US/World News
Behold! The Guardrails of Democracy!
On Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts issued a report on the state of the federal judiciary.(Civil Discource)
“The Chief Justice touched on some of the most important issues the judiciary faces today, without ever getting to the point. Reading the report, you wouldn’t know that the judiciary has been, quite frankly, under attack by this president. He writes as though he bears no responsibility for handing over unprecedented power to the president, to say nothing of the delay and ultimate grant of immunity from criminal prosecution that facilitated Trump’s return to office. Roberts acknowledges none of that. Instead, he lauds judicial independence, without ever saying that it’s only necessary for him to do so because the president and his minions are challenging judges whose decisions they dislike, as though that’s how this is supposed to work.”
The Chief Justice concludes his report [...] “As we approach the semiquincentennial of our Nation’s birth, it is worth recalling the words of President Calvin Coolidge spoken a century ago on the occasion of America’s sesquicentennial: ‘Amid all the clash of conflicting interests, amid all the welter of partisan politics, every American can turn for solace and consolation to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States with the assurance and confidence that those two great charters of freedom and justice remain firm and unshaken.’” Roberts adds in his own comment: “True then; true now.”
And look: the Trump administration is backing down, pulling back National Guard troops from Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago (LA Times)
“Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed Trump a temporary defeat, blocking him from deploying the National Guard in Chicago. In their ruling, the justices said the power to deploy troops domestically is only given to the president in “exceptional” circumstances.”
“The back-and-forth followed a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Tuesday in which Justice Department lawyers said they formally withdrew a request to keep the troops under federal control while the appeal proceeds. A subsequent order Wednesday from the appeals court returned control of the California National Guard to Newsom.”
“The president, however, said the decision was based solely on what he described as “greatly reduced” crime in those cities and left open the possibility of future federal intervention.”
LOL, nevermind! Trump just unconstitutionally launched a regime change war in Venezuela.
US “Captures” Venezuela’s Maduro and Wife in Overnight Special Operation. (Guardian)
“Donald Trump has said the US “captured” Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flew them out of the South American country during a pre-dawn assault on Caracas and the surrounding region.”
It was not immediately clear what the legal and constitutional authority was for the military operation and the capture and trial of a sovereign head of state. Nor was it clear whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand.
Newsflash: he did not. (The Hill)
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), barely able to speak with Trump’s tiny mushroom dick in his mouth, said:
‘“Congress isn’t notified when the FBI is going to arrest a drug trafficker or cyber criminal here in the United States, nor should Congress be notified when the executive branch is executing arrests on indicted persons,” adding “Congress doesn’t need to be notified every time the executive branch is making an arrest.”’
So, they’re treating the kidnapping of a foreign head of state like a routine drug charge? Got it. (CBS)
“Maduro and Flores are expected to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, to be housed. MDC is one of the few detention centers in the U.S. with the capacity for high-security defendants. It is known for housing other high-profile defendants like Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Luigi Mangione, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
“In a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York against Maduro, members of his family and his cabinet, the U.S. is accusing the South American leader of conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and to import cocaine. He is also accused of possession of and conspiracy to possess “Machineguns and Destructive Devices,” according to the indictment unsealed Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi.”
Republicans largely back Trump on Venezuela action, Democrats decry it as unjustified (ABC). Go figure.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called the military action “decisive” and a “justified operation that will protect American lives.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune ‘argued Trump’s actions were undertaken as part of “the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant.”’
“Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, one of the Senate’s most vocal advocates for congressional war authorizations, issued a scathing statement on Trump’s actions in Venezuela and called for Congress to take up his resolution that would block the use of the U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.”
“Kaine, along with California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and co-sponsor GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, introduced a war powers resolution last month to block the use of the U.S. military to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress. That legislation is ready to be called up for a vote. The Senate returns to Washington next week on Monday, while the House returns on Tuesday.”
‘GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky posted on X: “If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law.”’
‘Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia posted, in part, “If U.S. military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives from deadly drugs then why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels? She added, “And if prosecuting narco terrorists is a high priority then why did President Trump pardon the former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez who was convicted and sentenced for 45 years for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into America? Ironically cocaine is the same drug that Venezuela primarily traffics into the U.S. ‘
Pick your hypocrisy
Drug trafficking? Pelosi åcriticizes Trump for Hernandez pardon, echoing Greene (NPR)
Attacking sovereign neighbors? Russia harshly criticizes US attack on Venezuela (The Hill)
Democratic legitimacy? US maintains close working relationship with at least nine authoritarian countries (Carnegie Endowment for Int’l Peace)
What is this REALLY about? Trump says U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela and sell seized oil (NPR)
‘”We’re there now, but we’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” Trump told reporters from Mar-a-Lago in Florida. “So we’re going to stay until such time as we’re going to run it, essentially, until such time as a proper transition can take place.”’
