Category Archives: Freedom

Don’t Laugh at Me – an important Easter repeat story

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Peter Yarrow, Noel (Paul) Stookey and Mary Travers made famous a song written by Steve Seskin and Allan Shamblin called “Don’t Laugh at Me.” Mark Wills, another artist has also recorded a variation along with Seskin, but it is the context and words that are embodied in Peter, Paul and Mary that makes the song resonate. When you live your lives speaking out for the disenfranchised, this song takes on far greater meaning than with any other artist, even the writers. Here is the entire song, courtesy of Peter, Paul and Mary with due thanks to Steve Seskin and Allan Shamblin. You can give it a listen after the lyrics.

I’m a little boy with glasses, the one they call the geek. A little girl who never smiles ‘Cause I have got braces on my teeth. And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep.

I’m that kid on every playground who’s always chosen last. A single teenage mother tryin’ to overcome my past. You don’t have to be my friend but is it too much to ask?

Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain. In God’s eyes we’re all the same. Someday we’ll all have perfect wings, don’t laugh at me.

I’m the beggar on the corner you’ve passed me on the street. And I wouldn’t be out here beggin’ if I had enough to eat. And don’t think I don’t notice that our eyes never meet.

Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain. In God’s eyes we’re all the same. Someday we’ll all have perfect wings, don’t laugh at me.

I’m fat, I’m thin I’m short, I’m tall I’m deaf, I’m blind Hey, aren’t we all?

Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain. In God’s eyes we’re all the same. Someday we’ll all have perfect wings, don’t laugh at me.

Well I’m fat, I’m thin I’m short, I’m tall I’m deaf, I’m blind. In a way we’re all.

I’m black, I’m white. And I am brown. I’m Jewish. I’m Christian. And I’m a Muslim.

I’m gay. I’m lesbian. I’m American Indian. I’m very, very young. I’m quite aged.

I’m quite well fed. I’m very, very poor.

Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain. In God’s eyes we’re all the same Someday we’ll all have perfect wings, don’t laugh at me.

My country ’tis of thee. oh, sweet land of liberty. It is of thee I that I sing.

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/DON’T-LAUGH-AT-ME-lyrics-Peter-Paul-Mary/3A0B58077C50623648256A22002CB23E

We need to stop the bullying of others whether it be physical or mental torment. Whether it is in person or online as cyberbullying. Whether it is in the legislature or in the pulpit. But, especially the latter. One of my greatest pet peeves is bigotry from the pulpit and when bigotry is espoused by a spiritual advisor it is just like bullying. And, per Dan Savage who advises teenagers who are bullied because they are gay or lesbian, it does get better. Yet, it could be better still, as we have too many adults and hate groups (which is the extreme version) who try to divide, exclude and torment. Please heed these words and advocate by voice and example to treat all as we want to be treated.

Don’t laugh at me, don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain. In God’s eyes we’re all the same Someday we’ll all have perfect wings, don’t laugh at me

Two Republican Senators

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Per an article in The Guardian yesterday:

“A second Republican senator spoke out in defense of Nato on Thursday, joining Mitch McConnell and the Democrats, after Donald Trump said that he was ‘absolutely’ considering withdrawing from the alliance after it refused to take part in the joint assault with Israel against Iran.

‘Nato stood by America when we were under attack and came to our aid after the September 11th attacks. Their soldiers fought and died alongside our troops in Afghanistan,’ said Thom Tillis, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, who co-chair the Senate Nato observer group.

‘Any president that contemplates attempting to withdraw from Nato is not only fulfilling Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’s greatest dreams but would be undermining America’s own national security interests.’”

I have a simple question. Why are there only two? I called the Senate Leader Republican John Thune and asked him that same question. These two Senators who are retiring feel more empowered to call out Trump when he is wrong yet again. Other Senators are just spineless to openly criticize the incumbent president.

Of course, we should expect the usual name calling from Trump. A day cannot pass without Trump threatening someone who he feels wronged him or name calling when he has no power over them.

The End of Ethics

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Please take a few minutes to watch the link. She is a former Department of Justice employee. The first few minutes will give you the gist. Let me know what you think.

Four Presidents comment on Reverend Jesse Jackson

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An American icon and a first hand link to the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Reverend Jesse Jackson – has passed. Per The Guardian, “Three Democratic former presidents led a wealth of tributes to Jesse Jackson, a ‘titan’ of the civil rights movement and ‘one of America’s greatest patriots’ who has died at the age of 84.

Joe Biden said history would remember Jackson as ‘a man of God and of the people’, calling him in a social media post: ‘Determined and tenacious. Unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our Nation.’

Biden added: ‘I’ve seen how Reverend Jackson has helped lead our Nation forward through tumult and triumph. He’s done it with optimism, and a relentless insistence on what is right and just.’….

Barack Obama called Jackson ‘a true giant’ in a statement posted on Instagram.

‘For more than 60 years, Reverend Jackson helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history. From organizing boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect,’ he said….

‘Michelle and I will always be grateful for Jesse’s lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share. We stood on his shoulders. We send our deepest condolences to the Jackson family and everyone in Chicago and beyond who knew and loved him,’ he said….

Bill Clinton said he and former first lady Hillary Clinton were friends with Jackson for more than five decades, and were ‘deeply saddened’ by his passing.

‘Reverend Jackson championed human dignity and helped create opportunities for countless people to live better lives,’ he said in a statementon Instagram.

‘[He] never stopped working for a better America with brighter tomorrows, including his historic campaigns for the presidency in 1984 and 1988 in which he championed the concerns of Black, Latino, Asian, and lower income white Americans.’….

Donald Trump, in a post on his Truth Social social media platform, called Jackson ‘a good man’ and a ‘friend’, also noting he had provided office space in New York for Jackson’s Rainbow Push Coalition.

Trump’s post, as is often the case, quickly turned political, and about himself. The president attacked the ‘scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left’ who, he said, ‘falsely and consistently’ called him a racist, and sought recognition for ‘funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved’.“

It should be noted that Trump gave a Presidential Freedom medal to a famous radio broadcaster who routinely mocked Jesse Jackson on his show. Why this divisive broadcaster was so honored is another story. Many have come out with plaudits for the life of service for Jackson. Unlike the incumbent president, these commentators did not denigrate others in so doing. I include his message because he did say a couple of kind words for Jackson before he segued.

Jackson stood up for people. We should never forget that key. To some critics, his oratory deflected from his messaging, but at his heart he was a preacher, so speaking poetically should not be frowned upon, in my view. May he RIP.

Tillis vs. The Trump Administration

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Thom Tillis vs. the Trump administration

By Frank Bruni

******************
“What does it look and sound like when a Republican lawmaker who has mostly been a cheerleader for Team Trump trades his pompoms for a shiv?

Senator Thom Tillis is showing us. And it’s a glorious spectacle.

In a recent exchange with reporters in Washington, the North Carolina Republican didn’t merely say that Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, had made “amateurish” mistakes. He stressed that he couldn’t think of a single thing she’d done over the past year that she can be proud of.

His appraisal of another senior administration official was no gentler. ‘Stephen Miller never fails to live up to my expectations of incompetence,’ Tillis said.

But the real beauty? The sign that Tillis was uncapping a deep well of disgust and reveling in the release? He composed an ornate, irate social media post of roughly 200 words in which he expounded on the meaning of ‘sycophant’ and explained why the slur fit Miller and Noem so snugly.

‘Common Synonyms: toady, flunky, bootlicker,’ Tillis wrote. He invoked ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movie trilogy to assert that Miller resembles Grima Wormtongue, who ‘uses his position to poison a leader’s standing for his own benefit.’ Tillis added that Noem is a ringer for Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies, who ‘sucks up to authority to gain the power she needs to bully those ‘beneath’ her.’

