MS NOW’s Ali Velshi’s weekend show is the place to go if you desire to hurl a Nazi analogy at the Trump administration. This Saturday, Godwin’s Law was fulfilled by progressive radio host Thom Hartmann, who compared the administration’s Minneapolis response to Hitler doing away with state autonomy in 1934. Velshi began by quoting Hartmann’s recent Substack article, “You said, could this be what the end of a would-be dictatorship looks like? In which you say, ‘They're doubling down,’ meaning the government, ‘because they know their time is limited, their attempt to turn America into a Russia-like police state is suddenly failing, and a reckoning is coming. Trump and his lickspittles look at the horizon and see mushroom clouds rising against a red sky, suggesting their season of power and brutality is about to turn on them.’”     He then added, “And I would say, Thom, that half the time I feel that that's right. Half the time I feel like they've overstepped, and the American people are ready to say, 'we've got the power to change this.'” Hartmann began his response by essentially repeating the essence of the quote Velshi read, “On the one hand you've got Trump about to lose some considerable power. Mark Pocan pointed this out on my program last week, Congressman Mark Pocan, that there are numerous Republicans who, once their primaries are done, which is, you know, kind of the April through July season, that will probably turn on Trump, at least according to what they're saying to him. But they're terrified of losing their primaries. So, he's got this maybe six-month window.” Then came the Hitler comparison, “On the other hand, if he can lock down state and local authority and just impose federal authority on Minneapolis, for example, he can do it anywhere. One year in from the time he was made chancellor of Germany in January of 1933, on January 30th, 1934, Hitler passed a law that basically stripped all the state governors who had been rebelling against what he was doing, very much like Minnesota is, stripped them of their authority and basically federalized the entire country. So what Trump is talking about is blowing up this essential federalism that the Founders created, where, you know, where the states have a relatively large amount of autonomy, 10th Amendment, and all that.” It is always a bit amusing whenever progressives discover the 10th Amendment, but in this case, it does not apply. Minnesota is still in charge of its own affairs, but immigration enforcement has always been a federal prerogative. Here is a transcript for the January 17 show: MS NOW Velshi 1/17/2026 10:06 AM ET ALI VELSHI: You said, could this be what the end of a would-be dictatorship looks like? In which you say, “They're doubling down,” meaning the government, “because they know their time is limited, their attempt to turn America into a Russia-like police state is suddenly failing, and a reckoning is coming. Trump and his lickspittles look at the horizon and see mushroom clouds rising against a red sky, suggesting their season of power and brutality is about to turn on them.” And I would say, Thom, that half the time I feel that that's right. Half the time I feel like they've overstepped, and the American people are ready to say, “We've got the power to change this.” THOM HARTMANN: I think you're absolutely right, Ali. It's great to see you, by the way. Thank you. VELSHI: Thank you, sir. HARTMANN: Thank you again. On the one hand you've got Trump about to lose some considerable power. Mark Pocan pointed this out on my program last week, Congressman Mark Pocan, that there are numerous Republicans who, once their primaries are done, which is, you know, kind of the April through July season, that will probably turn on Trump, at least according to what they're saying to him. But they're terrified of losing their primaries. So, he's got this maybe six-month window. And, you know, on the one hand. On the other hand, if he can lock down state and local authority and just impose federal authority on Minneapolis, for example, he can do it anywhere. One year in from the time he was made chancellor of Germany in January of 1933, on January 30th, 1934, Hitler passed a law that basically stripped all the state governors who had been rebelling against what he was doing, very much like Minnesota is, stripped them of their authority and basically federalized the entire country. So what Trump is talking about is blowing up this essential federalism that the Founders created, where, you know, where the states have a relatively large amount of autonomy, 10th amendment, and all that.

