The Message....And The Medium

Theodore Roosevelt - May 7, 1918

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." 

This appeared in an editorial President Theodore Roosevelt wrote for the Kansas City Star in 1918. No longer the president by the time he composed this, Roosevelt made known his feeling about criticism of anyone holding the office: it needed to happen. It's basically required of every resident of the United States, not just citizens. Not to be able to criticize a president for his actions was denying the American public the opportunity for transparency in the office. After all, the President of the United States was nothing more than a public servant to be held to the most stringent standards. 

Or, as the movie DAVE reminded us:

I forgot that I was hired to do a job for you and that it was just a temp job at that. I forgot that I had two hundred and fifty million people who were paying me to make their lives a little better..."

 

Gee, isn't that really what our elected officials are supposed to be doing? Once they are elected, isn't the post supposed to represent all of the people in a district, state, or congress?

But that's not how this administration rolls, is it? It's all about President Felon and his ability to control the narrative and, by extension, the presumed beliefs of We, the People. Only that's not going so well. His poll numbers are tanking daily. To shore up support, his cabal does scary things...like hanging banners from public buildings to remind us not to dick with this guy: 

Labor Dept., Justice Dept,, and, of course, The Heritage Foundation.

It's all a bit too 1984 for me. 

I don't think it's working. Do you? Anyone else remember the Macintosh 1984 ad?

Like Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message. McLuhan is spot on when he says the content of the medium is a message that can be easily understood by the observer. He said, 

Indeed, it is only too typical that the 'content' of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium.

I totally get this in a visceral kinda way. I'm a visuals person. I think in images. I think that's why one of my directing professors labeled me Spellbound in the the Darkness. Very true, y'know. It's why I quote plays, movies, even novels...because I see the images and I wonder what the hell is wrong with you if you don't. 

If you're not seeing the images broadcast in the media and not rearing back in disbelief and horror, there is something decidedly lacking in your ability to perceive the messages these manipulators are sending. If you're missing the message in boots, camouflage, balaclavas, and masks, you're not paying attention. The images are not benign; these are meant to terrify those on the street as well as the viewers. If you are not over-the-moon angry about kids being snatched by ICE, then you are no better than the Germans who drew their drapes and refused to believe crimes against humanity were taking place in the streets around them. 

Nor do I believe any of this is done without planning, forethought, and manipulation. There is a gestalt at work and most people are too busy wringing their hands to notice, so let me spell it out for you: President Felon fought tooth and nail to keep the unredacted Epstein files from being released. Thousands of mostly men are now paying the consequences for communicating with the pedophile swamp dweller. Those names are now public. Use your imagination here and follow the bouncing idea:

1. Feckless Felon promised to keep the files redacted and/or closed to public scrutiny. 
2. These things do not come cheap, so how much money do you think the billionaire buddies would pay to keep their names outta the news?
3. Who claimed he had the power to do that...if contributions were made to various charitable/political "foundations?" 
4. That had to be a significant revenue stream, right?
5. Now that all the names are public and lots of billionaire buddies are being hoisted on their own petards, I'm thinking the supporter funded revenue stream has slowed to a bit of a trickle. 
6. What to do? What to do? Oh, that's easy: lie to We, the People, about anything and everything while claiming you've been  completely exonerated in the Epstein files even though your name appears thousands and thousands of times. 
7. Shutdown the government and blame Democrats while thousands of workers, both federal and non-federal lose pay, homes, healthcare, and jobs because it deflects from what's really in those files.
8. Since SCOTUS blew up your tariffs, go figure out another way to sabotage American trade and, in turn, the economy. People will be too busy screaming about that to worry about the Epstein files. 
9. Count on your billionaire buddies to increase the revenue stream as long as you are able to use smoke, mirrors, and red herrings to keep the attention away from them. 

You think I'm kidding, right? Guess again. I'm not. WIth Stephen "the slimeball Miller, Pam Bondi, Karoline Leavitt, and Kash Patel in charge of state secrets, and Bezos, Bari Weiss, and the Grey Lady herself spinning the stories, you know damn well, as I do, nothing is happenstance and everything has to do with money. 

Follow the money.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.... it's time for my favorite musical number: The Sidestep

If only the Great Tangerine was a quarter as talented as Charles Durning (z"l)

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

For years, I maintained nice Jewish kids did not play hockey.

I was wrong. 

