From "A red hat, inspired by a symbol of resistance to Nazi occupation, gains traction in Minnesota" (NPR).
"Peter Fritzsche, a history professor at the University of Illinois, said the Nazis were operating on 'obviously a very, very different scale,' but with ICE's presence in Minnesota, people can still feel 'occupied.'... Wendy Woloson, a history professor at Rutgers University at Camden and fellow knitter, said the red hats are a classic response of the crafting world. When knitters want to help in their community, they put their hands to work, she said.... She recalled the pink 'pussy hats' from the 2017 Women's March...."
It's poignant, this urge to do something that finds its release in knitting. It's something very calm indoor people can do when they want to feel they too are engaging in activism.
ADDED: Speaking of hats in Minnesota, I just ran across this fascinating passage in a NYT article from April 2025:
There was a time last summer when the Democratic Party was cool. Kamala Harris had just stepped in as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in the waning days of Brat summer.... Tim Walz’s outdoorsy drip led to a Chappell Roan-inspired camo trucker hat. The memes were flowing, and the party’s mood was high.
The headline was: "What Is ‘Dark Woke’? Democrats are trying out a new attitude. It’s provocative, edgy and perilously toeing the line of not being too offensive."
I'd forgotten "dark woke." The NYT used the phrase a few times in April 2025 and then one last time in June 2025. Who can even define "dark woke" now? What happened did it cross "the line of not being too offensive"? Whatever that means. Seems to mean that it was destroyed by its inoffensiveness.
But go ahead, put on a particular sort of red hat to confront your antagonists who have been wearing their own particular sort of red hat for years.
AND: That last "dark woke" in the NYT, last June, was about Gavin Newsom:
Now, his return to an in-your-face, provocative style — sometimes hailed as “dark woke” — could galvanize Democrats who have been mired in an extended period of soul-searching since their presidential-election loss and criticism over the lack of fight against Mr. Trump.
Is that what Newsom has been up to? Dark woke!
That Newsom article does have this timely material:
Tom Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, told NBC News over the weekend that he would arrest anyone who interfered with immigration enforcement — including Mr. Newsom. That offered the governor an obvious response.
“Come after me. Arrest me,” Mr. Newsom replied in a television interview. “Let’s just get it over with. Tough guy. I don’t give a damn.”
Mr. Trump later said he supported the idea of arresting Mr. Newsom, as well.
Sigh. Maybe I need to take up knitting.
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124 comments:
Very Madame Defarge vibe here. They want to knit by the guillotine during the executions of the MAGA.
I agree with Jim. The BEST activism is Intercessory prayer. And the BEST prayer is,“God’s Will be done.”
Peter Fritzsche! I took a class or two from him at U of I back int he day. I think he may have been a grad student back then and I was in the section. Good memories.
"people can still feel 'occupied.'."
In fact they can make you feel just about any way they want, if they have control over who is in and who is out of your precious identity. Maybe they can even make you feel that Tim Walz is cool.
But then you get certain commenters who imagine that anybody not motivated by their threats of excommunication from their "cool kids club" just doesn't understand. So they explain again how you must not be a cool kid if you don't accept their beliefs and doesn't that scare you? And they do it again, and again, never bothering to defend their beliefs in real world terms.
For one things, the classmates and teacher that my mother saw disappear under Nazi occupation in Holland? They were not sent back home, they were sent to death camps. As in horrific, beyond imagining horrible death camps.
Oh, these insufferably self-important people with their hyperbolic fantasies of persecution. We're living through a Nazi occupation! To relive one's youth, to be part of the Vanguard of the Resistance, to commiserate with other like-minded carrying on the struggle...
Sweethearts, you never were part of a Resistance. You're harmless middle-class ladies living in the safest society imaginable, living a meaningless dream. Go fight for freedom in Iran if you want to enjoy some danger.
"Oh, these insufferably self-important people with their hyperbolic fantasies of persecution."
Oh, you mean like the Jan 6ers?
“Sigh. Maybe I need to take up knitting.”
https://amberreunion.blogspot.com/2016/11/borealis-in-three-takes.html?m=1
RFK’s next act should be banning whatever chemical has gotten into the food or water supply and has made so many comfortable white women into the worlds biggest victims
These gestapo kinds of arguments appeal to the people already inside the tent. The overwhelming majority of people think that illegal aliens should be deported, and that law enforcement should be allowed to do their job. The trick is convincing people that this is not what is going on, that something different is going on, racism.
There are plenty of economic arguments that importing massive numbers of illegals hurts working class people living here who don't own their own homes by driving down wages and driving up rents. It doesn't matter what color the illegals are, the lower paychecks and higher rent checks don't care what color the excess labor or higher number of renters is, nor does the law of supply and demand have a racial component.
