Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Most Voters Don't Have Confidence In ICE (And Think Its Violence Is Unnecessary)
The charts above reflect the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between July 17th and 20th of a nationwide sample of 1,432 registered voters. The margin of error is 3.2 points.
Most Americans Blame Trump For The Price Of Gas
These charts are from the Strength in Numbers / Verasight Poll -- done between July 14th and 17th of a nationwide sample of 1,514 adults, with a 2.6 point margin of error.
Why Is Trump Increasing The Violence At Home And Abroad?
The following is by Robert Reich:
In response to public outrage following ICE’s recent murders in Houston and Maine, the Department of Homeland Security moved to pause vehicle stops. But the pause reportedly infuriated Trump, who ordered ICE to continue the stops. ICE’s arrests and aggression continue to escalate.
Trump’s war with Iran is also escalating, with the U.S. striking critical infrastructure sites including power stations and bridges, and Iran attacking a U.S. base in Jordan, killing two American troops (one is still missing).
I think the two killing fields are related, and the question I’ve been pondering is why Trump’s violence is growing both at home and abroad?
It can’t be because the violence is achieving Trump’s stated objectives. Illegal immigration was already down to a trickle before ICE’s recent violent resurgence. The escalating bombing of Iran is fortifying its militant leaders, causing even more Iranians to become anti-American, and widening the war.
Nor is Trump’s escalating violence popular with American voters. In fact, most Americans have turned against ICE and against Trump’s war in Iran. Strikingly,Trump has lost enthusiasm even among many fellow Republicans, a core source of his power for more than a decade.
So why is Trump escalating the violence, at home and abroad?
At first I thought it was to justify Trump’s use of emergency powers in the midterm elections — giving him trumped-up reasons to deploy troops at voting places, curtail times and places of voting, and confiscate voting lists and machines.
That may still be a motive, although his address to the nation last Thursday night focused on fake reports of fraudulent voting rather than Iranian aggression or a fake resurgence of immigration.
So, is there any other reason for Trump’s escalating violence at home and abroad?
As Americans and much of the rest of the world turn on Trump (and, by extension, Pete Hegseth, JD Vance, and Stephen Miller), I can’t help but wonder whether they feel their manhood to be under assault.
Remember, this is a president who staged a cage match on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday and incited an attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
It’s also a secretary of defense who’s testing troops for their levels of testosterone.
A vice president who excoriates “childless cat ladies” and other “people without children” for allegedly having no stake in the nation’s future.
And a White House deputy chief of staff who’s taunting Texas senatorial candidate James Talarico for having “less testosterone” than his opponent and emitting “soy milk” when his blood is drawn.
In the Trump manosphere, violence is seen as a sign of virility. When that virility is challenged, the automatic response is to escalate the violence.
Hence, the growing mayhem in Trump’s two killing fields.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Cost Of Food, Housing, And Healthcare Among Top Issues This Year
The top chart is from the CNBC All-America Economic Survey -- done between July 8th and 12th of a nationwide sample of 1,000 voters, with a 3.1 point margin of error.
The second chart was compiled using Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers.
All ICE Killings Should Be Investigated By An Outside Agency
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked for nearly 30 years in various aspects of law enforcement. And one of the first things I was taught was that carrying a badge did not make me immune to any laws. Those in law enforcement are subject to all of the same laws as any other person - and breaking a law would result in the same punishment that any other person would receive.
So, I was initially disappointed when reading that the FBI would no longer investigate anything don'e by ICE agents. But then I thought about it - and it makes sense.
Donald Trump sycophants control both the FBI and ICE. Expecting one to fairly and impartially investigate the other is ludicrous. There is no way the Trump-controlled FBI could or would do a fair and impartial investigation of Trump-controlled ICE. That would be like one fox investigating the henhouse break-in of another fox.
This does not mean there should not be a fair and impartial investigation of ICE killings. All victims deserve to have their killing fully and impartially investigated, even a killing done by a law enforcement officer. And that investigation should not be done by the agency who pays the person doing the killing. No agency is truly capable of investigating itself.
The ICE killings need to be investigated. But that investigation should be done by a different enforcement group - whether state or local - and the results of the investigation should be fully revealed to the public. Anything less would just look like a cover-up, and would destroy the public's faith in their law enforcement agencies.
An impartial investigation by an outside agency is not an attack on an agency. To the contrary, it protects the good men and women who are following the rules and doing a good job within the law.
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