Israel and Max Makoka

Those are two boys18 and 15 years old from the Republic of Congo who were seized by ICE when they came out of their guardian’s home in Diamondhead, Miss.  They were here legally on F-1 student visas.  They changed schools last year, but nobody at the new school knew that would affect their immigration status.  One of their guardians, Gail Baptiste, tried to show her guardianship papers to the immigration agents.  One of the agents told her:  “This is worth nothing.”  

Israel, the oldest student, was weeks away from graduation.  Both boys were active in the local church.  They were on the Hancock High basketball team.  

I got this info from Christina Morales and Hamed Aleaziz,”On Way to School Bus, but Grabbed by ICE,” New York Times, (May 1, 2026), p. A 17.  

I mailed copies of the article to my representative Ryan Mackenzie and my two Senators, John Fetterman and David McCormick, asking them to find out what happened to the boys.  Below is a copy of the letter.  I’ll let you know if I even get a reply, but I am not holding my breath.  We really have become an evil country.

Here’s the text of the letter:  

I have enclosed a copy of an article from the New York Times detailing an action by agents of the U.S. government.  Both of the boys discussed were admitted to our country legally.  Neither has committed any crimes.

On this 250th anniversary celebration of our founding we should also be aware that we have terrible blots on our historical record–Trail of Tears, “No Irish need apply,” Japanese internment, and “Operation Wetback”–to name a few.  Now our country is repeating some of the ugliest policies of our past.

Can you do something about these boys?  Is there a private bill you could introduce to bring them back to their school?  Could you at least check on their status and current location?  If we lived in Russia or Iran, I would say there is nothing to be done, but this is the United States of America.  We must stop this.

Democratic Party leaders continue to mess up

Many of the readers of this blog probably think Robert Kennedy, Jr., is a vile man whose actions have already resulted in people dying.  I would agree.  Nonetheless he was a Democrat who had a right to run for the Democratic nomination in 2024.  Evidently the Democratic Party leadership did not trust its voters and went all out to stop him.  According to the latest issue of “Ballot Access News,” they bent the rules and made it impossible for him to compete in the run-up to the Convention.  Kennedy had no chance to win the nomination, but the high-handed treatment from the party caused him to throw his support to Donald Trump.  In some states the margin of Trump’s victory can be traced to Kennedy’s followers moving into the Trump column.

In 2016 when Bernie Sanders was running for the Democratic Presidential nomination, the Party leadership did everything it could to knock him out of the race.  Rules were tweaked, steps were taken.  Many of Bernie’s supporters resented the treatment Sanders received, and in the November election they had no enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton, who lost by a razor thin margin in key states.

They are doing it again.  In the 7th PA Congressional District (where I live), we have four candidates in the Democratic Primary:  Bob Brooks, Ryan Crosswell, Lamont McClure, and Carole Obando-Durstine.  The winner will run against MAGA tool and ICE supporter Ryan Mackenzie, who has a bromance with Trump.  

The leadership, not trusting the Democratic voters of the 7th district to make our own choices, have anointed Bob Brooks as their favored candidate.  Mr. Brooks may be ok, but he is not my first choice, or even my second or third.  They brought in Bernie Sanders (!) and Pete Buttigieg to endorse him.  Governor Shapiro has made it clear he thinks Brooks is the guy we should support, evidently deciding we need his advice.

Hey, I’ve listened to, shook the hands of, spoken with, and read the literature of all four.  I’ll make up my own mind, thank you very much. 

Postponing an election in Louisiana

We held a presidential election during the Civil War.  We held presidential elections during the Korean War and during the Vietnam War.  But by god if we can postpone an election in Louisiana to ensure that white Republicans can shut out Black Democrats, we are jus gonna do that. The S’preme Caught said we’all could.

Comrade Jesus

 a poem by Sarah N. Cleghorn, 1876-1959

Thanks to Saint Matthew, who had been

At mass-meetings in Palestine,

We know whose side was spoken for

When Comrade Jesus had the floor.

“Where sore they toil and hard they lie,

Among the great unwashed, dwell I,–

The tramp, the convict, I am he;

Cold-shoulder him, cold-shoulder me”

Between the twilights of his end,

He made his fellow-felon friend:

With swollen tongue and blinded eyes, 

Invited him to Paradise.

Ah, let no Local him refuse!

Comrade Jesus hath paid his dues.

Whatever other be debarred

Comrade Jesus hath his red card.

    

                                                        This is a photo of Ms. Cleghorn

I’ve left out four stanzas, but you get the idea.  This is in honor of May 1, a traditional day for lefties all around the world.

Racial Gerrymandering and the Supreme Court

I actually don’t have much problem with the Supreme Court’s decision to do away with congressional districts drawn to ensure that they will be “Black” districts.  If a non-partisan group of experts drew lines fairly, some congressional districts would be Black. 

However, and here is where the Supreme Court’s insincerity and role as operative for the Republican Party is so glaringly evident, the districts are being gerrymandered for the political advantage of the Republican Party.  If that hurts Black voters, and it will, so be it.  Drawing to provide Black districts is illegal, drawing districts to split the black vote and benefit MAGA Republicans meets with Supreme Court approval.

The Supreme Court had a chance years ago to outlaw gerrymandering to benefit a specific party.  It did not do that.  It said political gerrymandering was fine, and the legislators in Republican state after Republican state drew the districts to pack Dems into districts into a few districts(called packing) or fracture them into many (called splitting).  This has increased polarization and resulted in a disproportionate number of Republican House members.

The Supreme Court is a handmaiden in the MAGA attempt to install authoritarianism in this country.  It is happening very fast.

Killing Wind Projects

We are in the midst of a world-wide problem with energy right now because of the Iran war and data centers.  We are also seeing the global temperature rise even faster than scientists predicted.  We know that burning fossil fuels creates all kinds of air pollution.  And we know that the U.S. government is spending far more money than it is taking in.

So why, why, is the U.S. government paying $885 million to kill wind projects that have already been approved?  That is what the Interior Department is doing.  It is absolutely batshit crazy.

See Maxine Joselow and Brad Plummer, “U.S. to Pay $885 Million to Kill Wind Projects," New York Times, (29 April 2026), p. B-6.

The Buddha in the Attic

Sometimes I read a book and ask myself, How did I miss that book when it first came out?  I just finished The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka.  It begins with the Japanese “picture brides” on the ship sailing to America to meet their new husbands and follows them and other Japanese immigrants through their lives in California.  Their relationships with their husbands, their Americanized children, their Anglo neighbors–all are covered in a style of writing that is close to poetry.

The second last chapter on the beginning of World War II, the fear in the Japanese community, the rumors, the round-ups, the abandonment of pets and friends and farms and homes and businesses–the loss of everything that resulted from years of toil and sweat.  It was hard to even comprehend.  And it was impossible to read and not reflect on the same thing happening today across America.  

I recommend the book with this “trigger warning.”  It is among the saddest and most wrenching books I have ever read.