Attribution: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark O., Mark M., Dave S., Dennis C., and Geoff Carter
Awaiting our boots on the ground bots to shine light on this one. Some thought starters:
- Go Hannah!
- Go Hannah!
- Go Hannah!
- Devils are in details…administrative subpoena…judicial subpeona…F!….I hate details…(unless I’m an expert and can monetize off of ‘em)
- The dude she was protecting was accused of domestic violence…that’s not good…but guilty ‘till proven….ay.
- But it appears Hannah’s umbrage is with ICE, (DEA…FBI…), being in the mix in the first place…”this crap is complicated enough…we don’t need some East German STASI droids goose stepping in…intimidating everyone…railroading due process”—my speculation as to her motivation. Hats off to, (not so photogenic), Hannah!
Now…about that 2 year old, future drug dealer…rapist…serial killer…
But that’s a pretty quick read on the matter—please do counter/pile on as you see fit,
-Dave
I’ll take a swing at this one, Dave.
Bad and dumb behavior abounds in this case, by all parties.
The defendant, Flores-Ruiz, is really asking for it with his own criminal behavior–the charges that sent him to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to start with. He’s a once-deported Mexican national who was caught and kicked out in 2013 (that would be during the administration of noted immigration squish Barack Obama). Shortly after that, he returned, and has been working as a cook in Milwaukee for 12 years.
Well, he got into a dispute with his roommates in March, by playing loud music and refusing to turn it down. It turned into a fight, and his criminal complaint states that he hit his roomie 30 times, and also hit a woman who tried to break up the fisticuffs. Now, I do understand the emotions that can run high when sanctimonious prudes demand that one’s great tunes be turned down. Geoff and possibly Dennis & Dave too will recall when Roger the twit threatened me with physical violence when I reacted to his music volume lowering request with less than the utmost respect. Roger did state at that time that his hands were weapons and that he couldn’t be held responsible once violence began. Fortunately that dispute was resolved without fisticuffs.
Ruiz should have understood that it was not in his best interests to have the Milwaukee Police called to his home. My understanding is that, once you are deported, you are subject to immediate removal if caught again. So, he needed to keep it on the down low, but didn’t.
I watched Chris Christie and legal commentator Sarah Isgur discuss the case on a Sunday show. They both made the point that the affidavits filed by the FBI and the charges against Judge Dugan don’t fully add up. The charges claim that Dugan facilitated Ruiz’s escape from federal authorities, when she ushered him to an exit into a “non public” (jury room) area of the Courthouse. But a plainclothes Fed soon spotted him on the PUBLIC ELEVATOR and rode down with him. (He ultimately was caught on the street outside.) So, if Judge Dugan committed a crime against Federal law, she was at the minimum a very incompetent criminal. The legal commentators pointed out that Dugan’s defense may be able to make hay over these inconsistencies.
Technically, the DOJ and the FBI do have the right to make arrests at a courthouse. There is no “sanctuary” associated with the location. And the Feds argue that any defendants they arrest within the premises are unarmed (everybody goes through the metal detectors).
As a principle however, it’s a bad idea to bring down the long arm of the law there. It really encourages crime victims–who may be undocumented, or have undocumented relatives–to avoid calling the police under any circumstances. That’s bad for public safety.
And clearly, for Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, this is all about the performative cruelty. They are positively gleeful to make an example of Dugan. It will send the message they want–to scare other judges and courthouse employees into becoming unpaid extensions of the Federal immigration authorities.
The case against Dugan is a travesty, and I’ll wager that the charges are dropped after some decent interval. I’m more concerned about the cruelty on display from ICE in the Venezuela deportation cases, and in a new case in Louisiana. A mother of two US citizen children has been deported to Honduras. She “chose” to take her children with her, even though, as citizens, they are not subject to a deportation order. But the 4-year old boy involved is suffering from Stage 4 cancer. While in detention prior to deportation, he had no access to medication or medical treatment.
This is kind of breathtaking yet casual cruelty. We couldn’t find a better candidate to deport, than a mother of a dying child with cancer? Jesus Christ, what are we, Nazis?
Mark M.
Hey bots,
Ah, Mark, the memories from 22 South.The Attack of the Twits. What was the quote? “I am enraged?” Roger was a scary guy—he’s probably now a shrubber.
At any rate, this seems to be another case of Trump-fueled cruelty and ineptitude. It’s obvious by now he wants to wield power with ruthlessness and bravado, answering to no one; it’s just as obvious that he sucks at it, and that he’s surrounded himself with people just as capable as himself. I’m sure he’s told Patel and company to “get” the judiciary in order to intimidate them, but this resembles something out of Police Academy.
I don’t know when it’s going on him that these bullying tactics aren’t scaring anyone—not many, at least—and they are only serving to piss people off. The summary deportations, the federal job cuts, Kennedy fucking up the measles epidemic, the bulldozing tactics of Musk and his DOGE boys are not only sending Americans into the streets to protest but also shining a spotlight on Trump’s aims (I will get richer, richer, richer) and Project 2025 strategies—which is probably the last thing they want.
In a way, we’re lucky they’re so thick. Let’s hope they stay that way.
G
The administration’s deportation efforts definitely seem designed for maximum spectacle. Now there’s the raid on a Colorado Springs nightclub, nabbing 114 (allegedly) undocumented immigrants, plus more than a dozen active military personnel. It is being justified by that blubbering blondeshell Pam Bondi based on two of the detainees (that’s right, two) having outstanding warrants. They think this is good optics, and maybe it is, but of course if you raid a club with over 200 occupants anywhere in this country, you will likely scoop up a few with outstanding warrants, and yes, there will be drugs on the premises.