“Trump said a group of people would step in to run Venezuela, including Secretary of State Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and added U.S. oil companies would have military back up as they move into the region.”
‘”We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said. “And we have to have, we had boots on the ground last night at a very high level. Actually, we’re not afraid of it, we’re we don’t mind saying it, but we’re going to make sure that that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain.”’
‘”We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela, and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country,” Trump said.’
Oh, you like regime change wars? Trump threatens another in Iran
Mass protests over the cost of living spread across Iran (Al Jazeera)
“So far, at least seven people have been killed and 44 people have been arrested since shopkeepers in Tehran first shuttered their businesses on Sunday to protest against Iran’s economic crisis.”
“What began as a single protest about the collapse of the Iranian economy by shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Sunday had spread to 17 of Iran’s 31 provinces by New Year’s Eve with students and demonstrators from across Iranian society joining the wave of demonstrations.”
Tehran’s previous hardline responses to public unrest have been marked by the deaths of protesters. However, so far, despite a number of isolated clashes between protesters and security forces, Pezeshkian’s government has held back from an outright crackdown and appears ready to listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters.
Trump says U.S. will intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters (NBC)
‘If Iran “kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump said in an overnight post on Truth Social.’
‘Senior Iranian officials fired back, warning that U.S. intervention would spark regional chaos and make American forces in the Middle East “legitimate targets.”’
Gee, what if they just “shot them in the legs or something?” Esper says Trump wanted to shoot protesters (Axios)
The irony of targeting these leaders for the undemocratic way they govern their people when Trump is engaging in collective punishment of his people at home.
Trump administration freezing federal child care funds (PBS)
‘The Trump administration has said it is freezing child care funds to all states until they provide more verification and administrative data about the programs in a move fueled by a series of fraud schemes at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents.’
‘All 50 states will have to provide additional levels of verification and administrative data before they receive more funding from the Child Care and Development Fund, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson. However, before Minnesota can receive child care funds again, it will have to provide even more verification for child care centers in that state that are suspected of fraud, such as attendance and licensing records, past enforcement actions and inspection reports.’
Freeze comes in response to viral video by right-wing provocateur (NPR)
‘Nick Shirley, a 23-year-old self-described “independent YouTube journalist,” posted the 42-minute video on X and YouTube the day after Christmas.’
‘In it, he and an older man — identified only as “David” — visit various seemingly empty day care centers, bombarding Somali employees with questions and accusing them of not providing services to any children despite receiving public funds. The pair claim to have exposed over $110 million in fraud.’
Turns out the other guy is a right-wing lobbyist who called Muslims “demons” (Intercept)
‘Shirley’s main source is a lobbyist and one-time right-wing candidate for Minnesota attorney general whose full name is David Hoch. Accounts bearing his name have a long online history posting about the Somali community in Minnesota. A TikTok and a recently deleted Instagram account posted almost exclusively on the subject — including derogatory statements about Somalis and Muslims.’
“EVERY Somali in MN is engaged in fraud. ALL of them,” Hoch posted on the now-deleted Instagram account.
In November, he posted, “Even the Blacks have had enough of the demon Muslims.”
More disgusting claims in THIS video
“The allegedly stolen funds are being sent to terrorist organizations.”
“We have to be careful because these [Somali] people are very violent, they’re exceptionally violent.”
“Tim Walz is guilty of misconduct with a public employee.”
Also turns out, many of the claims in the video are bullcrap (Qasim Rashid)
‘First, what Shirley allegedly “uncovered” is not some new scandal. Since 2022 several of these same day care centers have been fined and shutdown for violating the law. Local media in Minnesota has already reported on that alleged fraud and reported on the subsequent FBI investigations.’
‘Second, former U.S. Attorney Andy Luger is already on record rejecting Shirley’s claim that any of the 70 people his office prosecuted had any ties whatsoever to “terrorism” in the United States or overseas.’
Third, in addition to local media and law enforcement already tackling this fraud, employees of the day care centers themselves sounded the alarm well over a year ago. Shirley’s claim that “all Somalis think as one” is both racist and unfounded. It’s also worth noting that while Shirley claims “Somalis are violent,” Minnesota is one of the safest states in the country.’
‘Fourth and finally, for as much as Shirley insists fraud problems in Minnesota begin and end with Somalis, nowhere in his 42 minute propaganda piece does he admit, let alone acknowledge, that the accused ring leader who was convicted of leading the largest prosecuted fraud in Minnesota is a white woman named Aimee Bock.’
What is the point of all this? Virulent anti-Somali bigotry? A hit job on Governor Walz? A larger pattern of targeting Democrat-led states?
