Donald Trump and maga Republicans must allow Pastoral clergy to give Roman Catholic Sacraments to migrants in ICE prisons

BREAKING: In response to ICE's refusal to allow detained migrants to receive the Eucharist, Pope Leo XIV calls on Donald Trump and JD Vance to respect the dignity and religious liberty of migrants in the United States. “The authorities must allow pastoral workers to assist with the needs of these people. Many times they have been separated from their families and no one knows what happens,” said Pope Leo.

Echo essay published in the Daily Beast by Michael Daley

How This 91-Year-Old Nun’s Battle With ICE Shamed ‘Catholic’ JD Vance

An Eucharistic procession to the Broadview ICE center in Illinois, advocating for religious access for detained migrants.

As he presses his wife, Usha Vance, to convert from her native Hinduism, Vice President JD Vance might try better adhering to his newly adopted faith.

One timely and lively example for him to follow would be Sister JoAnn Persch, a 91-year-old nun who has been regularly visiting the Broadview ICE facility in suburban Chicago for two decades. 

She was among 2,000 of the faithful who gathered for Mass at a makeshift altar across from the facility on November 1.

“All Saints Day on November 1 is a sacred feast day in the Catholic tradition and we wish to include them in a religious service by offering them holy communion on this day,” her group had noted in a written request that ICE said it required at least a week beforehand. “We will be gathering that day for an outdoor Catholic Mass 🕇🕈and our request is for a small delegation of eight religious ministers to provide Holy Communion during the Mass while our gathering remains outside of the ICE facility in peaceful prayer.”

When time at the Mass for communion, Persch and Chicago Auxiliary Bishop José María Garcia-Maldonado and six others carried the Host the 100 yards from the altar to a checkpoint the Illinois State Police established outside the ICE building. An officer relayed by telephone the group’s request to come in. ICE denied them entrance for safety reasons.

“Now, I want to know whose safety?” Persch later told the Daily Beast. “Are we going to attack the immigrants? Are they going to attack me? I don’t think so.”

She noted that she had been visiting ICE prisoners in local jails for years and nobody had tried to harm her. That left only the ICE agents.

“Do they think coming with the Blessed Sacrament of the Catholic Church that we were going to attack them” she asked.

Persch walked back to the gathering and asked them to remain silent after she announced ICE’s decision, no matter how they felt.

She stood before the faithful and made the anticipatory request for silence. She then reported what might have been expected to trigger boos and angry shouts.

”The answer was ‘no’.”

The response surprised her. It was a testament to the power of moral authority possessed by someone who actively lives the gospel every day, as taught by the Roman Catholic Church that Vance says he embraces.

“I was amazed, 2,000 people, it was dead silent.” Persch told The Daily Beast. “There were tears, but for several minutes, they were so respectful of that moment, which was a very sacred moment.”

Should Persch ever be a candidate for sainthood, the total hush could go down as a possible miracle.

After that remarkable moment of silence among those gathered for an outdoor Mass in Broadview came a challenge to the faithful everywhere to speak out. Pope Leo XIV reacted by citing a principle by which Persch and other true Catholics guide their lives.

“Jesus says very clearly at the end of the world, we’re going to be asked, ‘How did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?’” the pontiff told the press. “Many people who’ve lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now… Many times they have been separated from their families and no one knows what happens…I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people.”

As reported by the Substack “Letters From Leo” by Christopher Hale, a White House spokesman responded to a request for comment by saying, “The pope doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Vance reached out to Hale on X, asking, “Hey Chris, which WH spokesperson gave you this comment❓”

But, Vance maintained a less-than-holy silence about ICE preventing detainees from receiving Holy communion. 

Donald Trump and maga Republicans continue betraying the people who voted for them- farmers and cattle ranchers are undermined

Trump’s Argentina beef deal angers America’s struggling farmers: ‘You’re selling us out’ echo published on CNN

By Samantha Delouya

Donald Trump said this week he “loved” America’s cattle ranchers. But those farmers, who overwhelmingly supported the president in the 2024 election, say they aren’t feeling the love right now.

Trump is facing criticism from many US cattle ranchers after signaling support for increasing low-tariff beef imports from Argentina to ease record beef prices in the United States. The move comes just weeks after US soybean farmers blasted a separate deal with Argentina that they fear will give South American producers a competitive edge in that market.

Argentina currently accounts for just over 2% of US beef imports. Under existing rules, it can ship up to 20,000 metric tons a year at a lower tariff rate, with anything above that subject to a 26.4% tariff, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

A White House official told CNN the administration plans to raise that quota to 80,000 metric tons, effectively quadrupling the amount of Argentinian beef with low tariffs that can enter the United States.

In an interview with Fox (Fake❗)Business, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said: “Currently, Americans consume 12 million metric tons of beef. 10 million, we produce in this country. 2 million, we import. Out of 12 million, [the Argentine quota] would be 20,000 every quarter. This is not a massive influx in the millions of tons I think that some have thought of beef from Argentina.”

