today programme on Tuesday, BBC international affairs editor Jeremy Bowen said: “There’s actually almost no detail about how it’s going to be implemented.

“Donald Trump essentially stated the destination, but he didn’t say state how you got there, and that seems to be his style.

“It’s important to get some clarity from looking at what it is and what it isn’t. It is not a peace deal, it is not a peace process, it’s a ceasefire and hostage agreement.

“Now that’s a considerable achievement in itself, and it tries to go on to state where it wants to go, but it doesn’t say how you get there and that’s a real problem.


Donald Chump has brokered no peace deal.  We've called it a pause or a cease-fire.  That's all that's happened.  Ava and I pointed out that British outlets grasped this even when US outlets did not.  Ehud Olmert of England's THE INDEPENDENT notes:


It is not a peace agreement. The title Trump suggested for the conference now taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh – “Peace 2025” – has nothing to do with what has happened so far.

The crucial question now is whether the temporary cessation of the war, Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza, and the continued minor activity of Hamas will be a starting point for a bold political move that will change the entire Middle East and bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace based on two states.


Again, the British find it so easy to state the basic facts.  But then in the US, we have so many idiot fools.  Doubt it?  Look at this statement:

I pretty much can assure you that once those doors are opened, it will be a scene of absolute, abject horror... It’s been a terrible, terrible two years for them, because not only are they there, you know, they’re probably being treated better than the average Gazan, because they are the pawns and the chips that Hamas had. Now, Hamas has given up all of its leverage, by the way, by giving them all up. So that is a victory for the Israeli side


Those are  Christiane Amanpour's words and she uttered them on CNN and has now apologized for them.   Why?  Because big baby idiots have comprehension issues.  She did not imply that the hostages had it easy.  She stated they were likely treated better by Hamas than Hamas treated the average Gazan.  Because they loved the hostages?  No, because the hostages became chips used in a negotiation.  There's nothing contorversial about her statements unless you're an idiot who can't comprehend.  Maybe it's time for all of us to start asking if English is MAGA's second language since it's so difficult for them to follow?


Amanpour’s comments had MAGA in a rage. “You can feel how mad she is with the release of hostages by Trump,” Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell posting on X, adding, “she’s a sick woman.”


Oh look, a woman-hating gay man from Glenneth Greenwald's generation and political grouping.  They were the worst.  Ask any lesbian from that generation about the conservative gay men with the chips on their shoulder (I don't want to be known as a bottom!  Even if I am bottom!) and how they hated and loathed women in their pathetic attempts to reassure themselves that they were manly -- gay or no gay, you can't tell them that they're not. 

No, Dick, Christiane is not "a sick woman" but you are certainly a sick man.

So is Isaac Schorr.  MEDIAITE needs to pull him off any story that has to do with Israel because he can't show any objectivity and he bends the truth to the point that it breaks.  There is no peace deal, you stupid fool. Nolink to his garbage but the garbage I'm commenting on right now is his article attacking Cornel West. 

But back to Richard Grenell.  Where's his condemnation of the Young Republicans' comments in their now exposed thread?  

He makes time to willfully misconstrue Chrisiane's comments and to weigh in.  But he's got nothing to say regarding these racists, homophobic and sexist comments by the Young Republicans?

You'd think he'd want to call it out.

That everyone in the administration would want to.

Donald Chump is still wrongly taking a victory lap for his cease-fire.  And he'll be doing that for at least two more days because it takes a fat boy a lot of time to haul all that around a track.  

And how does it look, as he claims to care about the Jews in Israel, that his most intense followers are praising Hitler and wanting another Holocaust.  How does that look?

It looks like he and his followers are full of s**t.  Is that why his gut's so big?  He can't take a dump anymore and it just stays in his body getting toxic?

Donald's delivered nothing to this world but hate.  The Young Republicans in that chat are disgusting but let's never forget that it was Chump's womanly hips that birthed them.
 

MOTHER JONES tries to tell the truth about the cease-fire but maybe next time speak to someone rationale?  That might allow for the trashing of Joe Biden not to be in there or for the idiot being interviewed to stop changing the goal posts from comment to comment.  MOTHER JONES published a s**t poor article.  We can't afford that right now.  There are too many important things going on in this country.  (And don't forget this Saturday's NO KINGS protests across the country.)  

While garbage Brit Daniel Levy fondles and sniffs Chump to MOTHER JONES, Carol Rosenberg (NEW YORK TIMES) reports that the despot has reopened GITMO to imprison those kidnapped off American streets:

Federal agents have moved about 20 migrants to the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a Defense Department official said on Tuesday, repopulating the holding site for detainees designated for deportation for the first time in nearly two weeks.

The identities or nationalities of the detainees were not immediately known. All were believed to be men.

