Somehow, law enforcement, both state and federal, managed to do its job without individual officers and agents concealing their identities. And then came ICE under Trump, where everything purportedly changed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed legislation on Saturday that would prevent federal immigration agents from wearing masks in the state, a direct response to President Trump’s deportation crackdown in the Los Angeles region.

The new law is believed to be the first such ban in the nation, though it is likely to be challenged in court before it can go into effect in January because it is unclear whether California can enforce such restrictions on federal law enforcement. The bill also applies to local law enforcement.

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Now that Honest Erik Siebert is out of the way, Trump sees no impediment to using the United States of America to impose retribution on his enemies. And the order was given to underling Pam Bondi.

He left out the part about where they convicted him, but I digress. To the MAGA faithful, this makes complete sense. After all, he is the president and the entirety of the government exists to serve his whims as far as they’re concerned. Sure, that might not be true for Presidents Obama or Biden, but they “did it first” and it was terribly wrong and evil, so that means Trump can do it now and it’s “perfect.” Continue reading →

Even Emil Bove, who is as deep down the Trumpian hole as it gets, liked Erik Siebert, apparently now former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Bondi and Blanche were good with him. Senators Kaine and Warner were good with him. The district judges were good with him. Even Trump was good with him when he nominated Siebert and the Senate confirmed him. Until he did the one thing Trump couldn’t tolerate.

Erik S. Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, had recently told senior Justice Department officials that investigators found insufficient evidence to bring charges against Ms. James and had also raised concerns about a potential case against Mr. Comey, according to officials familiar with the situation.

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President Trump declared that he will issue yet another Executive Order, this time designating Antifa as a “terrorist organization.” There are a few problems with doing so, starting with the fact that antifa isn’t an organization at all, but rather an ideology seized upon by left wing radicals who cloaked themselves in the name when they engaged in violence.

Antifa is a label for a political subculture or protest style. The phenomenon does not have a leader, an initiation process, membership rolls, a headquarters, a bank account or a centralized structure.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss, an American University professor who studies domestic extremism, said antifa was an idea that could mobilize people. She compared it to concepts or ideologies like “white supremacy” and “Islamist extremism,” as distinguished from specific groups like the Aryan Brotherhood or Al Qaeda.

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Disney owns the American Broadcasting Company, which aired a late night show hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Donald Trump did not like one of Kimmel’s jokes about Charlie Kirk’s killer’s political leanings. Brendan Carr, commissioner of the FCC, didn’t like it either, and told some fellow with a podcast named Benny that he was going to use his authority to punish ABC.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr: “There’s actions we can take on licensed broadcasters. It’s long past the time that…Comcast and Disney say ‘We’re not gonna run Kimmel anymore…because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibly of fines or licensed revocation from the FCC.'” pic.twitter.com/L2GK7w1p9J

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 17, 2025

ABC, fresh off its $15 million payoff to Trump to avoid retaliation for George Stephanopoulos’ questionable statement that Trump was found civilly liable for raping E. Jean Carroll, has already proven that it will cave at a moment’s notice upon threat of government abuse of power against it. And so it did again. Continue reading →

After being roundly criticized for her stunningly wrong (legally and politically, judging from Republican reactions) claim that “hate speech” isn’t protected under the First Amendment, Attorney General Pam Bondi attempted to weasel her way out by arguing that “hate speech” that “crosses the line into threats of violence” are crimes under 18 USC § 875(e). That, too, was wrong, as explained by Aaron Terr and Angel Eduardo of FIRE.

Early this morning, Bondi published a post on X, attempting to clarify her comments after a wave of negative response. Unfortunately, she only introduced more confusion:

Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over…. Continue reading →

There is no exception to the First Amendment for hate speech. There wasn’t when the speech was racist slurs. There isn’t now. The difference this time is that it’s the attorney general of the United States openly asserting that the government will use its power to target and prosecute people for saying mean things.

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In a New York Times op-ed, New York Governor Kathy Hochul endorsed Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of New York City. It’s a tepid, generic endorsement, lacking in praise for anything he stands for and ignoring his positions as a Democratic Socialist to defund police, abolish prisons and globalize the Intifada. But it is an endorsement.

I am endorsing Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.

In the past few months, I’ve had frank conversations with him. We’ve had our disagreements. But in our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family. I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable — a goal I enthusiastically support. Continue reading →

George Floyd was needlessly killed by a cop. He wasn’t the first black man to be murdered. He won’t be the last. But George Floyd was no saint, hero or martyr. He was just a troubled man with a troubled history who ended up dead on video at the moment in time when he caused a nation to explode. Before he died, very few knew or cared about George Floyd at all. Afterward, he was the center of the social justice universe.

Charlie Kirk was nothing like George Floyd. His assassination was nothing like George Floyd’s murder. But like George Floyd, his death is being seized upon as a justification for retribution against the “radical left,” as Trump called it, as an existential battle between the right and left. Continue reading →

Prefatory note: I’m currently gutted as I write this after the senseless assassination of Charlie Kirk. Apologies for moving back to the well of college football two weeks in a row but I need to take my mind off this shit. Hopefully this helps you too.—CLS

It’s time to see what the Vols can really do this season.

Beating Syracuse in week one at Atlanta was a great start. Week two’s record scoring win over East Tennessee State at Neyland Stadium was a nice preview of what the Volunteers can do when all cylinders are mostly clicking.

Now comes the big test as Georgia makes a season-early trip to Knoxville. Continue reading →