And so the United States is at war (again). This time it appears to be at the whim of one man, the "stable genius" Donald Trump.  There was little, if any, attempt to get congressional approval, or form an international coalition (other than with Israel), or coordinate with neighboring nations in the region, or make a case to the American people, or allow negotiations to run their course.  The goal is unclear.  The reputational damage will be extensive and lasting.  The economic costs will be great.  Who can say at this point how extensive the human toll will be?  The U.S., under Trump and the sycophantic Republicans, has now become a rogue nation.  

Hillary Clinton never met Jeffrey Epstein.  But Melania Trump did.  When will she be deposed?

Hillary Clinton's opening statement to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today

 

 

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court.

Department of Justice prosecutors across the US have suffered a string of embarrassing defeats in their aggressive pursuit of criminal cases against people accused of “assaulting” and “impeding” federal officers.

In recent months, the federal government has relentlessly prosecuted protesters, government critics, immigrants and others arrested during immigration operations, often accusing them of physically attacking officers or interfering with their duties.

But many of those cases have recently been dismissed or ended in not guilty verdicts.

In several high-profile cases, the prosecutions fell apart because they relied on statements by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers that had no supporting evidence or in some instances were proven by video footage to be blatantly false.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/doj-protesters-federal-agents-cases

 “Don’t go [to the United States] – not with Trump in charge. It’s totally out of control over there. There’s no accountability. They don’t seem to need a reason for detaining you.”

Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone’ - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/karen-newton-valid-visa-detained-ice

 “That fight to release the Epstein files came directly from President Trump,  And I know a lot of people have a hard time with that, but that is the truth. He fought the hardest to stop these files from being released.”

--Marjorie Taylor Green, 02/13/2026, Owen Report Podcast

 

What 74 days of federal operations looked like in Minnesota, frame by frame:

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/01/us/ice-presence-minneapolis-st-paul-vis/

 

Congressman Jerry Nadler (ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary): “How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?”

Attorney General Pam Bondi: "The DOW is over 50,000. That’s what we should be talking about."

 "MAGA is, I think people are realizing, it was all a lie. It was a big lie for the people.  What MAGA is really serving is in this administration who they're serving is their big donors; the big, big donors that donated all the money and continue to donate to the president's PACs and donate to the anniversary or donating to the big ballroom. And if they're donating to all these things.  Those are the people that get the special favors, they get the government contracts, they get the pardons, or somebody they love or one of their friends gets a pardon.  And it's the foreign countries that are are running the show here.  It's the major big corporations and what is best for the world. That's really what MAGA is."

-- Marjorie Taylor Greene, 01/28/2026

"Young ladies, young ladies, 

I like 'em underage, see

Some say that's statutory, 

But I say it's mandatory."

--Kid Rock (Robert Ritchie) / Cool, Daddy Cool

Kid Rock is the headlining performer at the Trump-endorsed Turning Point USA's “All-American Halftime Show.”

 Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan and the rest keep telling us that ICE is going after "the worst of the worst."  Are these children abducted in Minnesota by ICE and flown to a detention center in Texas really "the worst of the worst"?

At least 6 kids from a Minnesota school district were taken and detained in Texas. The first was held for almost a month     

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/06/us/minnesota-children-detained-immigration

 

The blessing of the rapist.

"I knew they would come here. If you’re a president hell-bent on retreading 2020 and retaliating against your enemies, the midwestern state that started the George Floyd protests, with a generous social safety net and diverse population, governed by a vice-presidential candidate you vehemently hate, is a certain target. But I don’t think most people thought it would look quite this bad, quite this fast, for quite this many people. I don’t think we could have fathomed what 3,000 agents would look like in a smaller city – the relentlessness of their presence – or the level of violence they intended to bring."

Source: I knew Trump would target Minnesota. I didn’t expect this level of violence, Rachel Leingang in Minneapolis, The Guardian

"Immediately after a US border patrol agent shot two people in Oregon last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the targets were 'vicious' gang members connected to a prior shooting and alleged they had 'attempted to run over' officers with their vehicle.  In the weeks since, key parts of the federal government’s narrative have fallen apart."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/portland-venezuelans-shot-border-patrol-court

 

On Saturday (01/31/2026) ICE Agents pursued, surrounded and detained, with guns drawn, a U.S. citizen in St. Peter, Minnesota who had been observing and filming them.  After pulling her from her car, violently pinning her to the ground, and handcuffing her, she was taken to an ICE facility.  She managed to phone her husband before being abducted, he phoned the St. Peter Chief of Police, and the Chief of Police was able to retrieve her from federal custody.  ICE/DHS has filed no charges against her, indicating she was not doing anything illegal.

Full story: 

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chief-intervenes-prevents-federal-agents-from-arresting-resident