Antisemitism directed at hard working Jewish business people is evil and accomplishes nothing!

Echo opinion published in The Boston Globe by Steven Peljovich.

Why is my Jewish deli a battleground for foreign policy❓✡️
My establishment has been the target of malicious sticker campaigns since 2023. By Steven Peljovich Updated May 15, 2026.

Anisemitism accomplishes nothing!

On May 3, 2026, I showed up to work around 6 a.m. and found an all-too-familiar message on my shop’s front door: Covering a picture of my family was a sticker that said, “End the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.”

I am the owner of Michael’s Deli in Brookline, and since Oct. 7, 2023, the day more than 1,200 people were killed by the terrorist group Hamas, unleashing the war in Gaza, my storefront has been a designated landing spot for more than 40 stickers.

Their messages range from political rhetoric (“End the occupation,” “Free Palestine”) to straight-out Jew hatred (“Boycott Jews,” “Death to Israel,” and worse), and I am the recipient because I am proudly Jewish.

For the past two and a half years, I have removed the stickers and gone on with my day, but this time I had had enough. I decided to express my frustration on the shop’s Instagram account. The post has been viewed nearly 40,000 times and my deli has landed front and center in the battle against unchecked antisemitism and hate.

Over the past week, I was visited by elected officials from Washington, D.C., the Massachusetts State House, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and members of the Brookline Select Board, as well as law enforcement, all in a show of support.

Although I appreciate their support, it all feels a bit surreal. I am just a guy trying to create food that makes people happy and brings people together. We have no ties to governments or political parties; we have no influence over foreign policy; we are just a restaurant. The only thing we profess is pride in our heritage, our traditions, and in the food we serve.

There’s a reason these messages feel targeted. My business is in Coolidge Corner, and every time I have found hate stickers on my door or on my window, I look around to see if other businesses have been targeted. They have not. Just mine.

If these stickers had been placed all over the neighborhood, I would not be so upset. But they are placed on the shop owned by the guy with a “Proudly Jewish” sign in the window. I also have Israeli and Cuban flags on my counter. The Israeli flag is how I show pride in my Judaism. The Cuban flag is for my parents, who were born there after their parents fled Eastern Europe to avoid being persecuted for being Jewish. They then fled the oppression of the Castro regime.



Several other Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues in Brookline have been targets of antisemitic crimes over the past year. In fact, my neighbor up the street, The Butcherie, a kosher grocery store, had a brick with “Free Palestine” written on it thrown through its window last year.

The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) Audit of Antisemitic Incidents that came out last week reports there were 17 antisemitic incidents per day in the United States in 2025 — and that’s only the ones that were reported. Up until last week, I had never reported what happened at my deli. I just took the stickers down and went on with running my business. Nevertheless, the day after this incident, Brookline Select Board member Paul Warren came in after reading my Instagram post and told me that it was important that I report the incident to the Brookline police. And so I did.

All I can figure is that the folks who are targeting my business and others like mine see us as representatives for a country, or a government or a policy that they don’t agree with.

And it makes me wonder: If my business was an all-American hot dog stand and I had an American flag inside my store, would people harass me if they were upset with America’s government or policies❓ I don’t think they would. And that’s antisemitism.

Folks once had actual conversations about issues that were divisive. Now, we retreat into our corners, wrap ourselves in our bubbles, and use the anonymity of social media to express opinions and spew hate.

These stickers, always placed at night, are an extension of that. It is easy and cowardly to slap a sticker on a door or window of an establishment and just walk away. It also accomplishes nothing.

Ultimately, supporting and promoting something you strongly believe in is a constitutional right. But, at the end of the day, I am just a guy who is proud of his heritage and whose goal is to make great food for all of my guests to enjoy. It would be nice if I can just continue to show up to my store everyday and focus on that, rather than finding hate at my door.😔😔😔😟😥

When will main stream media report about the growing calls from the public for Donald Trump's impeachment?

