Our President chose to celebrate by sending in troops to snatch the president of Venezuela out of his sea-side compound for arraignment in New York City, basically predicated on charges that he is a narco-terrorist. 

Let’s talk about that. Over the past three months we have seen scenes of our military bombing, at $250 K a shot, outboard motorboats allegedly carrying drugs. Allegedly because these strikes were based on dodgy information put out by our very unreliable Secretary of Defense. 

We were never shown proof that these boats were in fact carrying drugs, let alone fentanyl like Trump keeps claiming. Even Senator Rand Paul questioned the notion these boats were carrying anything to this country given that to make it to Miami, these boats would have to refuel 20 times.

Of course, destroying these boats and killing all on board is a way too convenient cover up. The American people, the media and Congress should demand to know more. 

And finally, there is our thoroughly untrustworthy President that makes this all hard to swallow. Instead of our national interests, Donald Trump is clearly more driven by his self-interest.

Trump and MAGA are undisturbed about the hypocrisy of us snatching the head of a foreign country while pardoning Juan Hernandez who wanted to shove cocaine up all our noses (and had the quantity to do it). If Maduro was smart he would have given Trump’s campaign a million dollars like Hernandez did.

How is all of this going to lift our economy? Not hard to imagine that this Weekend at Maduro’s is going to cost us north of a billion for the raid and the carrier group that has been bobbing off shore, money that could have been better spent on the ACA subsidies.

If you have the time, write your member of Congress at www.house.gov or www. senate.gov. 

As you probably know by now, Judge Hannah Dugan has been found guilty of a felony obstruction but not guilty of concealing an immigrant from federal agents.

Grassroots North Shore as well as a group of local and statewide nonprofits and progressive organizations have signed a statement put out by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign a press release and posted on its website. It says in part:

To understand more about the case, Ruth Conniff's commentary —   Making sense of the trial and felony conviction of a Milwaukee judge who stood up to ICE — in today's Wisconsin Examiner focuses on the prosecution's argument that Dugan interfered by letting Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the defendant, leave the courthouse. So the agents ultimately had to arrest Flores-Ruiz on the street outside making the agents less "safe." "The federal agents called to the stand, the prosecutors in the courtroom, and Schimel [the Acting US Attorney], in his summary of the case, made a big point about the 'safety' of law enforcement officers. Repeatedly, we heard that immigration agents prefer to make arrests inside courthouses because they provide a 'safe' environment in which to operate."

Conniff concludes: "The real questions raised by Dugan’s case are whether we believe the 'safety' of the agents making those dubious arrests matters more than the safety of our communities, and whether we want the courts to be able to regulate the conduct in their own courthouses as a check on the government’s exercise of raw power."

For an explanation of the legal issues, Adam Klasfeld and Harry Litman, both legal scholars, discuss what happened and what comes next. One issue that might emerge from an appeal is "materiality," meaning that nothing Judge Dugan did materially affected the outcome: Flores-Ruiz exited Judge Dugan's courtroom through a door primarily used by juries but it led to the public hallway where the federal agents were waiting. Presumably they could have arrested him in the public hallway. One of them even accompanied the immigrant to the ground floor and presumably could have detained him before he left the courthouse! Subsequently Flores-Ruiz was arrested on the street outside the courthouse. So no harm, no foul? The discussion between Klasfeld and Litman is about 22 minutes long.

There is a legal defense fund for her. Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine P. Geske oversees and serves as trustee of the fund. Because the case involves a sitting judge, there are strict rules on who can contribute. The gist of the rules are as follows:

• if you are not a registered lobbyist,
• you are not a Milwaukee County resident,
• or you do not have any business before the Milwaukee County Circuit Court system,

you are probably eligible to contribute as are your friends, family, and like-minded co-workers. Any amount you can give or can solicit from others will be appreciated. Contribute online through Stripe (rather than ActBlue) or write a check payable to “Hannah Dugan Legal Defense Fund” and send to:

          Hannah Dugan Legal Defense Fund
          1345 N Jefferson St., #172
          Milwaukee, WI 53202

In solidarity,
{{broadcaster.name}}
www.grassrootsnorthshore.com

Many of these same people who bristle when greeted with “Happy Holidays” voted last week to end the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies, which made healthcare accessible to 24 million people. 

Now, rather than holiday cheer, parents across the country will be living in anxiety, fearful about their inability to provide healthcare security for their children. For many kids, losing access to healthcare will truly put them at mortal risk. 

As the Ghost of Christmas Present warned Ebenezer Scrooge, “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”

This year when enjoying a performance of “A Christmas Carol,” realize that this line will be more poignant than ever. 

Show if you want to express your feelings to Wisconsin’s Scrooge, write or call Ron Johnson by going to www.senate.gov. Wish him Happy Holidays.

