Monday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Monday, January 26, 2026
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46 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Whatever is going though the head of the Trump administration, only one thing is clear, none of them are acting like they will never relinquish power … ever. No moderating, doubling down on chaos, and flooding the zone with overly transparent lies.
There will be an all out campaign to discredit any victory by Democrats. Counting will be disrupted and all the blame will go to “paid agitators”. I hope the opposition will take steps to harden voting places against disruption. I just don’t know how. Much easier to mess up and election then protect it from bad actors.
@Rick DeMent: That’s the same thing I say about the Roberts court: they act like there will always be a Republican in the White House.
Report from Minneapolis, describes the resistance:
“Atlantic Gift”
…
One more brief excerpt:
A vivid account of the dirty war in Minneapolis from the NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/magazine/minneapolis-trump-ice-protests-minnesota.html
And a must-read piece by Masha Gessen on state terror:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/opinion/state-terror-has-arrived.html
My rage this weekend was pretty much incandescent. And frustrating in that there is not much I can do about it. Other than dump on my Senators and Representative. Here’s my latest letter sent first thing this morning. They get shorter and shorter.
Sorry for the spittle on your screen.
You all have probably seen a bunch of these analyses but here is one from Bellingcat.
Alex Pretti: Analysing Footage of Minneapolis CBP Shooting
@Scott: It’s entirely warranted. Every screen in America should be flooded with spittle. Keep it up. Maybe enough of these sorts of actions will help prevent us from going even further down the toilet of evil.
@Michael Cain:
SCOTUS know when a Dem president is in power, they change the rules again. It’s increasingly a possibility that the Dems take the Senate, but does anyone think Schumer has the cajones to hold up a nomination for 2 years if a justice dies or resigns? I don’t. That’s not even getting to the question of whether Schumer has the juice, or even desire, to pursue real court reform. The Robert’s court knows the hand they hold, and its looking pretty strong.
@Neil Hudelson:
I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and there needs to be a concerted lobbying effort by Democratic elders/leadership/whatever to talk Schumer into stepping down from his leadership role if Dems take the Senate. He should act as a behind the scenes mentor (like Pelosi did).
He is just so out of touch and the wrong person to be in charge if the Dems win. He cannot handle Trump, he cannot manage Republicans, and he is old. I know it’s a long shot and highly unlikely, but uuuggghh Schumer is not the leader we need.
Ha, Trump is sending Tom “Moneybags” Homan in to Minnesota. Watch how this unfolds. There’s a long-simmering feud between Homan and Noem, and this is definitely going to tick her off.
“Secret” (internal) ICE memo confronted in letter to Noem at DHS by Sen. Richard Blumenthal
(as ranking member of Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations)
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026-01-21-Letter-from-Blumenthal-to-DHS-ICE.pdf
A secret ICE memo was issued directing ICE agents to violate 4th, 5th and 14th Amendment rights of targeted individuals, based upon a legal interpretation of an internal DHS legal “counsel” closed to public and judicial scrutiny and validation. Said full memo was restricted to top level management at ICE who conveyed contents verbally (or with brief viewing) to supervisors with which to direct the activities of agents, ALL under threat of retaliation if said information was divulged to the public OR questioned. This memo was provided by two whistleblowers.
Part of the issue hinges on “judicial warrants” verses “administrative warrants.”
Cursory unpacking of this brings up a number of relevant points to highlight for discussion:
1.
2. Precedent disallowing “knock and arrest” was reaffirmed in Kidd v. Mayorkas District Court California 2024
3. Whereas DHS has provided a work-a-round to the Kidd ruling, contending that this ruling only applies to the Los Angeles area because that area is identified in the suit.
4. Shadwick v. City of Tampa, 407 U.S. 345, 350, 92 S.Ct. 2119, 32 L.Ed.2d 783 (1972)
5. Administrative Procedure Act (APA) [Wikipedia]
6. The DHS administrative warrants are deficient for not providing independent review and authorization
7. The seriousness of the legal prohibition is underscored by a legal provision for “remedy” now disfavored by the political activist conservative Court. —- but no less valid in full context of our Constitution, and therefore needs reassertion. (Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388; 1971 — still being argued).