There are some pretty great b'nei mitzvah kids

wearing gold Olympic medals this week:

Aerin Frankel, Quinn and Jack Hughes, and Jeremy Swayman

יישר כוחכם ילדים

Yashar kochachem, yiladim!

Making Jewish mothers everywhere kvell!

Monument Man ~ Part Deux

Ramses II at Luxor

I started last week's episode with the best of intentions....and found hacking up a lung or two was not conducive to writing. So, let us begin again: When I was a kid, I was fascinated by giant statues of kings. I mean, really. Who would want a statue of himself that big? It was crazy! What was he trying to prove? My dad explained he wanted people to remember him as a great king and a larger than life warrior. Egyptians, we went on, were really preoccupied with what came after death and accordingly, they built pyramids and temples to show off their wealth and power. When I insisted people didn't do  that sorta thing any more, he scoffed, "au contraire, ma fille sceptique!" Since the internet hadn't been invented yet, we looked in the Encyclopedia Americana and looked at pictures of all sorts of really big statues. Napoleon, Mao, Stalin, ...you get the drift. 

And I also think most of us remember pictures showing statues of dictators being torn down and destroyed. We were inundated with images of Saddam Hussein being toppled, literally and figuratively all of Iraq. People hated his very image. Just like they hated Stalin. And Lenin. And all sorts of oppressive leaders. It doesn't matter if they were kings or queens, elected or installed via coup. The ones who put up monuments to themselves usually ended up in the dust along with the monuments. 

Sycophancy has long been a staple in both administrations of President Felon. In order to survive at his table, you have to kiss whatever ass he's demanding be kissed. Individuals and state governments must kowtow to his whims to receive any previously allocated funding. States he does not like, for whatever reasons, do not receive emergency FEMA funding. Applications are not denied; they are simply ignored. Just as North Carolina's Attorney General. I'm sure Jeff Jackson would love to tell you about that. This entire administration is based on denying assistance to those who need it most. Food and heat programs are slashed. Health care has become unaffordable to huge swaths of population, yet somehow there are funds for demolishing half the White House, building an arch , and a gold statue of him for display at some golf course. 

One can also point to his dismantling of international agreements and defense alliances together with his endless humiliation of Ukraine's Volodymyr  Zelenskyy. What he has proven repeatedly to both Americans and our allies is that he is not to be trusted. 

President Felon wants his face on a $1 coin commemorating the 250 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This is a departure from the norm which holds no living person is depicted on a coin, yet a spokesperson for the US Mint says this breaks no law. But it actually does violate an 1886 law requiring “only the portrait of a deceased individual” appear on currency and securities. 

Back in March, 2025, Sidney Blumenthal wrote in The Guardian::

Sycophancy is the coin of the realm. In Donald Trump’s court, flattery is the only spoken language. He does not need an executive order to enforce it. Fear is the other side of the coin. Loyalty must be blind. Obedience is safety. Cronyism secures status. His whim is dogma. Criticism is heresy. Debate is apostasy. Expertise is bias. Objectivity is a hoax. Truth is just your opinion. Lies are defended to the death as articles of faith. New ones are manufactured on an industrial scale by his press office for social influencers to spread. Denying facts proves fealty. The rule of law is partisan. Russia is our trusted ally. Britain and France are “random countries”. Retribution is policy.

Frankly, the entire article is prescient and he is a harbinger of what is yet to come. 

One of the really interesting things, and not in a good way, is the lack of a national arts program that supports and preserves America's unique cultural footprint. The Smithsonian is the closest thing we have at the moment to an agency preserving American culture in all its diversity. It's important to understand that there are actually 21 separate museums and facilities under that umbrella. The following are the 14 inside Washington D.C. 

1. Anacostia Community Museum
2. Arts and Industries Building
3. Freer Gallery of Art (part of National Museum of Asian Art)
4. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
5. National Air and Space Museum
6. National Museum of African Art
7. National Museum of African American History and Culture
8. National Museum of American History
9. National Museum of the American Indian
10. National Museum of Natural History
11. National Postal Museum
12. Smithsonian American Art Museum
13. National Portrait Gallery (shares building with SAAM)
14. Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (visitor center)

[It's also important to note that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, while a federally owned institution, does not fall under the aegis of the Smithsonian.]

Please note the museums on this list. They represent a wide swath of Americans. They are a testament to the diversity which has made America America. And, according to President Felon, are WOKE. On August 19, 2025, he used social media to state:

The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE.’ The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been – Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future. I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made.