But Christian Lovell, an Illinois cattle farmer and the senior director of programs at Farm Action, a nonpartisan farm organization, said: “If Trump goes through with what he outlined, I do believe it’s a betrayal of the American rancher. It’s a feeling that you’re selling us out to a foreign competitor.”
Donald Trump reacted to the backlash from cattle ranchers.

“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love,🤥🙄don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil,” Trump wrote on social media.

“It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!” he added.

In a statement, Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a trade association for beef producers, said the organization and its members “cannot stand behind the President while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef in an attempt to influence prices.”

Why beef prices are at record highs: Beef prices have climbed significantly this year, up nearly 14% in the past year, according to the latest inflation data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in August.

Becca Jablonski, an agricultural economist who teaches at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business, said the price increase is fueled by multiple factors. A recent, multi-year drought decreased the amount of grazing land for cattle and made feed grain significantly more expensive, resulting in a shortage of cattle, she said.

A selection of beef cuts and sausages is displayed at Deep Cuts Butcher Shop, in Dallas, Texas, on October 21. Tony Gutierrez/AP
In fact, the shortage has also been made worse by an infestation of New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, just across the border in Mexico, significantly curtailing beef imports from that country.

Jablonski said that historically the livestock sector barely makes money, but is having a rare positive year, which allows farmers to pay down debts they accrued during unprofitable years.

“I think the argument the industry is making is, ‘Let us have one good year,’” she said.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president is keeping his promises to defend farmers and consumers.

“Donald Trump pledged to protect America’s ranchers and deliver economic relief for everyday Americans. The Administration is accomplishing both by expanding beef imports from Argentina to lower consumer prices in the short term while rolling out a new USDA initiative that will support ranchers and expand cattle herd sizes to keep prices lower in the long term,” Kelly said.

Lovell said many of the farmers he knows are just scraping by.

“It is not uncommon for folks in farming to have a year where they report a loss,” he said. “You cannot look at cattle producers that had one good year and say, ‘Oh my gosh, they are just making out like bandits.’”

Lovell blamed price increases on the large meatpacking corporations that buy product from US ranchers and package it for grocery stores.

An influx of imported beef would hurt US farmers, he said, because the large meat packers are not required to label what country their beef comes from.

Soybean farmers reeling from tariff spat: There are some signs that support for Trump in farm country has begun to fray. He won 93% of rural counties in the 2024 election, the highest share of any Republican presidential candidate this century, according to the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan research organization.

But soybean farmers were among the first to feel the pain of Trump’s tit-for-tat tariffs with China. Since May, China has effectively boycotted American soybeans as a response to Trump’s tariffs.

Even before tariffs, the family farming industry in the United States was already hurting. Since 2017, the country has lost more than 17% of its family farms — at least 100,000 operations — according to the USDA.

Tariffs may be exacerbating that pain. Farm bankruptcies rose in the first half of the year to the highest level since 2021, according to US courts data.

John Boyd, a fourth-generation farmer and the founder of The National Black Farmers Association, said he had never had a problem selling his soybeans until recently.

Soybean fields at a farm in Pemberton, New Jersey, on October 14. Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty Images

“Now nobody’s buying it,” Boyd said. “The largest purchaser of our soybeans was China, and they haven’t placed any orders. Zero.”

“The president thinks his tariffs are the best thing since sliced bread, and it’s putting America’s farmers out of business,” he added.

The administration drew backlash last month after agreeing to provide 💲20 billion in currency support to help stabilize the Argentine peso, 💢❗a move critics have characterized as effectively bailing out Argentina.

A text message, seen by CNN, sent by Secretary Rollins to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, suggested that Argentina then used that financial lifeline to strike a deal with China on soybeans.

“We bailed out Argentina yesterday and in return the Argentine’s (sic) removed their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price to China at a time when we would normally be selling to China,” the message said.

“Here we are losing our farms, and Donald Trump is helping out a foreign country,” Boyd said of the deal.

USDA steps in:  Sources told CNN the White House was planning to extend a multibillion-dollar bailout for farmers. With the government shutdown stretching past its third week, no plan has materialized yet.

Although the USDA has been largely shuttered during the government shutdown, the agency on Wednesday announced a plan it said would “strengthen the American beef industry.”

The plan includes expanding ranchers’ access to federal land for grazing and prioritizing grant applications from military veterans looking to enter the industry, among other measures.

Lovell said that while the plan may be welcome news to many farmers, he felt it didn’t go far enough to protect the industry.

“What US ranchers need is a fair market with the right incentives. We’ve got to encourage rebuilding the cow herd here in the US,” he said. “This seems to be a quick attempt to control the damage.”

CNN’s Kit Maher, Alayna Treene and Bryan Mena contributed reporting.

Donald Trump and maga Republicans are hearing anger from voters who understand how much damage is happening to our nation

Opinion letter published in The Beverly Review news, in Chicago, Illinois: #WakeUpMAGAcult ❗

MAGA slowly starting to realize  the truth. #trump #politics # #memes #trumppolicies

 It’s amazing that some supporters of Donald Trump can go blissfully along and are happy with him without paying attention to what’s really happening—must be those blinding rose-colored glasses.

