"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it." - Roald Dahl
"Melania, have you met the man at the centre of all the political violence rhetoric right now? He is your husband.
"He has put violent political rhetoric right at the heart of pretty much everything he says every day"
@maitlis | @jonsopel
https://t.co/uRrdqp1tZs
America has a blind spot: we don’t have a hereditary memory of fascism.
In Britain, kids visit the Blitz shelters. In France, they walk Normandy. In Germany, they confront Auschwitz.
Those scars live in their civic DNA. We don’t have that same institutional memory.
In the late ’30s, FDR beat back the first America First movement — Lindbergh, Huey Long, Father Coughlin — and he did it with overwhelming political force and charisma.
As Morgenthau once said, Roosevelt had the skills of a dictator… but he used them to defend democracy.
History shows democracies don’t just survive on autopilot.
They survive when people recognize the danger early enough to push it back.
Fun Fact: One of these men has 3 baby mamas, cheated on every wife he’s had, was impeached twice, is a 34-count convicted felon, was found liable for sexual abuse, ran a fraudulent charity & university & was exposed in the Epstein files.
The other man is President Obama.
Federal agents in Minneapolis wrestled Alex Pretti to the ground and secured the handgun he was carrying moments before shooting him multiple times, according to a Washington Post analysis of video footage.
Read more: https://t.co/gs55sapKJH
The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.
We spent 250 years building a republic with checks and balances. Now it’s being run by Stephen Miller who couldn’t get confirmed for dog catcher. How’s that working out?
"Separate analyses by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, CBS News and other organizations all concluded that the videos contradict the Trump administration’s description of the killing."
(ht/ @nancylevine)
https://t.co/b2v53KmX4C
Statement from Veterans For Responsible Leadership
January 24, 2026:
Today, Veterans For Responsible Leadership mourns the killing of Alex Pretti, a Minnesota resident, U.S. citizen, and healthcare professional who served veterans through his work as a nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Pretti dedicated his life to caring for others — including those who once wore this nation’s uniform — and his death at the hands of federal immigration agents is a tragedy that should never have occurred.
This incident highlights a deeply disturbing trend: the misuse of ICE agents as a de-facto paramilitary or secret police force operating inside American communities. These agents are being deployed without sufficient training, transparency, or coordination with local authorities, creating fear rather than safety. It is a betrayal of American values and constitutional norms.
We understand the anger and grief this has sparked in Minnesota and beyond. Those emotions are real and justified. But we urge calm. Violence and chaos only deepen the harm. The path forward is peaceful protest, civic action, and sustained public pressure — the very tools that have strengthened this democracy for generations.
We call on Americans to contact their Members of Congress and demand accountability, oversight, and immediate reform of federal enforcement practices that endanger civilian lives. Federal power must never be used to terrorize the people it exists to serve.
As veterans, we swore an oath to defend the Constitution — not a political agenda, not fear, and not unchecked authority. We honor Alex Pretti’s service by demanding a country worthy of it.
This stabilized version is devastating to watch, because you can see the killer watch his colleague pull the firearm off of Alex, then look back him and start shooting. He waited until Alex was unarmed to murder him and should be in cuffs tonight.