Hello Maine Stream Media❓  Are we awake yet❓  After three previous failed assassination attempts and now a fourth one.  Donald Trump is clearly a danger to all who are around him❗

Letter: 'Donald Trump ... is a danger to our country and the world'

Published in the Community Advocate

Donald Trump's reckless and irresponsible behavior in recent weeks has demonstrated anew that he is a danger to our country and the world. We must speak out strongly against this threat. For this reason the Westborough Democratic Town Committee has voted approval of a resolution that calls on our congressman and U.S. senators to support the removal of Donald Trump as president by any constitutional or legal means. 

Furthermore, we also call on the full Congress and the Donald Trump cabinet to take immediate action to remove Trump from the presidency.

Unfortunately, we understand that Trump's removal is probably unlikely, at least for now.  Also, we understand that some will criticize our resolution as partisan. Be that as it may, this is no time for silence. The American people must unify around the demand for Trump to go, now.  (Maine Writer:  Donald Trump's brand is "cruelty")

#ImpeachTrumpNOW 

Respectfully, from Tom Hubbard

Vice Co-Chair/Westborough Democratic Town Committee Massachusetts 

Donald Trump and maga Republicans must support equal justice under the law for legal an innocent immigrants

Boston Globe Editorial Board echo:

Massachusetts can’t stop (evil❗) ICE. But it can help its vulnerable immigrant population. The horror of Minneapolis can happen here.

Some 1.2 million immigrants call Massachusetts their home. They are, as Governor Maura Healey put it, “workers, parents, caregivers, business owners, and essential contributors to the Commonwealth’s economy and civic life.” And, sadly, they are, at this moment, extremely vulnerable.

The nation has watched day after day the countless affronts to human dignity in Minneapolis as a Trump administration-ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement “surge” separates families and devastates a community. And, yes, it can happen here.

The unfortunate reality is that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s prerogative. There’s not much that the state can do about it if the federal government seeks to deport Massachusetts residents who are in the country illegally or revoke the legal status of those who are here legally.

But, given the terrible impact such indiscriminate actions would have on Massachusetts communities and on the economy, Healey and lawmakers are right to look for ways to at least reduce the harm (evil❗) ICE could do in the Commonwealth.

ICE is Ku Klux Klan with different color face masks.

And, so Healey issued a raft of measures last week, including new proposed legislation designed to codify immigrant protections. 

Some Democrats wish she’d gone further. But she is attempting to walk a fine line, protecting immigrants without overstepping the state’s authority and without taking actions that could boomerang on state residents.

Take the controversial agreements that some public agencies strike with ICE called 287(g) agreements. Some immigration advocates want to ban them altogether.

Healey doesn’t go quite that far — but for good reasons. Under her executive order, no executive branch office or agency may enter into a new 287(g) agreement to partner with ICE unless approved in writing by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which must certify it is based on “a specific, articulable public safety risk or need.”

Currently, only the state Department of Correction has such an agreement. But that agreement serves a legitimate public safety purpose, allowing the state to turn over convicted criminals to ICE for deportation.

The Plymouth County House of Correction, which does house criminally charged detainees, currently operates under a separate, narrower agreement that would not be impacted by Healey’s order. The latter agreement is actually supported by many members of the immigrant community as a way to keep detained family members nearby.

Healey’s proposals would also bolster the protections for immigrants at state courthouses and in certain other spaces.

Under the so-called Lunn decision, handed down by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court in 2017, Massachusetts court officers have no power to hold a prisoner on a civil immigration detainer — unless a warrant has been issued for their arrest.

But, ICE agents often hang around at courthouses — which impedes the justice system by scaring away immigrants who are witnesses or participants in cases.

House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a statement that he has had “productive conversations” with caucus members, adding, “At the same time, we understand the deep nuance on this issue and the limitations of what the Commonwealth can do on immigration policy.”

The Legislature’s goal should be to lay out a clear policy that would withstand judicial scrutiny. The state may not be able to stop ICE, but it can guide state actors and state facilities in order to protect those who are indeed a critical part of our community.