Some people believe that, if you’re a legal resident of the United States, you have nothing to worry about. Do they realize that Trump has removed legal status from millions of legal (not criminal) residents for no other reason than he doesn’t like them? Do some MAGA people realize that many of the immigrants being deported were working, paying taxes and paying into Social Security❓

Do the MAGA people realize how Trump has also threatened to deport people born in the U.S. because they have insulted his fragile ego❓


Do the cult MAGA people know that it’s only a misdemeanor for entering the U.S. illegally the first time? Do they feel it’s OK to send people to a labor camp in the swamps for a misdemeanor❓

I agree with the writer that said how the Nazis are looking up from hell with deep appreciation, but it’s appreciation for the lessons Trump and his toadies have learned from them. 

Maybe some of the cult MAGA people should sit down and read a little history of how Hitler took over Germany and conned the people, as Trump is doing, which led to millions of deaths.


We will never know the number of innocent people Trump is complicit in their deaths with his cuts to foreign aid, USAID’s numerous contracts, global health organizations and many others—not to mention all the thousands who will lose their Medicaid and health insurance.


As far as Trump and Musk pointing out (alternative) facts, I would question all their findings. They pointed out thousands of people over 130 years old on Social Security, one over 360 years old, receiving Social Security as well as fraud in other agencies. Yet there hasn’t been one arrest. Were these facts or fiction to con their supporters❓


Just like one of the writers said, I would love to see everyone get along. Nevertheless, it’s Trump who refused to even try and work with the Democrats. It’s Trump who has put his toadies in charge of the Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security and others in order to go after everyone he disagrees with and wants revenge against. 

Moreover, it’s Trump who is using taxpayer money to fix up his $400 million airplane. It’s also Trump who is using taxpayer money to pay for a trip to Scotland to play golf and promote his new golf course.


It’s hard to get along with an administration that’s so cruel and is determined to enrich itself.


From Bill Scanlon

Donald Trump and the Republicans owe the truth to Americans instead Trump invents one crises after another

Echo opinion letter published in The News-Gazette an Illinois newspaper: "distractions and distortions" and now we can add the unprovoked attack in Iran to this dangerously growing category. 

Question❓  Are Americans any safer today because of what Donald Trump and the Republicans are doing to destroy our democracy❓

Answer- Of course not. Americans are all less safe, regardless of where we are in the world, even while living in our own nation as legal citizens.

Trump's misuse of troops is just a ploy: What Donald Trump is busy creating in Los Angeles was so predictable. In fact, Kamila Harris predicted it during her 2024 campaign. 

Trump is aving a terrible time. A former ally (Elon Musk) attacked him and his policies, a loud clamor for the release of the Epstein files was heard, a bad series of economic reports was not released, Republican senators balked at his “big, beautiful bill,” and the Ukrainians kept fighting on.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump played the proverbial big guy card by calling on the U.S military to launch a devastating bombing on the soverign nation of Iran, without provocation to cause this aggressive attack. 

Faced with all these negative events, the Trump playbook calls for one approach — go on the offensive with distraction and distortion. In spite of the fact that the Los Angeles police thanked protesters for practicing their First Amendment rights in an overall orderly and peaceful manner, and Governor Gavin Newsom saw no pressing need to take additional steps, Trump decided to send in the National Guar

What better way to distract people from all the negative stories Trump doesn’t want the voters to focus on. It’s too bad he didn’t make the unilateral decision to send in the National Guard on January 6, when a truly violent protest took place at our nation's Capitol.

From Scott Davis in Champaign Illinois

Donald Trump Republicans continues to harm with policies hurting the poor and working class

The administration of Republican Donald Trump seems like a plot against the poor and people who work for a living.

Echo opinion letter published in the News-Gazette Champaign-Urbana Danville and East Central Illinois

It is, of course, but is also something much simpler — a racket. 

As always, the policies are about Trump and the world’s wealthiest people in his inner circle making billions 💲 more than they already have.

The timing on artificial-intelligence measures and the bitcoin scam were meant to maximize Elon Musk’s and Trump’s profits, and they did. When a crony is caught, Republicans simply close the investigation or Trump pardons the criminal. The recent budget bill, passed by one vote, cuts Medicaid and other programs intended to help the poor.

The Republicans aim to gut higher education and end much of the medical and scientific research in the U.S. Trump’s plan for the slaughter in Gaza is simply to evict the desperate survivors and build a luxury resort complex on the rubble and bones.

In the meantime, control of the purse has passed from our elected representatives to yet another billionaire and some computer hackers who seem to have access to our personal data. This group decides which government agency gets demolished and how many thousand government servants are unemployed. The attacks on our main trading partners are raising prices, arbitrarily issuing tariff taxes, just as the last administration brought inflation under control.

We have jettisoned our lifelong allies for the king’s favorite authoritarians. It’s all like a bad joke, but it isn’t funny. It is unvarnished greed with a bit of fascism thrown in.

