Friday Homestead Dispatch
Week Number Twenty-Two
“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” — Mother Jones
1.
The amazing turnout nationwide last Saturday for the No Kings protests is just the beginning. Jon Shelton, a professor and chair of Democracy and Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, writes the protests over this past weekend show that we have the will but we are missing one key ingredient in building the kind of resistance that will not just topple authoritarianism but also wipe out the conditions—social isolation and civic degradation, for instance—that allowed it to thrive in the first place.
We have to start organizing to shut things down, to begin disrupting the economy and other institutions the way Mother Jones and so many other union activists did in the early 1900s. We have to fight back in a way that forces the authoritarians to back down, and that puts the needs of working people at the center of our democracy in a way they haven’t been in at least a generation.
Everything functions in this country because of the work we all do every day. Authoritarian demagogues don’t make our economy work, and billionaires like the president’s former BFF only exist because of the millions of workers who have built every institution in this country. Once we all realize that power, the authoritarians are done. Fight like hell indeed.
With that in mind, Beto O’Rourke gives a short talk about that very thing.
One of the most important reasons (among many!) to make sure the Big Ugly Bill is canned is its vast expansion of the Homeland Security budget, which will be used to build ICE into a huge national army of loyalists under Trump’s control. The money to build America’s brownshirts is in the pipeline. Whereas our military-industrial complex is a threat to the rest of the world, this force will be a direct threat to all of us in the USA. This is the Proud Boys, at national scale, with badges. It is a very dangerous prospect.
We’re seeing this played out in real time but one of the many dangers is that it becomes normalized. It must seem normal for the mainstream media as I haven’t seen one network question masked men taking people away. It must be met with resistance wherever it takes place. Not only are ordinary citizens targeted but many elected officials and journalists have been detained and/or arrested in broad daylight.
Judge Dugan of Milwaukee County Circuit Court arrested in April, accused of helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal agents; Representative LaMonica McIver, Democrat of New Jersey, was charged for forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers; Sayed Naser, an Afghan man who served as a U.S. military interpreter, was arrested in San Diego by ICE agents despite having an active asylum case and a pending SIV application; Mayor Ras J. Baraka, Democrat of Newark, N.J., arrested in May at a new federal immigration detention center he had been protesting against; prominent Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara, who was born in El Salvador and has been in the United States for more than 20 years, will be turned over to ICE detention after being arrested by DeKalb (Atlanta) police while covering the “No Kings” protests; Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, was forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents for asking a question directed to Kristi Noem; and most recently NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander, who is the New York City’s comptroller, was handcuffed and arrested by federal agents while guiding a defendant out of immigration court on Tuesday.
New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman called on elected officials and candidates for office to condemn the arrest, saying "ICE arresting Brad Lander for asking questions is a stunning abuse of power and a threat to our democracy. Arresting a public official, the duly-elected comptroller of the City of New York, for asking questions is dangerous intimidation and shows a wanton disregard for the will of the people of New York. It sends an unmistakably authoritarian message – that ICE doesn't care about the rule of law and that anyone exercising their right to challenge ICE and speak up for immigrants will be punished."
And, of course, this doesn’t include the many people rounded up every day, most with no criminal records. According to the New Republic, Border czar Tom Homan once again admitted with complete confidence that many of the people arrested in recent ICE raids have zero criminal history.
And New York Governor Kathy Hochul did not mince words when she said, “You want to know what I really think? It’s bullshit. How dare they take an elected official who’s been going down there for weeks to escort people who are afraid to walk into a courthouse in the United States of America. What the hell is happening to this country?”
As Alt National Park stated on their FB page, the *rump administration has crossed a line, there is no law and order anymore. And when you cross that line, you enter what can only be called mob rule. When agents show up with no warrant, no ID, and their faces covered, it’s not law and order. It’s something else entirely.
This isn’t law and order. This is abduction masquerading as authority. Cause good trouble. Necessary trouble. Protecting yourself and your community must always come first.
Just so you know, the Contrarian reports that the numbers on Trump’s deportation scheme, when you drill down, are rotten. The Pew poll found:
— 60% of Americans disapprove of the suspension of most asylum applications (39% approve).
— 59% disapprove of ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for many immigrants who came to the United States escaping war or other disasters at home (39% approve).
— 54% disapprove of increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on workplaces where people who are in the U.S. illegally may be working (45% approve).
— And Americans disapprove of sending migrants to a prison in El Salvador by 61% to 37% margin.
2.
While Republicans since Reagan are busy pointing their fingers at immigrants and all people not caucasian stealing white folks’ jobs, taking away their freedoms, using fear tactics to win elections, and siphoning money to the upper 1%, the people suckered into voting for these politicians are ones who are most likely stuck wasting 1/3 of their life clocking into jobs they despise, are thousands in debt to the benevolent credit card companies, are deep in hock over expensive, oversized vehicles and oversized McMansions…all in the name of hoping to strike it rich, or appear rich, and be part of the club as the American Dream has promised.
All of this while fetishizing an elderly, overweight, ill-of-health man with a bad combover. Until my final day this will remain a mystery to me.
While *rump shuffled away early from the G7 talks, where he endorsed Vladimir Putin, slurred his speech, and ranted about Obama and Trudeau kicking Russia out of the G8, Canada’s Mark Carney did what real leaders do: he took control. He calmly shut down Trump’s unhinged rant and returned focus to Ukraine, democracy, and rebuilding the global order.
