This young man made me cry. No one should have to live in fear, especially children. Listening also made me fearful that these monsters will target him and his family.
Sitting in the library crying listening to this young man, boy really, terrified. I wanted to hug him and tell it’s going to be ok. But is it? What courage he has to speak up.
trump wouldn't have cried if he'd read this because he is subhuman! He is in the rogue's gallery of dictatorships with Putin, Kim and the other despots who he's trying to emulate. I can only pray that his age and various infirmities which are being kept from public view by his handlers, rapidly leads to his death! Just looking at him on TV shows the public a very ill old man! A fake tan doesn't make a sick man look healthy.
Like I said on BlueSky…how do they go home at night and answer the “How was your day dear?” question?
“Well, we ransacked a child care center, terrorized a bunch of pre-school kids and yanked their teacher out from right in front of them…then, off we went.” “Other than that, just normal stuff…” And how do you explain that to your kids…🤷♂️
That's a new one to me. If I ever doubted that Nazis were mentally warped, that would have erased the doubt. I fear it's true also of far too many of this gigantic horde that's constituting ICE.
It's actually easier than you think to employ these masked agents. One, they are masked. Two, they think they are getting rid of "THEM" the people who are some how harming our country. Three, don't discount the money. When people are falling on hard times - it's real easy to persuade them with an amazing salary, student loan forgiveness and the idea that they are doing something patriotic. It breaks my heart every time I see them here. I hate what they are doing to our community, but I also hate what they are becoming and doing to themselves.
Well, I agree with the thought, but the truth is being “college educated” does not make you kind or compassionate or a decent human being. Please remember that Trump, Stephen Miller, Steven Bannon….we can go down the list - all graduated from “prestigious” colleges/universities. So, yeah, these people… these horrible people… are joining to be cruel, get a “good” salary and yes, get their student loans paid off. Here is the glimpse at what they are being offered: Starting Pay & Bonuses
Entry-level ICE agents typically start around $50,000–$60,000 annually.
Experienced or returning agents may be offered salaries up to $100,000, especially under recent recruitment pushes.
Sign-on bonuses can reach $50,000, depending on role and prior experience.
Some positions include student loan repayment up to $60,000. ☹️
I can understand that sentiment. Even though it's hard, I keep trying to see them as human beings making horrible mistakes -- I try and keep my humanity as best I can. I'm not always successful, but I try. So trust me, I hear you 100%.
Sadly, we must be the laughing stock of the entire world. 😢
Emma Lazarus looked at us as a shing example of "The impossible dream"...where people, ANY people, rich, poor, in the middle people could go and make a FREE life. Free from pogroms, slaughter, hatefulness, terror! And yet, and yet.....here we are. I watched the video of Mannie and cried my eyes out. This was a result of tactics that reeked of Stalin's pogroms, Hitler's removals, and to think...we live in the 21st century and it's here we go again. Truly 😔 😟 🙁 😥 😞
I don't think we are the laughingstock of the whole world--maybe just Putin and North Korea. I think most of the world is probably shaking their head in sadness because of the fallout from the current regime.
Terry, how can we push back and stop this? Elections, yes, but I’m terrified of the 3 years until we can oust Trump. His thugs are destroying the best parts of our country. I feel so helpless. I live in a very Democratic area in the country so complaining to my Representatives and Senators is “preaching to the choir.” When I try to send protesting emails to Mike Johnson or other representatives, I’m blocked as a non-resident of their districts. And now I see that Trump is entertaining Orban at the White House. It is almost surreal.
Be glad, Gretchen, that you live in a Democratic region - there are many in my immediate area as well, but ours is, unfortunately, a very red state run by a host of deaf-eared Republicans.
They are now looking to redistrict so they can try to control the entire state. It sickens me to see how one-track-minded (not to mention ignorant and uncaring) they are to the point that contacting them is pointless and a waste of time. Sad but true.
Hey Victoria -- but thank you for being you and for sharing your truth! The redistricting thing is hard for sure, but here in California we've done our part and hopefully other Blue states will jump in the fray if need be. But for all of you who are in Red states holding the line and doing what you can -- that's BRAVE! That's no small feat! So, don't lose hope. WE got'chyu. And we appreciate you! (and yes, I've decided to speak on behalf of all Californians today. Ha.)
