SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2026
Everything claimed all at once: Within our broken American discourse, do the most basic facts ever get established—the most basic facts about the most high-profile events?
Do basic facts ever get established, or do we instead agree to live in a Babel—a Babel which is built upon the widespread repetition of competing storylines? Do we live inside a Babel where pretty much everything is being claimed all at once?
So it was, just yesterday, when Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown staged an extended interview with Tricia McLaughlin, the principal spokesperson for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Nine days after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, this exchange occurred:
BLITZER (1/16/26): When [Secretary Noem] called this 37-year-old mother of three who was driving that car a domestic terrorist, that really was outrageous.MCLAUGHLIN: We said it was an act of domestic terrorism. In no way is that outrageous...She had been stalking and harassing law enforcement throughout the morning, and then she went on to use her car as a deadly weapon. That's not—BLITZER: She was driving by after dropping off her little 6-year-old boy at school.MCLAUGHLIN: She was not—that's just simply not true.
Nine days later, CNN viewers got to see the ongoing state of play. A pair of competing claims were given voice—competing claims about an extremely high-profile event.
McLaughlin said that Good had been interacting with ICE personnel at other locations during the course of the morning. Blitzer seemed to say that McLaughlin's claim wasn't true—that Good had simply been driving by the site of the fatal event after dropping her child off at school.
Nine days after the fact, neither party offered evidence in support of his or her claim. As is the remarkable norm, each participant simply gave voice to a tribal storyline.
Abruptly, we leave you with this query: Which of those statements is true?
Also this: For the full CNN transcript, you can just click here.
For a fuller report at Mediaite (with videotape), you can just click this.
Warning! Some Blue readers may be inclined to avoid the simple point we're making:
Ten days after this cataclysmic event, competing storylines are still alive and well, with no resolution in site.
We regard McLaughlin as highly unreliable—as strongly inclined to engage in tribal hyperbole. That said, Blitzer presented no more evidence in support of his claim than McLaughlin did on behalf of hers.
Given what eventually happened that morning, they were debating a secondary point in that exchange. But regarding that highly specific point, which of their stories is true?
We Blues hear one thing, Reds hear something different. Do elementary facts play a role in our world at this point, or is it Storyline all the way down?
BalasPadamWell, one thing is quite clear: the untimely departed retarded cat-lady wasn't "driving by" when it happen. The car was stationary.
Which makes it 100% clear that "Wolf" Blitzer was lying. And that McLaughlin was telling the truth what she said "She was not—that's just simply not true."
Sadly, you're also lying when you say "competing storylines are still alive and well, with no resolution in site." No, she was not "driving by". And that's a fact.
Sadly Bob is right. Both storylines are still alive, even though there are no facts supporting "just driving by" Our media is so biased and unprofessional that a liberal slant doesn't need facts in in order to persist.
Padam
PadamWell, with all the videos around, if the "she was just driving by" narrative is still "alive", it can only circulate among the 'walking dead'.
d in c - Noem called her a "domestic terrorist." Noem is a cabinet member. isn't that type of language coming from someone in her position inexcusable?
PadamThe anon trumpbot can't opine about this without calling the woman who was shot to death a "retarded cat lady." He's right, her car was stopped partially blocking the road. There have to be more details about where she was coming from. Maybe she did drop her kids off at school. I'd prefer facts to hyper-partisan tribal narratives from either side.
PadamDidn't the previous administration all but accuse parents speaking out at a school board of terrorism?
Ain't no death penalty in MN since 1911. And since when is it legal to kill someone for being a nuisance. Look at how far the goalposts get moved, and stop the bullcrap.
PadamGo away DIC tdoll.
PadamShe's certainly domestic. Was she a terrorist? By a stretch maybe.
Padam3. The practice of coercing governments to accede to political demands by committing violence on civilian targets; any similar use of violence to achieve goals.
She was certainly coercing government to accept to political demands. Driving a car into someone is violence. More relevant, the group that she's a part of is committing violence.
"Didn't the previous administration all but accuse parents speaking out at a school board of terrorism?"
PadamNo.
'Driving a car into someone is violence."
PadamRight, except that she didn't drive a car into anyone. How many times do you have to be told?
While you're being incredibly dishonest, David, you still miss the mark. ICE are not civilians.
PadamNow, because of your intellectual impairment, which I will explain later, you're not able to grasp the obvious: she did not drive her car into anyone. The inability to see what's right in front of one's eyes may seem surprising, but, as mentioned above, our analysts will attempt to shed some light on this condition.
Good was in fact driving by after dropping her kid off at school nearby. Good did not drive her vehicle into anyone, she was not blocking the road, she had noticed some ICE protestors and pulled over and joined their whistling with her honking. The videos show that 12 vehicles passed her with no issue, she was waving the ICE officers on when they got all up in their emotions and decided to attack her instead of just driving on.
PadamThe reason why Blitzer did not offer evidence in that moment is because this has already been well established, so in that moment of calling out admin officials for pushing a false narrative, it would be silly to relitigate what is already established. Bob's post today is just silly nonsense.