From Jim Barrett in Champaign Illinois

Donald Trump and the Republican MAGA cult immersed in a cesspool of political lies

Echo opinion letter published in the Jacksonville My Journal-Courier in Illinois.

Now we bear witness to the consequences- a legacy of lies

Donald Trump Nazi salute!

Vice President Kamala Harris did not whine and lie to the American people that she really won the 2025 presidential election.

And because it was a free democratic election, the American people will get the government they deserve.

For those citizens who feel disappointed that a majority of voters chose as their leader a demagogue who believes the rule of law does not apply to him, your duty now is to bear witness to the consequences.

And remember. For history’s sake.

And stop thinking about King Trump. Entertainment is his game. He’s the best at keeping everyone distracted while he performs his con. He knows what he’s doing.

Also, don’t waste your time trying to convince your friends and relatives who have slid down the rabbit hole of self-delusion. This election proved Mark Twain was right when he observed, “It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

Stay awake as the herd nods off and avoids evidence of an insurrection that happened before their very eyes. Observe the idiot wind that blows constantly from the mouths of all those Trump-pets pretending that traitors are patriots. Don’t fall for the false equivalencies, like convincing you that their retribution is the same as real justice.

From James Tweed in Ocean City, New Jersey

Donald Trump is wrong to illegally lable all migrants as being guilty of a crime when he is a convicted felon 34 counts

Letter to the Editor: Trump’s Lawless Immigration Tactics Undermine Due Process, Police, and Public Trust

Echo opinion letter published in the Mohamet Daily News, an Illinios newspaper. 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three, has never been charged with a crime❗ Yet, the Trump Administration sent him to an infamous gulag prison in El Salvador. 

Trump has illegally since defied judges at every level, including the Supreme Court, ignoring orders to provide Abrego Garcia his right to due process.

Now it seems that anyone can be pulled off the street by plainclothes officers wearing masks, hidden in undisclosed jails, and shipped off to foreign detention centers without due process. These practices erode our trust in the rule of law, and by ignoring judicial orders, the President undermines our faith in the power of the courts to uphold justice.

Critically, ignoring due process makes the job of law enforcement much more difficult. Trump’s lawless approach to immigration undercuts the police, who work every day to assure us, through their deeds and actions, that the legal system is fair, ethical, and rules-based.

Policing is an inherently dangerous job, but consider the stakes when the community increasingly fears the consequences of an encounter with law enforcement. Distrust and fear also discourage people from providing information that can prevent crime or solve tough cases.

Trump’s actions breed exactly the chaos from which the police are supposed to keep us safe, making their jobs significantly harder and riskier. If you support the police and want Trump to follow the law, please speak out against the illegal detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and other immigrants who are being deported without their due process and their day in court.

From Paul Winters in Monticello, IL

Security communications were available to Pete Hegseth but, instead, he used Signal- commercial text WWHT?

Letters: Donald Trump’s administration shows incompetence with SignalGate security breach leak. #WWHT❓

Echo opinion published in the Chicago Tribune:

Fire Hegseth NOW! 

Blatant incompetence and a complete disregard for America’s safety — how could so-called senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration not check who was in the chat when discussing war plans? And why were they using a nongovernment, commercially available application like Signal instead of the numerous secure methods of communication readily available to them? 

The journalist, editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, from The Atlantic showed more concern for our national secrets than our Senate-confirmed so-called “experts.”

This is just another example of the misplaced confidence of the Trump administration. Consider Elon Musk’s unfocused fiscal chainsaw, ❗😱Trump’s constant flip-flopping on tariffs and the thinly veiled bribes from corporations that believe they will never receive fair treatment from this government without making payoffs. Even with the daily examples of ineptitude in the last 60 days, it’s absolutely outrageous that this security breach could happen.

This incompent administration is constantly trying to impress us, wrongminded, that it knows best and has all the answers, but its actions show just the opposite. 

Administration officials are absolutely clueless, sloppy and incompetent.  From Joe Szczepaniak, in Wheaton, Illinoia

SignalGate opinion letters: "US national security might have been compromised and Trump’s strongman shtick surely was"

Eccho opinion letters published in The New York Times:

SignalGate

To the Editor of The New York Times:  The egregious disclosure of classified information regarding the U.S. military strike in Yemen against Houthi rebels to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, via an commercial unauthorized group chat warrants an immediate investigation. The public and Congress need to know how such an unthinkable national security breach involving the highest-level administration officials, including the vice president and the secretary of defense, could have occurred.

The overriding question that needs to be answered is whether this breakdown is a one-off event, or reflective of a more systemic laxity within the administration. The latter would be in keeping with President Trump’s history of mishandling classified documents.

At a minimum, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, should resign.