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Carmen! 😊 And hopefully all us sane-minded, sensible blue dots in red states and all you lucky blue-staters can pull together a coup of our own and oust the GOP out of the stratosphere in the mid-terms! 🙏
Hi Gretchen - stay connected, stay on top of what is going on, but try to find hope in all of it. Be kind to yourself. I keep stating this is a marathon -- and we have all just laced up our shoes. I would say, try and talk to your neighbors more, your family more, your coworkers, more. Make sure people are aware of what is going on... and please take good care of yourself. You are among so many other people fighting. It does feel helpless at times, but then there are moment that we MUST acknowledge and hold onto like this past Tuesdays election. We will make it through this, because there is no other choice. But how we get there matters. Stay healthy - of mind and spirit. Take care of you.
Many hands make light work. Our local food banks and libraries need as much help as they can get, getting involved there can save lives today especially as the holidays approach. Giving money is useful, but we sleep happier after giving time - I know I have at least done what I could to help.
Terry, I was talking with a German named Michael a few years ago on a train in Scotland--about the risk of either of our countries ending up in the scenario we are now in. It was hard enough then to reckon with the likelihood of it. Now that this is our reality, I am ashamed and distraught about what is left of our country, more than I can convey. I am disgusted at our collective reflection. I have aged out of the possibility to immigrate elsewhere for work, and don't have the means to retire abroad in a few years. If I could do either...I would.
Same! I am friends with three different women who moved to America from Canada, Germany and Greece. All are considering moving from America to their birth country because they are so appalled by what trump is doing!
What heartbreaking videos, that tiny woman being manhandled by two goons, a child in tears asking for help for his family and friends. Why did we come to this and why are so many of our fellow Americans still cheering it on? Yes, this week's elections were encouraging, but there's obviously still a lot of work to be done.
Radical right wing media does a lot of the mischief to distort humanity. They should ALL be deeply ashamed, but I fear that they will not understand the depth of what they've done until they pass over into the next world.
You are so right Tracy! "Americans" continue to cheer this on because they don't value humans they believe are not like them - they don't see them as Americans - ie human. They cheer it on, because even though we are both human, the idea is that one human is worthy and the other is of lower status. But I know you know this - don't be discouraged. I mean, feel however you must feel, but I'm here to say YES, I agree with you 100%! We have so much work to do. And we are just getting started!
Brutality and cruelty at its worst. What you wrote about Miller called it out months ago. These “Christian” gentlemen are marching to a barbaric tune. Cruelty breeds cruelty. We must overturn that with caring, kindness and courage. Call it out!
I have the recurring fantasy of tying Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, etc. to hard-backed chairs, gagging them, and forcing them to look at a video like this 16 year old child, over and over, until they get it.
Trump is a walking pathology. He's useless for something like this. He would never get it. Watch how he acted in the Oval Office w/re to the CEO having a heart attack or whatever yesterday. His soul has left the building. Ditto for Stephen Miller.
Bannon said if the MAGAts lose the midterms “many in this room are going to jail, including me.” And he’s right. We’re coming after those fascist. And we won’t stop.
Thank you for an insightful essay. This is who we have ALWAYS been, Terry. Yes, it was shoved into the dark underbelly of the nation most of the time, but we have never been a nation where "all men are created equal."
Think about it: the 1920s Klan movement with thousands of lynchings; beating and force-feeding women suffragettes before the 19th Amendment; "Harvest of Shame" and the degrading treatment of migrant workers; Civil Rights marchers being beaten with clubs and attacked by police dogs in the 1960s; Stonewall; Rodney King and George Floyd...
Add in all the school shootings met with "Thoughts and Preyers" but no regulation of guns.
This IS who we have always been -- but it isn't who we always have to be.
Bring it out into the light and CHANGE it. Keep protesting and standing up for your neighbors. Human chains, link arms, stand up and film these thugs, and if their targets manage to break free, CLOSE RANKS and let them hide among you. NEVER STAY SILENT.
Be like those who helped Anne Frank, not the scum who ratted her out.
I fully agree. I also take solace in the many Americans who have given us the example we need; people like Charles Sumner who was beaten on the Senate floor for daring to be an abolitionist, and who later helped write the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which are just as foundational to America as the preamble or bill of rights. The horrors of slavery must have seemed impossible to overcome then; but it was done. Another story I only learned this Juneteenth is that when the Union general came to Galveston to announce to the Black folks there their emancipation, they had been in open rebellion against the slaveowners for over two years, fighting for their freedom all on their own. What a powerful statement of resistance!