He personally attacked and attempted to remove the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet, only to be told he did not have the authority. Thus began the attack on the nation's cultural legacy.  An exceptionally thorough piece in The Guardian, Trump’s assault on the Smithsonian: ‘The goal is to reframe the entire culture of the US’ is an absolute must-read if you want a good overview of what's happening:

To use different language, Trump wanted museums to reflect a Maga vision of American history that was nationalist and triumphalist, and downplayed reflection on darker aspects of its past, specifically its history of slavery. His views were of a piece with his other, smaller, forays into the cultural arena – his desire, for example, to build a triumphal arch in Washington, or his personal role in vetoing what were regarded as “woke” artists from becoming Kennedy Center honourees.

Whereas the first Trump administration left cultural matters largely alone, in his second term it has made them a priority. Through lawsuits and executive orders, threats and intimidation, the administration is seeking to shift the country to the right, an abrupt and extreme escalation in the long battle for control over the narrative of American history fought by both the right and the left. To do so, he is targeting the institutions – universities and museums – that form people’s minds and imaginations, their sense of identity. “The goal,” as one senior employee of the Smithsonian told me, “is to reframe the entire culture of the United States from the foundation up.”

If the goal is to reframe American culture, it comes with his face on everything. His likeness, his litany of lies, his dubious accomplishments, and worst of all, it's at the loss of our national identity. Vice President Bedbug has been assigned to the Smithsonian's board of directors in order to supervise the shift toward MAGA . What's left of the White House issued a broadside last March called Restoring Truth And Sanity To American History It is possibly the most nauseating crock of shit one can imagine....to date. It begins:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered

If that doesn't chill you to the boots, one section is particularly egregious in its nefariousness:

Sec. 2.  Saving Our Smithsonian.  (a)  The Vice President, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Staff Secretary, Lindsey Halligan, Esq., shall work to effectuate the policies of this order through his role on the Smithsonian Board of Regents with respect to the Smithsonian Institution and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo, including by seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties, and shall recommend to the President any additional actions necessary to fully effectuate such policies. 

(b)  The Vice President and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall work with the Congress to ensure that future appropriations to the Smithsonian Institution:

(i)   prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy; and

(ii)  celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women’s History Museum and do not recognize men as women in any respect in the Museum.

 (c)  The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Interior shall take any other measures within their authority to promote the policy of this order. 

(d)  As appropriate, the Vice President shall, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Staff Secretary, Lindsey Halligan, Esq., work with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate Majority Leader, to seek the appointment of citizen members to the Smithsonian Board of Regents committed to advancing the policy of this order.

Considering his racist, white supremacist proclivities, it's easy enough to deduce his intentions. 

But what does this all have to do with monuments? Everything. The reframing of American history to remove honesty and replace it with his bleached version is to further isolate the US from the real world. By casting himself as superhero, military hero, or even some sort of evangelical religious leader, he is mythologizing himself in a way the framers of our Constitution specifically warned about. In his Substack today, John Dickerson tackled exactly that issue:

The framers described power as “a cancer,” and an “ocean.” They believed it possessed an “endlessly propulsive tendency to expand itself beyond legitimate boundaries,” as Bernard Bailyn describes it in The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Men withered under power’s sway. Patrick Henry warned, “If your American chief be a man of ambition, and abilities, how easy it is for him to render himself absolute.” Samuel Adams argued that power defied human restraint: “Such is the depravity of mankind that ambition and lust of power above the law are predominant passions in the breasts of most men.”

A chief executive who envisions himself as grandly as President Trump does exhibits the self-regard the framers feared most. This leads, they believed, to a president who privileges loyalty and whims above duties to the country and the people. The psychology of such rulers convinces both themselves and their followers that to please the ruler is to please the state.

Maddie McGarvey/NY Times

One might conclude this continued aggrandizement borders on self-deification and may be a preliminary step in the establishment of some kind of dynasty à la the Kim family of North Korea, with Barron as his designated heir. Even the attempted fashion deification of Melania in her Amazon extravaganza is an element to be considered. And of course, we would be remiss not to mention Don the Colossus, the 15' statue that has been commissioned, is supposed to go to Florida...assuming the sculptor is paid. 