Mark will never allow himself to be drawn out on J6, for example. He will never answer with actual quotes from Trump why he believes that Trump telling protesters to respect law enforcement and go home was an incitement to violence, for example.
It's not about the facts, it's not about logic, it's about Mark's identity as a "cool kid" who is superior to the trailer trash wearing red trucker hats.
’Neary created the pattern that has now become the well-known 'Melt the ICE' hat, a red beanie-shaped cap topped with a braided tassel…’
Have they tried holding their collective breath? That would yield the same result with a lot less knitting.
So in addition to elected democrats, all of journalism is now written by, for and about theatre kids. No wonder they grow increasingly angry about reality intruding on their 24/7/365 cosplaying.
Yeah that’s the big difference genius professor, the Nazis simply operated on “a larger scale,” otherwise the present day is EXACTLY like the Holocaust.
Can these idiots even HEAR themselves?
Let me put it in plain simple American standard English:
if actual Nazis are rounding up the neighbors the absolute last activity you would engage in is knitting.
Oh shut the front door
’if actual Nazis are rounding up the neighbors the absolute last activity you would engage in is knitting.’
I have to disagree. Those knitting needles could put an eye out!!
That munchkin that run the teaching guild weingarten has some stupid idea before
The nice thing about a red knitted cap is it can hold a surprising amount of blood without really showing it.
And of course these silly women get tickled by a glowing affirmation story in NPR, or worse, its further left affiliate, MPR.
Very roughly translated. It's a gnome hat!
During WWII, in Norway, the hats were a symbol of national pride. They were defying the occupiers. I think the wrong side is wearing them this time.
I imagine a lot of people felt 'occupied' during the Covid lockdowns. Was there appropriately reactive knitting in MN?
Minnesota and silly hats seem like a good match.
“This calls for a stupid and futile gesture.”
The local Teachers Union, middle-aged women by a large degree, has been one of the most vocal critics of ICE hereabouts. What they don't mention is that after years of job losses from a shrinking enrollment, there is now a surge. Roughly a quarter of the new younger students apparently need, and are entitled to, specialized English as a Second Language instruction. Lots of new jobs for teachers; devastation for Education Dept. budget. Higher taxes, cuts in traditional programs. Yes, the new kids are sweet and lovable. At least we have a much improved soccer team.
Red is absolutely right. Nails them to the wall.
Reporter to ICE agent." When did you realize you were on the wrong side of history?"
ICE Agent. " It was the hats. The red knitted hats. That's when we realized we were wrong to be doing this, arresting criminals."
Mark said...
"Oh, these insufferably self-important people with their hyperbolic fantasies of persecution."
"Oh, you mean like the Jan 6ers?"
How many Jan 6ers were jailed without a trial?
You consistently want to compare apples to submarines.
“the Nazi occupation of Norway in the 1940s.” What ICE is doing in MN is the exact same thing!
I came across today some writings by the historian Heather Cox Richardson. The former volleyball coach at Nebraska is a fan.
I can’t believe how HCR has prevented and changed history. She, of course, defends Don Lemon and left out all sorts of facts.
HCR is no VDH.
Like james downey i feel stupid for having read this
Now why would NPR choose a knitting circle to frame their little protest whine? Because it's such a charming, anodyne sort of activity? Except, remember the insane AWFLs who made headlines about 4 years ago when a knitting group went all feral and rabid about a member who made the appalling error of being happy about her plans for a vacation trip to SE Asia? The logic for the group's killer-instinct effort to ruin her escapes me at this remove but it was singularly appalling to read about.
Maybe there were toxins in the yarn. For sure I have never looked at knitting the same way since.
What I’d like see are Warm the Pussy hats.
Or Say No To Ice Pussies
But that second one might get you in trouble. So negative. And people might misunderstand. Let’s stick with Warm the Pussy hats.
And I’m okay with pink. That’s a healthy color. Or you could do pink and blue. It should be pink but it’s so damn blue. Sad and cold. Yes.
I would avoid red Pussy hats. You don’t want inflamed Pussy hats. Now you got STD fears in the Pussy hat. No no no.
Man, sewing is a mine field.
“ Oh, these insufferably self-important people with their hyperbolic fantasies of persecution. We're living through a Nazi occupation! To relive one's youth, to be part of the Vanguard of the Resistance, to commiserate with other like-minded carrying on the struggle...”
“It’s terrible! Those mean Trump fascists won’t let us break federal law without threat of arrest!”
Seriously, I wish some of those morons would study some history on how the Nazis in general and the Gestapo in particular handled protesters. They might start with the White Rose group and what happened to them.
I guess the Pussy Hat was a new take on this one. So many knit hats to wear, so many protests to attend.