From Mark Godes in Chelsea, Massachusetts

To the Editor: The real harm of the intelligence breach in the group chat about the military operations in Yemen is in the content of the conversation itself. To a foreign adversary, this thread represents what could be considered the holy grail of intelligence. China, Russia and Iran now have direct insight into how defense and intelligence officials strategize and make decisions, revealing vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

This breach compromises national security in ways that could have long-lasting consequences. It is a serious lapse in safeguarding sensitive information. The C.I.A. spends thousands of hours of research in trying to ascertain exactly this type of behavior in the leaders of our adversaries.

This incident should serve as a clear wake-up call that the people currently running our intelligence and defense communities are wholly incompetent and should be replaced with professionals.

From Brian L. Tell in Palm Springs, California.

To the Editor: There is plenty of blame being aimed at the Trump administration officials who used a commercial text platform to discuss the nation’s planned military actions in Yemen. 

They should all be held accountable.

However, there is another group equally responsible for this dangerous lack of professionalism: the senators who confirmed individuals so clearly unqualified for their positions. 

Rather than insisting that Trump nominate experienced, competent candidates, the Republicans on Capitol Hill capitulated to pressure, putting a team of underprepared individuals in critical government roles. Unfortunately, this may not be the last on-the-job security breach we see from this group. I hope I am wrong.

From Anne Krick in Warrenville, Illinois

To the Editor:  The bungling of a text chat hosted by Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, that included Marco Rubio, the secretary of state; the defense secretary Pete Hegseth; and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, clearly demonstrates that Elon Musk’s “government efficiency” efforts are focused on the wrong aspect of government. Instead of laying off thousands of dedicated hard-working government agency employees, he and his army of ax men should be examining the incompetence and inefficiency at the highest levels of government — in the form of the president’s appointees. The level of incompetence and inefficiency should keep them busy for quite a while.

From Ken Lefkowitz in Medford, New Jersey

To the Editor: If Trump truly were a strong leader, he would demand the resignations of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, for their involvement in the Signal affair. This move would demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the security of the nation and zero tolerance for incompetence and bad behavior among his senior leadership team. But instead the president has exposed his inherent weakness by responding with his usual denial, name-calling and bluster.

Our national security might have been compromised. Trump’s strongman shtick surely was.

From Steve Nelson in Williamstown, Massachusetts

To the Editor:  Well, it didn’t take long for the wheels to start coming off the Trump administration’s clown car. Will this be enough for the supine Republican Congress to finally begin putting country over self?  And then there is the incompetent defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, calling Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of  The Atlantic, a “so-called journalist.” This so-called journalist had more integrity and concern for our country than the Republicans who were on the security breached Signal group chat!

From:  MacKenzie Allen in St.-Clement-Rancoudray, France

Donald Trump is a terrible creature creating leadership by fear- creating terror for all Americans

Trump is a failed leader

Echo opinion letter published in the News-Gazette 

in Central Illinois:

Donald Trump is a failed (fake❗) leader. 

Effective leaders marshal resources to enable teams to do their work. To get that work done, they must engage the energies and good will of the people who do it.

But, Trump’s agenda tears down government’s ability to do its work. Abolishing departments, firing workers, shutting down computers, encouraging snitches and cutting funds cripples government’s ability to function. That is what Trump wants to do: stop government from doing the work Congress has authorized. Legally, he can only do so with Congress’ consent. So he end-runs the law by giving his campaign donor, Elon Musk, the burglary tools to ransack agencies.

Moreover, Trump has made fear his way to corral and intimidate workers who run government agencies’ programs. Fear is no way to engage the energies and creativity of employees. Management by fear, punishing first and asking later, alienates them. It encourages backlash, subterfuge and rebellion — destroying efficiency and morale. Abused people won’t feel obligated to support the mission, nor to perform on their jobs. The result is dereliction of duty and waste.

Trump calls on us to despair, not to hope. To withdraw, not to advance. To quit, not to persist. Who wants to sacrifice time and energy to tear things down instead of to build and succeed? No wonder Trump failed so often in the private sector. His mismanagement will spawn dozens of case studies on how not to lead. He’s eroding the presidency by personalizing it as a tool for pathological revenge.

From David Leslie in Urbana, Illinois

Comparing Trumpziism to Nazism makes Republican recoil like putting a cross in front of a vampire

Echo report published in Forward* by Jacob Kornbluh

Illinois’ Democratic Governor, J.B. Pritzker, drew a parallel between the Nazi regime of the 1930s and the policies of the Trump administration in a State of the State speech warning against authoritarian tactics. 

Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie 

“The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight,” Pritzker, who is Jewish, said in his annual State of the State address. “It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.”

Pritzker said that although he does not “invoke the specter of Nazis lightly,” his deep understanding of history compels him to speak out against Trump’s actions since returning to the presidency, particularly his harsh immigration measures and mass deportation orders.

“If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this,” he told lawmakers. “It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.”

Republican lawmakers immediately criticized Pritzker’s remarks.
(Wow, comparing Trumpziism to Naziism is like putting a cross in the face of a vampire!"

For Trumpzi cult Comparing Trumpziism to Naziism is like putting a cross in the face of a vampire. 