And then there's his Arch of Independence, a 250' monstrosity destined for Memorial Circle on the mall, dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial and smack dab in the middle of the Washington National Airport's flight path...an airport already known for midair collisions. Of course, it has to be bigger than any other arch in the world, bigger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, or the Arch of Constantine in Rome, or Monumento a la Revolución inMexico City. One might think the size of his arch must be inversely proportional to the size of his winkie.

Not nearly as far-fetched as it might have sounded the first time around, there is a distinct drive to not just to redact American history into something that favors his brand of narcissism; he is setting himself up with royal aspirations. One might be a one-off, but clearly there is a pattern emerging...and it's not a good look for America.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We are at the very precipice of dangerous times. The proposed SAVE act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) is, in reality, an act designed to suppress the vote by making it significantly more difficult to cast a vote. In essence, much of that act serves as a poll tax, something that will disenfranchise millions of voters. Various election bodies have repeatedly said voter fraud is almost nonexistent, but this administration is the one that asked for exactly that: for the state of Georgia to produce 11,780 votes. In case you forgot, the phone call and request by President Felon was recorded by Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger:

What I want to do is this. I just want to find, uh, 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

None of this is an aberration for this president or his administration. They are nothing more than a house of cards built on a bed of lies. The deeper this goes, the more We, the People are in jeopardy of losing our right to vote in a free and fair election. Having been living in a war zone these last few weeks, I have come to seriously fear what the government can do....what they may do....and whether or not it can be stopped. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
The best thing for an old fashioned head cold is

soup, sleep, and trashy novels. 

Trust me on this one. 

Monument Man ~ Part One ~ No Intro Today

Ramses II at Luxor

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by giant statues of kings. I mean, really. Who would want a statue of himself that big? It was crazy! What was he trying to prove? My dad explained he wanted people to remember him as a great king and a larger than life warrior. Egyptians, we went on, were really preoccupied with what came after death and accordingly, they built pyramids and temples to show off their wealth and power. When I insisted people didn't do  that sorta thing any more, he scoffed, "au contraire, ma fille sceptique!" Since the internet hadn't been invented yet, we looked in the Encyclopedia Americana and looked a pictures of all sorts of really big statues. Mao, Stalin, Queen Victoria, Robert E Lee, Mount Rushmore, Lincoln...you get the drift.

And that's all yer gonna get tonight. 

I am on the tail end of a head cold and sleep is not my friend. When I had the flu, at least I wasn't hacking up a lung. 

I really do want to write about monuments...especially the giant golden president, arch d'trump, Penn Station, and Dulles airport after himself. At least the colossus sculptor said it wasn't going anywhere until he was paid in full. Probably a good move.

No, I'm not shitting you on this. 

I promise I will write the rest of this for next week. 

BOGCAATJ. Be of good cheer and all that.....<cough, cough, cough> ...jazz

sj

The Wifely  Person's Tip o'the Week

Yes, I am hydrated.

Yes, I actually made a pot of chicken soup.

Being sick sucks.

Just To Be Clear

I'm trying really hard not to be screechy. Everybody and their mothers are writing about what's happening in Minnesota these days. Some of it is true, some of it is total horse-hockey. People (including me) can be really hot and passionate about this subject. Several hundred people walked out onto real ice on Bde Maka Ska to send a message to the world: SAVE OUR STATE. See, here's the thing: ICE has been around for a long time doing their job with warrants and due process in their polo shirts and khaki pants. They were not running around the street of Minnesota looking like some paramilitary vigilante force. I don't care what anyone says: these costumes are meant to terrify and intimidate; that's exactly what they do. 

This is not to say there was never any pushback in regard to illegal aliens and deportation orders; there was. But ICE should know who is already in jail just like they used to know. Real criminals in the prison system were picked up on release and deported. I used to prep some of those airline tickets. It was part of my job whenever I was on loan to the government branch. I don't think I could do that in this environment. 

Just to be crystal clear in regards to my position of immigration law:

1. I believe in the Constitution of the United States, especially Amendments 14 and 44.
2. I support the existence of immigration law
3. I support the right to due process for all people within the jurisdiction of the US
4. I support the right to apply for asylum. 
5. I do not support the idea of open borders.

The 14th Amendment states:

 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

There are two phrases in there 

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States
2. nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

that speak directly to the condition of the individual. Any number of cases heard in the Supreme Court deal with that very issue. A good one to look at is Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei as it is presented in Cornell's Legal Information Institute. Just about every case comes down in favor of "any person" meaning both citizens and non-citizens alike, regardless of their immigration status.

