Trump Threatens Federal Takeover of Washington After Member of DOGE Is Assaulted

The Barbarian · Friday at 6:31 PM

RDKirk said:
That's not something that happens overnight.

"Let's get 2000 National Guard troops into DC right away!"

"Yes sir! Done, sir!"

"Good! Are they armed?"

"Oh...did you want them to be armed? Umm. Most of the troops we rushed into the city were support troops, because that's mostly what we have...they aren't currently qualified to carry arms. That's going to take a while. We'll have to swap out the ones we have there now for troops who are currently qualified."

But wait, weren't they effective? After all, we've had the longest pause in homicides since 2024.

The Barbarian · Friday at 6:32 PM

essentialsaltes said:
and Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and....

Jackson Mississippi is #1 in murders per capita.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/22/politics/gop-governors-troops-dc-10-cities-crime-rate

But it's not an emergency. How would sending troops to Jackson deflect from Trump's Epstein problem?

RDKirk · Friday at 9:30 PM

The Barbarian said:
But wait, weren't they effective? After all, we've had the longest pause in homicides since 2024.

First thing I'd check for a cause would be the weather report.

I'm not saying that's what it is, but I do know weather makes a huge difference.

The Barbarian · Friday at 9:54 PM

RDKirk said:
First thing I'd check for a cause would be the weather report. I'm not saying that's what it is, but I do know weather makes a huge difference.

Yes. But the mere presence of uniformed people in an area can work. Curtis Silwa (yes, he's an arrogant attention-grabber) showed this works pretty well, even with no weapons or enforcement power.

RDKirk · Friday at 10:33 PM

The Barbarian said:
Yes. But the mere presence of uniformed people in an area can work. Curtis Silwa (yes, he's an arrogant attention-grabber) showed this works pretty well, even with no weapons or enforcement power.

Yes, that worked temporarily.

The Barbarian · Saturday at 8:48 AM

RDKirk said:
Yes, that worked temporarily.

And will again, I think. Criminals aren't the brightest in the world, but they aren't completely stupid; they tend to act when they think they aren't being observed.

Eventually, they get used to the additional attention, and fall back into their ways. I once worked with a guy who had been a probation officer. He told me that the convicted burglars he as watching could tell him in detail what houses were more risky to burgle. But when they needed cash or were upset, or were strung out from lack of their drug of choice, they'd forget it all, and just hit whatever looked promising. I think that's pretty much criminals in general.

As some prominent felons we know about have shown.

essentialsaltes · Saturday at 11:04 AM

ICE director says agents won't be at D.C. schools on the first day — but may be going forward

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said there are special circumstances that may require ICE to go to a school, such as to check on a student's safety.

In the NBC interview, Lyons also addressed reports that some U.S. citizens have recently been arrested by ICE agents. Some were arrested for allegedly assaulting ICE officers, while others have been arrested in cases of mistaken identity and later released.

“A lot of that stuff you are hearing about U.S. citizens being arrested, right? That is a training issue that we are working on. But people don’t have to worry about walking down the street and being asked for their papers or being asked for their passport," Lyons said. "When ICE is going after an individual, it’s a targeted operation."

Well there's a tautology for ya. What is it when you roll up to Home Depot hidden inside a truck?

ICE is under pressure to boost its workforce of deportation officers from 6,500 to 16,500 by the end of the year, after the agency received $75 billion from Congress to supercharge deportations of undocumented immigrants. ICE recently signed contracts to support a $40 million ICE officer recruitment campaign and is advertising $50,000 in signing bonuses.

To speed up the onboarding process, ICE is shortening that training [from one year] to eight weeks by eliminating classes deemed repetitive and cutting back on Spanish classes. Firearms training and classroom instruction has also been shortened.

The Barbarian · Saturday at 1:34 PM

Lots of inexperienced recruits attracted to huge signing bonuses. Cutting back on training, especially in understanding Spanish, and in firearms training. What could go wrong?

There's nothing new under the sun. This has happened before. But not in a free society.

The Barbarian · Saturday at 3:26 PM

And from the Cato Institute, analyzing government data...

On August 11, Deportation Data Project released new data from the government that cover through July 28. The analysis was updated using the new data below. The new data differ somewhat, but the general conclusions remain unchanged.

Illegal profiling accounts for a substantial portion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in 2025. While ICE has other tactics to arrest peaceful immigrants—such as during immigration hearings, appointments, and check-ins—ICE agents are deliberately targeting workers in heavily Latino jobs and neighborhoods, sometimes based on its community tip line where residents claim to “see” illegal immigrants in their areas, but more often based on nothing at all.