How many of these moments can our collective soul withstand? How many of these moments can the people with real power to change this turn away from? It makes me so sad.
I have so much faith in what we can withstand -- not that I want any more of it, but we have to keep fighting. Through the tears. Through the heartache. Take the time you need to walk through the pain, and then brush yourself off and stand back up -- we need all of us in it for the long haul. ❤️
I'm crying. I can't stop crying. I am going to be 84 next month, and I have been crying far too long for the country I used to believe in. We are a hideous reminder for everything that can go wrong. I marched for peace. I marched for civil rights, I marched for the farm workers. I thought the good guys were winning. I was so so so wrong. NOw I spend my last days on earth CRYING for this young man, his family and all the victims of the AGE of tRump. This is the UGLY AMERICA of 2025. Most people with what used to be called a sense of humanity or a moral compass are in the cross hairs of AMERICAN FASCISM.
This young man made me cry. No one should have to live in fear, especially children. Listening also made me fearful that these monsters will target him and his family.
He made me cry, too, Kendra. It took courage for him to speak up.
Sitting in the library crying listening to this young man, boy really, terrified. I wanted to hug him and tell it’s going to be ok. But is it? What courage he has to speak up.
"Listening also made me fearful that these monsters will target him and his family... "
No one is safe. They can target ALL of us, ALL our neighbors, ALL our loved ones...
I’ve watched it twice and cried each time. How any human being could hear this and not be moved is beyond me.
trump wouldn't have cried if he'd read this because he is subhuman! He is in the rogue's gallery of dictatorships with Putin, Kim and the other despots who he's trying to emulate. I can only pray that his age and various infirmities which are being kept from public view by his handlers, rapidly leads to his death! Just looking at him on TV shows the public a very ill old man! A fake tan doesn't make a sick man look healthy.
Like I said on BlueSky…how do they go home at night and answer the “How was your day dear?” question?
“Well, we ransacked a child care center, terrorized a bunch of pre-school kids and yanked their teacher out from right in front of them…then, off we went.” “Other than that, just normal stuff…” And how do you explain that to your kids…🤷♂️
Goebels went home as a husband and father.
Mr. And Mrs. Goebels murdered their children so that they wouldn't have to grow up in a world without National Socialism.
That's a new one to me. If I ever doubted that Nazis were mentally warped, that would have erased the doubt. I fear it's true also of far too many of this gigantic horde that's constituting ICE.
Reading this just broke me... wow.
Yeah ur right. Many did then.
I think they employ the lowest of the low who either are desperate for money or are just evil to the core.
It's actually easier than you think to employ these masked agents. One, they are masked. Two, they think they are getting rid of "THEM" the people who are some how harming our country. Three, don't discount the money. When people are falling on hard times - it's real easy to persuade them with an amazing salary, student loan forgiveness and the idea that they are doing something patriotic. It breaks my heart every time I see them here. I hate what they are doing to our community, but I also hate what they are becoming and doing to themselves.
Yes! And experience shows they will get a pardon if needed!
Undoubtedly!
Pretty damned sure most of these thugs do not have student loans to repay.
😂🤣😂🤣
I have to laugh that anyone would become an ICE Head for student loan forgiveness. Where the F..k did they go to school and what were their classes?
Well, I agree with the thought, but the truth is being “college educated” does not make you kind or compassionate or a decent human being. Please remember that Trump, Stephen Miller, Steven Bannon….we can go down the list - all graduated from “prestigious” colleges/universities. So, yeah, these people… these horrible people… are joining to be cruel, get a “good” salary and yes, get their student loans paid off. Here is the glimpse at what they are being offered: Starting Pay & Bonuses
Entry-level ICE agents typically start around $50,000–$60,000 annually.
Experienced or returning agents may be offered salaries up to $100,000, especially under recent recruitment pushes.
Sign-on bonuses can reach $50,000, depending on role and prior experience.
Some positions include student loan repayment up to $60,000. ☹️
Thanks for the enlightening facts about ICE employees. Sad if accurate [probably is].
I could care less what they’re doing to themselves!