What is interesting is how Republicans are doubling down and trying to bothsides in this specific case where there is video to demonstrate that what they are pushing is misleading and misinformation.
Republicans are really stepping in it with this case: ICE approval has swung from +16 to -16, and a plurality of Americans now support abolishment of ICE.
That they can not see how they are bringing on their own destruction is sad, considering their history of supporting immigrants - Reagan signed the largest amnesty in U.S. history, Reagan's support for amnesty reflected a belief in America's tradition of welcoming immigrants, contrasting with contemporary Republican's brutal and cruel views on immigration policy.
Didn't the previous administration all but accuse parents speaking out at a school board of terrorism?
PadamNo, fuckface. Threatening school board members and their children with physical harm actually is domestic terrorism, but Crazytowne USA took a hissy fit that the government dared to extend protection to them, so fuck off.
Right, except that she didn't drive a car into anyone. How many times do you have to be told?
PadamHaving you learned yet, facts don't matter to Dickhead in Cal, he has his narrative to propogate.
True, David is a troll with the singular goal of triggering others into paying attention to him.
PadamDon't be a sucker.
The fact that there's no such thing as a Republican voter who isn't a bigot, is something those on the Left, in the Center, and on the Right all understand.
PadamPro tip:
Don't fall for the liars who deny it, even though everyone knows it.
"Driving by" is misleading; better "she went there..." But that is a venial sin. Calling the dead woman a "Terrorist" is a mortal sin. A problem with "both sides-ism".
BalasPadamUlasan ini telah dialihkan keluar oleh pengarang.
PadamThat's a good summary.
PadamBob is spot on today.
PadamIt seems highly probable from the video available that Good had had a prior encounter with ICE that morning, because Good's wife says something like (as Ross is filming the car with his phone) 'our license plate hasn't changed since this morning.'
So they clearly weren't just driving by, and I've never had any idea what the relevance was of 'she had just dropped her kids off at school.'
Bob is not spot on.
PadamGood's wife was referring to how ICE is known to change their license plates to remain anonymous, not to an earlier encounter. That quote is not even what she said - Good's wife: "We don't change our plates every morning, just so you know, it'll be the same plate when you come back to us later."
That strongly suggests they had not had a previous encounter, and that Good and her wife expected to leave the scene peacefully, but that ICE was welcome to try to investigate them later and they would cooperate.
Yes, 3:13's misquoting is kind of sus, or could have been a good faith mistake - anything is possible.
PadamGood had just dropped her kid off at school, and it is obvious why it is highly relevant; here was a White mom going about her daily morning routine - in America you can mess with people of color to a fair degree but you do not mess with a White mom. That is not the best of circumstances, we should care about all people, but it is better than fascism.
I think my interpretation is more plausible but certainly not definitive.
PadamTo me, "We don't change our plates every morning" as Ross films their plates, implies 'Why are you filming our plates again? We haven't changed them since our earlier encounter."
In addition, there's the anger shown by the arriving officers, which seems a little strange without having been provoked by a prior encounter.
In any case, I don't see this dispute as particularly relevant to Good's murder.
What the fuck is the difference. Ross murdered her for no reason.
PadamUlasan ini telah dialihkan keluar oleh pengarang.
Padam"In any case, I don't see this dispute as particularly relevant to Good's murder."
PadamWell, our side is committing to a fact that (probably, according to you, Hector) is not true. When the true fact comes out that she was following the officers, it will be treated as a bombshell supporting the Repub's version of events. And by then it will be too late to take my preferred line of argument, which is: Yes, of course she was peacefully following the officers to bear witness to their atrocities. That's what true patriots would do; that's what made Ross mad; and that's why he killed her.
3:29. I think that's an excellent point, and may even be true (who knows until Becca talks?). But what do you make of Renee's statement that she wasn't mad at Ross? Doesn't that imply an earlier confrontation?
PadamDG,
PadamGood point. Her "I'm not mad at you," implies Ross appears to be angry, and she's trying to calm him down.
More accurately, Ross appeared to be scared. When a supposed tough guy gets scared, he overreacts with aggression and has a hair trigger. One function of training is to help guys with guns relax and calm down enough to shoot legitimate targets instead of each other, or their own feet.
PadamKate Manne has an excellent explanation of what happens when misogynistic men who try to dominate women via force are instead met with defiance. It threatens their entire manhood, so they must react by shooting them, to make their smiling non-compliance and what it implies about their own inadequacy stop mocking them. Good's intentions don't matter. This is between Ross and his own neurotic sense of failure as a man. And it doesn't help that he is also stupid. Almost as stupid as DG, who seems bent on inventing a bunch of circumstances to justify Ross.
Years ago I worked on a project involving computer training (for the military). The idea was to have an avatar encourage the learner by providing feedback. We discovered that smiling female faces on the screen, meant to be encouraging, were interpreted as mocking and made frustrated learners angrier.
PadamIt may be that Good was trying to calm Ross down, but that doesn't mean it was how Ross received her statements. Her calm smiling may have been interpreted by Ross as mocking him and had the opposite effect, winding him up and making him determined to get her to do his bidding.
