At the poetry function yesterday I asked the bartender how she was doing and she was like “Fine, but you know, 2026, not starting off so good, and it’s only been one week.” And I went, “Well, we got fifty-one more to go, I think we can turn things around.” And of course I said that because my optimism can’t turn off for even a second.
If you read the news you saw the whittled-down version of the administration’s latest violence against Americans: ICE agents swarmed Minneapolis, pepper-sprayed students and parents during dismissal at Roosevelt High School, and shot a legal observer in her car. Renee Nicole Good was 37 years old, a poet and musician, a mother of three, and a partner. All she did was stick her head out the window and yell “Shame!”
Of course the government says she then tried to run ICE agents over with her car, which did not happen. Multiple videos show an ICE agent approaching her window, screaming at her to get out, and she turned to drive away. The agent was in no danger of getting hurt. Yet he still shot her three times in the face. Her car traveled about a hundred feet before slamming into a telephone pole. Multiple witnesses saw this. The crime of this government body was well-documented.
But everyone on the side of the occupying force – from Kristi Noem to Elon Musk to Asmongold to Donald Trump himself – says that Renee Nicole Good is a domestic terrorist and deserved it. Which is to say, if you don’t kowtow to this government’s whims, no matter how craven, we will lie through our teeth to paint ourselves as the victim and you as the enemy.
We got fifty-one more weeks to go.
Now I’ve read a story that the FBI has barred the state of Minnesota from accessing evidence related to the shooting, meaning the federal government will do their best to cover things up and give their ICE soldier a pat on the back and say don’t worry, chief, we got you, all while drawing devil horns over Good’s head and talking about how “she was no angel” or whatever line these demons like to drop whenever they have to make up something to save face. Again: We know what we saw in Minneapolis. I don’t want to quote 1984 again but you know what line I would write here.
How many more lies will people take? We have seen countless parents, children, partners, friends, family members, and neighbors snatched up for nothing, called criminals, and sent to camps and prisons in other countries or straight-up killed. We have seen people who supported this administration get swept away without warning. The leaders-in-name-only of the United States do not care about anything. They have no humanity. To them, this is all a game for them to win, and if you don’t join their team, they will steamroll you.
Not to deviate from more important matters, but speaking of games and teams, I will be surprised if countries want to send their national football teams here for the World Cup. I expect some forfeitures. Although I have to think that would benefit the United States team somehow, and fans around the world would yell like hell if that happened. We really are just fucking everything up for everyone, huh?
Fifty-one more weeks to go.
Anyway, yesterday I worked from my office, then camped out at the Korean fried chicken place for a bit, then hit up the poetry function where everyone threw down some of the sickest stanzas I’ve heard in a while, then went home to type up the poem I’d shared about the events of the day before bed. Today I have nothing to accomplish except for winterizing the windows downstairs. I will make chicken and orzo for dinner. I will try not to crash out too hard about everything.