There’s going rogue, and then there’s going rogue with a thesaurus in one hand and a movie glossary in the other. Tillis seems intent on making his complaints about the Trump administration’s errors and overreach as memorable as possible.

He also seems to be having a blast.

There he was on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday morning, mischief in his voice as he called the Justice Department’s investigation of Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve Board, ‘frivolous,’ ‘vindictive’ and ‘trumped-up.’

And there he was on Politico’s ‘The Conversation’ the week before that, his eyes twinkling as he mused about the bafflingly low profile and dubious utility of Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence. ‘I don’t know if she’s in, like, the F.B.I. witness protection program,’ he said.

He’s sassing. He’s smiling. The liberation of a conscience does wonders for a man.

Partial liberation, I should say. Even now, Tillis focuses most of his pique on the people around President Trump rather than the president himself, who’s the victim, in Tillis’s telling, of ‘bad advice.’ And Tillis goes out of his way to cast his candor as faithful service to Trump and the Republican Party, which could suffer a serious setback in the midterm elections.

‘I want this president to be the most successful Republican president in the history of this country,’ he said on ‘The Conversation.’ ‘His success is intrinsically linked to the success of Republicans this November.’

Tillis, 65, is no profile in unfettered courage. He’s in the final year of his second term and not running for re-election, so he needn’t worry about some ultra-MAGA hellion taking him on in a primary and getting Trump’s endorsement.

He also bears some responsibility for all the damage the Trump administration has done. He voted to confirm Noem, Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel and, most notoriously, Pete Hegseth, whose bid to become defense secretary Tillis reportedly tried to scuttle until Trump made the magnitude of his displeasure with that clear.

But over recent weeks, Tillis has reconnected with a past version of himself, the spirited maverick who found common cause with Democrats and emphasized common sense over strident partisanship. It’s a version that he never fully interred: After Trump pardoned rioters who invaded the U.S. Capitol and assaulted law enforcement officers on Jan. 6, 2021, Tillis gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor protesting that decision.

But that spasm of rebellion was nothing like Tillis’s current tear. On ‘The Conversation,’ he questioned the logic of many of the tariffs Trump imposed, harshly criticized the president’s huffing and puffing about Greenland, fretted over Trump’s estrangement of Canada and the European Union, and said that ‘anybody who thinks that NATO is passé and should go doesn’t understand the democratic world order.’

He also said that if the Justice Department is going to torment Powell for supposedly spending too lavishly on renovations of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, ‘then I want to see the details of the East Wing cost, maybe even the cost of the Qatar jet, upfitting it to be a fake Air Force One.’

‘I mean, we can go all over the place if we want to start talking about efficiency,’ Tillis added.

Dasha Burns, the host of ‘The Conversation,’ noted that Trump had called Tillis and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, “losers” for having denigrated Noem. Burns asked Tillis for his response.

He shrugged off the insult, saying it was the stuff of ‘junior high school,’ and likened it to “arm farts.”

I’ve heard some political observers speculate that Tillis is selfishly looking ahead to a post-Trump era when Republicans who raised alarms about the president’s policies and conduct will be rewarded for that or at least judged more kindly by history. Maybe so.

But Tillis will certainly have to weather ample ugliness from the MAGA faithful in the meantime. Just ask Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger. So I choose to compliment him. To thank him. And to hope that his example encourages some of the toadies, flunkies and bootlickers in the halls of Congress to rethink their sycophancy.”

I called Tillis and left him a two-part message. First, I thanked him for being more critical of the White House Administration. Second, I reiterated early comments that in all my years of consulting, I have observed organizations take on the personality of their leader. The leader sets the bar on bad and good behavior. Trump’s people name call, label, bully, lie and act rashly because their boss does all those things. It really is that simple. Just listen to a part of the embarrassing and vitriolic comments made yesterday by the Attorney General under oath.