Trackers spotted the flight after it left a Homeland Security Department hub in Alexandria, La., on Monday afternoon. But the first confirmation came on Tuesday, after the federal holiday, from a defense official who was not authorized to be identified by name.

The operation raised to about 710 the number of migrants who had been temporarily held at the base since the Trump administration’s deportation operations began in early February.



Chump's immigration war is destroying the country.  It's destroying our rights.  It's destroying our safety.  It's destroying our economy.  He's destroying businesses that depend upon foreign travelers to this country.  He's destroying farming.    On farming, Dave Smith (FORBES) reports:



At the Fortune Most Powerful Women (MPW) Summit Tuesday morning, Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford warned that American farmers face a critical labor shortage that could lead to a “black swan event” if the U.S. doesn’t institute more pathways for legal immigration.​ “While there might be some discussion on undocumented, et cetera, this is critical for the health of the economy,” she said.
Ford, who chairs the Business Roundtable’s immigration committee, told the MPW audience that farmers “absolutely need labor,” adding that “we need more legal immigration” as an economic driver for businesses and the broader U.S. economy. For some context, America’s agricultural sector is currently grappling with mounting pressures from trade disputes, farm bankruptcies, and an increasingly restrictive immigration environment.​

“These are folks who oftentimes try to get American labor [but] are struggling to do so,” Ford said. “They absolutely need labor, and if they don’t have it, that’s yet another element—and it could be a black swan event for a farmer if they don’t have somebody who can help and be on [the] farm.”

The term “black swan event,” for those unfamiliar, refers to an unpredictable occurrence with severe consequences that appears obvious only in hindsight. In agriculture, such events can include natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or severe labor disruptions that threaten food production systems.​

In other disturbing news from THE TIMES, Ruth Igielnik and Jazmine Ulloa cover a new poll, "Nine months into President Trump’s mass deportation campaign, registered voters largely support the idea of removing immigrants who have arrived in the country illegally, even as majorities say they feel his methods have gone too far, according to the latest survey from The New York Times and Siena University."

 How can it be both?

The easiest answer would be muddled questions.  

But that's not the case if you break down the poll.

So what's going on?

Reality leaks out to some and not to others.  FOX "NEWS" and other firght-wing outlets do not cover reality.  

So you can get people thinking that we do need to deport non-criminal immigrants who have been here forever and also people who say that Chump i going too far.

We're not consuming the same news.  

We're not witnessing the same reality.

If we were, it'd be over right now.  ICE physically attacking a rabbi?  ICE shooting at priest?

There's no support for that.  

But not all Americans are getting truth when they sit down to watch partisan infotainment that they think is news.

How many Americans, for example, will learn of the story Robert McCoy's notes at THE NEW REPUBLIC: 

Federal immigration enforcement agents allegedly interfered with—and even threatened to “shoot and arrest”—emergency personnel rescuing an injured protester last week in south Portland, as first reported Monday in Willamette Week.

Citing public dispatch records and two confidential internal reports filed by the ambulance workers, Willamette Week reported that agents blocked an ambulance on the evening of October 5 as it tried to exit an ICE facility with a protester who had suffered a collar bone injury.

Federal agents allegedly delayed the emergency workers manning the vehicle for several minutes, repeatedly requesting to ride in the ambulance to the hospital—even after having agreed, due to their lack of arrest paperwork, to simply follow along in their own vehicle instead.

After some delay, the driver began moving the vehicle toward the garage’s exit, when a plainclothes man with a partial face covering reportedly stepped in its path, urging the driver to stop so as not to hit a group of officers in riot gear standing about 15 feet away.

Eventually, seeing the group of officers line up in apparent “preparation for the gate to open so they could escort the ambulance” off, the driver reported having inched forward a bit further. But the delay stretched on, as federal agents stood “incredibly close” to the vehicle and behaved aggressively, the driver recounted. One of the crew members decided to get out to “calm and deescalate the situation,” they later wrote.

Deciding to join them, the driver, according to their report, put the emergency vehicle in park, which caused it to lurch forward slightly. An agent evidently interpreted the vehicle’s forward movement as deliberate, and is said to have begun threatening the driver.

The agent “pointed his finger at me in a threatening manner,” the driver recalled, “and began viciously yelling in my face, stating, ‘DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I WILL SHOOT YOU, I WILL ARREST YOU RIGHT NOW.’”

“I was still in such shock,” the driver said, “that they were not only accusing me of such a thing, but crowding and cornering me in the seat, pointing and screaming at me, threatening to shoot and arrest me, and not allowing the ambulance to leave the scene. This was no longer a safe scene, and in that moment, I realized that the scene had not actually been safe the entire time that they were blocking us from exiting, and that we were essentially trapped.”