When a guy is an angry asshole, it is often hard to tell what will make things worse, what will set him off. If a guy is having a bad morning, the slightest thing can do it, and it has nothing to do with Good or her actions. He has a gun, he has been given a blank check to use it, and he wants to shoot someone. That's why ICE itself is a really bad idea, never mind the brainless steroid abusers their ads are attracting.
What I don't get is why Somerby and others here are colluding in the right wing attempt to excuse Ross by inventing some reason why Good must have provoked him. Actually, Somerby tends to excuse all men who are accused of something, regardless of the crime (including pedophilia and rape) and he generally blames women, but why are DG, Quaker, Hector and others participating? Good did nothing that justifies Ross shooting her in the face.
Those who attempt to assassinate government officials for reasons related to their official duties are often called "terrorists".
BalasPadamFrankly, I don't understand why Democrats are unhappy when their operatives are called "terrorists". Historically, there were popular movements that espoused terrorism. John Brown abolitionist movement, for example.
can't fix stupid.
PadamRenee Good is the latter day John Brown. Interesting. Now, from my admittedly limited knowledge of Brown, he did not terrorize civilian population. By that measure, he was not so much a terrorist but more a revolutionary. He fought against the state and its support of slavery. So, in a Venn diagram, there could be a very small intersection with the anti-ICE movement.
PadamTerrorists, as we commonly use the term today, attack non-military targets, e.g. blow up busses, buildings, etc., where primary targets would be civilian.
It is possible that in not too distant future, there will be armed resistance to ICE. They still won't be terrorists, as ICE are not civilians.
Of course, none of that applies to Good who did not attack or even remotely endanger anyone's life. This is more comparable to what happened at Kent State. However, Good's murder was even more egregious.
Good as an assassin is idiotic. Sounds like fly-eater fantasy to me.
Padam
Padam"where primary targets would be civilian"
You may want to read something about "propaganda by the deed", Soros-monkey. Good old time-tested kind of terrorist actions.
IIya, thanks, I’m saving this one for the next reference of J6ers being terrorists.
PadamGood did nothing to justify shooting her, whether she was observing and document or protesting ICE actions, following them around, blowing a whistle, or turning her car around in the middle of a street. None of that justifies killing her. Nor does it mitigate it.
PadamSomerby's insistence that Blitzer must present "evidence" in the middle of an interview, especially regarding a topic that was perhaps unanticipated (because interviews wander), is unreasonable. Even if Blitzer had video to hand, how would he get it cued up in order to show the DHS spokesperson?
And if Somerby recognizes that these govt publicity people tell lies, why must he also doubt Blitzer, whose job is not report facts? Somerby's extreme skepticism, even in situations where there is no reason to expect lying, is frustrating because it leaves everyone with no ability to draw any conclusions from anything. That is the essence of nihilism and it does not serve anyone well to be constantly doubting everything. That leads to paralysis.
So why does Somerby tell us that we can't trust Blitzer? Because his job is to muddy the water and further misinformation, not to add clarity to any discussion. Again, he concludes that we live in Babel and cannot think anything because facts don't exist any more, because some people with a vested interest in lying tell blatant lies.
In an election, there are no perfect candidates so we must choose the person who comes closest to our criteria and vote for them. We cannot sit out elections without allowing the worse candidates to win. With truth, we may not know the whole truth with perfect accuracy (which Somerby always demands), but we can get closer to the truth by believing those who are most reliable under the circumstances. That's what it means to believe Blitzer instead of a DHS shill.
It is almost as if, when Somerby was forced to attend college, he said vindictively "I'll choose the most useless major and use it against the pursuit of knowledge, to argue that truth does not exist and no one can ever communicate because nihilism was propounded by some asshole Greek and now those who would destroy democracy are using it against everyday people."
If Somerby doesn't know what is wrong with his semantic game-playing then he is mentally ill.
Nihilism definition: "the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless"
In philosophy: "extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence"
I believe that Somerby gains a sense of superiority when he destroys the meanings of things that are important to others, especially liberals. We care about Renee Good being shot, so Somerby has to show that no one can know for sure what really happened to her, and if they do know, they can't talk about it to convince others of what happened. Where is the joy in that, other than the kind of vengeance Trump himself thrives on when he punishes a long-standing enemy?
I wish we were allowed to shoot trolls for no reason. Their kind of terrorism is destructive to democracy but we must tolerate it because even trolls have first ammendment rights, even illegal trolls funded by Russia.
PadamWell said 3:51.
PadamSpot on.
I certainly never called J6 rioters terrorists. Some of them were accused of sedition. None of them was accused of terrorism. If you know differently, Cecelia, please let us know.
PadamCecelia and DiChead supported an autopolpe. This is not a political difference. These are treasonous fucks who want a dictatorship. What the fuck are they doing lying on a center left Democratic blog? Constantly attacking people of color, or different sexual preferences. Constant attacks on Jews. Fuck these clowns. Get the fuck out of here you fucking creeps.
PadamJ6's were not indicted for terrorism and nobody calls the insurrectionists "terrorists", Nazi bitch.