One wonders what leftists would do if they ran out of things to protest.
The new pussy hat brigade to the rescue!! And they wonder why normal Americans are laughing at them??
“Come after me. Arrest me.” I look forward to our next election cycle when all the candidates try to get arrested to help with their campaign.
“Charge me with 88 felonies! I dare you. And don’t forget my mugshot.”
….and that’s the reason for the nice people of Minnesota having a ruling party like the DFL and a governor like Walz.
Jaq @ 6:45, I actually agree with you on one narrow point: unrestricted labor supply can depress wages and raise rents. That’s basic economics, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone—especially working-class people.
But here’s where the argument breaks down.
If the real concern were wages and housing, we’d be seeing aggressive enforcement against the employers who exploit undocumented labor, meaningful labor protections, and serious housing policy. Instead, we get performative raids, family separations, and rhetoric that paints entire groups as threats—while the same employers quietly keep benefiting from cheap, vulnerable labor.
That’s why so many people outside of the bubble see something different going on.
It’s not that “deportation is racist” as a policy concept. It’s that enforcement is selective, theatrical, and paired with language that dehumanizes people who are overwhelmingly working, paying taxes, and embedded in communities—while the economic structures actually harming workers remain untouched.
Supply and demand may be color-blind. Politics isn’t.
If the goal were truly to protect working-class Americans, the focus would be on labor standards, housing supply, and employer accountability—not just on the most visible and politically useful targets.
The knitting store would have better served their community if it had remained apolitical. People need a respite from their daily preoccupations. I’ve noticed that lefties have to drag politics into everything. How many sweet Facebook craft or fan communities have been ruined by lefties dragging in politics. I just haven’t seen that from the right. It’s sometimes very hard to maintain neutrality in a group like that because lefties keep pushing politics into the conversation.
’It’s that enforcement is selective, theatrical, and paired with language that dehumanizes people who are overwhelmingly working, paying taxes, and embedded in communities…’
The first bolded clause is merely your opinion and meaningless, while the second is unproven. Stating such doesn’t render your claims valid or true.
I used to just unfollow groups like that. Now I counter the lefty points and lefties are shocked - or act as if they’re shocked - that there’s another point of view.
What I would hate to run into is the ice cube in the pussy scenario.
You think you've gotten lucky but she's an evil ice princess and now you're like the Titanic hitting an iceberg. "What the fuck is that? It's so cold. Hard and cold." And the tip of your cock keeps slamming into the ice cube.
"It's so cold, it's so cold, hard and cold, ouch, ouch, I can't stop, ouch, ouch, wow, ouch, this is not good, this is not good."
And she's like, "bwah ha ha ha."
I am outside my own sexual experience here, by the way, so don't blame me if you're in the ER trying to get an ice cube out of your vagina. Or vulva, I can't keep them straight.
"..in Minnesota, people can still feel 'occupied.."
by somalis? or just by the DFL party?
Imagine, The Horror, of being stuck in Minnesota and having no representation
Protestor: "How do you like my Pussy hat?"
Althouse: "Is that a vagina or a vulva?"
Protestor: "I didn't know there was going to be a test."
My standard reply (which I’ve used on several occasions now) after I’ve made an opposing comment:
“I understand your concerns and the difficult situation you’re describing. At the same time, people see this issue in different ways, and staying respectful toward everyone’s perspective helps keep things constructive.”
I got that from Grok and it’s very useful.
I, for one, am delighted to read these Leftist womyn are adopting the color red. I hope the trend spreads like wildfire throughout the country so they can finally be associated with the color best exemplified by socialists throughout history: blood red. It was the Soviet's color after all. And the Nazi's.
The Left should've never been blue in the first place.
Jaq:
Rents are down in Los Angeles because of the deportations and closing the border.
It's a mistake to focus on the cause du jour.
They are always be hysterical about something or waiting for something to be hysterical about. There is always some Nazi threat to confront. There is always something to demonstrate about and scream about and spit about. There will always be golden days to look back on.
Reality doesn't matter. Events don't matter. Their enemies' actions and words don't matter. There will always be hysteria. Hysteria and paranoia can be manufactured from literally nothing.
Trump took the first hysterias in 2017 seriously and wasted time reacting to them. But after years and years of trivial hysterias, he hardly cares at all. Or he tries to take control the hysteria by triggering the hysterics.
Jaq, demanding that I defend statements I never made is a nonsensical position for you to take.... yet like a broken clock, here you are again demanding that.
Ask me to defend things I said (and quote them accurately) or STFU.
You and Peachy are nothing more than rhetorical steaming piles.
@ 8:34, come on, Beast — I’d expect the throw-a-rock-and-run move from a few folks here, but you’re better than that.