In doing so the state would be standing up for Massachusetts values and the protections long offered by our own constitution, which guarantees “equality under the law” to all regardless of national origin. There is nothing ambiguous about that.

Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.

“Access to justice cannot coexist with a threat of civil arrest looming over those who enter a courthouse to assert their right to defend themselves or to fulfill their civic obligations,” Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said, appearing with Healey last week.

Tucker said recent ICE activity has deterred people from vulnerable populations from appearing as witnesses or as victims of crimes in the state’s courts. Healey’s bill, he said, “will help to relieve that fear and enhance public safety.”

The bill would also add the nonpublic areas of schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and child-care programs to the list of protected spaces that ICE is prohibited from accessing without a warrant.

And the bill would allow parents to prearrange guardianship in the event of detention or deportation.

“I’m really sorry to even have to utter those words,” Healey said, “but at the end of the day, we’ve seen here in Massachusetts and around this country, little kids taken away from their parents, left alone or in the care of maybe a neighbor, maybe the state. It’s wrong.”

The protections offered in Healey’s bill are attached to a supplementary budget, which provides both a certain urgency to its passage and requires — because it is a money bill — that it is first passed by the House, which is scheduled to caucus twice this week to consider Healey’s version and a bill, the PROTECT Act, offered by the Legislature’s Black and Latino caucus.

Concerned Americans are Bearings Witness to ICE cruelty and their peaceful advocacy must put an end to the Trump reign of terror

Echo opinion letter published in the Boston Globe - sad 😟

On January 7, 2026, my husband and I joined others who traveled by bus, car, or bike in the freezing rain to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Burlington. 

We came as part of Bearing Witness (to observe firsthand), a weekly peaceful protest calling for an end to the kidnapping and detention of our immigrant neighbors. The nondescript ICE facility sits amid suburban America — a drab office building used for hearings and detentions, in plain sight of the Burlington Mall and the Lahey Hospital and Medical Center. Those detained endure harsh conditions. Those who attend their scheduled hearings risk detention and deportation. Those who do not appear risk losing their immigration status.

Part of the reason we protest ICE is our daughter. In June she joined a protest outside the ICE facility in another city where there has been active resistance against ICE. An officer tackled her, yanked her arm behind her back, and broke her humerus with a snap. We are relieved she has healed. We are proud of her activism. We cannot be silent.

While we waved our signs in front of the Burlington ICE facility, we watched in horror as car transport trailers delivered a fleet of white Ford Broncos to the parking lot behind the facility. It appears that detentions may be about to ramp up in our region. Once we returned home, we were shocked to learn that Renee Nicole Good was killed that morning by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

The time has come. I urge people to speak out against the cruelty and oppression of this administration and to find ways to peacefully protest. I wish protesters and immigrants alike safety from harm.

From Janet Fritz in Carlisle, Massachusetts 

Donald Trump and maga Republicans enable the hideous desruction of the White House East Wing of the "People's House"

A "haunted House"?  No❗ Sadly, this is the "people's house". The once upon a time this was the White House, but now it is the ugly destroyed East Wing- demolished by Donald Trump. 😡 Where are the Republicans❓😢 SOS 🆘 people have some questions about the destruction of their house🏠 Echo opinion letter published in the Boston Globe. 

Not a "haunted👻 😨house".❗ NO, this is the Donald Trump demolished White House East Wing

The Boston Globe.....Re “Preservation of East Wing became demolition: Trump initially said it wouldn’t be affected” (Page A1,Globe, October 23): Why is anyone surprised that wanna-be dictator Donald Trump is tearing down a substantial portion of the White House, after previously paving over Jackie Kennedy’s beloved Rose Garden? And for what? To build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which Trump claims is “much-needed.” A ballroom for whom❓ For what purpose❓


Massachusetts native John Quincy Adams popularized the phrase “The People’s House” to describe the White House during his presidency. But under the (evil👿) Trump administration, it has become a trashy Mar-a-Lago on the Potomac.