PadamHear hear
PadamAnonymouse 3:59pm, anonymices call the blog owner here an agent of Putin, a pedophile, and that he’s in the courtyard of dementia. You can’t be more trollish than that. Along with wishing to shoot their contrarians. You’re a hoot.
PadamGo away. The pedophile in chief filed another lawsuit alleging the courts have no ability to enforce a law passed by congress.
PadamIlya, I’ve seen J6ers called terrorists on Twitter many times. Some anonymices have characterized them a terrorists. I don’t remember you doing that. I’m watching though.
PadamAnonymouse 4:50pm, he’s gotten a bit litigious. Learned from the best.
PadamFuck out of here trannysorostroll.
PadamFuck out of here Cecelia, DG, AC/MA, Leroy, Quaker. You guys are part of the problem, not any solution.
PadamAnonymouse 12:25pm, you’re merely typing your opinion on a blogboard, dolt.
PadamWhat part of Fuck out of here do you not understand?
PadamAnonymouse 12:41pm, the part where you think you have authority here. You have the control issues of a sociopath. Get help.
PadamI don't need "authority" to tell you to fuck off. You behave badly here. Go away.
Padamhttps://www.youtube.com/live/BD5JC1tIh3Y?si=YL5qORLwOXtTdffx
BalasPadamOn their Youtube show this morning, HCR and Joanne Freeman make a point I wish Somerby would sit with: the colonists didn’t respond to George III by trying to pin down the “correct” diagnosis or psychological profile. They responded by tracing the logic of constitutional violations and naming the emerging structure of tyranny.
Focusing on the ruler’s mental state can become a way of dismissing (or softening) the actual abuses: it turns systemic corruption into a personality story.
That’s why I keep pushing back on the diagnosis fixation around Trump. Even if the impairment/decline questions are interesting, they’re not the main event. The main event is corruption, criminality, and an increasingly lawless system, staffed by people who will do the dirty work whether Trump “knows” or not.
And on the media point: Richardson/Freeman basically describe why democratized media is a net gain. In the 1770s, Boston couldn’t easily convince other towns what was happening because communication was slow and bottlenecked. Today, ordinary people can witness, share, and organize fast. Yes, it’s messy and yes, bots/trolls exploit it, but the alternative is returning to a world where a small set of elites gets to decide what’s “real.” If we’re trying to resist the structure and spirit of tyranny, distributed communication is part of the antidote, not the disease.
Agree, thank you!
PadamHear, hear!
Padam
BalasPadamWhoa, Corby's AI access is back. I think I prefer the "Fuck off trannytroll" version; less scrolling.
Who asked you to scroll?
PadamJust stay away 3:56
PadamAnonymouse 3:56pm, what? I get no credit?
PadamStory of your shitty life Cece.
PadamAnonymouse 5:58pm, nah, I’ve got it good.
PadamFuck off.
PadamHere is a situation where people need facts, not storyline: the new food guidelines. Tiedrich simplifies why no one in their right mind should follow RFK Jr's food advice:
BalasPadam"[a food nut says] “u can actually eat raw chicken if u make it spicy enough. the spice sterilizes any harmful bacteria”
pro tip: it’s true. you can eat almost anything, if you cover all the disgusting slimy yuck with enough spices. that doesn’t mean you should.
now, because I’m a responsible journalist and everything, I googled ‘is it okay to eat raw chicken?’ — and it turns out that the answer is ‘are you fucking insane? raw chicken is loaded with campylobacter, salmonella, and clostridium perfringens germs. it’s a one-way, non-refundable ticket to Food Poisoning City. population: you.’
and so I say this to MAGA: absolutely, go for it. feel free to gobble that yummy uncooked shit every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
and while you’re at it, be like Bobby Brainworms Jr and literally go swimming in sewage."
Somerby might perform a public service for his readers, the way Tiedrich does. Sorting out the truth from the batshit crazy "storyline" or "narrative" would be a better us of Somerby's time than whatever it is that he thinks he is doing here everyday. Needless to say, this goes double for Cecelia, DG, AD/MA, and the various Nazi trolls who arrive here before Somerby gets up each morning, eager to call Democrats names.
Trump fell asleep during the official signing of the bill to permit whole milk in schools again. Note that whole milk is not the same as raw milk. They leave the germs in raw milk so that an unlucky child or person with a poor immune system can get really sick. Whole milk leaves more of the fat in the milk, so kids can get more calories along with their calcium. How that is going to reduce obesity beats me.
Raw foods like chicken and milk are low cost colon cleanses.
PadamLet's Keep the Fascists In the Bathroom.
Not sure that really works on a trucker hat, though.
Those poor ICE and CBP officers, with nowhere to go to reliably grab some food.
PadamThey are now well aware that pretty much any restaurant they go to, their food will come with "special sauce" - which can mean a variety of things, all of them pretty gross.
If you're a Republican, you should probably stop eating out. Just sayin'.
womp womp
4:12 - You're whimpering about being called names by "Nazi trolls"? Your lack of self-awareness is truly mind-boggling.
PadamAnonymouse 4:37pm, terrorism.
PadamShit for brains.
PadamAnonymouse 6:54lm, perfect nym for you.