The breakdown is not really about illegal immigrants, it's about the tactics being used. American citizens are being swept up. Legal immigrants with residency status are being swept up. ICE is using immigration check-ins as a way to sweep people into an amorphous net. None of these sweeps allow for due process. People are locked up, denied access to attorneys, denied basic human health necessities.When the office who shot Renee Good walked away from her car, he called her a fucking bitch and it was heard on the tape around the world. She was alive when the car crashed and then denied medical attention. THIS is what people are fighting against. It's not the law as much as it is the absence of the law. 

The story of Liam Conejo Ramos is not an isolated case of child-grabbing. His cute hat helped him to not just make headlines, but to start a groundswell rejection of ICE tactics. The picture was not staged, not taken by a photographer; it was taken by a bystander. He was used as bait, and there are lots of witnesses to testify about what happened at the front door. Even so, ICE and DHS continued to lie about it. Is this what we have come to expect and accept? A confederacy of liars running our government? 

Off the scale, folks

Apparently, yes. Wag the dog is the order of the day. Anything to misdirect away from Epstein and the files. Demolishing part of the White House, changing the name of The Kennedy Center, going after settled 2020 election results..........all red herring to deflect this real issue of a sexual deviant-pedophile-crook who is lining this own pockets with YOUR money every time he sues the government for doing its job. Now he's suing the IRS for $10,000,000,000 for leaked tax info. Isn't he supposed to release his taxes when he runs for office? What a crock... and just think, we're supposed to lap it up with one of his golden plastic spoons. Uh, not happening. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

As long as I'm doing WP positioning, I want to clarify something about me and AI. 

1. I do not condone using AI for any creative writing. Period. If you use AI to write, it's not your work, it's a collaboration between you and a machine and should be subject to full disclosure.
2. I use a spell checker and that's it. If you read this regularly, you know I have more than my fair share of typos. And no, I'm not a great speller so I do look up a whole lotta words.
3. I do not use AI for any part of the blog. I view Google as a sort of card catalog. I avoid AI research results because I believe those results are not trustworthy. I search and research using the long form....meaning I type in my parameters, ignore the annoying AI box at the top of Google, and then search "by hand and eye." 
4. I do not use AI in writing my books. EVER.  My voice is my voice and no machine is gonna tell me how to write a sentence to "make it better." I am the Queen of Prepositional Phrases and proud of my ability to edit those suckers out. (I can cut thousands of words from a manuscript by doing that. Just sayin'.)

On another day, I'll talk about AI and art as an emerging medium. Just like people said photography would destroy painting, moving pictures would destroy theater, and television would decimate movies, and CGI would stifle the imagination, none of those things happened and new art forms became art. But I'm saving that for a day when I don't wanna rant about the government. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Proud Mam Moment:

The Senior Son just release a new EP and I gotta admit

CRUMBS TO A FEAST

is my new favorite earworm. 

Apple Music

Spotify

Domestic Terrorism In Our Streets

We, the People of Minnesota, are on overload. Processing the events of the last week are damn near impossible. We are living in a surreal war zone, where the government is bent on quelling a riot that has not happened. Facts are meaningless when the so-called leaders of this country continue to spew lie after lie, expecting us to blindly believe what they say instead of what we see with our eyes...over and over and over and over again. The circle on the right is over the hand of the ICE officer shooting pepper spray into the faces of Alex Pretti (the left red circle) and the woman who was shoved to the ground. The tape shows Alex attempting to help her up when they are sprayed. Mr. Pretti is then shoved face down to the ground and is beaten by the officers. He remains face down on the pavement.  According to the New York Times, an agent fired a single shot into the prone Alex Pretti, and then 9 more shots were fired: 8 in rapid succession followed by a single shot. 

The New York Times has an excellent minute-by-minute account.  I would strongly suggest you view it. 

A photograph taken that morning by NYT photographer, David Guttenfelder should also be viewed. This is what's on our streets: a paramilitary force with no training, no leadership, and absolutely no common sense. Take a very close look at the guy pointing the gun. At his crotch. Views who have examined this closely think he's going commando. I sure hope so. I only hope the big, brave urban guerilla got his tiny-weeny winkie frozen and it fell off. It's only fitting because this image belongs in a video game, not on the streets of an American city. I see images like this and I think I'm looking at some other country because we have checks and balances and this could never happen here. 