Calling something an “opinion” isn’t a rebuttal; it’s an evasion.
“Selective” and “theatrical” enforcement aren’t vibes or rhetoric — they’re observable claims. Enforcement is selective if it targets low-risk, nonviolent populations while largely avoiding higher-impact violations. It’s theatrical if it prioritizes visibility and deterrence optics over measurable outcomes. Those are empirical standards, not feelings.
As for “unproven”: a majority of undocumented immigrants work, overwhelmingly in labor-short sectors; millions pay payroll, sales, and property taxes (directly or through rent); and many have lived here for a decade or more and have U.S.-citizen children.
None of that is speculative. It’s documented across IRS, SSA, DHS, and labor data.
If you disagree, the rebuttal isn’t “that’s an opinion.”
It’s identifying which specific claim is false — and why.
Dismissing an argument without engaging its factual premises isn’t skepticism. It’s avoidance.
Nice one, Saint Croix!!
Misspelled "nutters."
“Selective” and “theatrical” enforcement aren’t vibes or rhetoric — they’re observable claims.’
They’re conjured opinions: nothing more, nothing less. And, as always, even if true: so what? What’s the end game for you?
Damn National Socialists. New York, too? Leftists. #HateLovesAbortion
Diversity (e.g. racism)? Equivocation and Inanitiies (DEI) is not politically congruent ("=").
Redistributive change schemes?
Selective? Opportunistic? Lose your Pro-Choice religion. Tge cacophony is progressing with a liberal din.
Emigration reform NOW... uh, now, to mitigate progress at both ends of the bridge and collateral damage throughout. #HateLovesAbortion
To paraphrase a progressive proverb: the Ass brays and the caravan passes.
Beast, @ 8:59, I appreciate the candor — and I don’t mean that sarcastically.
When the response shifts from whether claims are true to “even if they are, so what?”, that’s an acknowledgment that facts themselves aren’t the point of disagreement anymore. That’s important for anyone following along in good faith.
For me, outcomes matter. If enforcement is effective, lawful, and actually addresses the stated goals, then defend it on those grounds. If not, dismissing documented realities as “opinions” doesn’t resolve the problem — it just avoids it.
That distinction, I think, matters more to observers, who are being slow boiled by the propaganda machine, than to either of us.
’When the response shifts from whether claims are true to “even if they are, so what?”, that’s an acknowledgment that facts themselves aren’t the point of disagreement anymore.’
Only an imbecile could reach such an illogical conclusion.
Venkman brings the short straw
And in case you completely missed the first sentence of my earlier reply: ‘They’re conjured opinions: nothing more, nothing less.’
In no world of argument does that create an acknowledgment that the facts themselves aren’t the point of disagreement anymore.
On second thought hes mord like peck the obstreporous eps dronr
"Is that a vagina or a vulva?" Depends on whether the hat is worn inside out... or how deeply you look...
’Venkman brings the short straw’
Begging linear thought from him is like nailing jello to a tree. It’s can’t be done, but it’s highly amusing. :)
Beast at 8:59 “ They’re conjured opinions: nothing more, nothing less. And, as always, even if true: so what”
Oops?
>said Paul Neary, a shop employee.
I hate it when non-political spaces -- like a yarn store -- get taken over by activists.
According to Milton Friedman, "you cannot simultaneously have a welfare state and free immigration." Many, too many, people immigrate to the United States not to use their resources in a productive way but rather to be "parasitic" on the rest of the society. Trump has proven Friedman right -- the fiscal burden of immigration is heavy enough to offset economic gains. Several million people have left the country in the past year. If these people were productive members of society, our country would be experiencing a very deep and troubling recession. It is not. Our country is growing robustly and crime is falling.
I think the results of the border crackdown are good enough that the extreme protests will not generate broader public support for open borders.
One of the local high schools walked out in an anti ICE protest. Less than half can read at grade level and a fifth at math. They will be competing with similarly uneducated, unskilled illegal workers. Not just for jobs, but low cost housing, social services, doctors who take Medicare, etc. They are protesting for people who are going to make them poorer.
Every Democrat seems to speak "sharply" about Trump and ICE, but few achieve "Dark Woke." I associate "Dark Woke" with "Dark Biden" of the dark and ominous Independence Hall speech (often pictured for some reason with laser beams coming out of his eyes). Newsom is trying something more stylish and flashy. His style is somewhere between "American Gigolo" and "American Psycho." The Patrick Bateman vibe he gives off may be "dark" but it won't dislodge the "Dark Biden" meme.
Menstrual Pussy Hats?
The time in Autumn 2024 when the Democratic Party was "cool" was entirely a media creation -- or rather fantasy. Nobody took that seriously.