——–
Rightwing modus operandi : cloak their actions behind “upholding the Constitution” while deliberately destructing the Constitution. They attempt to create a thing unrecognizable to the corporate memory of our citizenry. Kind of like Trump’s attempt to physically remake the White House into a garish property at odds, both aesthetically and symbolically, with our nation and our democracy.
The thing y’all need to realize is that seeming invincible and unmovable is their game. Nobody is invincible, not in this world. I don’t have a crystal ball, I don’t know where this is going, but I can see that the situation in Minneapolis has made them feel thwarted. This needs to continue.
I’m sad to report that I think this means that more people will get hurt. We will not get through this without more people like Alex Pretti, some of whom will get hurt.
I don’t think Yanukovych looked like he would step down and leave Ukraine – until he did. I don’t think Marcos looked like that either, but he did.
I’m sure there were plenty of folks in India who thought the Raj looked invincible – until the British left.
By the way, are y’all aware that they have had to do last-minute changes to the budget deal because no Senate Democrat want to vote for a bill that gives ICE or really DHS any money at all.
Furthermore, Republicans this time are not daring them to, but recognize the “depth of feeling”, and are scrambling to reorganize the legislative vehicles.
“Defund ICE” is a real thing.
When ICE Opens Fire On Us
—- Rick Wilson
The legal lesson of 2025? Thank God for the swamp
Indeed.
@Jen: The likely short term outcome in Minneapolis is TACO declares victory and quits, at least for the time being. He can hardly avoid seeing polling on this and they can’t be making Miller’s quotas. Does Homan’s entry into the game suggest Noem will be scapegoated?
@Scott: Clear case of homicide. End of discussion. In an ethical America the agent(s) involved would be facing a murder charge. Same goes for the agent(s) responsible for the murder of Renee Goode.
Folks, don’t back off. Republican politicians and candidates need to be confronted again and again over the deaths of Goode, Pretti, and all of the ICE targeted individuals who have succumbed to their un-Constitutional tactics. Make these Republicans own their behavior, which includes gross negligence and anti-Constitutional, anti-American behavior. They need to know that they are unworthy of their flag and cross lapel pins. Depravity does not deserve to engage in “virtue signalling.” Call it out.
@Jen: “He is just so out of touch and the wrong person to be in charge if the Dems win.”
Chuck Schumer is the Tom Hagen of the Democratic Senate.
Califuckinfornia, baby:
Texas with it’s little 6%. Isn’t that precious.
@gVOR10:
Yes, there have been rumors beginning around Thanksgiving that she’d be replaced.
@gVOR10:
I don’t know, but their dislike for one another is widely known:
Inside Kristi Noem’s bitter feud with Trump’s border czar
She could well bolt if that Axios piece is anywhere near accurate.
The manosphere is rooting for the”alpha male” replacing Noem.
Being a woman makes it far more likely Miller will dump her, as in all cases with this admin.
Over the weekend, I thought a lot about the most recent shooting in MN, specifically the fact that I first heard about it on the radio and they broadcast the administration’s statement. At that time, my immediate reaction was “well, that almost certainly isn’t what happened, I wonder what did.”
As a professional communicator, I am…agog at the fact that my *immediate* response is to not trust the official statement. That’s bad. It’s bad for this administration, sure. It means that there’s a small percentage of the population who will believe whatever they are selling, but for most, nope. This is a dangerous position to be in. If there’s a natural disaster or some other issue where unified messaging is necessary, most people aren’t going to believe them. It further erodes trust.
The TL;DR: these people are such proficient, constant liars that they aren’t going to have the public’s trust if/when they need it. That’s bad.
@Michael Reynolds:
The billionaires will leave and won’t create any more jobs = The boogeyman for adults.
@Jay L. Gischer: Not only do they need to not pass the DHS appropriations, they need to float a bill to modify the OBB bill to reduce the already passed appropriations for DHS. That is highly unlikely but they got to try. And to add more game, they need to transfer those funds and proposed to subsidize healthcare. These are things that need to be done but have the added advantage of being good politics.
So a couple of notes from Canada:
1. What the hell is Scott Bessent doing in Alberta encouraging a marginal group of seperatists?
2. What the hell is Pete Hoekstra doing threatening that if we pull an order for F-35’s and go with European planes the US will send more fighter jets into Canadian airspace? This all starting by the price of the project skyrocketing from $16B to $27B and running very late?