I can understand that sentiment. Even though it's hard, I keep trying to see them as human beings making horrible mistakes -- I try and keep my humanity as best I can. I'm not always successful, but I try. So trust me, I hear you 100%.
Probably leave for work in suit and tie then change into the gestapo gear. Neighbor and family none the wiser
They justify it as us vs them mentality.
They play that a lot because they are constantly fed that line by “that guy”.
Is that agent's wife's reply, "Oh, now I see it! You're really earning that $50,000 sign-on bonus. That makes it all OK!"
I've often wondered that -- what do they tell their children? Sigh.
They are Trump voters. They are the people who elected him, and now they’re making a living from his vision of white supremacy in America.
There are no words except this country is being run by evil people
It's absolutely shameful.
Never in my worst nightmares did I ever envision this happening in America!!!
Sadly, we must be the laughing stock of the entire world. 😢
Emma Lazarus looked at us as a shing example of "The impossible dream"...where people, ANY people, rich, poor, in the middle people could go and make a FREE life. Free from pogroms, slaughter, hatefulness, terror! And yet, and yet.....here we are. I watched the video of Mannie and cried my eyes out. This was a result of tactics that reeked of Stalin's pogroms, Hitler's removals, and to think...we live in the 21st century and it's here we go again. Truly 😔 😟 🙁 😥 😞
They're laughing... nervously.
I don't think we are the laughingstock of the whole world--maybe just Putin and North Korea. I think most of the world is probably shaking their head in sadness because of the fallout from the current regime.
There's no laughing at this.
Terry, how can we push back and stop this? Elections, yes, but I’m terrified of the 3 years until we can oust Trump. His thugs are destroying the best parts of our country. I feel so helpless. I live in a very Democratic area in the country so complaining to my Representatives and Senators is “preaching to the choir.” When I try to send protesting emails to Mike Johnson or other representatives, I’m blocked as a non-resident of their districts. And now I see that Trump is entertaining Orban at the White House. It is almost surreal.
Be glad, Gretchen, that you live in a Democratic region - there are many in my immediate area as well, but ours is, unfortunately, a very red state run by a host of deaf-eared Republicans.
They are now looking to redistrict so they can try to control the entire state. It sickens me to see how one-track-minded (not to mention ignorant and uncaring) they are to the point that contacting them is pointless and a waste of time. Sad but true.
Hey Victoria -- but thank you for being you and for sharing your truth! The redistricting thing is hard for sure, but here in California we've done our part and hopefully other Blue states will jump in the fray if need be. But for all of you who are in Red states holding the line and doing what you can -- that's BRAVE! That's no small feat! So, don't lose hope. WE got'chyu. And we appreciate you! (and yes, I've decided to speak on behalf of all Californians today. Ha.)
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Carmen! 😊 And hopefully all us sane-minded, sensible blue dots in red states and all you lucky blue-staters can pull together a coup of our own and oust the GOP out of the stratosphere in the mid-terms! 🙏
THAT IS THE PLAN! 😏❤️
Hi Gretchen - stay connected, stay on top of what is going on, but try to find hope in all of it. Be kind to yourself. I keep stating this is a marathon -- and we have all just laced up our shoes. I would say, try and talk to your neighbors more, your family more, your coworkers, more. Make sure people are aware of what is going on... and please take good care of yourself. You are among so many other people fighting. It does feel helpless at times, but then there are moment that we MUST acknowledge and hold onto like this past Tuesdays election. We will make it through this, because there is no other choice. But how we get there matters. Stay healthy - of mind and spirit. Take care of you.
Many hands make light work. Our local food banks and libraries need as much help as they can get, getting involved there can save lives today especially as the holidays approach. Giving money is useful, but we sleep happier after giving time - I know I have at least done what I could to help.
Well stated Mr. Moran! Thank you!!
Terry, I was talking with a German named Michael a few years ago on a train in Scotland--about the risk of either of our countries ending up in the scenario we are now in. It was hard enough then to reckon with the likelihood of it. Now that this is our reality, I am ashamed and distraught about what is left of our country, more than I can convey. I am disgusted at our collective reflection. I have aged out of the possibility to immigrate elsewhere for work, and don't have the means to retire abroad in a few years. If I could do either...I would.
Same! I am friends with three different women who moved to America from Canada, Germany and Greece. All are considering moving from America to their birth country because they are so appalled by what trump is doing!