I do remember a time when the "Hobby Lobby" chain of hobby stores was chastised for being right-wing for some reason. Apparently separation of handicrafts and state only goes one way.
The hobby store we went to as kids had all kinds of toy trains and train accessories, model cars, toy soldiers, etc. Now it's all knitting, candlemaking and things like that. I suddenly remember though, that we had to rush through all that to get to the fun stuff in the back.
If you create an armed paramilitary force — similar to what Trump has done with parts of DHS — with low recruitment standards, provide only modest training, and then deploy it against a civilian population, people will inevitably get shot. That outcome is predictable. So far, the only real surprise is how relatively few casualties there have been.
https://open.substack.com/pub/justinmichaelptak/p/the-great-untruths-that-govern-civilization?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2czur
RJW, the arrests are "theatrical" because armies of protestors make them so. If local authorities cooperated with ICE, as Tom Homan has said, arrests could be accomplished with one or two agents at local jails.
And if illegals have been here "working and paying taxes for years" why haven't they taken advantage of the at least two amnesties that have occurred in my lifetime to become legal citizens? Perhaps it's because they work "under the table" for cash? The only intelligent part of your argument is that enforcement of illegal employment is lacking. I've been for that for years; it would definitely cut down on the desire to come here illegally, and is a necessary part of any immigration policy.
Yes there is very little drama in rsd states
Chappell Roan-inspired camo trucker hat.
The Harris-Walz campaign insisted the hat was inspired by the kind of hat Walz normally wore. This confused me because I was expecting that to be a dunce cap. The new gnome hat is more dunce cap shaped, so I guess we're getting there.
I think Walz should have just worn Roan's "Midwest Princess" camo hat. I bet they would have said her hat inspired theirs if she had endorsed them.
I knitted a pussy hat for a friend, back when they were a thing. She''s very liberal and I knew she'd enjoy it. I'm not making one of the gnome hats for anyone. It's become too clear since then that acceptance and support of friends' opinions that are different from one's own mostly goes one way only.
I briefly dated a knitter back in the day…met her knitter friends.
It’s a derivative of the cat lady stereotype, but with no live animals involved.
They so desperately want their lives to be more interesting than they actually are….but don’t want to take any risk or challenge themselves.
I do not put people who knit in with the category of people who derive their identity from knitting.
Adding on to Kak's correct observation of reality, we must be very thankful for those two American citizens who were slaughtered by the untrained steroid consuming morons. Their ultimate sacrifice has caused Trump to stand down this obesity army of knuckle draggers and to refocus the mission on actual criminal criminals not just immigration violation criminals.
Over two centuries ago, in 1787, Thomas Jefferson, America's third president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”
It occurred to me that if the yarn store had decided to make pro ICE hats, they would have been swamped with protests. There’s no down sides for lefties. Pro ICE customers, at most, will just stop going there. Intimidation really works well.
Having said that, it’s a really bad move for the store. Once half their customers start buying on line (and they will), they’re never coming back.
Benjamin Franklin's famous quote regarding freedom and security is: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,". Originating from a 1755 letter, it argues that sacrificing core freedoms for short-term security is a losing trade, resulting in the loss of both.
Yarn is something customers can come in and look at, but buy the actual product on line.
All this controversy. I just want to know what other laws can be ignored because they went unenforced for a while and it’s mostly brown people that break them. Well, not just ignored but for which attacking the federal gov’t is actually totally cool and rational.
I remember when the French Resistance started knitting hats, or rather, chapeaux in order to combat the trepications of their Nazi occupiers. For every French patriot exterminated by the Nazis, another knitting session was planned, organized and bravely carried out. Eventually the knitting became so intense and widespread that the Nazis gave up and went home. At least, that's the way they tell it nowadays. So brave, just like our contemporary Nazi Hunter-knitters. It's the same thing, don'tchaknow?
I have a lefty independent book store in my area. I visit every once in a while because they have some interesting selections. The actual books I buy on line. From Amazon - which is also lefty but not in your face lefty.
I wonder how they feel about having their car windows broken?
https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/2017854481204175233
"...portraying himself as the hero to Trump's 'Star Wars' villain..."
From Glitter Ken to Handjob Solo.
...Or if we're talking about Gavin Newsome, maybe it's Dork Woke.
"There was a time last summer when the Democratic Party was cool." Was there though? Or was that just wishful thinking by the media?
It's always histrionics with these people.
"All this controversy. I just want to know what other laws can be ignored because they went unenforced for a while and it’s mostly brown people that break them. Well, not just ignored but for which attacking the federal gov’t is actually totally cool and rational."