I know it probably benefits Americans when the administration is focused outside the US but don’t send them here to play. We have work to do and we are very busy.
@Michael Reynolds:
Put it in the “if they had asked me, I would have told them” category. As an amateur, I’ve worried the what makes an urban area successful as a start-up magnet question for 30 years. Texas will always struggle since they think in terms of owners, not workers. I have a friend in San Marcos (home of Texas State University) who says city management wants to become a higher-end college town attracting high-wage work. She says they struggle with the problem that all the things they learn they need to do are anathema to the Texas state government.
I hope all here are keeping warm and snug and safe.
Just seen the BBC news reports on the weather in the US, and it looks a bit much.
@Neil Hudelson:
I don’t either.
But I see Schumer as clearly NOT the right man to be the face of the Democratic Party resistance in the Senate. He’s a kind of Susan Collins type – ‘I have sent to the president a strongly-worded 8 point criticism of his …. ‘ He’s a mechanic, he understands the rules of the road, but that’s not enough right now. It is long past time for Schumer to get out of the way and cede his leadership position to someone else. I’m not sure who it should be, but new leadership is needed.
@gVOR10:
I read a column in the Economist over the weekend, with Minneappolis mayor Jacob Frey speculating someone in the Trump administration basically told ICE: “Go to Minneapolis and arrest and deport a bunch of Somalis.”
But as most Somalis in Minnepolis are citizens, they’re coming up way short on expected numbers
So they are detaining random “brownish” folks, who in turn often turn out to be citizens, and lashing out at protestors.
The latest indications hint that Noem may be being set up as scapegoat for ICE running amok and killing people.
Because with Republican joining Congressional pressure for an inquiry, and the killing of Good and Pretti being both obviously indefensible, someone’s going to have to take the fall.
@Jen:
“Public Notice Aaron Rupar”
…
etc., etc.
But the above is not the only reason, here is another take:
“NMMNB”
@JohnSF: We’ve gotten about 16″ – 18″ of snow (about 40-46 cm) so far, and it’s still falling, albeit much more slowly than last night. It’s light and fluffy so easy to move, even though there’s a lot of it. Being in the Northeast, we’re at least somewhat used to the stuff, although given the number of traffic accidents reported, some folks apparently haven’t invested in decent tires (tyres).
Now, the stuff they got in the middle section of the country–the ice–that’s no fun to deal with, that’s the damaging part of the storm. It will take a while to clean that up.
@JohnSF: it’s crazy cold here in my neck of the woods. It was 5 degrees F this morning with the sun fully risen. Supposed to be like this for several days.
This is in the southern US, where men think winter coats are for wusses.
Can’t walk on the snow because there’s a layer of ice on top. Skis and poles would work, but none handy. A neighbors dog showed up, having walked across the frozen lake from his yard. That’s a new one.
@JohnSF:
Meeting the quotas is most important, more than anything else.
“DFL (i.e., MN political party)“
I am seeing Stephen Miller’s name being mentioned a lot in terms of the WH should axe him. A good portion of NRO’s commentariat think Noem is doing his bidding, so they both need to go.
I was surprised there are so many “conservatives” who also think Miller is a cancerous tumor that needs excising.
@becca:
From what I’ve seen of this, Noem’s reflex is to deny, lie, and double-down
Which may please the MAGA-base, but is asking to end crashing and burning if/when it comes to a Congressional inquiry and into court.
Meanwhile Miller is another person addicted to “swagger” and saying the quiet bits out loud.
I doubt his comments on the lead up to the Greenland crisis have pleased many, either.
Trump may want someone to blame for his having to back off, Rubio is likely unhappy at someone playing on his institutional turf, and Vance perhaps at the damage it’s done his ploy of cultivating the nationalist right in Europe.
(Favourability to Trump is currently running at 30% with French RN voters, 35% with German AfD; 60% of RN oppose the US over Green land. As I’ve said before, MAGA often forget the thing about European nationalists is that they are European nationalist)
@JohnSF:
When ICE first went to Mpls, I read that 93% of the ethnic Somalis are citizens and they number about 65,000. I was living in Mpls when the immigration began and they arrived in a huge wave between 1990 and 95, taking over the city’s West Bank neighborhood.
