Another busy day; no time for a big think piece. Short pieces then. Every day there’s more evidence of my running themes.
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ICE are the terrorists.
The Telegraph, 14 Jan 2026: Moment ICE agents drag ‘disabled woman’ from car in Minneapolis, subtitled “Officers filmed smashing window and cutting driver’s seat belt to remove her from vehicle”
Another woman turning onto a street filled with ICE agents. And therefore doomed.
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The Trump administration is about retribution against people they don’t like. Fishing expeditions to find dirt. Jerome Powell, the wife of Renee Good, senator Mark Kelly. It’s not about justice or law.
NY Times, 13 Jan 2026: The Defense Department’s Case Against Mark Kelly Is Even Dumber Than It Sounds, subtitled “At the same time, it’s still having the intended effect.”
Because the MAGA yokels believe everything he says. And because the moves, however baseless, intimidate others. The NYT writer says:
I know of a few officers who are hesitant to speak out against Trump or his policies precisely because they fear retribution—and lack the access to resources, high profile, and legal protections that Kelly enjoys as a member of Congress. There is also a disposition among many officers, bred in them from their days as cadets, to steer clear of political activity, even if it’s meant to protest the politicization of the military.
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Business interests are always favored; i.e. making money.
Vox, Umair Irfan, 14 Jan 2026: Trump’s EPA is setting the value of human health to $0, subtitled “The agency’s new math to favor polluters, explained.”
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They are undoing progress towards the goals of health and equality in favor of white supremacy and saving money on undesirables. (This recalls the reactions of some conservatives about COVID: just let the grandmas die.)
NPR, 14 Jan 2026: Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants
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They’re against campaigns against misinformation and scams, because they profit by spreading misinformation and scams.
Ars Technica, 13 Jan 2026: FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies, subtitled “The agency used to warn of chelation, used by RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine ally David Geier.”
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They are ignorant of the world, don’t understand how it works, and so are attracted to conspiracy theories.
AlterNet, Thomas Kika, 14 Jan 2026: How a ‘bottomless thirst for conspiracism’ consumed MAGA’s youth
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Which related to this book review (which review I haven’t read thoroughly) from a few days ago.
NY Times Book Review, Mark Lilla, 10 Jan 2026: Can American Children Point to America on a Map?
Subtitled: In “The Cradle of Citizenship,” the journalist James Traub finds that the biggest crisis in education is not what kids are learning, but whether they’re learning anything at all.
And parents home-schooling their kids or attacking public school curricula are part of the problem. They are eroding the common knowledge of human civilization, in favor of their own particular religious myths.