I think it's safe to assume that any federal law that isn't beneficial to Democrats falls under this umbrella.
deploy it against a civilian population
🙄 Check the direction of that arrow of causation. Why are ICE agents in neighborhoods in Minneapolis?
Emigration reform to repatriate Diverse persons is xenophobic.
Shared responsibility through murder, rape, pedophilia, redistributive change schemes, etc. is a liberal pride parade with Progressive Performance (pun intended).
One of the funniest lines I've seen lately, and it's particularly relevant when looking at the Anti Ice crowds in Minneapolis and elsewhere goes, "Trump got more fat women to walk in one day than Michelle Obama did in eight years".
Pro-Choice politicking with elements of Diversity, Equivocation, and Inanitiies garners ICE migration to mitigate progress perpetrated with liberal license.
"Trump got more fat women to walk in one day..."
MAHA
It's a real question how many of those in this country illegally are violent criminals of the type IE is currently arresting. Buwaya has said that he thinks the crime pot is empty and that the scene will change when ICE actually begins arresting large numbers of people who have been here illegally for twenty years. I would argue that we are years away from having emptied the criminal pot and the the Autopen migrant pot. ICE is arresting the worst of the worst but there is still a pot full of gang members whose crimes have been disregarded due to them living in such cities as Minneapolis, NYC, LA, Chicago. They have no record so the bleeping bleaters say we should keep them. That won't stand and the members of the communities these bloodsuckers have fastened onto will want the gangs gone. Enforcement will change. Next there is the fact the Autopen brought in hundreds of thhousand under under PAROLE and "legalized", at least temporarily, millions more. When these protections expire the recent migrants who hate this country will be in line to be deported back to a better place - non-racist, non-misogynistic, non-xenophobic and, best of all, their own - their own natal country. And many who came here, probably will go back willingly. There's always been a stream of returning immigrants and today such can return with some cash.
And who can look beyond the years it will take to return all those people.? It took four years to get the majority of the people I'm talking about into this country. Look at the changes Trump has made in one year. There's nothing that says that the demogullibles will still be defending the rapists ICE is rounding up. Minnesota might have returned a government representing the will of the people, not the pirate vote count. Mamdani has done nothing but raise prices and leave the homeless to freeze in the dark. Where will he be in four years? Newdumb hasn't rebuilt Pacific Palisades or fixed the Fire Department. Where will he be after 3 m ore years of Santa Annas?
It's certainly true that the coverage of ICE in the major media has terrorized the Hispanic community which is filled with illegals who have been here for twenty years along with their children and grandchildren. But they'll realize they aren't being rounded up unless they are standimg next to a gang member at Home Depot.
Who can see the future? But it's ridiculous to think that the Hispanic community won't come up with some scheme which is not amnesty for all, which will not put the illegals ahead of those who are in the pipeline to come here legally, which will not grant citizenship to people who do not support the Constitution and who think they live in Turtle Island but which will regularize the position of those illegals who have been here awhile and have a track record, who are working, who are not on welfare, who have not stolen from HHS or thrown bricks at ICE and the police, whose children are serving in the Armed Forces or have died defending our Constitution and our laws. Something like that they could think up and try to get enacted as law.
“a heaviness hung in the air” offends
’Beast at 8:59 “ They’re conjured opinions: nothing more, nothing less. And, as always, even if true: so what”
Oops?’
It’s only an oops if you don’t understand the meaning of ‘even if’.
Well in blue cities they dont even bother to arrest if not arrest many
Ronald: Have you heard of 8 Minute Abs?
Beasts: Sure.
Ronald: I’ve got a winner - 7 Minute Abs!
Beasts: Yeah, okay.
Ronald: Don’t you see? You go into the store and see 8 Minute Abs and 7 Minute Abs, which one are you gonna buy?
Beasts: The 7 Minute Abs, I guess…
Ronald: Exactly!
Beasts: So what happens if someone makes 6 Minute Abs?
Ronald: ** awkward silence and spasms **
Beasts: ** furtive glance at Ronald **
Ronald: N, n, no, No! NO!! 7 Minutes! 7 Minutes!!
Beasts: Uh, okay…
Ronald: 7 Minutes!!!
I don't think it's the 'Demogullibles' that are protesting that ICE is arresting and deporting career criminal illegal aliens. It's the paid protestors that are doing that, and they're organized with a well-funded hierarchical structure. I would venture to say that most Democrats are intelligent enough to know that it's a good thing that such miscreants are booted out of the system. They're also smart enough to know not to say anything, because after all, it's Trump doing it.
The rub will come when the focus becomes the illegal aliens that have been here for 10 or 20 years and made no effort to naturalize, because they could still make money under the table, and maybe even qualify for aid of one kind or another, SNAP, so on. And not even have to file a tax return. Let's face it, Green Cards cost money, and so (potentially) does living outside of the shadows, if it means paying taxes over what is being deducted, if anything.