PadamCecelia, no one wants you here writing crap like your remark to 6:54, which is an entirely accurate description of you. Go away.
PadamTake Dogface with you. He is as big of an asshole as Cecelia and Somerby himself. Talk about whining! DG seems more concerned about nyms than anything else happening in our country, including ICE abuses, Trump's corruption, threatened invasion of Greenland and the strangling of our economy via tariffs. DG only comes here to call other people names and whine about nyms. He has become a parody of himself.
PadamAnonymouse 12:18pm, you know there’s a very subtle and an ancient secret to handling your issue. Don’t read my posts.
PadamYou are a horrible person and you are polluting these comment sections daily. Go away.
PadamAnonymouse 12:41pm, I enjoy this blog, and generally find all the nym posters interesting (and even likable) although 99% of the time I’m not in complete agreement with their posts (and tell them so). Ask yourself why you are so intolerant and so very absurd.
PadamYou don't belong here. Go away. Going to a blog and annoying commenters is an anti-social act, what a sociopath does. Fuck off.
PadamAnonymouse 1:15pm, you read every word I type. There are anonymous commenters here that I stop reading after one fatuous sentence. You can do that to me. You can do it, girl! Move on!
PadamYou never write more than a sentence or two. Go. Away. Far away. Quickly.
PadamThe J6ers were prosecuted not as terrorists but as criminals.
BalasPadamAfter they were pardoned by Trump many went on to commit a slew of heinous crimes.
Groups like the Proud Boys were heavily involved in J6, and are known to the FBI and other federal agencies as engaging in domestic terrorism. Now they are being hired as ICE and CBP officers.
Federal agencies say that 75% of political violence is committed by right wing extremists.
As documented by the WSJ and backed by a 2013 study, federal officers are known to engage in a pattern of behavior where they, breaking their own rules, position themselves in front of vehicles in order to then justify use of force.
Our Gracious Host made an accurate prediction:
BalasPadamWarning! Some Blue readers may be inclined to avoid the simple point we're making:
Also, some Red readers and commenters are equally likely to turn away from his simple point as well. His point is, indeed, a simple one:
Ten days after this cataclysmic event, competing storylines are still alive and ell, with no resolution in [sight].
Blitzer and McLaughlin sat in front of the TV cameras and gave conflicting answers to these questions and each confidently declared the other's presentation of facts was wrong.
Our Host's simple point is this: Ten days elapsed from the time Good was killed and the time Blitzer and McLaughlin discussed her death on TV. Within those 10 days, neither of these two principle players--along with many others--are able to back up their recitation of facts with evidence of how they arrived at them.
Was Renee Good "just driving by" when she encountered an ICE operation? Was she just on her way back from her son's school? How much earlier had she dropped him off? Or had she been following ICE agents around all morning? Did she interact with ICE or anyone else? Are there photos or video of her doing this? Written reports?
Did Good "use her car as a deadly weapon"? Did her car strike the agent who subsequently shot her to death? Was that agent treated for injuries? On this question, there seems to be more evidence available. Were either Blitzer or McLaughlin aware of it?
Simple facts about the events leading up to Good's killing are still murky. Yet even after all this time, the people who are charged with clarifying these facts can't begin to get the job done. As a result, the public is both uninformed and misinformed.
This is the best comment I've read in quite a long time.
PadamThere are the two NYT video analysis that are conclusive, whatever the fucktards on CNN have to say, along with the fucktards here.
PadamNo Collusion mofos: "1/ 30 years ago, Russian law enforcement agents started wearing masks to carry out their duties. It soon became a standard tactic to intimidate and extort those seen as opponents of the regime, and became known in Russian as a 'mask show'"
PadamThey gave more money to ICE than most nations army in the BBB. It is the end of Democracy, thug crook rule. Fucking pardoned Proud Boy insurrection leadership are now ICE officers. Get your head out of your ass. There will not be free and fair elections. This country is fucked, but don't be harsh dude. Let the lying fascist POS have their place man.
PadamThey gave more money to ICE than most nations army in the BBB. It is the end of Democracy, thug crook rule. Fucking pardoned Proud Boy insurrection leadership are now ICE officers. Get your head out of your ass. There will not be free and fair elections. This country is fucked, but don't be harsh dude. Let the lying fascist POS have their place man.
PadamThanks, DG. It's almost as if some commenters here are trying to prove Our Host's point by example.
PadamAs far as I can gather, the "just dropped her son at school" story originated with the Associated Press. They got in touch with Good's ex-husband, and that was part of what he had to say. But there's nothing in the story that indicates he had first-hand knowledge of the hours before Good was killed. Has any reporter bothered to check?
The accusation that Good had been "stalking ICE agents all morning" story originated with DHS. I can't find the original quote, but it's possible it started with McLaughlin herself. As Our Host notes, she has shown she's willing to tell a tale.
As Anon 5:17 points out, the NYT published a careful side-by-side comparison of videos of the shooting. Did Blitzer know about their work? Did he mention their story? Did McLaughlin? If so, did it have any effect on either?
I haven't seen the segment Our Host analyzes, and I don't know if the NYT story had even been released at the time Blitzer and McLaughlin spoke. But even after all this time, the people who we expect to inform us are stubbornly sticking to their scripts.