Her name was May Craig.  And she was, without doubt, a journalist’s journalist. Over the course of her reporting career Ms. Craig had covered both World War II and the Korean War. Then she moved on to American politics. All of that and she was unknown to the larger American public outside Washington until the Kennedy era and the advent of televised press conferences with the President and the then-White House press corps. Before the arrival of the telegenic young President John F. Kennedy, presidential press conferences were conducted in Oval Office scrums with no television. In fact, television itself didn’t exist en masse until after FDR had come and gone from the White House. And while his successors -- Truman and Eisenhower -- held press conferences, they were decidedly not held on live television. The concern in the day was that it was too risky for an American President to be taking questions on live television. It was the dawn of the terrifying nuclear age, and the belief was that if the President misspoke, the consequences could be horrific. But JFK felt that times had changed. The 1960’s were now here, and so was live television. So he made a point of changing the rules and for the first time Americans could witness a President being grilled by the press with no filter or editing coming between the President and his audience. JFK would motorcade over to an auditorium in the State Department, where he relished what quickly became a regular national TV show.  (The White House press room of today came about only in the Nixon era, when President Nixon ordered the famous White House swimming pool of FDR drained and covered over to accommodate the press. No small thing was that this removed the press from their previous hangout in the West Wing lobby where they could observe those who came and went to see the President. Nixon would have none of that, and government contractors were put to work building a floor in the drained pool, and the press room of today was born.) The participating press of the Kennedy era was highly aware that live television didn’t just cover the President -- it televised them as well. Thus they were extremely well-behaved. Not only were the American people watching them. So were their bosses. They quickly became a hot new television show. Which is where May Craig came in. She was edging towards her elderly years, but was never hesitant to ask her questions. Famously, on one occasion she stood up and politely accused the President’s administration of practicing “managed news,” asking why JFK felt the need to practice it. The President asked Craig what she felt she and the White House press corps should be getting from his administration, to which she replied: “I thought we should get everything we want.” The President smiled, nodded his head, and to the laughter of the press said “I think you should too, Miss Craig. I’m for that.” I actually remembered this episode from watching it live myself, geeky kid that I was. Amazingly that moment is now preserved on YouTube. But the point here? Contrast May Craig’s respectful, polite question to JFK with this report on a recent White House press conference held by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The headline:  Trump’s press secretary goes nuclear on journalist over ICE question: ‘You’re a left-wing hack’ The story in NJ.com reports:  White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s Thursday briefing went off the rails as she clashed with a reporter who criticized the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Renee Good. The exchange began with The Hill’s White House columnist Niall Stanage questioning ICE’s tactics after an agent shot and killed Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. That prompted Leavitt to pose her own question to the White House columnist: 'Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?' 'Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably,' Stanage said. His response elicited a furious reaction from Leavitt. 'Oh, OK. So you’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion. You’re a left-wing hack,' Leavitt said. 'You’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist and it’s so clear by the premise of your question.' Suffice to say, the gulf between May Craig’s respectful back and forth with JFK and the belligerent, decidedly politicized attack on Press Secretary Leavitt from that The Hill reporter is oceanic. Craig was respectful and neutral in tone and substance. Stanage was seriously partisan, not to mention outright rude. Which goes to a much larger point. Too many people covering the Trump White House, whether in the White House or spread across the media around the country, are not about journalism. They are about left-wing, anti-Trump activism -- exactly as Leavitt said. Just one of the problems with this is that down the road, when Trump is long gone from the White House and a Democrat holds the Oval Office, the ground has been laid for right-wing activists to also masquerade as journalists covering the Democrat President and his/her administration. Which is to say, the old wisdom applies: “Be careful what you wish for.” And if and when the day arrives that the White House press room is filled with conservative activists masquerading as journalists, you will know where they got the idea.

Both Friday editions of ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS Evening News highlighted a Minnesota family that got caught in the chaos that ensued on Wednesday after an ICE officer shot a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in the leg after he fled a traffic stop. However, both shows omitted the detail that the man fled only to eventually join in with two other men—one of whom had a snow shovel—and attack the pursuing agent. ABC reporter Matt Rivers was highlighting the case of the Jackson family, who were returning home from their oldest son’s basketball game when he declared, “On Wednesday, Destiny Jackson had her husband and six kids in the car, including a 6-month-old, when she got caught in chaotic protests after ICE shot a Venezuelan man during a traffic stop.”     