After Donald Trump succeeds in renaming the Kennedy Center in honor of himself and its opera house in honor of the "Fake❗"  Melania, do not be surprised when he proposes renaming the Washington Monument. 😡

Of course, in between Trump will be busy promoting a new “Arc de Trump” in D.C.😢😢

This is just what dictators do. We know this, we just never expected it to happen here or be done so brazenly in full view of the public.

From Mark P. Petracca in Mashpee, a town in Massachusetts

The writer is professor emeritus of political science at the University of California at Irvine.

Support Democratic political courage to defend against Trumpzi authoritarianism! Vote Democrat~ Vote Blue!

Ezra Klein in The New York Times: I often heard people complain that Democrats lacked a message. What Democrats really lacked was power. They didn’t have the House or the Senate, but they did have one sliver of leverage: To fund the government, Senate Republicans needed Democratic votes. And not just one or two. They needed at least seven Democrats to reach that magic 60-vote threshold. House Democrats wanted a shutdown. 

But, nevertheless, Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democrats, didn’t. He voted for the funding bill and encouraged a crucial number of his colleagues to do the same. 

Obviously, the bill passed.😖

To many Democrats, this seemed insane. Some began openly calling for Schumer to resign or face a primary challenge. This was Democrats’ first real opportunity to fight back against Trump, and they had folded. What were they good for❓

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/opinion/democrats-congress-trump.html

Echo opinion letter published in The New York Times: 

Kudos to Mr. Klein for his thoughtful and prescient article, coupling a succinct summary of today’s political realities with a credible path forward for enlightened House and Senate Democrats.

The congressional leadership ought to step up to the plate by using the potential U.S. government shutdown as an opportunity to register a set of demands that must be met in exchange for Democratic support for continued funding of the government.

The demands should focus on stanching erosion of the rule of law, such as by enacting legislation that would prohibit future deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities.

Whether or not such efforts prove successful, they would at least establish a sound platform on which Democrats in Congress could run in next year’s elections. In my view, as it now stands, they have few recent accomplishments or politically attractive proposals on which to run.

From Russell E. Pommer in Naples, Florida

To the Editor: I agree with Ezra Klein that we must “stop acting like this is normal,” as the online headline of his column puts it. Any government shutdown should aim at restoring trust in government. Distrust is currently bipartisan.

New legislation worthy of a showdown might be labeled Honor in Government. It should include these components:

1. Those governing should not profit from their legislative or executive actions. Public financial records or blind trusts should be required.

2. A legislator should not be for sale. If a legislator receives funding above a certain threshold from a company or industry, she must recuse herself from votes supporting that company or industry.

3. Independent watchdogs and agency heads must be independent. Firing them should require a two-thirds legislative vote.

4. The government must honor previous commitments. This includes funding, treaties, immigration promises such as parole and Temporary Protected Status, and promises made to allies. Afghans or others who fought alongside our military should be protected.

5. Exercise of the right to free speech, including peaceful protest, may not be used to revoke federal funding or visas.

From Rachel Wheeler in Concord, Massachusetts

In other words, vote Democrat, Vote Blue ❕

Donald Trump and maga Republicans offer "thoughts and prayers" to gun violence victims but horrific tragedies continue!

When ‘thoughts and prayers’ come crashing down to earth

Three echo opinion letters published in the Boston Globe:

Thoughts and prayer memorial wall memorial for victims of
The Covenant School, a parochial elementary school, in Nashville in 2023.

1)  Dear Editor:  With our leaders, it’s always ‘too soon’ to take action against gun violence. “When tragedy strikes, our first instinct should be to remember what we have in common, not to rally support for any political program.

Our initial response should be seeking to build bridges,” writes Brandon Ambrosino in his Sept. 7 Ideas piece, “In defense of ‘thoughts and prayers.’ ” So, when can we try to rally support for political programs that can bring actual change❓ Should we wait a week or a month after the next tragedy❓

But, Ambrosino’s argument is disingenuous. Yes, those of us who feel helpless to change the problem of mass shootings can offer thoughts and prayers, and we can try to take some comfort from the outpouring of support. Nevertheless, our leaders, including politicians, clergy, and academics, hide behind thoughts, and prayers, again and again. It’s always “too soon” to discuss what we as a society could do to end these preventable school shootings.