Untangling

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The following was forwarded to me by a retired financial executive and gubernatorial business advisor back in the 1990s. The Tangle newsletter is one of the better reads, in my view. The following paragraph is in quotes as my friend wrote it.

“FYI. Interesting that this non-partisan site is losing Conservative AND Progressive subscribers because each think the info presented is TOO other-slanted . As business plans go that’s why media have taken the “safe” route and addressed their messages to either the Left OR the Right and not tried to inform both camps with the pure truth. In other words , media business plans are usually , ” Let’s give them the red meat THEY want ” . And thus the deepening divide in our great country .”

“A call for help
I’m writing with a special message.
By Isaac Saul • 10 Feb 2026


I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”


Dear readers,

I’ve been running this newsletter for over six years now, and I can honestly say that I’ve never experienced an environment like the one we are living through today.

Conservative readers unsubscribe over us “unfairly bashing President Trump” on the same days liberal readers say they’re leaving because we are “sanewashing Trump.” Our divisions are growing. Our shared realities are becoming narrower and narrower. Our distrust seems insurmountable.

During this period, something interesting has been happening at Tangle: Our overall audience continues to grow, but the number of paid subscribers has slowed, while the number of paid subscription cancellations has gone up. When those canceled subscribers respond to an automated message asking why they are leaving, the most common response from conservatives is “you’re too left,” from liberals is “you’re too right,” and from folks in the middle is “I’m exhausted and overwhelmed.” Simply put: The division, fractured realities, and distrust are now manifesting as a significant business challenge.

I’ve thought about the different ways we might respond to this challenge. That includes simple fixes, like putting more content behind a paywall or changing it in some way (like adding more “staff dissents”) to increase trust.

But it also occurred to me that I could do something even simpler: Inform readers of what is happening, and ask for their help.

If you’re receiving this email, it means you are on our free mailing list. According to our reader surveys, most people who haven’t yet become subscribers have waited because 1) They don’t think they should pay for news, 2) They’re not clear on what they get as a paid member, or 3) They’re not sure they’re ready to spend the money.

Here’s the truth: Subscriptions are the #1 way we keep ourselves independent and can keep this project — with our small team of 12 — continuing into the future. We literally cannot survive without them. Since we know money is a barrier for some people, we’re offering a special 20% discount on the first year of yearly membership: just $47 for a year of Tangle’s premium offerings.

You can subscribe with that discount here or, if the full price of $59/year isn’t a barrier, support us at a full membership level by going here. And since some of you don’t know what you get as a subscriber, here’s a reminder:

Our members-only Friday edition
Transcribed interviews, deep dives, reader-requested content, personal essays, and inside information about our business
Access to the entire Sunday edition, which includes unique sections not in the daily newsletter
An ad-free experience in the newsletter
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Automatic inclusion on any additional offerings in the future
All of this costs less than $4/month when you subscribe for this discounted offer, which means you could pay for Tangle by having one fewer beer or coffee every month (or just have it all for $4 extra dollars in your monthly budget!)

These are extraordinary times. Trust in the media is at an all-time low, and political polarization is radicalizing minds everywhere. In the midst of this maelstrom, we’re trying to do something special: Bring people of different political persuasions under one roof for a shared set of arguments, facts, and analysis, all while engaging in good-faith debate and trying to better understand differing views.

If you want to support this work, please consider joining us as a paid member. If money is an obstacle, or you just prefer a discounted rate, you can subscribe for 20% off here. You can get a full-price subscription here, or subscribe at the “Thank you” tier ($199/year) to throw some extra support behind Tangle by going here.

Thank you, and thank you for reading.

Best,
Isaac & the Tangle team

Thanks for reading Tangle. Our emails are powered by Ghost! You can manage your emails and account here.