Silly me.

As I'm sure you have all read, the demonstrations were astounding. Thousands of people showed up in sub-zero temperatures at the airport, the federal Whipple Building, and downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul to protest the takeover of our state. I get that some people are in this country illegally and need to be removed. My issue is that tactics that are being used to terrorize all Minnesotans. This is domestic terrorism by the government.

Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman, friend of the Senior Son and once-upon-a-time a Beth Jacob kid, was arrested demonstrating against ICE at the airport on Friday, January 23rd, just hours before the start of Shabbat. In an op-ed published by The Forward, she makes an profound connection between the plague of darkness and our own situation:

Standing there among them, on Erev Shabbes in the cold, I thought about the Torah portion we would read the next morning in shul: parashat Bo, from the Book of Exodus.

In it, the darkness of the ninth plague that befell the Egyptians is described as something that the oppressors — the mitzrim, which I’ll translate as “the ones of narrowed sight” — could actually touch. It was so thick that it kept them isolated from each other, unable to move.

In contrast, the dwellings of those seeking liberation were full of light.

I imagined that palpable darkness not as a punishment, but as a reflection of reality. The oppressors were unwilling to see the humanity of their neighbors. But if they had been, they too could have found themselves in dwellings full of light, able to clearly perceive the richness and possibility of living in a multiethnic community.

So too with the federal oppressors here in Minnesota, and those who collude with them. They are so welcome to join us in the light of that recognition. We were there at the airport to invite them in. Instead, they arrested nearly 100 of us, while we sang and prayed for the protection of our people in the languages of our diverse traditions. Doing this work in coalition builds the power we need to break through the oppression: Our differences make us stronger.

I want to believe that...that our differences make us stronger. I want to believe that all political persuasions will come together to stand for due process and the constitution. I have to believe that because I refuse to believe we are doomed. 

Meanwhile, back on the ranch.....

Back in October, I arrived in Israel the day after the live hostages came home. There were tears of relief, hugs, kisses, but no celebration because some were not returned. They came back in drips and drabs in body bags. The hostages were honored, hugged, buried, mourned, but no one celebrated. So long as one hostage is missing, we do not dance.

Today, the last hostage held in Gaza came home. Ran Gvili's body was found in a cemetery in East Gaza by IDF soldiers charged with the task of finding him. There were photos of the last poster being removed, Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, removing his yellow ribbon pin. The entire country had been holding out for Ran Gvili's return. Without him, all Israel could not be whole. And now he's back. 

President Pinocchio's peace plan is now supposed to begin phase 2. This is the part where Hamas lays down its arms. Sure they will. 

 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Even into the bleakest of times, a little levity must fall.

Here's this week's optimistic moment:

The Israeli Bobsled Team has qualified for the Olympics.

!תנו לאנשים שלי להחליק

Let my people slide!

I wish I had a clever title for this.

 Well, I'm back in Minnesota and none too thrilled with the idea. This is one scary place right now. On the advice of a friend who knows about this stuff, I now carry my passport in my purse. I also filled out a form asking if I qualify for Canadian residency. I know it's a long shot, but what the heck. If Minnesota isn't gonna secede from the Union to hook up Canada, I just wanna hedge my bets. I do have friends and family scattered there, but hey! I can drive there. Frankly, we'd be a good addition. And we are a totally hockey-driven state. That's gotta mean something.

But the truth is that I cannot write about Minnesota right now. We are under siege by a crazy person who is using the federal government as a form of retribution. The injustice department is going after our elected officials on all levels of state government. Thoughts are that he is using Minnesota as a target practice for martial law and suspension of our state rights. Since he is already ordering criminal investigations and charges for our elected government officials, including Keith Ellison and Governor Walz. There is every reason to believe he will use us as a testing ground for authoritarian rule, overriding the separation of state and federal powers. California was too big; we are not. And I am not alone in thinking this. 