From Dana Buske in Arlington, Massachusetts (Middlesex County)

2) Not everybody prays, but everybody feels the impact of a bullet:  When the response of “thoughts and prayers” is disparaged, it is not because thoughts and prayers are unnecessary but, rather, because of how the phrase is a cop-out for the right and for Second Amendment zealots. Of course pray, but then act — “do something❗” is what people are saying.

What’s more, Brandon Ambrosino writes as if everyone in this country prays like he does. Of course we don’t. That’s the whole point of this country’s First Amendment. We are different. Our beliefs are different. What isn’t different is that we all bleed. We all can die when bullets smash into our bodies.

From Brenda Sheridan in Swampscott, Massachusets

Lewiston Maine mass shooting victim shrine slaughter occured on October 25, 2023 

‘Thoughts and prayers’ are offered as a distraction

3) Brandon Ambrosino wrote to the Globe, to complain about the people who deride expressions of “thoughts and prayers”, after mass shootings. He defends this smokescreen statement as somehow missing something crucial. But, it’s Ambrosino who appears to be oblivious to the fact that many people offer these comments to intentionally prevent others from taking meaningful action to address gun violence.

He writes that prayers must be followed by action and that there is “no place in Christianity” for “those who pray while twiddling their thumbs.” Yet, for many public figures who give thoughts and prayers, the goal is to stymie legislation, not to “remind us of our shared humanity.” Politicians send their thoughts and prayers while receiving significant contributions from the National Rifle Association, which fights to stop laws that could prevent future shootings.

Ambrosino maddeningly echoes their empty rhetoric, writing, “Even if we end mass shootings tomorrow, we’ll still have to grapple with unexpected tragedy.” This is true, but irrelevant. That there will be tragedies is no reason not to work to decrease the number of mass shootings.

People sending their thoughts and prayers after shootings are really saying, “I don’t care.”

From Bret Seferian in Salem, Massachusetts

Donald Trump and maga Republicans are now the party of higher taxes on the middle class working people

Republicans are now the party of higher taxes❗💲

Echo opinion letter published in the Boston Globe

US businesses and consumers will bear the highest costs of Trump’s tariffs. It is time to start referring to the tariffs as the “Trump sales tax.” Tariffs are collected at the border by US-based companies importing foreign goods. 

These costs are then passed on to the consumers as higher prices, while the government coffers enjoy a windfall. 

In fact, there is no way to describe this other than as a sales tax. So the Republicans who keep claiming they will pass “no new taxes” have in fact raised taxes but changed their name to tariffs. As long as these taxes are referred to as tariffs they will be misunderstood by most Americans. It is time for the media and our elected leaders to call these what they are, a new federal sales tax. Now, the Republicans are the party of higher taxes.

From Irwin Nesoff in Hull, Massachusetts

Donald Trump and cult Republicans in denial about how the ugly tax bill will cause economic harm

Donald Trump says tax cuts for the rich will be 'Rocket Fuel' for fhe economy. Obviously, Trump is influenced by campaign donor. 

#ElonMusk "SpaceX’s Starship 🚀💢explodes for 3rd time in a row, Musk promises more frequent launches" (This the "rocket fuel" Trump is talking about?)

Opinion letter published in the Boston Globe:

Tangled in Trump budget’s weeds and pricked by its thorns

‘Rocket fuel’ for the economy, says Donald Trump and the Republican echo chamber, the GOP — with most Americans in the blast zone💥❗

The Republicans claim their big budget bill will be “rocket fuel” for the economy. But if this rocket takes off, who will get blasted in its wake?

But, everyday people have the most to lose. The Republicans have thrown in a few short-term tax credits to distract us, but that will barely make a dent for working families losing the SNAP benefits that helped them make ends meet, or communities whose local health centers have to close due to cuts to Medicaid and other funding. School districts will struggle even more to provide enough teachers, supplies, and training to meet the needs of their students.