Well, if it’s the latter, his veto of a Colorado Water Project – and a slew of targeted hits on the state – fits the bill. (NY Times)
‘On Tuesday, Trump used the first veto of his second term to kill a pipeline project to provide clean drinking water to [Colorado’s] eastern plains, a largely conservative area.’
The administration has also ‘cut off transportation money, relocated the military’s Space Command, vowed to dismantle a leading climate and weather research center and rejected disaster relief for rural counties hammered by floods and wildfires,’ in what looks like politically-motivated retribution against the Rocky Mountain State.
‘If there were any doubts about Mr. Trump’s sentiments toward the state’s leaders, he posted a New Year’s Eve message telling Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, and the Republican district attorney in Mesa County who prosecuted [Trump ally Tina] Peters, Daniel P. Rubinstein, to “rot in Hell.”’
[Rep. Lauren] ‘Boebert put out a statement on Tuesday raising the possibility that the veto was retribution for her support of legislation that forced the release of documents related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’, saying, ‘“I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability.”’.
‘Many leaders in Colorado see the series of presidential moves as political payback for the state’s refusal to free Ms. Peters, a former county clerk in western Colorado who was convicted of tampering with voting machines in a failed effort to prove Mr. Trump’s false claims that Democrats stole the 2020 election from him.’
So it appears Trump will punish his own voters in ‘blue states’ just for political vengeance. Are you feeling ‘GREAT’ yet?
And that’s not to mention the classic autocratic move – stealing votes and rigging elections. (Stateline)
‘The U.S. Postal Service has adopted a new rule that could create doubt about whether some ballots mailed by voters by Election Day will receive postmarks in time to be counted.’
‘A USPS rule that took effect on Dec. 24 says mail might not receive a postmark on the same day the agency takes possession of it. The postal service says it isn’t changing its existing postmark practices and is merely clarifying its policy, but some election officials have looked to postmarks as a guarantee that mail ballots were cast before polls closed.’
‘The new rule holds implications for 14 states and Washington, D.C., that count ballots arriving after Election Day if they are postmarked on or before that day — commonly called a “ballot grace period.” In these states, ballots placed in the mail by voters before the deadline may not be counted if the postal service applies a postmark after Election Day.’
‘The USPS rule says that “the postmark date does not necessarily indicate the first day that the Postal Service had possession of the mailpiece.”’
Then what good is a postmark? Is this simply about logistics or a targeted way to chip away at vote total? What are the implications beyond ballots?
Also This Week
Department of Justice is reviewing over 5.2 million Jeffrey Epstein files (PBS)
US says it thwarted potential ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack in North Carolina (Reuters)
Kennedy Center
The Hill: Artists Boycott Kennedy Center Amid Trump Takeover
The Independent: Grenell claims ‘legacy media’ is encouraging artists to boycott
Back-to-Back Mar-a-Lago Meetings:
The Guardian: Trump says ‘tough’ issues remain for Ukraine peace deal after meeting Zelenskyy in Florida
TYT: Trump GLAZES War Criminal Netanyahu in Embarrassing Meeting at Mar-a-Lago
Indiana News
Heartbreaking update to a story we discussed last week: The body of Robert “RJ” Williams was found on Saturday afternoon (Fox 59)
‘On Friday, detectives with IMPD said they believed that Williams fell into the White River after they found his belongings near the river. Cameras in the area show that around 4:40 p.m., Williams headed down to the dock.’
‘In a search of Williams’ phone, messages also show that he was down on the ice. He sent a message to someone telling them he was walking on the ice and sent a photo of himself on the ice.’
Research shows [neurodivergent kids] are 160 times more likely to die from drowning than their neurotypical peers (Seattle Children’s)
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-robert-earl-williams-jr-memorial-fund
More bad news for Indiana kids:
Hoosier families on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will not have the opportunity to take advantage of the federal SUN Bucks program next year (Fox 59)
‘The program, also known as Summer EBT, offered low-income families $120 per child to buy groceries in the summer. The state opted into the program in 2024 – a move that kept more than 600,000 Hoosier children fed that summer, according to the USDA.’
‘The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) Secretary Mitch Roob said Monday that the state would need to find an additional $5-7 million dollars it doesn’t have to administer the program.’
It should be noted that Governor Mike Braun had a personal net worth of $136M as of 2018 (Open Secrets). You think that number has gone down?
‘This May, the FSSA announced that Indiana would not participate in the program in 2025. At the time, the FSSA said that the Braun Administration had “discovered that the necessary groundwork had not been completed to launch the program in time for this summer.”’
They blamed the Holcomb admin then. Now, they’re openly saying, “F those kids.”
So, Indiana Republicans won’t help Hoosier children eat, but they will police what parents can buy with SNAP. (PBS) (WSBT)
Beginning January 1, ‘Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first of at least 18 states to enact waivers prohibiting the purchase of certain foods through SNAP.’