Chump's gestapo is nothing but goons who can't get jobs anywhere else because they're uneducated sociopaths.  


Federal agents deployed tear gas on Chicago residents and more than a dozen police officers on Tuesday, the latest clash in the nation’s third-largest city as the Trump administration has carried out its immigration crackdown.

The clash began on Tuesday morning when federal agents were seen chasing a car through a working-class, heavily Latino neighborhood on the city’s far South Side, witnesses said. An S.U.V. driven by the federal agents collided with the car they were pursuing, the Chicago Police Department said, sending that car into another vehicle that was parked nearby.

After the crash, dozens of additional immigration agents in masks arrived and residents emerged from their houses, gathering on streets and sidewalks, throwing objects at agents and shouting, “ICE go home!”

As the agents left, they released tear gas, apparently without warning, sending people coughing and running for cover. Among those affected by the gas were 13 Chicago Police Department officers, the police department said, and at least one officer was seen rinsing his eyes out with water from a neighbor’s garden hose. 


They need to go home and get the hell out of Chicago.  They need to go home and kneel before their shrines to Donald Chump.  Salute their Fuhrer.  







Why Trump might admire Egypt’s regime is no secret. Trump has made enemies out of his stateside opposition, publicly calling for the political persecution of Democratic lawmakers that have dared to object to his agenda, including Pritzker, Senator Adam Schiff, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and more.

Just last week, the president threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th-century law that would let him utilize the military for domestic purposes, to quell fictitious bedlam that he has claimed has taken over Democratic cities.

One such area that Trump has honed in on is Portland, Oregon, a city better known for Voodoo Doughnuts and cold brew than hellish riots. Late last month, the president ordered the National Guard to the hipster paradise, but his rationale for sending them was not informed by statistics or data—instead, it was because of something he saw on TV.

Other crime stats that have informed his decision to federalize the law enforcement of American cities were completely imagined. When Trump deployed hundreds of National Guard members to Washington in August, he blamed the city’s rising crime data—from 2023. The cherry-picked statistics misrepresented the state of crime in the nation’s capital, which, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Department that was touted by the FBI, had actually fallen last year by 35 percent.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Tammy Duckworth's office:

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) led all Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation in sending a letter to health insurance companies to request answers about how the potential expiration of the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits would impact Illinoisans using the marketplace to purchase insurance. Today’s letter comes as the Republican-led government shutdown continues and Republican congressional leaders and President Trump refuse to extend the ACA tax credits that expire at the end of 2025. If these tax credits are not extended by the end of the year, more than four million Americans could lose their health coverage, and more than 20 million Americans are expected to see a significant rise in their premiums.

“We are writing to request information about how the potential expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA; P.L. 111-148) enhanced premium tax credits would impact patients, health care providers, and hospitals in Illinois,” the lawmakers began. “The ACA established premium tax credits, helping lower- and middle-income families lower their health insurance premiums for plans offered through the marketplace. These premium tax credits made health care affordable for millions of families, small business owners, and farmers across the country.”

In 2021, Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan, establishing these enhanced premium tax credits to support Americans in affording their health insurance. In 2022, Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, extending these critical enhanced premium tax credits.

“To make health care even more affordable, the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2) enhanced the premium tax credits. This measure ensured that eligible households would not contribute more than 8.5 percent of their income to their health insurance premiums and allowed more middle-income Americans to access the premium tax credits,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Due to the beneficial impact these enhanced tax credits had for American families, Congress extended them as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-19) through the end of 2025. The enhanced premium tax credits helped double enrollment in ACA health plans from 11.4 million Americans in 2020 to 24.3 million Americans in 2025. In Illinois, ACA enrollment grew 59 percent, from 292,945 Illinoisans in 2020 to 465,985 in 2025. The enhanced premium tax credits have allowed more Americans to access primary care visits, prescription drugs, mental health and substance use disorder services, maternity care, and other essential health benefits,” the lawmakers wrote.

Continuing their letter, the lawmakers emphasized that if Republicans in Congress allow these enhanced premium tax credits to expire, premiums for more than 22 million Americans, including 395,850 Illinoisans will more than double—from an average of $888 to $1,904 each month. But some Americans could see even steeper premium increases.

“In Illinois, a 60-year-old couple with an income of $82,800 could see their annual premium increase $17,018—254 percent—while a family of four with an income of $64,000 could see their annual premium increase $2,571—226 percent. Such a large premium increase is unsustainable for most families. In fact, more than four million Americans will become uninsured due if Congress does not act, including 106,000 Illinoisans,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers underscored that health care providers and hospitals will lose critical revenue if Republicans allow the tax credits to lapse. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects that hospitals and health care providers across the U.S. could lose more than $32 billion in revenue, while uncompensated care costs could increase by $7.7 billion, in 2026.