This policy is a threat to the rights of all people in the United States.

ICE Is Arresting Thousands of People with No Reason to Target Them

New data obtained from ICE by the Deportation Data Project drives home how frequently Latino immigrants are arrested off the streets without any recent prior contact with law enforcement. The screenshot below shows what the data look like. Each row represents an individual arrest and provides details about the arrest method, criminal history, and citizenship status. The most notable aspect of the new data is that they provide the exact location of each person’s apprehension.

The key takeaway is that ICE is arresting thousands of people in random locations—what it calls “non-specific” or “general” areas—who had no prior contact with law enforcement: the telltale sign of illegal profiling. Normally, ICE makes arrests only after the suspect has been identified in some other way. For instance, they were arrested by local police and their name was checked against the government data, or they were going to an appointment related to their status, so ICE knew they would be there. But in these cases, ICE is arresting people who weren’t going to appointments or committing criminal offenses that would put them on ICE’s radar, as well as people who had not been ordered removed from the country, giving ICE a reason to seek them out.

https://www.cato.org/blog/1/5-ice-arrests-are-latinos-streets-no-criminal-past-or-removal-order

Full disclosure: The Cato Institute is Libertarian. They see lawless government as much, much more dangerous than lawless individuals, citing dictators of all stripes. The data clearly support their conclusions. If American citizens with brown skins can be rounded up by masked and unidentified agents, and held indefinitely, so can any of us. There's no special protection for any group.

"There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

John Adams

On Aug. 12, 2025, the Smithsonian’s director, Lonnie Bunch III, received a letter from the White House announcing its intent to carry out a systematic review of the institution’s holdings and exhibitions in the advance of the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

The review’s stated aim is to ensure that museum content adequately reflects “Americanism” through a commitment to “celebrate American exceptionalism, [and] remove divisive or partisan narratives.”

The Orwellian echoes in Trump’s push for ‘Americanism’ at the Smithsonian

Donald Trump aims to rewrite America’s official history, including at one of the nation’s key sites of public history-making: the Smithsonian. George Orwell would recognize Trump’s impulse.

theconversation.com

"If fascism comes to the United States, it won't be called fascism. It will be called Americanism."
Huey Long

The Barbarian · Saturday at 9:48 PM

Apparently, it's not working...

Pommer · Sunday at 2:17 AM

The Barbarian said:
Apparently, it's not working...
View attachment 369004

These numbers are weeks old, given the attention-dearth Americans have fallen into, is would have been 6-8 months ago in The Before Times*.

*2015

essentialsaltes · Monday at 8:19 AM

essentialsaltes said:
Defense Secretary Hegseth authorizes National Guard troops to carry arms in DC
"You got to be strong, you got to be tough," Trump told Guard personnel at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility. "You got to do your job. Whatever it takes to do your job."

WASHINGTON — National Guard troops deployed to Washington this month to support President Donald Trump's effort to mitigate crime began carrying firearms Sunday evening, according to the federal task force managing the operation.

The majority of the guard members will carry M17 pistols, their service-issued weapons, a Defense Department official with knowledge of the planning, while a small number of the troops will be armed with their service M4 rifles.

The Barbarian · Monday at 12:59 PM

"You got to be strong, you got to be tough," Trump told Guard personnel at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility. "You got to do your job. Whatever it takes to do your job."

Relying on his own experience in our military, I suppose. Oh wait...

Washington (CNN) An Illinois Democrat who was seriously wounded in Iraq derisively referred to President Donald Trump's draft deferments after Trump called Democrats "treasonous" for not clapping during his State of the Union speech.

"We don't live in a dictatorship or a monarchy. I swore an oath—in the military and in the Senate—to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bone Spurs and clap when he demands I clap," Sen. Tammy Duckworth tweeted Monday evening.

Duckworth calls out 'Cadet Bone Spurs' after Trump's 'treasonous' remark | U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois

The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois

www.duckworth.senate.gov

The Barbarian · Monday at 5:52 PM

Pommer said:
These numbers are weeks old, given the attention-dearth Americans have fallen into, is would have been 6-8 months ago in The Before Times*.

There is this...

Twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove of President Donald Trump's second term than those who strongly approve, according to a new poll.

In a survey from YouGov and The Economist, conducted Aug. 15-18, two-thirds of respondents said they have strong feelings about Trump − and, increasingly, most of them are negative. The poll found 47% said they strongly disapprove of the second-term president, compared to 23% who say they strongly approve.