‘The efforts are aimed at reducing chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes associated with sweetened drinks and other treats, a key goal of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again effort.’
‘But retail industry and health policy experts said state SNAP programs, already under pressure from steep budget cuts, are unprepared for the complex changes, with no complete lists of the foods affected and technical point-of-sale challenges that vary by state and store. And research remains mixed about whether restricting SNAP purchases improves diet quality and health.’
‘Health experts worry that the waivers ignore larger factors affecting the health of SNAP recipients’
“This doesn’t solve the two fundamental problems, which is healthy food in this country is not affordable and unhealthy food is cheap and ubiquitous,” said Anand Parekh, chief health policy officer at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Seems the rules are being implemented willy-nilly. You can’t buy sports drinks, granola bars, or a rotisserie chicken, but you can still buy fruit juice, potato chips, and ice cream. What’s REALLY the point here?
The Trump/RFK experiment with Hoosiers’ health continues, as ‘Indiana will receive more than $200 million to invest in rural health care (IndyStar) quality and access in 2026, [...] part of part of a five-year, $50 billion program specifically meant for investing in rural health initiatives as part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July. All 50 states received some type of grant award from this first $10 billion round, with Indiana’s $207 million being roughly the average amount given.’
‘This is the same law that made massive cuts and policy changes to Medicaid in an effort to pay for the bill’s trillions of dollars in tax cuts. Senators added this $50 billion rural health fund late in the process to sweeten the deal for Republicans who were uneasy about the Medicaid cuts.’
We previously discussed Indiana’s proposal for rural health , called GROW, when the state’s application for this federal program dropped in November. (Capital Chronicle)
‘The plan is described as a “collaborative effort” to be jointly led by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the Indiana Department of Health.’
‘It outlines 12 major initiatives, including a statewide patient-transfer coordination hub, significant upgrades to Indiana’s health information exchange, and large new regional grants intended to reshape how rural care is delivered.’
Regions of the state would have to compete against one another for these dollars.
So, cause a problem and come up with a half-ass solution?
Tuesday, despite bitter cold and the between-holiday doldrums, a ”large group of central Indiana residents packed the North Wayne Elementary School cafeteria to learn more about the [...] LEAP Innovation District, and how it could affect Eagle Creek.“ (WRTV)
Those gathered discussed ‘plans released by Citizens Energy Group to pump water from Eagle Creek Reservoir to Lebanon for the LEAP District, as well as Lebanon Utilities’ plans to pump wastewater back into the reservoir from the industrial site.’
‘Citizens signed a contract last year with the Indiana Finance Authority to provide the water to Lebanon Utilities after a fast-tracked plan by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to supply 100 million gallons of water per day stalled amid public backlash from angry residents and state leaders. The original plan, which involved pumping water from the Wabash River to the LEAP project through a proposed billion-dollar pipeline, was shrouded in secrecy.’ (WTHR)
Limitless Exploration Advanced Pace - maybe too fast? They didn’t consider the water problem and now regular Hoosiers have to play whack-a-mole to protect the sources of their drinking water?
Indiana’s Republican leaders are messing with people’s water, playing The Hunger Games with rural health, and taking food out of kids’ mouths. And these people have the audacity to call themselves Christians.
‘Gov. Mike Braun and Attorney General Todd Rokita announced they are pushing to place a monument with the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights at the Indiana Statehouse’ (IndyStar)
‘The pair of Republican elected officials said they are seeking to overturn a 20-year-old court injunction that found the proposed monument’s placement on state property to be a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The legal challenge was filed on Dec. 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.’
‘The U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned a legal standard previously used to find the monument unconstitutional. That decision paves the way for Braun and Rokita to argue the monument would be permitted under the new lowered threshold.’
Bringing it back full circle to the beginning of the show - if the bedrock First Amendment is up to the political whims of religious fundamentalists, is the Constitution REALLY “firm and unshaken?”
And State Rep Michelle Davis wants the 10 Commandments displayed in every classroom in the state. HB1086 is just one of the High Alert bills being highlighted on the MADVoters Bill Tracker. This year’s session of the General Assembly begins in earnest Monday. Now, normally the first full week of January would mark the official opening of the state legislature, but they’re coming back from recess after having come into session a month early in a failed effort to ram through President Trump’s preferred gerrymandered congressional maps.
What bills are YOU watching?
Finally this week, Indiana football beats Alabama in Rose Bowl Game for first bowl win since 1991 (Daily Hoosier)
It’s the Hoosiers’ first Rose Bowl win ever.
They advance to a rematch with Oregon in the national semifinals at the Peach Bowl on Friday.
We truly are living in the Upside Down.
