The Politics of Fear                                       #371

By Hank Silverberg

Commentary

Imagine for a minute you are walking down the street on your way to the grocery store or to visit a friend in your own neighborhood.  All of a sudden two non-descript vans pull up beside you. Several men wearing masks and carrying guns, jump out and confront you, asking you to provide I-D to prove you are an American. If you are a White person who speaks without an accent, you are probably not worried about this. If you are a member of a minority or an immigrant, you are probably scared, and that is what they want. 

This is how ICE is operating in Minneapolis and other cities across the United States. If you ask them for their I-D or don't produce one of your own, you could be arrested. So could your neighbor across the street who has the audacity to ask what is going on, and to start using their phone to take video.  

These tactics have also been used against peaceful protestors who show up when ICE comes into a neighborhood, or who gather in front of federal  buildings. 

This has been happening so far on a small scale, though we have seen a new video of this abuse almost every day now. In addition, ICE has used tear gas and other methods to disperse protestors. 

Now, after one protestor was killed and a family of six was teargassed as they sat in their car, a federal judge has ruled that such tactics can NOT be used against peaceful protests.   

The Department of Homeland Security has been arguing that those arrested were interfering with their operations, but so much of the video from these incidents shows otherwise, and it's clear that is a lie. 

The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed under the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The right to walk down the street without being harassed by law enforcement is guaranteed by the 4th Amendment. And there is no law that says you have to show your I-D to a law officer who does not identify himself (If they don't show a badge, how do you know they are police?).  

They need probable cause to stop you or enter your home or car, and a warrant to enter your home. 

In the last nine months, at least 170 U.S. citizens have been arrested or detained in this way. Those are documented, but there are likely more that didn't reach the state of actual arrest. 

The current campaign by ICE under the Trump administration is no longer about finding and deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records.  Now it's about intimidating anyone who doesn't fit their narrative and fall in line with their white supremacist agenda. 

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/17/us/ice-shooting-minneapolis-protests-renee-good-hnk

News You May Have Missed!

Board of Peace?

Remember the war in Gaza? We haven't heard much about what is going on there since the cease fire was reached late last year. Well, the White House has now set up a new "Board of Peace" to make decisions about Gaza. Trump has appointed

himself chairman, but there are some other key players who will probably be more involved in the actual implementation of any peace plan. They will work with "technocrats" for the temporary governance of Gaza to stabilize the region. 

Notably, there are no women and no Palestinians on the founding board, though additional members may be announced in the coming weeks. 

Who is on the founding board?  Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is the only board member who is not American. Others on the board, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner, billionaire Marc Rowman, the CEO of Apollo Global Management, a large New York based private equity firm, Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank, and Robert Gabriel, U.S. National Security Advisor. 

The White House also says that Nickola Mladenov, a Bulgarian politician and former U.N. Middle East Envoy, will represent the board on the ground in Gaza. There will be a 15 member Palestinian technocratic committee to manage the day-to-day governance of Gaza. It will be led by Ali Shaath, the former Deputy Minister of the Palestinian Authority which governs the parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control.

It's unclear what the reaction will be from Hamas, which still has a large armed presence in Gaza.    

Disturbing Trend

Did you catch the taped interview with President Trump on the CBS Evening News with their new anchor, Tony Dokoupil conducted inside a Ford motor plant in Michigan?  It was a mediocre interview that broke no new ground on news and appeared almost like a self congratulatory on-air appearance. Trump spent part of it flattering the new anchor, and Dokoupil wasn't really asking hard questions. It went on for 13 minutes, much too long for a half hour broadcast of the evening news. Now

comes word that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned CBS that the interview had to be aired in full or the network would have another lawsuit on its hands. The New York Times has an audio tape in which Leavitt made the threat.

In 2024, Trump sued CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview, and the network settled out of court for $16 million.  

The network claims it planned to air the entire interview all along, but that seems unlikely since there wasn't much news in it. Dokoupil is not getting off to a good start. The concept of a White House Press Secretary making such a threat to a journalist would have been considered a dangerous and unethical precedent. But now, the once mighty and journalistically sound CBS News division is slowly deteriorating to the point of no return. It's sad. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/business/media/cbs-news-trump-interview.html

Dumbest Quote of The Week 

There have been a great number of dumb quotes over the past week, but this one I could not ignore. It comes from the President of the United States, Donald Trump. 

After bombing boats off Venezuela, kidnaping that country's president and then threatening to invade Greenland, he was asked if there are any limitations on his power. His response was: 

"Yeah. There is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me. I don't need international law."

While it fits the category of dumb quote, it is also a frightening one. The total arrogance of the man who said it and his lack of understanding of the job he holds, should have every American angry.

 Do you trust the morality of a man who defrauded college students with a fake university, was convicted of 34 felony counts by a jury, cheated on all three of his wives, and sparked the January 6th, 2021 attack on the Capitol with his fake narratives about stolen elections? 

The man has no morals. 

(You suggestions and comments  are welcome)

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