There is always something shitty going on in the world. That's my POV and because of that, I've learned to stay emotionally even. What's the point of being miserable - especially for people safe and comfortable enough to be knitting?
Aggie, that's accurate if by protesting you mean actively obstructing ICE though even there it appears there are sad sacks like Pretti LARPing like they are in France in 1941. However there are plenty of otherwise normal people with deep TDS who are very supportive of these activities. Some in my family
Howard said...
Adding on to Kak's correct observation of reality, we must be very thankful for those two American citizens who were slaughtered by the untrained steroid consuming morons.
So are you the same guy I used to call “Howard the Fool”? Or are you a different fool?
Your endorsement of Kaki’s diatribe shows that you are certainly a fool, and words such as “morons” and “knuckle draggers” make it clear that you’ve replaced a bunch of IQ points with your TDS. My friend, you didn’t have that many IQ points to begin with, way below three digits I’m certain, and throwing away rational thought isn’t your best move.
Can I assume that you and Kaki and Ronnie Ward are award that the ICE officers who encountered Alex Pretti were attempting to apprehend a pair of child rapists? So the three of you (and the rest of the lefty Althouse trolls) are on the side of child rapists?
You get why the rest of us laugh at you, right? So very earnest. So insanely wrong.
“Next there is the fact the Autopen brought in hundreds of thhousand under under PAROLE and "legalized", at least temporarily, millions more.”
This is a key point, IMHO. Previous admin released thousands on ‘parole’ every single day, even though the law says it should be used rarely and on a case-by-case basis (generally speaking). When push comes to shove and they start working on the decades-long illegals, it’s not hard to see the left demand that instead of sending people back by the thousands, every single one of their cases has go in front of a judge before anything can happen. It will lock up the courts for years, long after Trump 2.0 is gone. The left plays the long game and they play it well.
Stan at 9:58, I actually appreciate the seriousness of your reply — and we agree more than you might think.
On the “theatrical” point: protests don’t create the underlying enforcement choice, they react to it. Jail pickups can be routine when there’s a judicial warrant or lawful transfer. The friction arises because ICE detainers are requests, not warrants, and courts have repeatedly said local authorities can’t hold people without judicial authorization. That legal constraint exists whether protesters show up or not.
On amnesty: there hasn’t been “at least two” broad amnesties in most people’s lifetimes. The only true large-scale one was IRCA in 1986. Since then, legalization pathways have been narrow, status-specific, time-limited, and often closed to people who entered after certain dates or couldn’t meet documentation requirements. Many long-term residents simply were — and still are — ineligible, regardless of work history.
That ties into the “under the table” point. Some do work off the books, but millions don’t — they pay payroll taxes using ITINs, sales taxes, and indirectly property taxes through rent, while remaining legally barred from adjusting status. Paying in doesn’t equal eligibility out.
Where we’re fully aligned — and this matters — is enforcement of illegal employment. If that were taken seriously, it would reduce exploitation, remove the incentive structure, and shrink unlawful migration far more effectively than raids ever have. I’ve argued for that for years as well.
That’s really the crux of my argument: outcomes over optics.
If enforcement worked the way its advocates claim, we wouldn’t still be having this debate decades later.
RJW: "enforcement of illegal employment....outcomes over optics."
I concur. So do you concur with me that ICE agents, after auditing businesses (with the proper judicial paper to get the records, natch) and identifying the ones employing illegal immigrants, can go in and arrest the business owners (again with criminal warrants issued by Article III judges for 18 USC violations)?
And you will decry any Dem street fighters who try to obstruct those arrests?
And you will have no sympathy for the business owners, many of them mom/pop immigrants themselves, who were just getting by and providing needed services for poor neighborhoods?
No sympathy for nightlife districts that shut down because the cooks and bussers were all illegal? The app-based businesses that shut down because the delivery drivers were all illegal? The commercial business downtown districts that death-spiral even faster because the cleaners and handymen were all illegal?
You won't mind any of those optics?
And as for the big industrial or agricultural employers, you won't mind the increase in everyone's cost of living as the new owners have to hire Americans at higher wages, or the farm, slaughterhouse, etc, just sits idle for a few years?
Because I have no problem with any of those effects. CC, JSM
Libtards are always embarrassing and stupid. Sheep that follow the party line. But the Minnesota kind seem to be stupid on steroids. I guess, like Sweden, when you live in small cold community seemingly detached from the rest of world, you can think everything's a game. And strike poses, and utter inane slogans.
Maybe if a million more Somalis move to Minneapolis they'll be happy. Because diversity is our strength, dontchaknow?