More: I confirmed that the original "stalking and harassing throughout the day" claim came from Tricia McLaughlin when she was interviewed for the Fox News Radio Guy Benson Show on January 8. She also claimed it was not the first time Renee Good had "stalked, harassed, and impeded" ICE agents. She didn't offer any details to back up that claim.
PadamSomerby is a useless piece of shit. He makes no points that aren’t obvious then ignores the issues thAt liberals care about while backhandedly maligning people like Walz.
PadamAnonymouse 8:33pm, in Minneapolis young and youngish protesters have been beating the hell out of people and each other. Can Walz not engage with that?
PadamAnother lie.
PadamOvernight, Trump made another crazy statement about America taking Greenland and Canada because these places are needed for his Golden Dome defense plan. The plan itself is unworkable but taking other people's countries is unacceptable to everyone, including Americans, no matter what bizarre justification Trump offers.
People like Cecelia, funded by Russia to destroy rational discourse among America's people, need to go away. We will solve the problem of Trump by ourselves and do not need her to stir the pot by lying about what is happening in MN.
Meanwhile, Somerby is indeed a piece of shit. He sounds as crazy as Trump and does no one any good with his daily word-spews, much like Trump's Truth Social rants.
Just Dropped Her Kids Off at School
PadamBecca Good, in her monologue to Ross, advises him to go get some lunch. So we can infer we're closer to noontime than dropping-kids-off-at-school time.
What difference does it make? Good was doing nothing illegal and nothing that required Ross to shoot her in the face. Her daily activites are her business.
PadamPursuing this implies that protesters or those documenting ICE activities deserve to be killed. That is absolutely untrue. Why even go there?
Because the truth shall set us free.
PadamAnd yet, all of this speculation is pointless. Ross is guilty of murder.
PadamHow are we going to get the truth when the FBI has completely blacked out the investigation? The President, VP, Sec of DHS have already rendered their verdict. What the hell is wrong with everybody?
PadamAnonymouse 12:13pm, so your beef is that I’m posting awful stuff on a worthless scam blog that shouldn’t exist. I’d tell your genius self to get your own blog, but eventually you’d ban all your commenters and eventually ban yourself.
PadamCecelia, shut up and go away. Your desire to always have the last word is one of your worst traits. Shut up. Go away.
PadamAnonymouse 12:57pm, no.
PadamThen go away and shut up elsewhere. No one wants you here. You are an undereducated jerk with nothing to say on any topic. You are a tool of Russia and the right wing. This is a left-wing blog (supposedly) and you do not belong here.
PadamAnonymouse 1:12pm, with your account of the situation isn’t it more logical that Russia would hire someone far and away more skilled than your assessment speaks of me. You know— someone like you.
PadamI am like Greenland, not for sale. You are undereducated and clearly do not know English well enough to have come from the USA, but maybe you can fool them on your troll farm.
PadamHector, according to DHS (Tricia McLaughlin) the encounter took place around 9:30 am.
PadamFucking idiots still have trouble figuring out attacking the darkies is OK, wine moms and cat ladies not so much. But do keep at it jagoffs:
BalasPadam"This week, Fox News warned about “organized gangs of wine moms” using “antifa tactics” against ICE. According to a column in the right-wing PJ Media, the “greatest threat to our nation” is a “group of ‘unindicted domestic terrorists’ who are just AWFL: Affluent White Liberal Women.” (The acronym is wrong, but never mind.) The Canadian influencer Lauren Chen — who had to leave the United States in 2024 after the Department of Justice accused her of working for a Russian propaganda operation, but was allowed back in by the Trump administration — wrote that the ideology of women like Renee Good is “almost wholly responsible for the decline of Western civilization.”
... ICE’s invasion of Minneapolis started with the demonization of Somali immigrants. It took only weeks for conservative demagogues to direct their venom toward the middle-class women of the Resistance. We’re now seeing an outpouring of misogynist rage driven by both political expedience and psychosexual grievance."
Fucking weirdos to boot.
NPR just quoted someone (I didn't catch who) as saying that with the DOJ investigation of Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, and Becca Good, the DOJ is investigating everyone in connection with Renee Good's murder except for the person who shot her.
BalasPadamDOJ issued subpoenas to Walz and Frey.
Padam"A former DOJ pardon attorney on Saturday highlighted a Donald Trump official's "absolutely chilling" move that she said shook her to her core.
PadamDOJ ex-insider Liz Oyer appeared on MS NOW over the weekend, where she was asked about a recent "joke" Trump made about cancelling the midterm elections, an electoral contest that analysts suggest the GOP is likely to lose.
"What's happening here is they say something, he says something, they see how it lands. And if it doesn't land well, they say, oh, it was a joke," she said. "And we're seeing so many outrageous, unbelievable things being said by Trump and the people around him that we should be able to take seriously what they say. And we shouldn't have to guess. Are they going to say later it was a joke?"
She then went on to list an example that shocked her.