I consider the Judge Dugan case to be more worrisome. If you allow ICE agents to operate in courtrooms, there will be great reluctance for anyone of dubious residency to show up. That applies to defendants, victims, witnesses, family members… Judges typically have total control over who they allow in their courtrooms, including government representatives. Dugan asked the agents if they had a judicial subpoena, which they didn’t, so she ordered them out. That seems totally reasonable to me. The part about harboring a target of ICE is less clear since there’s a lot of ambiguity about the details on that. The legal and factual details don’t matter to the administration, what matters is they found a reprehensible character in Flores-Ruiz that they can make the face of the bogeyman immigrant on the TV coverage. Pam Bondi’s press conference on the matter makes that clear.
MarkO
Good points all.And something you mentioned about judges having control over their courtrooms rings a bell.
One thing that the legal beagles mentioned on TV was the recent Supreme Court ruling that gives the President carte blanche to act illegally as long as the acts fall within his core Presidential purview. Well, don’t judges have immunity for acts performed as part of their core duties— e.g., controlling the courtroom?
Geoff, may I respond to one statement in your response: “I don’t know when it’s going on him that these bullying tactics aren’t scaring anyone—not many, at least….”
Actually, Trump really HAS buffaloed corporate America. The CEO class has the most to lose from tariffs. But are they pointing out the obvious?
No, they all hope to whisper in Trump’s ear and cut a special deal. It ain’t working, at least so far.
Similarly with the large legal firms. They’re folding like a house of cards, for the most part. They fear retaliation from Trump if they resist, as well as a leaching away of their client base to firms that have caved. If you’re a CEO who is shitscared of Trump, are you going to send your legal business to a firm that’s causing trouble?
Per a Times article this week, lawsuits against the tariffs are being brought NOT by large companies, but by the states (e.g., California), and by individual small businesses for whom the risk of tariffs is existential.
Cowardice leads to authoritarianism. But I have to admit: if the continued flow of my Social Security depended upon me keeping my mouth shut…I might find myself in the same position as these cowardly CEOs.
Mark M.
Geoff: What’s a shrubber? Urban dictionary isn’t doing it for me. I wasn’t there for that episode…vaguely remember listening to various retells of it…confused it w/ a Mark Mothersbaugh tale…maybe an interview where while playing his new stuff, some guy in the crowd—Roger type—came up to him and said: “I said play some ________________, god dammitt! Pretty sure more than one of you can insert the name of the band this angry young man preferred over Devo.
All: Great info on the Milwaukee case and greater spectacle. Thanks.
Dave
CEOs…here’s the deal (remember Joe?): the many billions recently lost—paper money, stock valuations–will come back…the market was due/overdue for a correction …–so for stocks, an Atlas shrug to the CEOs. Sales however—the many monthly millions are gone gone and going fast. NPR said the Port of LA (includes port of Long Beach…say huge), is forecasting a 44% drop in container ships in next month. This part I bet they are squirming. But not too much…cuz…drumroll, they’re buddying up is based on avoiding regulation. This is their number one threat. They don’t want to have to police their internet traffic, lose their monopoly, teach everyone DEI, etc. … Loss of monopoly is their biggest fear. They know the anti-trust will eventually arrive…they just want to delay it as long as possible.
Hard to predict the economy though consumer confidence vs spending…is not in sync. I also noticed the Panera has greatly expanded their menu. Based on Panera, things are on the uptick. 😉
BTW 1: Tried Chatgpt for a few things this weekend and wow…I’m proselytized. Not that much more info than several hunt and peck google searches, but way more efficient…and brief…and hate to admit it, but this kid is really, really, bright. Appears to be a good kid too. 😎 It is charming/disarming, the nature of the conversation one has with it. As I mentioned to one bot…there is an alarming number of teens have relationships with various from of AI.
BTW 2: Re the states working to avoid the tariffs. CA used to be known as the world’s 6th largest economy. Well, it just overtook Japan and one other…is now 4th. Newsweek story link below. After seeing that I wondered about the make-up of CA economy, so I asked my new Chatgpt buddy…well, Nvidia, et. al, is a big part but their Ag is huge too. Also, health care employs 14% of Californians.
California Overtakes Japan to Become Fourth Largest Economy in World – Newsweek
-Dave.
Hey Mark,
Yeah, I know that a lot of the corporate jellyfish like Target and Walmart have bent the knee, but we also have stalwarts like Costco (whose membership has skyrocketed), Penzey’s Spices, and Minocqua Brewing Company, who are standing tall. The law firms that have stood up to Trump have won judgements against him, as have Harvard. The Big Ten schools have banded together to form a legal defense against Trump. So, yeah, the scare tactics are working on some people, but there’s others who refuse to be cowed—and who are getting more and more committed, but I was being a little optimistic in my first email. And there is a lot to be scared of… but there’s also a lot to lose.
Dave, haven’t you seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Roger the Shrubber who was hired by King Arthur to make a shrubbery for the Knights who say Ni? Our upstairs Roger was a total twit. I think—if memory serves—that’s where he got the nickname.
G
Thanks Geoff…yeah many times a Grailer, none straight…and it’s been a bit.
-Dave
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