Meanwhile, communities all across the country currently enjoying the benefits of renewable energy investments — jobs, cleaner air, and a safer, more resilient grid — will watch those dreams go up in smoke.

The rocket is on the launch pad. Citizens must speak up before it takes off. The only folks actually getting in the rocket are billionaires. The rest of us are the collateral damage inside the blast zone.

From Mary Memmott in Framingham Massachusetts

American barons in our economy must be required to read the Magna Carta recently discovered to be "real" at Harvard

Magna Carta "grand encore"❗ 

An original Magna Carta, at Harvard, in 2025 — Wow, what good timing❗

Discovery of rare document on the rule of law has resonance for our times:

Dear Editor: A discovery that Harvard unknowingly had an original of the 1300 Magna Carta, the document that moved human history a small but significant step forward by obliging a monarch to respect the rights of barons, is almost like a teasing reminder from the spirited ghost of history (“Harvard’s Magna Carta ‘copy’ an original,” Metro, May 19).

When academic institutions are under siege, it’s a reminder of the immense value of those institutions, their libraries, and their commitment to preserving all the records of our shared culture.

When learned expertise is held in contempt by many, it’s a reminder of the value of scholarship and such thorough knowledge of one’s field that British academic David Carpenter was able to recognize the original while reviewing Harvard Law School’s digitized collection.

And, of course, it’s a reminder of how far backward we are sliding when even the barons of the modern world — the Bezoses, the Zuckerbergs, the Redstones, the Musks — have decided to bend their knees to absolute power.

One might even be forgiven for wondering whether the spirit of history decided to give Harvard a little pat on the back for not bending its knee or its principles.

From Julia Glendon in Lunenburg, Massachusetts (Worcester County)

Dear Editor: We are a nation that does not bow to a single ruler

The discovery of an original copy of the Magna Carta is a reminder of the principles of governance that have guided this nation for nearly 250 years. May this finding lead us to remain a nation that goes by the rule of law rather than become one that declares fealty to a single individual.

From Edwin Andrews in Malden, Massachusetts

Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans enable an environment of anxiety, fear and uncertainty

Echo Letter to the editor: Anxiety, uncertainty and fear due to Donald Trump published in the Wareham Weekly newspaper in Wareham, Massachusetts. 

I have never felt so much anxiety, uncertainty, worry, stress and fear due to one man Donald J. Trump. 

It is unimaginable and unacceptable how he and his entire administration is handling this country that I love.

All of this keeps me up at night not knowing whether I will continue to receive my Social Security benefits, still have health insurance, a roof over my head and food on my table! It’s a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach all this uncertainty and an awful way to live life plus the stress caused by Donald Trump and his horrible policies and cuts are not good at all for my physical and mental health.

I am scared to death of losing everything I have and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone feeling this way! It’s very important that our voices be heard and that’s why I’m writing this letter❗❗❗

From Susan Grebber in Wareham Massachussets 

Donald Trump reign of deceit and cruelty against innocent migrants

 One man’s deportation highlights deceit and cruelty of the Trump administration (The Republican newspaper Editorials in Springfield, Massachusetts)

A single – and singularly shocking – immigration case best illustrates three core traits of the Trump administration in full operation: (a) indifference to the law, (b) lying about basic facts and (c) lethal cruelty for its own sake.

On March 12, Kilmar Abego Garcia was driving home from work at a construction job site in Maryland. He had just picked up his 5-year-old autistic son from his mother’s house. He then got pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A native of El Salvador, he had won a U.S. court case in 2019 that protected him from being deported back to El Salvador.

That ruling was based on the fact that gangs in El Salvador had issued death threats to Garcia and his family if they refused to pay extortion money (“rent”) from the income earned by the family’s stuffed tortilla business. Eventually, Garcia fled to the U.S. and won the court victory protecting him from being sent back to El Salvador.

Today he is locked up in the notorious supermax prison in El Salvador because on March 15, ICE flew him off to El Salvador in spite of the 2019, court ruling that protected him from just such a fate.

That prison is something close to hell on earth, according to detailed reports from Human Rights Watch. The U.S. government is paying El Salvador to detain Mr. Garcia and others in that facility.

In court papers filed March 31, ICE admitted it was aware of the 2019, court ruling when it abducted Garcia from the U.S. on March 15.

But the Trump administration, in those same court papers filed March 31, argues that because Garcia is now outside the U.S. and in custody in El Salvador, the court can’t do anything to remedy the situation.

This heinous set of facts is now before U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland. Lawyers representing Garcia filed a motion asking the judge to tell the U.S. government to seek his return from the prison. Lawyers for the government have said to the court, in effect, we won’t do anything to remedy the miscarriage of justice because “we don’t have custody or control” of Garcia, which is a perversion of the first order, since ICE illegally removed him in the first instance.

From her podium at the White House, Trump’s press secretary (aka "3D Printer Barbie")- Karoline Leavitt on April 1 lied about Garcia by spuriously accusing him of ties to human trafficking and “vicious” gang violence. This is standard Trump operating procedure when confronted with inconvenient facts: deny, disparage and lie.

For her part, the woman in charge of ICE, Homeland Security (Halloween constumed) Secretary Kristi Noem, went to the supermax prison on March 28, for a hedious op in front of caged prisoners and praised El Salvador’s cooperation. Displaying a total indifference to the law, however, she did nothing to rescue the man – Garcia – that her agency illegally abducted from the U.S. on March 15.

For the sake of Garcia and his family, including his disabled son, and for the sake of the preservation of an independent court system to uphold the rule of law (including the 2019, court victory that Garcia obtained by playing by the rules and submitting his case to a neutral judge), we look forward to this man’s prompt and safe return to the U.S. 

A judge hearing the case in Maryland federal court instructed the U.S. government to bring Garcia back to the U.S. no later than Monday. In response, the Trump administration immediately filed a notice of appeal to fight the judge’s order.

So far, as of May 15, 2025,

 the Trumpzi administration has illegally ignored all court orders.

Donald Trump and the Republican cult are destroying America and voters must demand accountability - Vote them out!

The land of the fearful and the home of the betrayed

Echo opinion letters published in The Boston Globe: 

Re “100 days of Trump: A forceful opening hand” (Globe: Page A1, April 27): With Tuesday marking the 100th day of Donald Trump’s second term, it is clear that the nation is devolving into a form of government that is not democracy. It has taken more than 200 years to refine the ideal of a constitutional Republic and 100 days of a Trump administration to erode its foundational principles.

The rapidity and pervasiveness of the attacks on all the distinguishing characteristics of America have recharacterized this nation as the land of the fearful and the home of the betrayed. Each new daily danger emphasizes the urgency of replacing MAGA cult with a nonpartisan, nondenominational activism that encompasses all elements of society. The magnitude of the threat is great; the scale of the response must be equally massive.

From Manny Cacciola in Medway, Massachuetts

Voters must return Democrats to power to clean this mess

Decades upon decades of American greatness have been destroyed in just 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term. Unlike the last two Republican administrations, which merely destroyed the vibrant economies they inherited, Trump is destroying the foundation of what made America great in the first place: our rule of law, our alliances, our higher education, and our scientific innovation.

Should we still have fair elections in 2026, and 2028, I expect Americans will vote out the Republican administration for the third time since 2000, turning again to Democrats to repair the damage. But this time the damage will be foundational, so it will take multiple Democratic terms to restore America.

Americans gave Democrats a generation to recover from the Great Depression. Will we have the patience to allow Democrats to restore the foundation that Trump destroyed, or will we fall again for a Republican siren song promising to "really" make America “great” again?