“To call Trump and Republicans Nazis is dangerous political grandstanding and will only incite the violence he claims to condemn,” said Adam Niemerg, a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Pritzker, who was on the shortlist for vice president last year and hosted the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, called out GOP Holocaust analogies during his reelection bid in 2022. 

In his Wednesday speech, the two-term Illinois Democrat, who helped create the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center before becoming governor in 2019, recounted the infamous 1978 attempt by neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, then home to one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors.

“The leaders of that march knew that the images of Swastika-clad young men goose-stepping down a peaceful suburban street would terrorize the local Jewish population – so many of whom had never recovered from their time in German concentration camps,” he said. But from that dark moment came resilience. Skokie residents mobilized to ensure the Holocaust’s memory was preserved, beginning with a storefront in 1981, and growing into a major institution for Holocaust education three decades later.

“Here’s what I’ve learned,” Pritzker said. “The root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed – a seed of distrust and hate and blame.”

*Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily, the Forward soon became a national paper, the most widely read Jewish newspaper anywhere. By the 1920s, its circulation outstripped The New York Times. It chronicled the events that affected a population of immigrants eager to earn their place in American life, and published regional editions around the country before any other newspaper.

MAGA voters had plenty of warning about Trump's intention to model authoritarians

Although it is heartbreaking to realize how voters chose to ignore the horrible danger waarnings about a second Trump administrtion, the fact is, many did not hear General John Kelly's interview in The New York Times. Among the people I spoke with, many were unfortunately unaware of his first hand experience working in the first failed Trump administration.

Donald Trump  and Russia's President Vladimir Putin on July 16, 2018

This opinion letter publishd in The New York Times is a retrospective about what General Kelly said because, given the reality of a second Trump administraation, we must remember how we were forewarned.

Dear Editor: America, please listen ⚠ to and heed the warnings of John Kelly. This is real, Donald Trump is not bluffing — he will rule like a dictator.

Some of the many examples that back this up: Look at how Trump so viciously treated John McCain and Mark Milley, showing how he has no respect for our military. Look at how Mr. Trump demands absolute loyalty to him.

Remember when he stood with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and believed Mr. Putin over our own intelligence and security services. Recall the articles we have read about Mr. Trump’s advisers continuing to look for ways to expand presidential powers.

And perhaps most dangerous of all, look at all the Republicans in Congress who continue to remain silent as Mr. Trump takes even more actions and makes statements that indicate his favoring an authoritarian regime. These Republicans will play a giant role in ushering in such a regime.

The writing is on the wall; General John Kelly* has put it there. Believe him.

From Howard Herman in Skokie, Illinois

*General Kelly was born and raised in Boston, MA. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970, and was discharged as a sergeant in 1972, after serving in an infantry company with the 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, NC. Following graduation from the University of Massachusetts in 1976, he was commissioned and returned to the 2nd Marine Division where he served as a rifle and weapons platoon commander, company executive officer, assistant operations officer, and infantry company commander. 

John Francis Kelly (born May 11, 1950) is an American former political advisor and retired U.S. Marine Corps general who was White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. He had previously been Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration and was commander of United States Southern Command. 

When Trump talks like a Nazi - Believe him! Trumpziism is Nazism

Letters to the Editor: ‘The enemy within’ -- Trump is straight up talking like a Nazi echo opinion letters published in the Los Angeles Times:

To the editor: Former President Trump’s use of the phrase “the enemy within” channels the propaganda that flourished in Germany after World War I. (“Trump is escalating his anti-democratic rhetoric. It’s time to listen,” column, October 15th)

The (false❗) idea explained to Germans about why they were defeated 🤥😔after World War One (The Great War to "End All Wars"). 

After all, it had to be an inside job, because the vaunted German military’s defeat could not be explained by failure on the battlefield. Instead, it had to have come from enemies from within. “They” were the ones who crept up to deliver the “dolchstoss,” or the stab in the back, to Germany.

And who do you think the propagandists mean by the enemy within? How about Jews ✡️, Democrats, disloyal Republicans and the usual subjects that Trump is threatening to round up?

Someone in the Trump camp who knows this propaganda has Trump’s ear. It’s time to wake up, because the danger is real.

From Richard Leslie Brock, in Indio, California

To the editor: There is a cultural conversation that is infecting the planet. The speech of hate, bigotry and division is being normalized all over the world.

It reminds me of what my grandparents must have gone through in the 1930s in Germany. They were decent, hard-working farmers in the Rhine Valley. I imagine Germany was a country filled with people just like them, similar to folks all over America today.

A narcissist and convicted felon rose to power in the 1930s, by using the speech of hate and fear. He pandered to the very worst of human emotions. The conversations in social clubs, taverns and across fences in Germany focused on how evil the Jews were.

It was all made up. The collective speech normalized hate and resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews.

But as with hate, kindness can be normalized. The goal must be to normalize kindness as an antidote to the pandemic of hate. Experience the joy available as you make a difference in someone’s life by being kind.