"One of the things that was said this week that I thought was just absolutely chilling, shook me to my core, was to see Todd Blanche tweet that he believes the governor and the mayor of Minneapolis are engaged in terrorism," she then added. "And it's just another example of these extreme statements. I mean, terrorism, because they are speaking up against overreach by ICE. And Blanche has now said that they are the targets of an investigation by the Justice Department rather than the person who killed this woman, Renee Good."
"Certain fanny burps are directly participating in the activation of the New Paradigm."
BalasPadam- Fanny Songfart
It does not matter whether Renee Good was driving by or stalking ice, shooting her in the face was cold-blooded murder and it needs to be prosecuted. This intense focus on Good's actions is ridiculous, a distraction. I do not understand why Quaker, who has formerly seemed sane, is participating in Somerby's meaningless attempt to deflect blame onto Good, or journalists, and away from calling for Prosecution of Ross and ICE (who has been explicitly forbidden from doing the things Ross and his cronies have been doing in MN). Nothing justified shooting Good.
BalasPadamTrying to figure out what, in fact, happened is not deflecting blame. Failing to understand that is one of the Blue behaviours which, in Somerby's words, "earn our way out."
PadamThis has to be the silliest comment ever. WE are not going to figure out what happened by watching Fox make excuses for ICE. The way to find out what happened is to call for an investigation that includes investigating Ross, ICE policies, and the shooting itself. None of this media garbage (meant to cast aspersions on Good and justify Ross by trying to make her seem dangerous) sheds light on anything. Why do you think Somerby calls it storyline? Every word spoken by a Republican is meant to deflect blame. They think they already know the facts because they've heard the narrative.
PadamThat phrase "earn our way out" is a particularly obnoxious thing Somerby says to blame liberals for whatever the right does.
"Trying to figure out what, in fact, happened is not deflecting blame."
PadamNot according to our resident fabulist. Trying to figure out what happened is evidence that there is a nefarious plot in the making.
I wish I knew why this commenter holds such a powerful relentless grudge against Our Host.
We are not investigators. We won't find truth on any media show. Trying to figure out what really happened by listening to news is a waste of effort given that there is deliberate flooding of the zone with misinformation by those who are actively defending Ross and ICE.
PadamMy grudge against Somerby is that in 2015 he made an abrupt right turn and began supporting Trump while referring to himself as a liberal and attacking the left, its candidates and its platform. That made him a liar and fraud. Some other standup comics did the same and it was later revealed that they were paid by Russia via Tenet Media. Trump has since pardoned the person in charge of that effort, who had fled to Russia but is now back in the USA.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/well-known-right-wing-influencers-duped-to-work-for-covert-russian-operation-u-s-prosecutors-say
I have a grudge against Somerby because he used to teach elementary school children while holding cynical views about American and educational ideals, being a racist while most of his students were black, and being a misogynist who dislikes women (and by extension girls). I think people who cannot encourage children to learn, develop a positive self image, set and pursue their own life goals, with respect instead of cynicism, should not work with children in any way. Somerby was a draft dodger, not someone who pursued teaching for idealistic reasons. In a sense that means he used them for his own purposes, and that is despicable, especially if he didn't prepare for the job and work hard to do it well. Some of us believe that black, inner city kids deserve better than they got from men like Somerby.
PadamGreenland tariffs:
BalasPadam"...This is a geopolitical decision,” (Soros-bot) Scott Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press. "...he is able to use the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war."
Looks like Trump's preventing another war. Are you listening, Oslo?
Oslo is Norway. Greenland is a territory of Denmark. Their capitol is Copenhagen.
PadamIt is unclear how imposing tariffs paid by Americans is going to hurt Denmark. Novo-Nordisk is a Danish company that makes Diabetes drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy. How exactly is Trump going to reduce prices on such drugs while imposing tariffs on the Danish company that makes them. H. Lundbeck makes psychiatric drugs to treat depression. It seems cruel to impose higher prices on the folks taking such drugs, but when has that ever stopped Trump from doing what he wants?
Every court which has ruled on King Orange Chickenshit's unconstitutional tariffs has ruled he does not have the authority. The fucking corrupt Supreme Court has been diddling with the issue for months. Meanwhile the mad king proceeds with impunity, threatening NATO allies just arbitrarily levying 10% tariffs on 8 EU countries because he is demanding they hand over a sovereign country so he can rob it blind like he is doing with the Venezuelan oil he is stealing. How much longer?
PadamI think Hector is sarcastically suggesting that the Nobel committee in Oslo should take note of Trump’s latest success at preventing this war he himself has threatened to start.
PadamYep. The Supreme Court acted quickly when the case concerned immunity for Trump.
PadamHeather Cox Richardson says today:
Padam"After the extraordinary pushback on President Donald J. Trump’s bizarre demand for Greenland, he has responded with what economist Paul Krugman called “a howl of frustration on the part of a mad dictator who has just realized that he can’t send in the Marines.”
In a long screed this morning, Trump’s social media account said the president is placing tariffs of 10% on all goods from the countries currently protecting Greenland after February 1, and that the tariffs will increase to 25% on June 1. The post says the tariffs will be in effect “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
This post is bonkers on many levels. On the most basic: where is he thinking he’s going to find the money for “the complete and total purchase of Greenland?” And besides, the countries involved—Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—are all U.S. allies. Economist Justin Wolfers notes this trade war will include the entire European Union, for “[a] trade war with one EU country is a trade war with the entire EU.”