Tangle © 2026 – Unsubscribe”

As an independent, let me say that there are many MAGA fans that think the incumbent president can do nothing wrong and his only shortcoming is he is rough around the edges. On the highly progressive side, they see the incumbent president on the wrong side of so many issues and is very untruthful and a bully. As an independent of 18 or so years, a Republican for 25 or so years and a Democrat for 5 or so years, I have rubbed many MAGA fans and more than a few progressives the wrong way.

For MAGA fans, saying the incumbent president has done no wrong is not a very accurate read on his performance. I find he is on the wrong side of too many issues and creates many of our problems. For this purpose, let me leave it at just that. As for progressives, I feel they are for the most part correct in speaking to the poor decisions made by the incumbent president. Where I get push back is when I speak of costs and debt as major concerns. I also think progressives should focus on kitchen table economics, civil rights and our global standing moreso than more micro-social issues. To me, those latter issues are more of a distraction lapped up by opposition who have less of a story to tell on the bigger issues.


Kennedy Center – another death by Trump?

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Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist, wrote a best selling book called “Everything Trump touches dies.” One of the more visible deaths may be the Kennedy Center. David Smith penned an article in The Guardian called “Seized, subverted, shuttered: a year in Trump’s assault on the Kennedy Center” that is a sad story about this American institution.*

Here are a few paragraphs from the piece starting with its subtitle:

“Since a presidential post on Truth Social the Washington DC arts hub has lost its leadership, had its name changed and will now be closed for years.

The Brentano String Quartet had finished their performance when a special guest dropped in backstage: the US supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ‘We thanked her for everything she had done for our country,’ recalls violinist Mark Steinberg. ‘It was a nice moment.’

The year was 2016 and the place was the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Fast forward a decade and old certainties have been shaken: Ginsburg is dead, Donald Trump is president and the Kennedy Center has become a case study in how a seemingly solid American institution can quickly unravel.

The Brentano String Quartet were due to perform there last week but cancelled their show, citing Trump’s hostile takeover of the complex. Steinberg explained: ‘I would have felt ashamed to walk out on stage there. I can’t quite bring myself to go into the building at this point.

‘It would be such a luxury to make art in a vacuum and that’s what I yearn for but that’s not possible right now. Had we appeared there, in my eyes, that would be a way of condoning everything that’s happening and I couldn’t stomach that.’

…. During Trump’s first term, he ignored the proudly non-partisan complex and did not attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors. But, as in so many other ways, his second term is very different. His takeover of the centre began, perhaps inevitably, with a Truth Social post one year ago, on 7 February 2025.

Trump wrote that he was immediately terminating ‘multiple individuals’ from the center’s board of trustees ‘who do not share our vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.’ He said he would soon announce a new board, ‘with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!’

He also criticized the centre’s past programming. ‘Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth – THIS WILL STOP. The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!’”

Many artists have been voting with their feet, in essence, telling the “amazing “Chairman “no thank you.” Given their artistic nature and collaborative bent, entertainers tend to be more accepting of diversity. So, they do not like the anti-diversity thinking wielded by the incumbent president. And, when you cannot schedule the best talent, there is not much of a show to watch.

********
* Per an AI search summary: “As of February 2026, the Kennedy Center has not yet been shuttered, but President Trump announced on February 1, 2026, that it will close for two years starting July 4, 2026. The planned closure is for, in his words, a ‘Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding’ of the venue into a new entertainment complex.”

 Note: This two year close came as a surprise to the Board as the institution has been scheduling acts.

A large dose of hypocrisy

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This headline from The Guardian shows a large dose of hypocrisy in the incumbent president.

“Iran crisis live: Trump says killers of protesters will ‘pay a big price’ and urges Iranians to ‘take over your institutions.’”

In essence, his competing messages are:

-Protest against my policies – killing protestors is OK.
-Protest with my policies – killing protestors is NOT OK.