From Sid Fey, in Warrenville, Illinois

"Enemy Within" is Trumpzi Nazi speak

Echoes 🔊- Two opinion letters published in the Los Angeles Times:

To the editor: Former President Trump’s use of the phrase “the enemy within” channels the propaganda that flourished in Germany after World War I. (“Trump is escalating his anti-democratic rhetoric. It’s time to listen,” column, Oct. 15)

The idea explained to Germans why they were defeated. After all, it had to be an inside job, because the vaunted German military’s defeat could not be explained by failure on the battlefield. Instead, it had to have come from enemies from within. “They” were the ones who crept up to deliver the “dolchstoss,” or the stab in the back, to Germany.

And who do you think the propagandists mean by the enemy within? How about Jews, Democrats, disloyal Republicans and the usual subjects that Trump is threatening to round up?

Someone in the Trump camp who knows this propaganda has Trump’s ear. It’s time to wake up, because the danger is real.

From: Richard Leslie Brock, Indio California

📢To the editor: There is a cultural conversation that is infecting the planet. The speech of hate, bigotry and division is being normalized all over the world.

It reminds me of what my grandparents must have gone through in the 1930s in Germany. They were decent, hard-working farmers in the Rhine Valley. I imagine Germany was a country filled with people just like them, similar to folks all over America today.

A narcissist and convicted felon rose to power in the 1930s by using the speech of hate and fear. He pandered to the very worst of human emotions. The conversations in social clubs, taverns and across fences in Germany focused on how evil the Jews were.

It was all made up. The collective speech normalized hate and resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews.

But as with hate, kindness can be normalized. The goal must be to normalize kindness as an antidote to the pandemic of hate. Experience the joy available as you make a difference in someone’s life by being kind.

From: Sid Fey, in Warrenville, Illinois

Donald Trump wants even more tax cuts for the rich!

No more tax cuts for rich 💲😳😧❗
Echo opinion letter published in The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois:

Dear Editor:  In 1981, President Ronald Reagan presented a new plan for the American economy. The idea he outlined became known as “trickle-down economics.” The plan called for corporate income-tax reduction, tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation of businesses and industry.

According to this plan, the additional money available to wealthy individuals and corporations would be invested in expanding the nation’s industries, building new factories, upgrading technology and creating more jobs for American workers.

The increase in employment would, in turn, result in a greater demand for goods and services, more consumer spending and a stronger national economy. This was the theory, but this is not what happened.

Instead of investing the money💰 they saved by paying lower taxes, America’s wealthiest corporations and business owners kept the money for themselves. 

Or else, they invested it in foreign countries where labor and material costs were lower, resulting in greater returns for corporate stockholders. During Reagan’s presidency, the rich got richer, but no one else benefited.

President George W. Bush implemented a tax cut in 2003, that appeared to be a revival of Reagan’s plan. Bush’s effort at (failed) “trickle-down economics” produced the worst economic downturn in America since the 1930s.

In 2017, President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress cut the corporate tax rate and claimed it would raise the average American household income. That did not happen. Corporations and wealthy Americans kept the money. The economy and average Americans suffered.

Do we want this to happen again?

From Mike Woods, in Champaign, Illinois

Military families know how their loved ones are not suckers and losers. Does J.D. Vance know this?

Like many seniors, I have known people in the military. 

In fact, my Maine Writer family is a "U.S. Navy family".

Trump is unfit to serve. Echo opinion published in the News-Gazette newspaper in Champagne, Illinois

What would the *not competent*  #PresidentInWaiting-  J.D. Vance say?

My husband, brother-in-law, father, uncles and cousin served in different branches of our country’s military. 

None of these men are losers or suckers, as Donald Trump enjoys calling members of the military.

Those of you from military families know the sacrifices made by their service. You know that the men and women willing to support our country, our Constitution and our democracy should be, deserve to be, honored. Trump would not understand, as he has absolutely no military background, nor does he care.

Before you vote this November, think about those you love, family and friends, men and women who had the courage to support and defend our country. Think how these loyal U.S. citizens might feel to hear someone totally disrespect them for their choice to serve. Think about what kind of person would belittle these brave people.

No person with that much contempt for the men and women in the military should be commander in chief.

Shelley Houser in Urbana, Illinois

P. S. When will the lame stream media ask the Trumpzi right wing "President in Waiting" JD Vance about "suckers and losers"❓

Donald Trump could have testified at the Manhattan trial but declined to go under oath

Echo opinion letter published in the Chicago Tribune: To the Rule of Law❗

Political cartoon published in The Washington Post

History was made in Manhattan on May 30, 2024: An ex-president of the United States was found guilty, by a 12-person jury of his peers, on all 34 counts alleged against him, thus making him the first such office holder to become a convicted felon. The rule of law prevailed, and it is particularly satisfying to someone like me, as a member in continuous good standing of the Illinois bar and a former adjunct law professor.

But while a New York jury won this “battle,” the “war” rages on, given the remarks Donald Trump made immediately after the guilty verdict was read and the jury discharged from its duties. 