“For hospitals and providers in Illinois, lost revenue could amount to $372 million, while uncompensated care costs could increase by $129 million. This is in addition to the congressional Republicans’ $1 trillion Medicaid cut included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will reduce federal Medicaid funding to Illinois by 19 percent over the next decade. We worry that health care providers and hospitals will face even more severe financial hardship if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, and patients will suffer,” the lawmakers wrote.

Concluding their letter, the lawmakers requested details about the potential impacts of Republicans refusing to address this health care crisis.

The following insurance companies received a copy of the lawmakers’ letter: Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna Group, Molina Healthcare, Celtic Insurance Company, Mercyhealth, and Oscar Health Inc.

A copy of the letter is available here and below:

October 14, 2025

Dear [CEO],

We are writing to request information about how the potential expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA; P.L. 111-148) enhanced premium tax credits would impact patients, health care providers, and hospitals in Illinois.

The ACA established premium tax credits, helping lower- and middle-income families lower their health insurance premiums for plans offered through the marketplace. These premium tax credits made health care affordable for millions of families, small business owners, and farmers across the country. To make health care even more affordable, the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2) enhanced the premium tax credits. This measure ensured that eligible households would not contribute more than 8.5 percent of their income to their health insurance premiums and allowed more middle-income Americans to access the premium tax credits.

Due to the beneficial impact these enhanced tax credits had for American families, Congress extended them as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-19) through the end of 2025. The enhanced premium tax credits helped double enrollment in ACA health plans from 11.4 million Americans in 2020 to 24.3 million Americans in 2025. In Illinois, ACA enrollment grew 59 percent, from 292,945 Illinoisans in 2020 to 465,985 in 2025. The enhanced premium tax credits have allowed more Americans to access primary care visits, prescription drugs, mental health and substance use disorder services, maternity care, and other essential health benefits.

If the enhanced premium tax credits are not extended, premiums for more than 22 million Americans, including 395,850 Illinoisans, will more than double—from an average of $888 to $1,904 each month. Some could see even steeper increases. In Illinois, a 60-year-old couple with an income of $82,800 could see their annual premium increase $17,018—254 percent—while a family of four with an income of $64,000 could see their annual premium increase $2,571—226 percent. Such a large premium increase is unsustainable for most families. In fact, more than four million Americans will become uninsured due if Congress does not act, including 106,000 Illinoisans.

Health care providers and hospitals across Illinois also will be impacted if the enhanced premium tax credits are not extended by the end of the year. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, hospitals and health care providers across the United States could lose more than $32 billion in revenue, while uncompensated care costs could increase by $7.7 billion in 2026. For hospitals and providers in Illinois, lost revenue could amount to $372 million, while uncompensated care costs could increase by $129 million. This is in addition to the congressional Republicans’ $1 trillion Medicaid cut included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will reduce federal Medicaid funding to Illinois by 19 percent over the next decade. We worry that health care providers and hospitals will face even more severe financial hardship if the enhanced premium tax credits expire, and patients will suffer.

To help inform our legislative efforts to improve health care for Illinoisans and better understand the implications of letting the ACA tax credits expire, we request that [health insurer] respond to the following questions by October 22, 2025:

  1. How many Illinoisans does [health insurer] cover? Please provide statewide figures and a breakdown by congressional district.
  2. How many Illinoisans does [health insurer] cover who receive the enhanced premium tax credit? Please provide statewide figures and a breakdown by congressional district.
  3. For Illinoisans who are covered by [health insurer] and receive the enhanced premium tax credit, what is their average premium reduction? Please provide statewide figures and a breakdown by congressional district.
  4. If the enhanced premium tax credits are allowed to expire because of congressional Republican inaction, does [health insurer] plan to increase premiums for Illinoisans next year?
    1. If so, please provide the justification for such premium increases.
    1. If so, please provide the average statewide increase and a breakdown by congressional district.
  5. If the enhanced premium tax credits are allowed to expire because of congressional Republican inaction, does [health insurer] expect the Illinoisans it covers to lose coverage?
    1. If so, please provide estimated statewide coverage losses and a breakdown by congressional district.
    1. If so, what continuity of care plans does [health insurer] have in place for Illinoisans?
  6. When would notices of premium changes be sent to Illinoisans?
    1. How many Illinoisans will [health insurer] have to notify?
    1. How will [health insurer] inform Illinoisans (e.g., mail, e-mail)?
    1. What processes does [health insurer] have in place to ensure that Illinoisans will be informed before their coverage is renewed?
  7. If the enhanced premium tax credits expire, are there specific counties that will cease to be a part of [health insurer’s] service area?
    1. If so, approximately when will such a decision to exit be made?