From Robert Banta in Andover Massachusetts

Immigrant abduction and roundups: Regardless of your political beliefs, this is not the nation I grew up in

Masked agents arresting innocent immigrants in the streets❓

Nazi tactics❗ Echo opinion letter published in The Winchester Star, a Virginia newspaper: 

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, just left her home in Somerville , Massachusetts, to meet with friends when she was detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents, lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said in a petition filed in Boston federal court. Khanababai called the arrest by masked agents "terrifying."😱😳😈

Dear Editor: It is beyond belief that masked federal agents are arresting people on the streets of America. I understand protective gear if necessary, but last week masked agents arrested a woman and whisked her off into custody and transported her to isolation in Louisiana. 😡😢💢 Regardless of your political beliefs, this is not the direction our country should be headed. 

Holocaust Museum✡️Jewish sector street scene  in 1930s Paris France

If masked agents can arrest this woman, what stops masked agents from arresting any person in this country and sending them to an unknown location? Not the country I grew up in.

From Gary W. Baylis in Frederick County, Virginia

⚠️Kristi Noem’s disturbing failure of compassion — and of leadership- The Hill

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

Trump tariffs create economic chaos: Risk of higher prices and even the "R" word recession

Duck and cover: The Trump economy takes ghastly shape.😱

I don’t recall a recession being among Donald Trump's campaign promises.

Echo opinion letters published in The Boston Globe:

Dear Editor: I followed the 2024, presidential campaign pretty closely. I do not recall ever hearing Donald Trump promise the American people that his policies in the first few months of his new term would raise consumer prices, alienate our allies, and threaten to plunge the United States into a recession. Did I miss something?

From: Barry Brodsky in Swampscott, Massachusetts

Dear Editor: Trump… a Dadaist? (Translated: Someone who embraces or is associated with Dadaism, rejecting traditional artistic values and embracing the absurd.)

Look at the stock market if you dare. Donald Trump pledged to “make America great again” yet look at the results. Destroying the country in order to improve it is much like the rationale behind Dadaism (destruction is creation). Can we survive such recklessness?

From James R. Weiss in Salem, Massachusetts

Dear Editor: Like Massachusetts, Maine has strong economic ties with Canada, especially in the summer when carloads of Quebecois fill the restaurants, hotels, beaches, and amusement parks of Vacationland. Maine's Republican Senator Susan Collins should work with her Republican congressional colleagues to stop the Trump tariff threats. Failure to do so could prove economically crippling.

From Mark S. Sternman in Somerville, Massachusetts

Trump's outrages outpace the collective ability to keep up with illegalities and eviisms - a 1939 playbood in Project 2025

One Trump outrage after another. Here are just two.
#EvilismTrumpziism 💀❗ 1939 redux.

Two sequential entries in BostonGlobe.com’s live feed of Trump updates on Jan. 22, were like twin canaries in the toxic coal mine of America’s new regime:

9:25 AM: “Trump administration shuts down White House Spanish-language page.” The White House site displayed an “Error 404” message and a “Go To Home Page” button that originally read “Go Home.” The message: If you speak only Spanish, the new president will not help you, and someone on his staff finds it OK to make fun of you.

9:40 AM: “Trump administration cancels travel plans for refugees who have already been cleared to resettle in the US.” What will befall these prospective new Americans who only wish to live, work, and raise families in safety? In letters from Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1940, my ancestors tell of friends whose escape to America was thwarted by politics or bureaucracy. Some went elsewhere, many died in concentration camps. All would have been enthusiastic Americans whose great-grandchild might have been your good neighbor today.

But, by the afternoon, both of those entries were already far down the list of new outrages. They may not grab headlines like the prospect of a Republican-weaponized Justice Department, illegal pardons of January 6, 2021, criminals, or Elon Musk’s meme-coin-themed government agency. But they are deeply symbolic of the inhumane America of Trump 2.0. Drowned out by louder issues, they are the small, death-of-democracy-by-a-thousand-cuts changes that we ignore at our own peril.

From Geoff Kronik in Brookline, Massachusetts

Comment: "Thank you Mr. Kronik. It feels like 1939 sometimes."