So with that said, I want to turn our attention to Greenland. I'm guessing you don't know the history of Norway, Denmark, the Danish West Indies, and Greenland because, after all, most Americans don't know the history of the United States. So let's not argue the point and I'll give you a brief overview. Google Greenland if you want a deeper dive, but this should give you an idea 

• Greenland has long ties to Scandinavia, but the ones we're interested in begin in the 19th century, when Norway and Denmark got a divorce in 1841. The Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's relationship with its colonies, putting them under control of the Danish Crown. (Note: Eastern Greenland, however, remained in contention until 1931, when it, too, joined Denmark when the Permanent Court of International Justice decided the matter in favor of Denmark.)
• In 1899, negotiations for the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States for the sum of $5,000,000 were initiated, but in 1902, the treaty failed ratification by the Danish Parliament and negotiations were halted. 
• Conversations began anew in 1915 when US relations with Germany were floundering and concerns about Germany appropriating the islands became more focused. The sale was ratified in 1916 for $25,000,000. 

Here's where it get interesting. At that time, Denmark insisted that the US make a declaration about Greenland. In the Convention Between the United States and Denmark for the Cession of the Danish West Indies, prepared by Robert Lansing and signed by President Woodrow Wilson and signed on August 4, 1916, there is, tucked at the bottom, a little paragraph:

DECLARATION

In proceeding this day to the signature of the Convention respecting the cession of the Danish West-Indian Islands to the United States of America, the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.

In other words, the US has no viable claim on Greenland and no grounds for annexing or otherwise absorbing it into the United States.

Of course, we know how reliable treaties from the 19th and early 20th century are when it comes to sovereignty and indigenous rights. However, this is a treaty with a sovereign nation with whom we have a long standing alliance. In fact, the US signed a Defense of Greenland Agreement with Denmark in 1951 in which

...the US unambiguously recognizes ‘the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark’ over Greenland. In the updated agreement of 2004, the US expressly notes the change of the status of the territory from colony to that of an ‘equal part of the Kingdom of Denmark,’ precluding any US challenge to the lawfulness of that change of 1953.

 That said...

The US has repeatedly attempted to buy Greenland from Denmark, beginning in 1867 as proposed by Seward, the same guy who gave us the icebox known as Alaska. It failed, along with attempts in 1910, 1946, 1949, and 1955. All attempts have been rebuffed not only by Denmark, but by Greenlanders as well. In 2019, Feckless President Felon told Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen he wanted to buy Greenland and she told him that was absurd. He tried again with Norway, and they shot him down as well. 

As we descend further into the Caverns of the Ridiculous, he's the latest attempt of the Dementor-in-Chief's to get Greenland: he wants a consolation prize for not getting the Nobel Peace Prize. I kid you not. T. From the New York Times:

Text message from Mr. Trump to Mr. Store [Prime Minister of NORWAY] on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 4:15 p.m.:

Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT

The TriWizard Cup

Is this the action of a world leader? Is this the action of an adult? Hundreds of people are now posting memes of President Felon being presented with everything from bowling trophies to participation certificates. The man is unhinged. 

But it's far worse than trophies and prizes. He has cut off funding for childcare in five states. All five have Democratic governors. Thousands of children will be unable to attend day care. It's not simple like, "Oh, they can stay home." It means thousands of parents won't be able to go to work. Many will lose their jobs. They're already lost their health insurance and now they will lose the ability to provide for their families. This is not an an investigation into fraud; this is punishment. 

On January 13th, he posted a screed on Truth Social that ended with this:

FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!  

9.31k ReTruths                             35.3k Likes                         Jan 13, 2026,7:40 AM

How is this NOT weaponization and threats? It's a call to war. And that's exactly what he wants so he can invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.  He really thinks that's gonna stop Minnesotans? The man is delusional.  But we already know thia. 

Where is Congress as their constituents starve and freeze? Where is the Supreme Court to prod someone, anyone, to take action against the fascist despot bent on destroying families if not through insane arrests, but through starvation and disease? Where are the adults because they sure as hell are not in the room. 

And he wants to buy Greenland.He wants to "fast track" the building of the cheesy gold-flocked ballroom.  He is mad; crazy mad like a hatter. And the people that voted him in...the south...will be the hardest hit. Who will they blame? Anyone who isn't that feckless asshole in the Tacky Gold House.

Meanwhile, back at what's left of the ranch.....

Whatever happened to WE, THE PEOPLE  OF THE UNITED STATES? 

We were supposed to be forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defence, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? That is why we did ordain and establish this Constitution FOR the United States of America.

We're coming up on our 250th anniversary, What will we have left to celebrate by July? I am just not sure. 

[Thank you, Arthur, for sending the updated info on Who Owns Greenland.]

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

This is a Margaret Atwood quote...an excellent one at that

Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. 

Women are afraid that men will kill them.