Thank you for your timely attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

-30-


The following sites updated:


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Tuesday, October 14, 2025

The embarrassing Chump and Johnson

First up, Katie Phang.  



Second up, you better be sure to read Ava and C.I.'s "Media: Can Dems stop caving, can the media stop whoring?."  It's really something.  C.I. did not feel well this weekend and she and Ava weren't planning on writing anything.  At the last minute, they decided to do a piece on three things but the narrowed it down to just Chump and Gaza.  I think it worked out really well.  

Now let's note Dumpy Chumpy.  He's still whining about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize.   Janna Brancolini (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to give a speech marking the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, Trump complained that the committee should have taken the extraordinary—and logistically unrealistic—step of providing this year’s prize for events that took place within the last few weeks.
“Now, in all fairness to the Nobel Committee, it was for 2024. This was picked for 2024,” he said. “But there are those that say you can make an exception because a lot of things happened during 2025 that are done and complete and great. But I did this not for Nobel; I did this for saving lives.”

Wah wah wah.  What a cry baby.  Sniveling little cry baby.  Some comments on the article:


M W
5 hours ago
This award is intended for intelligence, compassionate, innovative people who have made a difference in the world. Trump is none of these.

George Waddill
3 hours ago
If nothing else, just his arrogance about deserving the prize is what disqualifies him.


Rickey Frazier
2 hours ago
The man is delusional about his own self-worth. His narcissism is just astounding.  With statements like "...I was right about everything...", or "I am the smartest,  I know everything."  Incredibly, he (his head) can get through the door on Air Force One or Marine One.

GDavid AK
1 hour ago
Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist. He cares more about the accolades and the hero worship than he cares about anything else. The money is nice, because it is after all how we all measure our self-worth (eye roll), but being recognized as the greatest ever at pretty much everything is what he lives for. He knows more about fighting wars than any general, more about human health than any doctor or medical researcher, more about finance and economics than any actual Nobel prize winner in those fields, more about pretty much anything than anyone else might know about that subject. In his perfect world, we would all see that Donald Trump is the man to go to for solutions to all the world's problems and for decisions on any issues. He thinks he has a divine talent to just know what is right in all things. He thinks he is a born winner, which is why he has never been able to wrap his mind around the idea that he could lose an election to Joe Biden. Joe Biden! The thought alone is enough to drive a man insane.

Okoboji dreamer
3 hours ago
Trump truly does have cognitive decline if he thinks he can deploy the military against his own citizens, use violent rhetoric against his political opponents, and completely disregard the laws of his own nation and think he would qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Shar Line
2 hours ago
A man with integrity and concern for the people he works for (yes, trump, you work for ALL Americans. they don't work for you) does so without demanding awards.  But we are talking about trump, who cannot spell integrity.

Peggy Freeman
3 hours ago
As always, the man in the White House wants exceptions made for him because he feels entitled.  He needs to understand the Nobel Committee will never select him.  He has declared war on half of the people in his own country!  He has blown up boats and murdered those who were on those boats with no other evidence except he thought they were drug smugglers.  He is moving closer to declaring war on Venezuela.  He has insulted, bullied and intimidated our allies.  He has broken the law more times than anyone can count.  He is not Nobel Peace Prize material and he never will be.  He needs to just move on and accept that is one prize he will never get.


Speaking of idiots, Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) zooms in on Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson:

House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed Monday he had no idea that President Doanld Trump’s sweeping layoffs of federal workers had gutted the department overseeing special education. 

During a press conference, Johnson was asked if he was “comfortable” with cuts that had reportedly decimated special education services at the Department of Education. 

“I haven’t seen the specifics of that and I don’t know,” Johnson said. 

“I do know that each of the Cabinet secretaries were asked to assist OMB to determine what the most essential programs are, and what the priorities are for the policies and all of that. And I’ve been so busy on all this I’ve not had a chance to dig into the details of each division, and how it’s happened,” he said. 

But those so-called “details” Johnson overlooked are quickly coming to light—and they’re a huge problem.

Rachel Gittleman, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees released a statement Monday saying: “We believe that all remaining offices in Office of Special Education + Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), incl. the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) + the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), have been eliminated.”

The Education Department laid off practically every employee responsible for administering funding through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which authorizes grants to states, schools, and nonprofit organizations, one agency staffer told USA Today. The Biden administration had requested $14.4 billion for these grants for FY2025, including $545 million for the Grants for Infants and Families program.

He's lying and he needs to accept that God's not taking him to heaven, not when he's attacking Special Ed students.  Chump seems to be grasping that he's not going to heaven.  Mike needs to grasp that reality for himself. 

Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


 Monday, October 13, 2025.  We do not have time for the craven or the cowardly.  If you're an elected Democrat and you think this is the time to flatter and praise Donald Chump, get your ass of TV, you're not helping anyone (not even, surprise,yourself). 


THE NEW REPUBLIC's latest RIGHT NOW WITH PERRY BACON podcast is up: 


In the latest episode of Right Now With Perry Bacon, Democratic strategist Arkadi Gerney argues that the United States is in the midst of a “cold civil war.” For liberals to win it, they must use “hardball” tactics, including borrowing from the Republicans’ playbook. Gerney says that Republican governors and attorneys general smartly coordinated during Joe Biden’s presidency to thwart him. He praised Democratic attorneys general for taking a similar tack, constantly filing and at times winning lawsuits against the Trump administration. He also lauded California Governor Gavin Newsom for immediately responding to Texas’s redistricting scheme with a proposal for California to redraw its district lines in ways favorable to Democrats. Newsom and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s threat to leave the bipartisan National Governors Association unless it condemns Trump’s National Guard deployments was also a savvy move, he says. A big and unresolved challenge for Democrats, according to Gerney, is dealing with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and the guard deployments from Trump that target Democratic-leaning cities in blue states. You can read the transcript here.


From the podcast:

Bacon: You used the words hardball and deterrence a few minutes ago. So I think part of this is—and even when we’ve talked a few times—every time you talk, I’m sort of like, “Do I really want California to be using their pension to, like, force…” But the answer to these questions has got to be yes—part of what you’re saying is, things that make me queasy in sort of a liberal way, are gonna [happen]. We’re in a fight over power, and that requires hardball. Is that the subtext here, or the actual text?


Gerney: I think that’s right. For example, in the last 24 hours, Governor Pritzker and Governor Newsom sent letters to the National Governors Association, which is the bipartisan coalition of all 50 governors—and they said, “Hey, if you’re not going to say something about National Guard troops coming into our states without our request, we’re going to drop out of this organization.” And I think that’s a healthy response to something that’s not working anymore.


I think we have to be able to look squarely at what we have. At the end of the day, yes, we want to have a national bipartisan governors association where they talk about ideas across party lines. But if the red-state governors are not going to say something about something that is an across-the-board violation of the Constitution and of the role of states, what’s the point of being in something like this? 

 And look, I’ve talked about some of the challenges that blue states have around affordability and this sort of net migration toward red states. But blue states have a lot to be proud of too. If you look at educational outcomes, if you look at life expectancy—there’s a big difference. If you look at crime in cities—Republicans talk a lot about crime in Chicago and cities like that, but if you look at crime across states and control for urbanization, there’s more crime in red states. There are a lot of reasons for that, but I think there’s a lot that’s going reasonably well in blue states, and part of what you want to do is tell that story.


We are helped by strength and when we don't show it we embarrass ourselves.  Senator Mark Kelly was a damn fool yesterday on CNN's STATE OF THE UNION -- see Ava and my "Media: Can Dems stop caving, can the media stop whoring?"  Was his goal to have Republicans think, "Oh, he's the reasonable one."  There are people you can pull off from Chump.  Mark Kelly's bowing and scaping -- the same thing that Senator John Fetterman does -- is not going to help us or our country.  

CNN reports this morning that the last Israeli hostages from the October 7th assault have been released this morning.  That's good.  That doesn't mean peace.   It was 20 people.  About what Joe Biden got out of each negotiated pause.  It doesn't mean peace.  You're an idiot if you can't grasp that.  It didn't mean peace in the past as Ava and I noted:


This could very well be yet another pause masked as a cease-fire.  

A true peace plan probably wouldn't result in what took place September 29th -- that's when Chump announced it . . . with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side  -- with only Netanyahu at his side.

The willful stupidity on the part of the press and the part of elected officials when it comes to this fact speaks to a very anti-Muslim point of view.  We get that, right?  When Chump pretends to have talks of peace re: Ukraine, the press and politicians notice if a Ukrainian representative is not present.  

But leave, for example, Izz al-Din al-Haddad out of the announcement and it doesn't matter?

It matters and it's very significant.   

There is no peace plan -- certainly not one that's going to benefit the Palestinian people.  

How do you miss that?  If it's not assuming that Palestinians are less human -- the anti-Muslim point of view we noted above -- then it's just exhaustion over this conflict that didn't begin in October 2003.  But even that exhaustion goes to anti-Muslim bias.  Because you're ready to embrace anything just to see it 'ended' -- you're willing to ignore the Palestinian needs.


In terms of the US, in terms of Mark Kelly, the bigger problem is he shot off his stupid and uninformed mouth.