Last weekend, a politically motivated gunman shot two Minnesota state representatives and their spouses at their doorsteps —killing two. This tragedy is just one example of how dangerously overheated our nation’s political climate has become.

In the meantime, Congressmember Tony Wied (R–WI-8) has introduced a bill that would halt federal funding to cities and states with high crime rates. No doubt the intent of his bill is to punish “Democrat” jurisdictions, it’s actually red states that lead the nation in violent crime. But cutting off funding to any jurisdiction makes his proposal counterintuitive at best.

The name of the bill—Stop Anarchists from Endangering Cities Act—is equally troubling. It implies that entire local governments promote anarchy, stoking fear, propping up ignorance, further inflaming political rhetoric rather than encouraging reasoned debate.

Even more concerning is that the bill sidesteps root causes of crime, many of which have been exacerbated by policies championed by Wied’s own party. If the draconian cuts outlined in the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” pass, these problems only intensify.

Sociologists tell us that intensifying the products of poverty leads to jacking up crime.

It’s way past time for our leaders to call a rhetorical ceasefire and genuinely engage with solutions that serve the public good. 

You know. Making things work better in this country. Not grandstanding and raising the national temper.

Keith Schmitz GRNS Steering Committee

Dear Editor: In medicine, the term piecemeal necrosis refers to the death of vital tissue little by little. We are seeing the equivalent of this in Washington with the death of vital agencies, the legal system and our Constitution.

Our democratic system is based on checks and balances. All three branches of our government however, have fallen under the total dominance of a misguided, vindictive and cruel tyrant who has surrounded himself with lackey’s willing to do anything to curry favor. Fear of revenge by this administration has paralyzed the majority party in Congress to perform its basic functions.

There is a fundamental breakdown in our society when the rule of law and our own Constitution offer no protection for its citizens. Free speech and a free press are under constant attack. Censorship and threats of defunding are destroying our education system. Research based on science and evidence is suddenly no longer valid or supported. Enemies have become friends and allies enemies. The economy is in sudden turmoil. The abuse of power has become so extreme that gestapo tactics are now being used to abduct innocent civilians from the streets and taken to unknown sites.

Editorial Published in The Ozaukee Press:

As the farmers used to say, “you don’t eat your seed corn.”

Yet that’s exactly what the President and his sidekick, “Chain Saw” Musk, are doing — munching away at what people have built up over generations to keep our country strong.

For two people who claim to be business savvy, they’re setting us up to come out of the next four years weaker, poorer, and less competitive.

They’re slashing investments in technical research — the very engine that has kept America ahead of the world. Even worse, they’re gutting medical research, killing projects that were decades in the making before they’re finished.

The government covers about half of all drug research costs because Big Pharma often won’t risk funding early-stage work. Kill that pipeline, and we’re not just losing cures — we’re setting ourselves up to be a sicker, more fragile nation.

And for what?

A few headline-grabbing “savings” that won’t even begin to offset the trillion-dollar tax cuts handed to billionaires who don’t need them — and very little will end up in your pocket.

This is economic sabotage, plain and simple. If you think fighting back is class warfare, it is you who is under attack.

Think about your future — and the future your kids and grandkids will inherit.

Keith R. Schmitz

Milwaukee

Right now Congress is considering enacting the DOGE cuts. Especially if you live in a red district, contact your member of Congress and let them know you don’t want your future gutted. You can find contact information at ww.house.gov and click FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE.

A suggestion to you all.

What has the GOP done for this country? You'd have to go all the way back to, believe it or not, RICHARD NIXON!

Be totally honest with yourself.

Can you name any achievement that this party has pushed or enacted? And no, fat-cat tax cuts, stuffing the courts with unqualified corporatist judges, or a brutal border policy that ignores the suffering these people are fleeing do not count as anything that benefits us.

It's time we start calling the GOP the Party of Mediocrity to help wake up voters to what this tribe is doing to our country and this state.

Back in Wisconsin, the Party of Mediocrity failed to do anything to address the COVID crisis. And don't count on them passing anything beneficial -- including funding the police -- because, god forbid, that would mean taxing their wealthy donors.

The Judge Brown-Jackson hearings when it came to the GOP members of the judiciary committee was a Mediocrity Circus. It had everything from Lindsay Graham asking what the Judge's religion is from to Dixie Disaster Marsha Blackburn asking Brown-Jackson asking her to define what a woman was to the GOP's OANN obsession over seven cases around the sentencing of child pornographers.

And don't forget. The Party of Mediocrity got us into this recession and let the pandemic rage, which Joe Biden is struggling against the Party of Mediocracy's obstruction. Yet, yesterday's unemployment numbers show this to be the lowest since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was on the screen.

We have to ask voters: Do you want this country to not only be what it can be but put into power a party so mediocre that they have to engineer their one-party rule to stay in control?