@JohnSF: I also see that former FIFA head Sepp Blatter is also calling for a boycott of the World Cup games played here in the US. The ICE and immigration catastrophe is resonating around the world, I hope. Warning folks you may get in the States but not get out because of detainment and/or physical violence sounds motivating to stay away.
According to the WSJ, Napoleon Bovino is exiting Mphs “imminently”.
@JohnSF:
Here in extreme northeastern Massachusetts we got 22 inches.
@charontwo: (quoting some article)
Once again I am reminded of the comic book (and then movie) Sin City
Say what you will about Frank Miller, but he was* a paranoid, nasty right-wing shithead, and he knows them well.
Aside: I would put Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again as the single most meaningful exploration of the American Psyche in the immediate aftermath of 9/11**. It’s a narrative disaster, and an ugly, unpleasant read, but it was an ugly, unpleasant time where the narrative was a disaster. It’s also ten times the book of its acclaimed predecessor, The Dark Knight Returns, where the right wing power fantasy is far more controlled — DKSA shows the mask falling, and the struggle to find a new mask.
Also, “the president is a hologram!” “But polling says he’s a great hologram!”
——
*: there are claims that Frank Miller has moderated quite a bit recently. I don’t really know as I think he’s lost his ability to tell a story (see his “I’m the god damned Batman” book, which reads as a sad parody)
**: even within the realm of comic books, this is a hot take. Art Spiegelman’s In The Shadow Of No Towers is held up as something or other. I don’t get the value. It captures a very specific reaction that was far from dominant.
I had mixed results with the burger patties in pepper sauce. On one hand, the sauce had the consistency, color, and flavor I wanted*, even though I forgot to get beef bouillon cubes and mustard (I used chicken bouillon).
On the other hand, I overestimated how many patties I could make with the ground beef I defrosted. TL;DR: I won’t have a meal for Friday. I may have to steal a pre-cooked, frozen chicken breast from one of my housemates.
Next time I may or may not add mustard. It doesn’t seem to need it. I’m not sure the brandy did anything, but then it was really cheap stuff that tasted more of alcohol when I took an experimental sip. About what I expected from a 3/4 liter of $8 brandy.
*I’d say I outdid myself. But that’s such a small feat…
@gVOR10:
Anyone who makes the Dear Leader less popular is at risk, and this is definitely making him so. Heads a gonna roll.
By taking Noem hunting with experienced officers, they had hoped to calm her down and begin to teach her how to behave. Unfortunately, Noem is ruining the hunt, going “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all the protesters and having the time of her life”.
Perhaps an electronic collar will bring her under control. Unfortunately they didn’t try that. Now her boys are attacking white people, “grabbing one protester at a time, shooting it to death with lots of bullets, then dropping it to attack another”.
There is only one thing that can be done…
There are some recurring claims I am seeing on right sites I think should be debunked. The first is that essentially all crime related to immigration is being committed inn 9 counties in Minnesota. I have not seen that substantial anywhere and there are a number of sites tracking shootings involving ICE and they are well spread out. Second, I continue to see claims that Minneapolis is so corrupt due to the fraud involving some Somalis that they deserve to be invaded. The claim is that the fraud was worth $9 billion. However, AFAICT that claim comes from a Trump supporter and multiple other sources including Chat-GPT put it at $300 million (not that any amount would justify the invasion.)
I have also seen multiple claims that Minnesota is especially corrupt. According to CATO, not a liberal site, Minnesota ranks 46th in corruption among the states. Note that the top 5 are solidly red states and the bottom five (least corrupt) 4 are blue states.
https://www.cato.org/blog/public-corruption-state
Steve
@Sleeping Dog:
It makes sense that Somali immigrants would’ve settled in the Minneapolis West Bank and adjacent Cedar-Riverside neighborhoods in the 90s. Cedar-Riverside had a relatively large international population when I was there in the 80s, and though I don’t happen to recall Somalis in particular, there was a prominently located Ethiopian restaurant (although adjacent, the two countries do have religious and cultural differences that I won’t pretend to understand).