New poll shows more Americans 'strongly disapprove' of Trump's second term: What to know

In a poll from YouGov/The Economist, two-thirds say they have strong feelings about Donald Trump - either positive or negative. Here's the breakdown.

www.usatoday.com

The Barbarian · 2025-08-26T09:02:11-0500

Trump’s Epstein problem is real: New poll shows many in his base disapprove of his handling of the files, and some supporters are having second thoughts about electing him

Americans are paying close attention to the prolonged Epstein controversy. Our polling finds that 3 in 4 respondents have heard, read or seen “a lot” or “some” about Epstein.

Moreover, most believe that Trump is fumbling the matter.

Seven in 10 Americans believe that Trump is handling the matter “not well.” This includes pluralities of Trump’s most loyal supporters, 43% of Republicans, 43% of conservatives, and 47% of those who voted for him in 2024.

When we drill down on the 47% of 2024 Trump voters who disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Epstein controversy, we find significant cracks in the MAGA facade. Among members of this group, 28% now disapprove of Trump as president.

Trump’s Epstein problem is real: New poll shows many in his base disapprove of his handling of the files, and some supporters are having second thoughts about electing him

The MAGA base is not happy. Trump’s handling of the Epstein controversy has done significant damage to his standing, particularly among his core supporters.

theconversation.com

JosephZ · 2025-08-26T17:07:58-0500

The Barbarian said:
But wait, weren't they effective? After all, we've had the longest pause in homicides since 2024.

D.C.’s 12-day streak without a homicide is over, Not as rare as Trump says.

“In the last 11 days we’ve had no murders and that’s the first time that’s taken place in years actually, years,” Trump said Monday morning,

“No police officer working in the city can remember a time in their lives when there has been no murders,” Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said during the news conference Monday. “We’ve checked the records, no one can even find a record of being murder-free as long as we’ve been murder-free under President Trump’s leadership.”

D.C. went 16 days without a homicide earlier this year, from Feb. 24 to March 13.

Monday was not the first time Trump falsely claimed unprecedented stretches without killings in D.C., saying in a news conference Friday morning that last week marked “the first time in anybody’s memory that you haven’t had a murder in a week.”

Washington had other such seven-day stretches without homicides in April and May of this year, as well as three times last year. D.C. also experienced a respite from killings around this time last year, when no homicides occurred for nine days from Aug. 3 through Aug. 13.

The Barbarian · 2025-08-26T17:15:46-0500

JosephZ said:
D.C.’s 12-day streak without a homicide is over, Not as rare as Trump says.

I stand corrected. I should have done a more thorough search. I doubt if Trump really knew it was a lie. These obviously false stories seem to be confabulation a symptom of his ongoing mental decline:

But what Trump is doing now is something different. Confabulation is sometimes called “honest lying,” because the person doing it genuinely believes what he’s saying, even if it is obviously and patently false. A person confabulates when they are telling completely invented stories that don’t provide them any particular tangible benefit. In other words, it’s not like lying to try and get out of a speeding ticket.
...
In older people, confabulation is one of the clearest early signs of dementia. The day you witness someone confabulate is often the day you are forced to admit to yourself that a beloved parent needs help, and that all the little slips and oddities you’ve been seeing can no longer be rationalized away.

For Trump, the day we could no longer pretend everything is fine came on July 15, when he told a lengthy story about his uncle, John Trump, who he claimed taught at MIT and held three degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math.” His uncle, according to Trump, once told him how he had taught Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and how very smart Kaczynski was.

Trump’s uncle was indeed a professor at MIT, but everything else in this story is pure confabulation. Trump’s uncle didn’t have degrees in “nuclear, chemical, and math” — he had degrees in electrical engineering and physics. And Kaczynski did not go to MIT at all — he went to Harvard.

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5429516-trump-confabulation-dementia-signs/

essentialsaltes · 2025-08-26T19:00:36-0500

National Guard picking up trash in camo and reflective vests.

Trump Threatens Federal Takeover of Washington After Member of DOGE Is Assaulted

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ICE director says agents won't be at D.C. schools on the first day — but may be going forward​

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ICE Is Arresting Thousands of People with No Reason to Target Them​

"There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."​

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Defense Secretary Hegseth authorizes National Guard troops to carry arms in DC​

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Trump’s Epstein problem is real: New poll shows many in his base disapprove of his handling of the files, and some supporters are having second thoughts about electing him​

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