Tidbits-July 16: Reader Comments: More ICE Killings; Todd Blanche – Trump’s Hired GumShoe Lawyer; USAID; Civil Rights on the 250th Anniversary of the Country; Take Action: Support Mahmoud Khalil; the Case for Tripling Union Membership; Cartoons, More
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Unwanted -- Cartoon and Commentary by Lalo Alcaraz
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Todd Blanche -- Cartoon and Commentary by Nick Anderson
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Todd Blanche, Billboard Lawyer -- Cartoon by Jack Ohman
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Re: The Platner Pattern – Are We Really Doing This Again? (Richard Butsch)
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Re: Even in Conservative North Dakota, Some Socialist Institutions Thrive (John Emerson)
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Re: Was USAID Really Neo-Colonial? (Tom Edminster; John Woodford)
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Re: ‘Misuse’ of Crowd Control Weapons on ICE Protesters Led to Blindings and Traumatic Brain Injuries, Report Finds (Moemedi Kepadisa)
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Goodbye Graham -- Cartoon by Steve Sack
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Re: Human Origins Destroy Core Fascist Mythology (Tim Sheard)
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RFK, Jr. at the Reflecting Pool -- Cartoon and Commentary by Jesse Duquette
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Re: Commies EVERYWHERE! (Noel Kent)
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Re: Russia and America Are Rediscovering the Limits of Nuclear Weapons (John Jonik)
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Civil Rights on the 250th Anniversary of the Country -- Cartoon by Rob Rogers
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Mitch McConnell Breaking News -- Meme
Take Action:
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Take Action: Support Mahmoud Khalil, Terminate Removal Proceedings Now! (Center for Constitutional Rights)
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Resources:
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The Case for Tripling Union Membership: How Rebuilding Union Power Would Strengthen Workers, The Economy, and Our Democracy (Ben Zipperer, Celine McNicholas, Heidi Shierholz, Jennifer Sherer, Josh Bivens, Margaret Poydock / Economic Policy Institute)
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Unwanted -- Cartoon and Commentary by Lalo Alcaraz
Another US resident died at the hands of ICE. Lorenzo Araujo Salgado was getting his work permit, but this didn't stop ICE agents from murdering him in the streets of Houston. There has been 10 killings since the Trump 2 Regime started.
VISIT THE LALO ON CALÓ CARTOON ARCHIVE HERE
Lalo Alcaraz
July 10, 2026
CALÓ News!
Todd Blanche -- Cartoon and Commentary by Nick Anderson
There was a time when Republicans and Democrats alike understood that the attorney general occupied a unique place in our constitutional system. The office exists to enforce the law, not the political wishes of the president.
Todd Blanche has demonstrated that he doesn’t believe in that distinction.
Nick Anderson
July 14, 2026
Pen Strokes
Todd Blanche, Billboard Lawyer -- Cartoon by Jack Ohman
Jack Ohman
July 14, 2026
Jack Ohman’s You Betcha!
Re: The Platner Pattern – Are We Really Doing This Again?
What?? "Men are perpetually protected" ??
Men are murdered more than women. are frequently seriously injured or disabled trying to make a living. Constantly threatened with humiliation for not "being a man." Among other things
Some men, perhaps more who hold power, are terrible to women, not all men.
Richard Butsch
Re: Even in Conservative North Dakota, Some Socialist Institutions Thrive
The NPL government of North Dakota tried to sign a statewide labor contract with the IWW at a time when many other states were trying to kill their leaders. It fell through, but nice try. They had the AFL write the state labor law.
John Emerson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: Was USAID Really Neo-Colonial?
& the cut off ...killed many...
Tom Edminster
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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This writer seems ignorant of the history, economic practices and political structures of neocolonialism.
John Woodford
Thanks you for the human rights watch report. Yet more proof about state violence against citizens.
Moemedi Kepadisa
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Goodbye Graham -- Cartoon by Steve Sack
Farewell Lindsey cartoon and a sad, sad sculpt.
What a pathetic creature. Nothing more to say.
Senator Lindsey Graham, RIP.
Steve Sack
July 14, 2026
The Art of Sack
Re: Human Origins Destroy Core Fascist Mythology
Thank you so for the wonderful article about pre-history and anti-fascism. Much appreciated.
Tim Sheard
RFK, Jr. at the Reflecting Pool -- Cartoon and Commentary by Jesse Duquette
For some reason, the first thing that came to mind when I saw photos of the algae overtaking the pool was “well, at least RFK Jr. will feel right at home”. Maybe it’s the murkiness, maybe it’s the degradation of something that was once beautiful, maybe it’s just the fetid stench, but somehow, I think he feels right at home by the self-inflicted swamp.
Jesse Duquette
July 13, 2026
Jesse Duquette
A terrific article by Mr. Meyerson comparing the McCarthy phenomena of the 50s with Trump's fascistic lies and maneuvering. Yes, some of us remember McCarthy's lies and the Army-McCarthy hearings which exposed how cruel and dangerous he was and we will oppose Trump as we rallied public opinion against "Tail Gunner Joe." What a great article, especially for people who do not remember McCarthyism.
Noel Kent
Re: Russia and America Are Rediscovering the Limits of Nuclear Weapons
Since there is no such country called "America", except as a colloquialism, why use that term? "The USA" is as easy to say or write and it's mostly correct...except for omitting a "P" for Hawaii which isn't in the Americas but in Polynesia.
John Jonik
Civil Rights on the 250th Anniversary of the Country -- Cartoon by Rob Rogers
Rob Rogers
July 16, 2026
https://robrogers.com/
Mitch McConnell Breaking News -- Meme
A year after his unlawful arrest, detention, and attempted deportation, former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil just filed a historic lawsuit against senior Trump administration officials and anti-Palestinian organizations like the Heritage Foundation for conspiring together to persecute him because of his advocacy for Palestinian freedom.