Chump is putting US boots on the ground.  Are we going to discuss that?  They have no clear goals.  This is, as Elaine notes in "Stupid Donald Chump works to create a quagmire," how you get a quagmire.  And Idiot Mark Kelly, if that happens, you damn well better believe that your remarks will be remembered to insist the quagmire was built with bipartisan support.  Why do you have to be so damn stupid?



At THE NEW REPUBLIC, Michael Tomasky puts it very concisely:

 David Axelrod is far better known these days for occasionally wagging his finger at his fellow Democrats than for breathing partisan fire, so it caught my eye when he posted this on X Wednesday: “So far, the ICE gang has shot & killed an unarmed man & lied about the circumstances; shot a woman 5 times for obstructing their vehicle; roughed up elderly women and zip-tied small children; shot a clergyman in the face with a pepper ball; marched through downtown Chicago, masked and armed. And they’re not going after the ‘worst of the worse,’ [sic] as promised. Most of the people they’re snagging have clean records. Some are citizens. To be clear: This is NOT making Chicago safer. It’s state-sponsored mayhem; dangerous political theater calculated to provoke.”

Historians sometimes say that when societies are descending into fascism, it can be hard for the people to notice it in real time. Well, historians of the future, I’m here to tell you: We are noticing. Millions of us are noticing. And we are horrified and enraged. We are well aware: We once lived in a country that, for all its frequent imperfections, was a place where the rule of law was a broadly shared value and where leaders acted with democratic restraint. We now live in a country where there is no rule of law; where leaders, especially the president but also others who support him, spit on the idea not only of democratic restraint but of democracy itself; and where the timorous first reflex of nearly every member of one of our two political parties is, at virtually all times, to do precisely what the leader wants.

That’s fascism. It may be—for now—a comparatively mild form of fascism. Political opponents aren’t being jailed or shot, opposition media outlets aren’t being shuttered, and books aren’t being burned. But a lot of things are happening that are terrifying. And last year, we lived in a country where the three scenarios I just listed were barely conceivable. Today, we live in a country where they are more likely only a matter of time.

Let’s go back to Axelrod, and specifically, his use of the phrase “state-sponsored mayhem.” That is exactly what President Trump is imposing upon Chicago. To take just one of the incidents Axelrod cites: Pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church was with a small gaggle of protesters outside a Chicago ICE facility. Three agents stood on the roof of the two-story building as Black and the others stood on the sidewalk maybe 15 feet away from the building. Black raised his arms to the sky, as if in prayer. Someone who appears to be a fellow protester approached Black to confer with him. Next thing you see in this video is a considerable puff of smoke explode from Black’s forehead as he falls to the ground. That’s a clergyman. Exercising his First Amendment right (he’s fine, and he’s suing). Black later told CNN: “We could hear them laughing.”

He's right.  David Axelrod is right.  But there's Democratic Senator Mark Kelly on CNN praising and normalizing Convicted Felon Donald Chump.  Some one needs to whip these lazy and self-serving Democratic politicians into shape because we don't have time right now for their efforts to get praised as 'reasonable' by FOX "NEWS."

Dems in Congress need to be demanding answers not offering cover for the administration.  Fortunately, some are demanding answers.


 

 

Fortunately, former President Barack Obama is showing leadership.

 

 

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking out.

 

 


The American  people are speaking out -- which scares the hell out of Chump.

 

 

 

 


US House Rep Jim Jordan insists ICE is doing God's work.  Was Jim doing God's work when he watched the college boys locker room?  Was he doing God's business when he looked the other way as the team doctor was in the showers and walking around the locker room with an erection?  Was Jim doing God's work when he mocked young men who complained about how the team doctor was always touching their cocks and balls?   In what world are we supposed to believe that Jim can do anything but bear false witness?

In the same world where an increasingly diminishing number of Americans will insist that ICE is not harming anyone.  The Chump administration thinks they can get away with this.  But they also think they can pose -- with crosses around their necks -- as good Christians and that's not working either.  Good Christians don't cover up for Jeffrey Epstein Good Christians don't let a man work directly under Kristi Noem when the media has reported for years on the two's alleged affair -- both are married. Good Christians don't take $50,000 bribes and other good Christians don't cover up for them.  Good Christians don't try to bully US senators in a committee hearing.  We can down the list all day but no one serving in Chump's corrupt and illegal administration qualifies as a good Christian.


Pope Leo?  He qualifies.  VATICAN NEWS reported this week:

Pope Leo XIV encouraged leaders and volunteers of the Catholic Charities USA network to persevere in their work pointing out that they follow the Gospel mandate to recognise Christ in the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and all those in need.

His words of gratitude came in a message to the network is gathered in San Juan, Puerto Rico or its 115th Annual Meeting.