The article is a great example of enbubbled propaganda unintentionally reading as counter-propaganda. Geezers knitting to fight the power! I’m guessing the broad masses will be less than moved.
Leftists are easily cowed into acting as useful idiots. Walz and Frey commanded… leftists obeyed. The video of pretty spitting , kicking out a tail light proves it.
Hand knit tales
“Resist we much.”
—— Al Sharpton
John Mosby at 12:40, yes—in principle, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.
If ICE conducts proper audits, obtains judicial warrants, and brings criminal charges against employers under 18 USC for knowingly hiring undocumented labor, I fully support that. That’s enforcement aimed at the demand side, not random spectacle.
And yes—if people physically obstruct lawful arrests backed by warrants, I don’t support that either. Courts exist for a reason.
I think where we disagree isn’t legality—it’s selectivity and sincerity.
Because what we’ve actually seen for decades is very few employers prosecuted, a lot of workers detained, and almost no sustained pressure on the industries that depend on this labor model.
That’s theater I’m talking about.
As for sympathy: I can acknowledge consequences without pretending they’re bugs rather than features. If we truly enforced labor law at scale, there would be disruption—higher prices, closed businesses, tighter labor markets. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t being honest.
But here’s the key point, if someone is comfortable with those outcomes, then they also need to be comfortable admitting that the current system is a deliberate choice—one that benefits consumers and employers while pretending outrage at the workers.
So yes: outcomes over optics, But that standard has to apply up the economic food chain, not just at traffic stops and apartment complexes.
Know who else was a famous knitter? Madame Lafarge.
Defarge, sorry.
I came across this recently and it seemed to so explain the lack of logic or reality of the protestors (activists). I suppose, they don't really know they are following the path of the small mustached Austrian man.
The important thing is to be doing something and not to stop and think.
“In elaborating this idea the Nazis repeat most of the voluntarist commonplaces of the later romanticists. The essence of human nature, they say, is “will,” which they regard as man’s means of access to reality and as the ultimate source of human action.
“Will” in this context means a set of blind, irrational (and allegedly innate) drives that crave an outlet—and Nazism means giving them one. It means (according to a party slogan) “the triumph of the will,” through a life of blind, irrational action, action unmediated and untouched by the operation of intelligence.
“The voluntarist worship of mindless action may be designated by the term “activism.” Activism is the form of irrationalism which extols direct physical action, based on will or instinct or faith, while repudiating the intellect and its products, such as abstractions, theory, programs, philosophy. In a very literal sense, activism is irrationalism—in action. “We approach the realities of the world only in strong emotion and in action ... ,” says Hitler.”
Peikoff, Leonard. Ominous Parallels
We can similarly mitigate performance of reproductive rites through shutdown of abortion chambers, Democratic enablers, social influencers, liberal clubs, and immigration reform through Diversity and illegal migration in critical replacement affirmative action.
Basically, everyone who creates a demand, and aids and abets transconstitutional etc progress to deny equal representation to the People and our unPlanned Posterity. Anti-ICE are accessories to their crimes after the fact.
What's the point of being miserable - especially for people safe and comfortable enough to be knitting?
If they kept their misery to themselves, I'd be fine with it. They deserve it.
But they're not truly 'happy' unless they make everybody else just as miserable as they are.
Howard @ 10:29
You're right. That's exactly what happened when we let over 20 million undocumented aliens across our boarders. My right to be secure in my person, my property and my papers has been violated.
Look at the state by voting stats-
https://sos.mn.gov/media/oblfc41f/us-president-2024-official-results-map-margin-by-county.pdf
The four large population bluish counties in the Twin Cities metro area dominate and overwhelm the statewide result. Otherwise Minnesota would be pretty much red, so don't talk of it as a homogenized entity.
Well, RJW, here's the actual truth:
"ICE does not need judicial warrants to make arrests. Like all other law enforcement officers, ICE officers and agents can initiate consensual encounters and speak with people, briefly detain aliens when they have reasonable suspicion that the aliens are illegally present in the United States, and arrest people they believe are illegal aliens. ICE officers and agents can also detain and search people crossing the border.
All aliens who violate U.S. immigration law are subject to arrest and detention, regardless of their criminal histories. Those with final orders of removal are removed from the United States."
That would include illegals who have "lived in the U.S. for years and who have paid taxes" provided they have had final orders of removal.
One of the questions I've always had is if someone WANTS to be living forever in the U.S. why do they NOT seek to become legal citizens?
"One of the questions I've always had is if someone WANTS to be living forever in the U.S. why do they NOT seek to become legal citizens?"
What? And pay taxes to support illegals?
I can see Newsom resisting at French Laundry if his entree is late because ICE picked up the busboys. Otherwise, not so much.
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