Trump asserts — as he has constantly done for years for matters he refuses to accept and for which he is rightly criticized — that the case against him was rigged, that our country is in decline, that the trial judge (Judge Juan Merchan) was against him (though the judge performed admirably) and that he was not tried by his peers (despite his being allowed to testify, though he did not).

In other words, Trump and his minions are attempting to delegitimize our rule of law and the justice system, as we have seen occur in developing nations, even Russia. That will not happen here. It must be up to us Illinoisans — and all voters outside our state, on both sides of the aisle — to ensure that Trump’s warped, dictatorial and disingenuous thinking never prevails and certainly not as the next individual sitting in the Oval Office.

From Miles J. Zaremski, in Highland Park, Illinois (Chicago suberb)

Combat antisemitism with real time actions and replace hateful messages with love

Echo letter published in the Evanston, Illinois Round Table:

My Evanston Illinois neighborhood was blanketed in March 2024, with antisemitic flyers. All indications seem to be that they are from someone out of town. Someone came to my neighborhood to spread hate and make our Jewish neighbors feel unsafe. The thing that was so insidious about these vile actions is that they took place in broad daylight – several of the placards were placed on cars around noon.

As citizens of Evanston, we have to raise our voices against this. We cannot accept such abhorrent actions happening right under our nose. We must make sure that our Jewish friends and neighbors, as well as members of any religious minority, feel safe in our town. Anything less is a travesty and betrays the high ideals that we aspire to.

Outbursts of hate often make us feel powerless, but this is meant to be an empowering letter. Not content to let hate speech have the last word, we organized in our neighborhood to place signs with messages of love and acceptance – like “hate has no home here” and “love defeats hate every time” – as well as messages that condemn antisemitism: “We reject antisemitism in this neighborhood.” About 16 signs went up on the block that was targeted by antisemitic flyers.

This is a small act of resistance, but it is meaningful. We could not stop the original flyers from being placed, but we can spread our messages of a pluralistic society where everyone can be themselves. Most of all, it allowed us to feel like we did something; we were not powerless. Sometimes it can feel easy to lose hope in our world, where suffering seems to be increasing at an exponential rate, but these small acts of kindness do matter. They give us agency and a way to fight for our ideals.

To the hate-filled person placarding our neighborhood: you are wasting your time. Your hate won’t win in this neighborhood. To our Jewish friends and neighbors: you are an integral part of our community. For everyone else who may face something similar: I hope you use all of your skills, cleverness and resources to fight back, because our neighbors are worth fighting for.

Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf, is Senior Minister, Lake Street Church of Evanston:  The Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf holds a Doctor of Theology (ThD) degree from Harvard Divinity School. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville with a BA in Religious Studies in 2011, and completed his Master of Divinity degree at Harvard Divinity School in 2014. Michael is also an ordained American Baptist Churches USA and Alliance of Baptists pastor currently serving as the Senior Minister at Lake Street Church of Evanston in Evanston, IL, a progressive congregation with a commitment to social justice and interfaith dialogue. 

Governor Ron DeSantis throws his Mickey Mouse campaign into the rink

Dear Editor of The Times Weekly in Joliet, Illinois on May 9, 2023:
"We must work together to build a more just and equitable society."

The Florida gnome Ron D. Santicmonious (or whatever his name is?) must be infected with Mickey Mouse envy!

Florida Gov. DeSantis to hit Peoria, Illinois this week — and how he’ll play depends entirely on which party you ask.
Organizers of the downstate Lincoln Day Dinner say DeSantis will “speak on his successful Florida Blueprint,” 😡as Republicans “fight the radical Progressive Left’s Marxist agenda here in Illinois.” But Governor. J.B. Pritzker said, “DeSantis’ views are not what we call freedom in Illinois.”

Revolution Illinois a progressive organization that stands against hate and discrimination, we believe it is our responsibility to speak out against leaders who promote bigotry and division, like Governor Ron DeSantis (or whatever his name is today).

It is alarming to hear that Governor DeSantis will be speaking at the joint 2023, Lincoln Day Dinner with the Peoria and Tazewell County Republican Central Committees on May 12th. This event is known to attract Republican activists, leaders, officeholders, and prospective candidates from across Illinois. It is deeply troubling that someone who has repeatedly promoted divisive and discriminatory policies is being given such a prominent platform in our State of Illinois.

Several local organizations are standing in unity to combat Governor DeSantis’ and his hatred for the LGBTQ+ community and for women who have the right to make their own decisions for their healthcare. https://mobilize.us/s/Dcd3ep

Our Revolution stands for inclusion and equality for all, and we will not allow Governor DeSantis’ harmful rhetoric to go unchallenged.

All Illinois residents are urged to speak out against hate and discrimination and to stand in solidarity against the Governor DeSantis’ (or Ron D. Santis) visit. We must hold our elected officials accountable for promoting policies that harm any Illinois communities. We must work together to build a more just and equitable society.

From Richard Rodriguez Georgia de la Garza Co-Chairs

Our Revolution Illinois