Jackson recalled the scene, “And then, like, one of them, or, yeah, like, one or two of them, stopped at my car and was just like, ‘Get the F out of here,’ and I'm like, ‘We're trying, but—’ In that instance, I’m like, ‘Don't you put your foot on that gas,’ because I'd be damned if they try to shoot us like Renee, by saying we hit them with our car… Immediately, once they got behind our car, they rolled tear gas under it.” Later, Jackson recalled having to give her 6-month-old “mouth to mouth, and people are pouring milk all over my other kids.” Rivers concluded the Jackson family’s story by adding, “Thankfully, everyone now okay. Homeland Security says they've made more than 2,500 arrests since Operation Metro Surge began in December.” Over on CBS, reporter Matt Gutman was marginally better when it came to the Jacksons’ story but still omitted relevant shovel details, “The latest skirmishes come after a Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg by a federal agent during an arrest Wednesday night, prompting hours of clashes. During the chaos, Shawn and Destiny Jackson and their six children can be seen fleeing their vehicle after they say ICE agents dispersed tear gas near their car.”     After a conversation with the family, Gutman at least made it known that the Jacksons were not targeted, “The family says that three of the six children had to be hospitalized. They’re now all at home recovering. DHS said in a statement that it never targeted the family or its innocent children, and if anything can quell the tension here, it might be this brutal cold snap that you are seeing, Tony, descend on the Midwest here.” What makes Rivers’ and Gutmans’ omission of possible shovel weapons even harder to justify is that both World News Tonight and Evening News managed to bring it up on their Thursday shows. The Jackson family got caught up in the middle of a circumstance beyond their control that was created by a crowd that either did not have or did not wish to have all the relevant facts, and ABC and CBS are helping fuel that ignorance. Here is a transcript for the January 16 shows: ABC World News Tonight 1/16/2025 6:35 PM ET MATT RIVERS: On Wednesday, Destiny Jackson had her husband and six kids in the car, including a 6-month-old, when she got caught in chaotic protests after ICE shot a Venezuelan man during a traffic stop. DESTINY JACKSON: And then, like, one of them, or, yeah, like, one or two of them, stopped at my car and was just like, "Get the F out of here," and I'm like, "We're trying, but—” In that instance, I’m like, “Don't you put your foot on that gas,” because I'd be damned if they try to shoot us like Renee, by saying we hit them with our car. [jump cut] Immediately, once they got behind our car, they rolled tear gas under it. RIVERS: They say grenades detonated their air bags, trapping inside as gas filled their van. Then their 6-month-old baby stopped breathing. JACKSON: I had to give my baby, like, mouth to mouth, and people are pouring milk all over my other kids. [jump cut] I thought I was dying, honestly. RIVERS: Thankfully, everyone now okay. Homeland Security says they've made more than 2,500 arrests since Operation Metro Surge began in December. *** MATT GUTMAN: The latest skirmishes come after a Venezuelan migrant was shot in the leg by a federal agent during an arrest Wednesday night, prompting hours of clashes. MAN: There are kids in the car. There are kids in the car. GUTMAN: During the chaos, Shawn and Destiny Jackson and their six children can be seen fleeing their vehicle after they say ICE agents dispersed tear gas near their car. What was it like inside the vehicle? SHAWN JACKSON: When I started feeling like I couldn't breathe, that's when I knew it had to be the tear gas. DESTINY JACKSON: I was like fighting to get out. GUTMAN: Did you pull up the kids one by one? DESTINY JACKSON: Yeah, I was screaming, “I have kids out there. I have an infant in the car,” as well. GUTMAN: She told us her 6-month-old had to be resuscitated at the scene. I can't imagine anything more frightening than that for a mother. DESTINY JACKSON: I was screaming, crying. My kids were screaming, crying. GUTMAN: The family says that three of the six children had to be hospitalized. They’re now all at home recovering. DHS said in a statement that it never targeted the family or its innocent children, and if anything can quell the tension here, it might be this brutal cold snap that you are seeing, Tony, descend on the Midwest here.

On Friday’s installment of PBS News Hour, New York Times columnist David Brooks proved once again why PBS needs to find an actual conservative for their weekly news recap segment. While doing that rhetorical trick where someone calls for the lowering of tensions in Minneapolis while simultaneously hurling inflammatory accusations at ICE and the Trump administration, Brooks described the city as under “something like an armed occupation.” Host Amna Nawaz thought Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was doing his part to lower the temperature, “David, we’ve seen tensions only rising on the ground in Minneapolis. We saw Governor Walz publicly come out and call for a lowering of the temperature, telling the protesters, don't take the bait, don't be violent, even as the administration says it's going to surge more agents. Criminal subpoenas for the state and city leaders, does that lower the temperature?     Of course, that omits all of Walz’s previous “Gestapo” rhetoric and that Walz’s version of Frankenstein’s monster has led to rioting, vandalism, and assault of ICE agents. As it was, Brooks was happy to play along with Nawaz’s framing, “Not exactly. We're coming close to something like an armed occupation of an American state by the American federal government. There are 3,000 ICE officers in Minneapolis, which is like five times the number of police officers. And they are behaving with reckless and violent abandon.” The allegedly conservative half of Brooks and Capehart then lamented that Donald Trump is not like Barack Obama, “Barack Obama deported three million people during the course of his administration. He didn't do it this way. He did it with people who were just coming over the border or people who were criminals. He didn't go into homes and terrorize children, disallow moms whose sons are dying from cancer from seeing their kids, breaking up families, doing sort of ethnic investigations into people's neighbors, using these hand grenades, flash hand grenades.” After declaring that invoking the Insurrection Act without the request of the governor would be “unprecedented,” Brooks got in on the Walz praise and hoped “normal