What heartbreaking videos, that tiny woman being manhandled by two goons, a child in tears asking for help for his family and friends. Why did we come to this and why are so many of our fellow Americans still cheering it on? Yes, this week's elections were encouraging, but there's obviously still a lot of work to be done.
Radical right wing media does a lot of the mischief to distort humanity. They should ALL be deeply ashamed, but I fear that they will not understand the depth of what they've done until they pass over into the next world.
And then they will become those same victims.
You are so right Tracy! "Americans" continue to cheer this on because they don't value humans they believe are not like them - they don't see them as Americans - ie human. They cheer it on, because even though we are both human, the idea is that one human is worthy and the other is of lower status. But I know you know this - don't be discouraged. I mean, feel however you must feel, but I'm here to say YES, I agree with you 100%! We have so much work to do. And we are just getting started!
"Cruelty is the point." - Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
This simple sentence cannot be repeated enough.
Brutality and cruelty at its worst. What you wrote about Miller called it out months ago. These “Christian” gentlemen are marching to a barbaric tune. Cruelty breeds cruelty. We must overturn that with caring, kindness and courage. Call it out!
As I've written earlier it was clearly and unabashedly laid out in the heinous, heartless "Project 2025".
What is wrong with this administration?
Cruelty & heartless. Arrest the bad guys not the innocent
I have the recurring fantasy of tying Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, etc. to hard-backed chairs, gagging them, and forcing them to look at a video like this 16 year old child, over and over, until they get it.
Trump is a walking pathology. He's useless for something like this. He would never get it. Watch how he acted in the Oval Office w/re to the CEO having a heart attack or whatever yesterday. His soul has left the building. Ditto for Stephen Miller.
Bannon said if the MAGAts lose the midterms “many in this room are going to jail, including me.” And he’s right. We’re coming after those fascist. And we won’t stop.
Thank you for an insightful essay. This is who we have ALWAYS been, Terry. Yes, it was shoved into the dark underbelly of the nation most of the time, but we have never been a nation where "all men are created equal."
Think about it: the 1920s Klan movement with thousands of lynchings; beating and force-feeding women suffragettes before the 19th Amendment; "Harvest of Shame" and the degrading treatment of migrant workers; Civil Rights marchers being beaten with clubs and attacked by police dogs in the 1960s; Stonewall; Rodney King and George Floyd...
Add in all the school shootings met with "Thoughts and Preyers" but no regulation of guns.
This IS who we have always been -- but it isn't who we always have to be.
Bring it out into the light and CHANGE it. Keep protesting and standing up for your neighbors. Human chains, link arms, stand up and film these thugs, and if their targets manage to break free, CLOSE RANKS and let them hide among you. NEVER STAY SILENT.
Be like those who helped Anne Frank, not the scum who ratted her out.
I fully agree. I also take solace in the many Americans who have given us the example we need; people like Charles Sumner who was beaten on the Senate floor for daring to be an abolitionist, and who later helped write the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which are just as foundational to America as the preamble or bill of rights. The horrors of slavery must have seemed impossible to overcome then; but it was done. Another story I only learned this Juneteenth is that when the Union general came to Galveston to announce to the Black folks there their emancipation, they had been in open rebellion against the slaveowners for over two years, fighting for their freedom all on their own. What a powerful statement of resistance!
How many of these moments can our collective soul withstand? How many of these moments can the people with real power to change this turn away from? It makes me so sad.
I have so much faith in what we can withstand -- not that I want any more of it, but we have to keep fighting. Through the tears. Through the heartache. Take the time you need to walk through the pain, and then brush yourself off and stand back up -- we need all of us in it for the long haul. ❤️
Thank you, Carmen.
This is the fault of the current administration. They are heartless
I'm crying. I can't stop crying. I am going to be 84 next month, and I have been crying far too long for the country I used to believe in. We are a hideous reminder for everything that can go wrong. I marched for peace. I marched for civil rights, I marched for the farm workers. I thought the good guys were winning. I was so so so wrong. NOw I spend my last days on earth CRYING for this young man, his family and all the victims of the AGE of tRump. This is the UGLY AMERICA of 2025. Most people with what used to be called a sense of humanity or a moral compass are in the cross hairs of AMERICAN FASCISM.
I'm with you, sister.