The post also makes explicit that Trump is trying to use tariffs not to nurture the American economy but to force other countries to do his bidding. The question of whether his tariff wars are constitutional because they address what he claims is an economic emergency is currently before the Supreme Court. Two lower courts have found that the president does not have the power to levy the sweeping tariffs he has been announcing. Today’s tariff announcement does not refer at all to economic need but rather is about economic coercion.
Finally, in its insistence that only the U.S. can “protect” Greenland, the screed echoed Russian president Vladimir Putin’s promises to “protect” Ukraine. Ignoring the reality that Greenland is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the world’s strongest defense alliance, it said that Greenland and Denmark, of which Greenland is a part, “currently have two dogsleds as protection, one added recently.” It also added that the protection Trump insists only U.S. ownership of Greenland can provide might also include “the possible protection of Canada.”
We should join together to demand the arrest and prosecution of Ross, who clearly abused his authority by murdering Good. The rest of this discussion is irrelevant. We don't try people in the media but in court. Ross deserves his day in court.
BalasPadamThere is a country where protesters go up against government law enforcement. Some protesters are killed because they “interfered with government officers”. The law enforcers have “absolute immunity.”
BalasPadamThe US government stands with (or purports to stand with) the protesters.
That country is Iran.
Iran is trying to overthrow their government via a coup. I’ve been under the impression that this is not the case with protesters/rioters in the U.S. Am I wrong?
PadamShut up and go away. No one cares what a Russia-funded troll thinks about Iran or US protesters. You are scum. Fuck off.
Padam@12:59 -- The death toll in Iran from recent protests in Iran is reported to be between 12,000 and 16,500, with various sources providing different estimates due to an ongoing internet blackout and government restrictions on information.
PadamWhy do you try to equate two entirely different situations? What do you gain? Does this self-deception help you in some emotional way. Or, are you just reacting to dishonest media, who focus on anti-American stories, who fabricate such stories.
Anonymouse 1:10pm, we’re both aware that you’re encouraging me to comment and directing more attention my posts via your actions. No prob.
PadamGo away.
PadamHysteria over threats to ICE officers, intensifying their fear in the field, comes from the top, where Kristi Noem is insisting that no one mention the name of the officer who shot Good (Ross), because all of ICE has been getting death threats. Just like Democratic elected politicians, including Walz. Yet Walz wears no mask and people repeatedly say his name, and the DOJ has subpoenaed him to testify. But Ross and other ice agents are such pussies that no one can mention their names, even though they are public knowledge. Delicate flowers.
BalasPadamGuilty knowledge, that the public doesn't want them there and they are ruining lives, might make an ICE agent nervous about every encounter, even with a smiling young blonde woman.
People keep examining what Good might have done to get herself shot, but why does no one look at the ICE agents fears and anger issues to determine how their anxieties contributed to being too eager to shoot someone doing absolutely nothing wrong.
Noem thinks it is OK to shoot a puppy instead of training it properly. Perhaps her guilt over that incident is now causing her to be over-protective of the ICE puppies in her care, who are running amok because they too have had insufficient training to do their jobs properly.
Someone has to be concerned about the innocent people in these situations. It obviously won't be Noem (who has her own issues) or Trump (who is bonkers), but why are the elected officials on the right so oblivious to the harm being done to citizens, including too many deaths among detainees and those hassled on the street?
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/its-the-cynicism
BalasPadamJoyce Vance reminds us today that the response to Trump's lies and chaos cannot be cynicism. We must hold on to our sense of how things should be.
Somerby is a huge peddler of cynicism and nihilism. He doesn't ever deplore what Trump has been doing because he doesn't value the things Trump has destroyed. He sells a lack of caring that is seductive because it will dull the pain of seeing our nation destroyed. Somerby just calls Trump mentally ill, calls the left and right equally bad, lauds sacred Homer and preaches doom and gloom. He never suggests a way to improve anything, never expresses outrage, never urges action. We don't need that.
As Vance says:
"I’m not suggesting everyone should have blind faith in our institutions, far from it at this point. But we need to be aware of what’s broken and needs mending without getting stuck on it. Instead of succumbing to cynicism, let’s stay focused on what we can do, even the small things.
Be kind, share joy. Register to vote and make sure everyone around you does, too. We know what this is going to take, but we have to stop the spread of cynicism around us. We’ve come too far in the last year to accept Trump’s success as inevitable.
In the coming week, we will mark the one-year anniversary of the second Trump administration. Find your own way to protest it. Donate to a food bank. Help a neighbor out, or help someone you’ve never met but have empathy for. Sign up to work at a polling place, or decide to run for office. There is so much that we can do. What we cannot afford to do is to let a man who thinks of no one but himself win."
I agree with Vance. We need to stick to what we know is right and keep doing what we can to oppose evil masquerading as cynicism.
The tools of cynicism in writing are sarcasm and irony, especially when not identified as such.
Padam