Agents of Hope

Quoting Pope Francis’ definition of hope as “the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring,” Pope Leo underlined the importance of Catholic Charities’ work across its 168 diocesan agencies.

He described them as “agents of hope” for millions of people in the United States, especially the most vulnerable, the migrants, refugees, and those unable to rely on their own resources.

“Through providing food, shelter, medical care, legal assistance, and many other gestures of kindness,” he wrote, “Catholic Charities affiliates across the United States show what Pope Francis often referred to as God’s ‘style’ of closeness, compassion, and tenderness.”

Witnesses of Hope

The Pope said that while poverty and forced migration bring immense challenges, migrants and refugees also serve as “witnesses to hope,” both by their resilience and through the faith they bring to the communities that welcome them, to find their new homes in your country.

He described them as “missionaries of hope,” strengthening parishes and building bridges across nations and cultures.


Chump never had a chance at heaven.  He's going to hell and he'll spend eternity there.  And if that is anyway different from what you think, you need to stop and reflect because one of three things has happened: You're deeply stupid, you're incredibly caring and overly optimistic or you are you confused and probably headed to hell yourself.

The faith community isn't confused.  Illinois' SHAW LOCAL MEDIA notes:

Wesley United Methodist Church will offer an “Immigration 101: Welcoming the Stranger” workshop for community members to learn about current immigration issues.

The free workshop will be held from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at the church, 14 N. May St., Aurora.

“Wesley UMC and our UMC Northern Illinois Conference advocacy partner present a workshop to help us understand the current issues facing our immigrant neighbors – and give us some ideas of how we can support and help provide for neighbors in need!” Wesley United Methodist Church’s lead pastor, the Rev. Tammy Scott, said in a news release.



Some 50 peacemakers, including members of the Pax Christi USA National Council held a prayer service and vigil in support of immigrants outside of the headquarters of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in Washington, DC on Friday, 3 October. The service was sponsored by Pax Christi USA, Pax Christi Metro DC - Baltimore, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Franciscan Action Network, Congregation Action Network, Sisters of Mercy, the Quixote Center and other groups.

The service began with a welcome from Pax Christi USA Executive Director Charlene Howard. Sherry Simon, outgoing chair of the National Council, then read this message from Pax Christi USA Bishop President John Stowe, OFM Conv:

"I wish I could be there in person with Pax Christi USA and others for this witness on this eve of the Feast of Saint Francis. I hope that the words of Cardinal McElroy from the march on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees are still resounding in DC and beyond. He called out the assault on the most vulnerable that is taking place in DC and many places throughout the country.

"It is so vital that we who call ourselves Christians remind ourselves of the most fundamental Christian values, love of God and love of neighbour. As you bear witness in the nation's capital you are affirming the importance of human dignity, which is God-given and is more basic than our nationality or citizenship. You are also striving to uphold the common good, recognizing that we are one community in the US, brought together from all over the world and our immigrants have made us stronger and better and will continue to do so. Let us remember the biblical imperative that we welcome the stranger, and recognize that it is Christ himself whom we welcome. Let us insist on the respect for human dignity and the rights of all, for law-enforcement personnel to clearly identify themselves and their authority, and continue to work for the comprehensive immigration reform that can allow millions of our immigrant sisters and brothers to leave among us without fear."

The participants then sang Sweet Honey in the Rock's song, 'We who believe in freedom shall not rest,' which was followed by this reflection from Pax Christi USA 2016 Teacher of Peace Art Laffin:

 


The attacks attacks on faith and religious people started by Chump continue.  Clergy is being attacked by ICE non-stop.  For example, last week,  Tom Schuba, Cindy Hernandez, Selena Kuznikov, Michael Puente, Mary Norkol and Kade Heather (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES) reported:


Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, a frequent attendee at protests, was among those detained. Video shows a few state troopers pinning him to the ground and detaining him about 7:30 p.m. near Lexington and 25th. He was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Yosef said he was holding a microphone and leading chants on a sidewalk when an ISP trooper started pushing protesters out of the way and approached Yosef.

“It was like I had no time to react, and next thing I know I was grabbed, they locked my arms and the other [troopers] came with him and threw me to the ground, pinned me down,” Yosef said about two hours later after he was released.

“All I saw was just the ground, and I saw sideways. I couldn’t see nothing. It was like I was literally trapped,” he said, adding that he was on his stomach as three troopers knelt on his back.

“I couldn’t resist. I was like crushed,” he said.


And MSNBC did the following video report Saturday.

 

We're all under attack.  No one is safe.  That's the reality of Chump's war on immigrants and it is why ICE needs to be out of US cities that don't want them in it, why the kidnapping needs to stop, why the attacks on citizens needs to stop, why ICE needs real oversight and why the masks need to come off.


The following sites updated:




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