It’s crystal clear that the true enemies in this country are the Republicans themselves who support Project 2025, and the billionaires backing them. The Republicans in the Senate are doing NOTHING beyond being ‘concerned’ about the daily blunders and corruption rampant in this administration.
And cruelty is the point as demonstrated by Utah Senator Mike Lee of the horrific assassination of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman. In tweets since deleted he wrote that “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way,” and photos of the assassin Vance Boelter with the caption “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” referring to and misspelling Walz.
Jay Kuo writes I’ve always maintained that right-wing MAGA extremism contains the seeds of its own destruction. It feeds on ever-increasing levels of cruelty and dehumanization, meaning a self-proclaimed “based” senator like Mike Lee (or any of the other online, attention-seeking GOP elected officials) cannot garner ever more support and ever more small dollar donations without seeking to outdo the last horrific thing.
And hate. Thom Hartmann writes *rump is the first president in American history to explicitly use hate as a campaign tool and then embrace it as the central focus of his rule. He launched his first campaign by calling Mexicans “rapists,” proposed a Muslim ban, called for violence at his rallies, and used dehumanizing language to describe immigrants, women, and political opponents. For Memorial Day, he posted a social media message calling the half of Americans who voted against him “scum.”
This has worked for Trump because hate is intoxicating; it provides a rush of righteous anger that feels empowering to those who feel powerless. It creates a sense of belonging among those who’ve been marginalized by 44 years of Reaganism gutting the middle class.
The antidote to hate isn’t silence or appeasement. It’s not cowardice or cynicism. It’s courage, as we saw this past weekend during the No Kings Day protests.
It’s the courage to speak out, even when your voice shakes. It’s the courage to stand with your neighbors, especially the most vulnerable. It’s the courage to vote, to organize, to protest, and to tell the truth about the haters, even when the truth is unpopular and the haters threaten you.
3.
And while we’re discussing Mike Lee, It comes as no surprise that he has cobbled together a quiet proposal tucked away in the BIG UGLY BILL that includes two provisions that would trigger the largest loss of public land in modern history. Lee happens to be the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair and along with Montana Senator Steve Daines, they are marking four out of every ten acres of public land in America up for sale. For sale.
Land held in trust since the founding of the American public estate. Land walked by hunters, mapped by schoolteachers, grazed by ranchers, prayed over by tribal elders. Land that holds no title but the one etched in the national memory.
They’ve written it into the budget. Hidden behind the dry language of disposal and discretion. But make no mistake: this is a liquidation. A slow-motion auction of the American West.
Nevada. Utah. Idaho. Arizona. New Mexico. Colorado. Oregon. California. Alaska. These are not theoretical outlines on a map. They are real places. And they are first in line. Funny how no lands in Montana are on the list.
The map below shows sell-off areas proposed. If you click here, the map is interactive for more information, including the Republican representatives supporting the BUB.
In Arizona, this includes our own Sabino Canyon, Madera Canyon, Aravaipa Canyon, Mt. Graham and every other beautiful public land that Arizona has to offer. This is just plain robbery in broad daylight of the American people by real estate developers, mining companies, oil and gas firms, and private equity firms flipping land for profit. OUR land.
And National Monuments are also under the gun as detailed in this article in the Tucson Sentinel. They report that the *rump administration is contemplating shrinking six national monuments and opening them up for mining and oil drilling, including Ironwood Forest National Monument near Tucson.
Unfortunately the budget reconciliation bill has already passed in the House but you can still call these A-holes to give them a piece of your mind: Congressional District 02 Representative Elijah Crane at 202-225-3361 and Congressional District 06 Representative Juan Ciscomani at 202-225-2542.
In the Senate, where it has yet to pass, you can let these folks know this is totally unacceptable. Lee’s office is 202-224-5444 and Daine’s office is 202-224-2651. And let Mark Kelly know your position on this at 202-224-2235 and Ruben Gallego at 202-224-4521. In Kansas, contact Jerry Moran at 202-224-6521 and Roger Marshall at 202-224-4774.
4.
I made a case above for two reasons to vote down the BIG BILL. Allan Piper on TikTok lays out the third BIG reason, which is the insane transfer of wealth to the already wealthy.
5.
It looks as if we’re back in the saddle for Sunday Sessions this week. Misters and shade await…let’s see how it works out! Sonora Moonshine Company, 6th avenue and Broadway. 2:30-5pm.
Tiny Tidbits of Goddamn!
– A last-minute provision dropped into the GOP controlled House version of the state budget seeks to trim the ability of Attorney General Kris Mayes to bring legal charges against anyone related to election issues. Most likely this is due to when Mayes got a state grand jury in 2023 to indict 11 Republicans who prepared a report and sent it to Washington saying that Donald Trump had won the popular vote and they were entitled to cast the state's electoral votes for him. The actual results, however, showed Joe Biden had outpolled him by 10,457 votes.
— Multiple Tucson organizations, including El Rio and SAAF, are losing funds and ending programs after the Trump administration’s cuts to HIV/AIDS services. At the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, 14 jobs have been cut and the organization may have to slash up to $4.5 million from its budget, the group said Tuesday, providing an update on the impact to the cuts.
— Congressman Randy Fine (R-FL) should not be representing anybody. He’s a Jesus-loving crazy man.
— And to top Randy Fine, get a load of Ted Cruz who actually makes Tucker Carlson seem sane.
And now…