The lawsuit describes a coordinated effort to terrorize and punish Palestinians and their supporters through surveillance, targeting, detention, deportation, and the weaponization of “terrorism” and “antisemitism” accusations in order to suppress their advocacy.
As Mahmoud pursues this case to protect the fundamental rights to speech and protest, will you join us to demand that members of Congress call on the Trump administration to terminate all removal proceedings against him?
The case is brought under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era civil rights statute designed to prevent conspiracies between private actors and government officials seeking to deprive communities of their constitutional rights.
The lawsuit challenges the growing normalization of authoritarian tactics used to silence dissent and criminalize solidarity with Palestinians. But the implications extend far beyond one individual or one movement. The targeting of Mahmoud is a signal that the Trump administration will do whatever it takes in order to suppress anyone who belongs to a group they dislike. We must stop them now.
Thank you for taking action,
Support Mahmoud Khalil, terminate removal proceedings now!
Mahmoud Khalil is fighting back with a landmark lawsuit against the Trump administration and private anti-Palestinian groups. The lawsuit alleges that senior Trump administration officials and anti-Palestinian organizations unlawfully conspired to target him and other individuals because of their support for Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit describes a coordinated effort to target, terrorize, and punish Palestinians and their supporters through arrest, detention, deportation threats, and the weaponization of “terrorism” and “antisemitism” accusations.
The case is about whether the government can work with private ideological groups to illegally silence support for a people facing genocide, and erode our basic rights. The implications extend far beyond one individual or one movement.
The lawsuit challenges the growing normalization of authoritarian tactics used to silence dissent and criminalize solidarity with Palestinians.
As Mahmoud pursues this case to protect the fundamental rights to speech and protest, join us to demand that members of Congress call on the Trump administration to terminate all removal proceedings against him.
Center for Constitutional Rights
666 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10012
The Case for Tripling Union Membership: How Rebuilding Union Power Would Strengthen Workers, The Economy, and Our Democracy
Report by Ben Zipperer, Celine McNicholas, Heidi Shierholz, Jennifer Sherer, Josh Bivens, Margaret Poydock
July 15, 2026
Economic Policy Institute
Imagine union membership tripling in the United States. It may sound radical—if you’ve forgotten history. In fact, more than 1 in 3 private-sector workers belonged to a union in the 1950s. The results? Wages grew in tandem with the economy. The middle class thrived. Black-white wage gaps shrank. Broadly shared economic growth was a reality, not an aspiration. That’s because when workers have bargaining power, they win better wages, benefits, and working conditions. This report shines a light on what we stand to win if we rebuild union power.
Over the last four decades, big corporations and the billionaires who run them have waged a relentless campaign against unions. And they have largely succeeded in reshaping the U.S. economy. By making it harder and harder for workers to organize and bargain collectively, the rich seized more and more income and wealth, destroying the U.S. middle class. Now the wealth of the richest Americans has exploded: The richest 0.1% own more than five times the combined wealth of the entire bottom half of the country.
And yet, workers haven’t given up. In 2025, unionization ticked upward. Public approval of unions has reached some of its highest levels in decades, and more than 50 million nonunion workers say they’d join a union tomorrow if they could. That’s because they know what unions deliver. In an economy that has been rigged against working people for decades, unions serve as a counterweight to corporate power—reducing inequality and building the kind of middle class that underpins a strong and inclusive economy.
It will take serious policy change to reverse nearly 50 years of deliberate attacks on working people and their institutions. It will require that politicians stand up to the superrich and corporate interests. It will require that workers continue to build power. But, as this report shows, we have much to gain from stronger unions. An organized and empowered workforce has powerful and far-reaching economic benefits.
Nearly four decades ago, I helped found the Economic Policy Institute because working people needed a voice in the economic debates that shape their lives. This report is exactly the work we envisioned: rigorous research that puts workers at the center of economic policy, and that arms all of us with the facts to fight for them. At a time when our economy is held in relatively few hands, we need this work—and we need unions—more than ever.
Robert Reich
Professor, writer, and former Secretary of Labor
Executive summary
Union membership in the U.S. ticked up in 2025, breaking a decades-long trend of declining unionization. But today’s unionization rate doesn’t reflect the tens of millions of workers who want a union but can’t get one. This report examines what we stand to gain if we triple current union membership to 30%—restoring it to 1950s levels, when union strength delivered rising wages, narrowing racial wage gaps, and a thriving middle class.
Tripling union membership would:
- Deliver a 14.5% raise for the median worker—amounting to more than $7,700 annually, or nearly $270,000 over a 35-year career. These life-changing increases would benefit union and nonunion workers alike.
- Shift $1.2 trillion to workers annually. This would reverse a third of the increase in inequality experienced since 1979.
- Significantly narrow racial wage gaps. Because unions tend to boost wages more for Black and Hispanic workers than for white workers, tripling union membership would close racial wage gaps by more than one-third.
- Boost the number of people with health insurance. Since unions increase other forms of compensation, like health insurance benefits, the number of nonelderly people without health insurance would fall by about 25%. Unions further reduce uninsured rates by advocating for increased public benefits like Medicaid.
- Strengthen communities. States with high union density invest more in public education, have higher unemployment insurance recipiency rates, and have all adopted Medicaid expansion.
- Protect democracy. Unions boost voter turnout, equip workers with civic skills, and actively defend voting rights. States with high union density have passed far fewer voter restriction bills than low-density states.
Read the full report here - Download PDF
Economic Policy Institute
1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-775-8810 • epi@epi.org