people” would get with his program: This is completely different. This is something that is turning up the pressure, and I think Governor Walz is right. I'm not a huge fan, but the protesters are turning up the tension on the ICE officers. And if—so long as they do it nonviolently, then Americans will see what is going on in their country. And I have long thought, if Americans see deportations of respectable families, they will finally rebel against this regime, and not just the progressives and not just Democrats, but normal people who are like, what the heck is going on here? And so that's where we're headed. Maybe so, but that’s partly because alleged news shows like News Hour keep giving their viewers only one perspective. Words have meanings. Minneapolis is not under martial law, and 3,000 ICE agents do not constitute an occupation. Here is a transcript for the January 16 show: PBS News Hour 1/16/2026 7:30 PM ET AMNA NAWAZ: David, we’ve seen tensions only rising on the ground in Minneapolis. We saw Governor Walz publicly come out and call for a lowering of the temperature, telling the protesters, don't take the bait, don't be violent, even as the administration says it's going to surge more agents. Criminal subpoenas for the state and city leaders, does that lower the temperature? DAVID BROOKS: Not exactly. We're coming close to something like an armed occupation of an American state by the American federal government. There are 3,000 ICE officers in Minneapolis, which is like five times the number of police officers. And they are behaving with reckless and violent abandon. Barack Obama deported three million people during the course of his administration. He didn't do it this way. He did it with people who were just coming over the border or people who were criminals. He didn't go into homes and terrorize children, disallow moms whose sons are dying from cancer from seeing their kids, breaking up families, doing sort of ethnic investigations into people's neighbors, using these hand grenades, flash hand grenades. It's just an -- it's an unprecedented -- and I don't know if unprecedented is the right word, but it could be. George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act in 1992 in California, but he did it with the presence of Pete Wilson, the governor there, with the local -- the cooperation of the local officials. This is completely different. This is something that is turning up the pressure, and I think Governor Walz is right. I'm not a huge fan, but the protesters are turning up the tension on the ICE officers. And if —so long as they do it nonviolently, then Americans will see what is going on in their country. And I have long thought, if Americans see deportations of respectable families, they will finally rebel against this regime, and not just the progressives and not just Democrats, but normal people who are like, what the heck is going on here? And so that's where we're headed.

Friday's front page of The New York Times carried this headline: Nobel Peace Laureate's Wooing of Trump Annoys Norwegians Which means it also annoys the Trump-hating Times. The Norwegian socialists are their kind of people. It's a rare conservative-pleasing headline on the front page! Inside on A6, the header was "Nobel Peace Laureate's Wooing of Trump Vexes Norwegians." Reporters Max Bearak and Henrik Pryser Libell channel all the Norwegian angst.  “A Nobel committee can never guard against peace prize laureates committing acts that run counter to the intention of the prize,’’ Lena Lindgren, a columnist for the Norwegian weekly Morgenbladet, said in an interview. “But what is new now is that the prize is being used in a political game, a warlike game.” ….What makes the dispute swirling around Ms. Machado unusual, according to Asle Sveen, a former researcher at the Nobel Institute, is Norwegians’ particularly dim view of Mr. Trump. Ms. Machado “has dedicated her Peace Prize to a highly controversial president, to put it mildly,” Mr. Sveen said. “It is nearly universally accepted in Norway that Donald Trump attacks liberal democracy.” One poll showed Norwegians would have voted for Kamala over Trump, 70 percent to 15. Once again, Norway sounds like the "news room" at the Times -- except they may have no Trump voters on staff. How much do the Norskies hate Trump? This much:  A Norwegian tabloid, Nettavisen, conducted a poll before the announcement of the award that found three-quarters of respondents were against it being bestowed on Mr. Trump, even if he were instrumental in orchestrating a peace agreement in Ukraine or Gaza. There's literally nothing Trump could do to deserve it, which underlines who has a "closed mind" on geopolitics. “The Nobel Committee has compromised the prize” by not foreseeing how Ms. Machado and Mr. Trump would use it to justify military intervention in Venezuela, Ms. Lindgren said. “Norway has been politically embarrassed and has failed to manage the symbolic capital.” Machado is scorned for how she "remained mum about a bombing campaign against boasts Mr. Trump says are smuggling drugs. The American strikes have killed more than 100 people." Obama's drone strikes killed around 500 after he won the Nobel. Machado was later accused of spreading dreadful "misinformation" in her wooing of Trump:  But she has also embraced Mr. Trump’s military buildup in the Caribbean, repeated debunked claims that Mr. Maduro manipulated U.S. elections, and parroted the Trump administration’s claim that Mr. Maduro manipulated U.S. elections, and parroted the Trump administration’s claim that Mr. Maduro simultaneously led two drug organizations, despite scant evidence. Her assertions fueled accusations that she was amplifying misinformation in what, until now, seemed a failed attempt to gain the American president’s support. The Times acknowledged there was "global outrage" when the Nobel committee picked President Obama in 2009 as he "was presiding over military engagements on several continents" (like Afghanistan). At the very end of the story, Bearak and Libell threw in an opposing Norwegian view from Marianne Dahl of the Peace Research Institute:  “It is easy to sit in comfortable Norway and criticize her for talking sweet to Trump,” Ms. Dahl said. That, she noted, is exactly what many European and even Norwegian leaders have done. “And they don’t have a repressive regime pursuing them, as Machado has had,” she said.