The hypocrisy abounds. But, this is not a surprise as another key contradiction is it is OK for Trump and team to cheat and break the law, but it is not OK for others to cheat and break the law, even if it is just perception.

So, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth can violate the Constitution or breach national security, but former astronaut and Senator Mark Kelly cannot correctly say that the military can decline to do unconstitutional orders. Of course, the Senator is the one in trouble.

Tulsa massacre survivor passes

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An Associated Press article entitled “Viola Ford Fletcher, one of last survivors of Tulsa race massacre, dies aged 111” caught my eye. The subtitle adds more context: “Fletcher spent years pushing for justice after deadly racial attack on thriving Black Oklahoma community in 1921.” The following are a couple of paragraphs:

“Viola Ford Fletcher, who as one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre in Oklahoma spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child, has died. She was 111.

Her grandson Ike Howard said on Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during the second world war and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper.

Tulsa’s mayor, Monroe Nichols, said the city was mourning her loss. ‘Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose…’”

Per Wikipedia: ““The Tulsa race massacre was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, between May 31 and June 1, 1921. Mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses. The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as ‘Black Wall Street.’

More than 800 people were admitted to hospitals, and as many as 6,000 black residents of Tulsa were interned, many of them for several days. The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 dead. The 2001 Tulsa Reparations Coalition examination of events identified 39 dead, 26 black and 13 white, based on contemporary autopsy reports, death certificates, and other records. The commission reported estimates ranging from 36 up to around 300 dead.”

All of this began when a 19 year old black man accidentally stepped on the foot of a 17 year old white girl. She claimed assault and the young man was indicted in the newspapers which fueled existing racial tensions. This is a yet one more disgraceful example of the horrible Jim Crow period.

Just yesterday, while touring my downtown with my great nephew, we came across a mural that had the words “Strange Fruit” painted above the figures. I explained to him what that meant – black young men and teens tortured and hanged from trees creating a strange fruit, with blood at the root. Then, I read about Viola Ford Fletcher’s passing. I was never taught about the Tulsa Massacre, learning of it only four years ago on its 100th anniversary.

We must never forget these horrible history lessons. We must condemn elected officials who are rationalizing and condoning favoritism toward white supremacy groups. It was not right then and it certainly is not right now.





Pope reiterates condemnation of Trump’s mass deportations

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An article out of Rome by Angele Giuffrida in The Guardian called “Pope Leo criticises ‘disrespectful’ treatment of immigrants in US” speaks volumes. The subtitle reads “Pontiff backs statement by US bishops condemning raids and mass deportations under Trump administration” so the Pope is not alone in his concerns. Here are a few paragraphs:

“‘Pope Leo has reiterated his disapproval of Donald Trump’s immigration policies, saying foreigners in the US are being treated in an “extremely disrespectful way’.

Leo, the first US pontiff in the history of the Catholic church, made the remarks in response to questions about a statement adopted last week during a special assembly of US bishops that criticised the Trump administration’s mass deportations and lamented the fear and anxiety caused by immigration raids.”

Other religious leaders are sharing their concerns. Illegal immigrants are so engrained in many industries that deporting them without a transition plan or due process is unwise and mean-spirited. It becomes worse when Trump’s equivalent of Brown Shirts go to a city without being invited or without coordinating with local authorities. It becomes worse when Trump’s people are less than truthful.

Another article in The Guardian speaks to the latter point: “More than 97% of immigrants detained in the Trump administration’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ in Chicago had no criminal conviction, according to federal court records.

The data, released on Friday and first reported by the Chicago Tribune, sharply contradicts the Trump administration’s portrayal of the immigration sweeps as an effort to fight crime and, as Trump himself has described it, targeting the ‘worst of the worst’.”

Similar comments have been made about his Brown Shirts-like sweep of Charlotte. This is an attempt by Trump to justify his mean-spirited and illicit round up. Due process is important, but having a transition plan is critical. Too many people, companies and customers are impacted.