Progressive Thinking

Most Americans agree violent criminals should be dealt with. What they do not support is rounding people up based on how they look. Why Trump’s immigration push is really about control, and why turning ICE into a personal police force should alarm everyone.

LAKE GENEVA, WI - Let me be clear about something first. No one is arguing to protect violent criminals or sex offenders. I do not believe most Americans want that. We want dangerous people handled lawfully, fairly, and with due process.

What we do not support is Donald Trump’s approach to immigration.

Trump talks about criminals, but his actions tell a different story. His version of enforcement looks like rounding up people who look like immigrants and getting them out of the country fast, loud, and with maximum fear. Florida has already shown us what that looks like. Raids, intimidation, and law enforcement used as political theater.

When Trump’s attempts to use the military for domestic enforcement were stopped, and his efforts to broadly deploy the National Guard were blocked or limited, I believe he pivoted. Instead, he began pushing to turn ICE into something else entirely. A personal federal police force designed to do his bidding.

That is the real danger.

We already have immigration laws. We already have courts. What Trump keeps demanding is enforcement driven by loyalty, not law. Who gets targeted depends on who he points at, not who poses a real threat.

History is painfully clear about where this leads.

In Germany, Adolf Hitler used fear of internal enemies to justify expanding police power. The Gestapo did not begin as a horror story. It began as “necessary enforcement.” Once police answered to a leader instead of the law, ordinary people lost their protection.

Trump’s own words matter. He talks about retribution. He attacks judges. He praises strongmen. He demands immunity. These are not the instincts of someone who respects limits on power.

A federal police force loyal to Trump would not make America safer. It would make him safer by ignoring wrongdoing by allies and targeting immigrants, protesters, journalists, and political opponents.

This is not about left versus right.

It is about law versus loyalty.

And history has already told us how that story ends.

Read my latest Don’t Blink! blog post at LauraKiefert.blog

From Senator Murkowski’s candid admission of internal fear to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s aggressive stance on social services, the GOP’s actions reveal a party more committed to power than to the people it serves.

LAKE GENEVA, WI - The Republican Party isn’t just broken. It’s dangerous. And if you had any lingering doubts, this past week ripped the mask off once and for all.

While Americans mourned yet another tragedy, struggled with skyrocketing costs, and watched chaos unfold at our borders, what did Republicans do? They pandered to fear. They protected corruption. They actively made life worse for the people they claim to serve.

Let’s break it down:

Afraid of Their Own Shadow

Even Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski admitted it: the GOP is paralyzed by fear. Not fear of the people they were elected to represent — fear of Donald Trump. Fear of mean tweets. Fear of losing their cushy jobs. Instead of standing for the Constitution, instead of protecting democracy, they cower at the feet of a man who demands loyalty oaths like a two-bit dictator. Their fear is so profound that they allow injustice to flourish simply to protect their own political skins. Cowards. Every last one of them.

Gutting Social Services Under the Banner of “Efficiency”

Marjorie Taylor Greene, the face of today’s Republican Party, hosted a town hall this week where she pushed for the expansion of government offices designed to slash “waste” — and by “waste,” she meant things like Social Security and Medicaid. You know, the programs millions of Americans rely on to survive. When constituents protested, police were called. Arrests were made. Greene didn’t back down — she doubled down, sneering at the very people who would suffer most from her proposals. The cruelty isn’t accidental. It’s the point.

Lawlessness on Full Display

The Trump administration showed exactly how much respect they have for the law — none. Despite a Supreme Court order, they continued deporting immigrants under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act. They are literally ignoring the highest court in the land because they believe rules are for other people, not for them. What do Republicans in Congress have to say about this blatant lawlessness? Nothing. Silence. Complicity. They don’t care about the rule of law. They care about using the law as a weapon against the powerless.

The Most Out-of-Touch Priorities Possible

While real Americans bled in the streets and struggled to pay their bills, Donald Trump — the leader of the Republican Party — decided his big rallying cry this week would be… ending daylight saving time. Kids are dying. Families are starving. Veterans are sleeping in the streets. And Trump is mad about changing the clocks. You cannot make this shit up.

Militarizing the Border While America Falls Apart

And just to round out the week, House Republicans unveiled plans to dump even more taxpayer dollars into border militarization and mass deportations — an obsession so extreme that it consumes every ounce of their focus while the rest of the country crumbles. No solutions for inflation. No real plans for healthcare. No answers on gun violence. Just cruelty. Just fear. Just punishment.