Bits n’ pieces from east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

The extended Congressional recess delays the swearing in of Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, Politico said. Grijalva is expected to provide the final signature required to force disclosure of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Federal shutdown news, from various sources: President Donald Trump says he’s open to a health care deal with Dems, claiming there were negotiations “right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things.” Congressional Dem leaders say there have been no such negotiations, although they’d be glad “be at the table.” 

Just prior to the shutdown, 78% of Americans wanted health insurance tax credits extended, a top goal of Democrats for ending the shutdown. A new memo indicates the White House may not provide back pay for furloughed workers, which dovetails with Trump’s budget director’s Project 2025 plans: Director Russell Vought appears to now be using the federal shutdown to further Project 2025’s dismantling of the government via cutting programs and employees.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently brought together 800 military generals and admirals, who were told by Trump that a new “war from within” is more dangerous than any foreign war zone, Axios reported. Hegseth said the military would “untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate… hunt and kill the enemies of our country.” 

Trump said troops who are harassed or assaulted by protesters should “get out of that car and do whatever the hell you want to do.” Hegseth said cities like Chicago should be “training grounds for our military,” which Illinois’s governor called “frankly, inane.” After the Chicago raid (below), the Lever said Apple removed apps that allowed communities to share ICE sightings -- at the request of Trump’s attorney general.

The Lever: a new Trump national security directive, NSPM-7, expands the list of terrorism indicators and includes behavior deemed anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, extreme on race, and hostile towards “traditional American views” on family, religion and morality.

In Chicago, the AP said federal agents sent there by Trump have become increasingly aggressive. Sunday complaints included use of helicopters, chemical agents and brutal military-style tactics against people awakened from sleep after doors were knocked off hinges. Requests to see warrants and lawyers were ignored. Children were separated from their parents and ziplocked. 

The result: 37 arrests in a five-story apartment complex. A Chicago alderperson was handcuffed at a hospital after asking agents to show a warrant for a man who broke a leg when chased by ICE agents. Local media said 27 city officers were injured by federal tear gassings, and that federal allegations that city police ignored calls for help on Saturday were false. A state representative said “ICE acted like an invading army in our neighborhoods.” 

The state’s governor wants an investigation. Trump’s Dept. of Homeland Security claimed they were looking for gang-connected people and offered no details about the arrests.

On Sunday President Donald Trump spoke to Navy sailors on the service’s 250th birthday. The New York Times said some supervisors told sailors “you swore an oath to the Constitution. The military is nonpartisan. It’s not meant to serve one party or political leader. It serves the nation.” 

A Trump-appointed federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon to control protests at an ICE office. The judge said “This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.” 

But Trump sent the Guard anyway, various media reported. Trump said the judge should “be ashamed of herself” because “Portland is burning to the ground.” He talked to Oregon’s governor and was told there was no “insurrection.” Trump asked “am I watching things on TV that are different from what’s happening?...They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place.” 

Historian Heather C. Richardson and others are saying this represents people in the White House manipulating Trump. The Oregon suit seeking to stop Trump from sending troops alleges Trump was shown Fox News videoclips from 2020, a contrast to recent resistance of up to 20 people at a time who mostly sit in lawn chairs and walk around (some have donuts on fishing poles for “ICE fishing”). 

The judge said a social media post Trump relied on was inadequate justification for sending the National Guard, and called it “untethered to facts.” 

Veterans planned a city hall event to urge the National Guard to uphold their oath to the Constitution and to refuse unlawful orders. Headlines, for brevity: South Carolina judge's home burns to ground after ruling against Trump [she resisted handing over millions of voters’ personal data to the Trump administration]; Greta Thunberg speaks out after being deported by Israel [she was apprehended from a 40-boat flotilla bringing aid to Gaza, and said the real story is about Israel’s mass destruction and escalating genocide].

Blast from the past: “’Go back?’ he thought. ‘No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!’ So up he got and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit.