- Losing My Perspicacity
- Posts
- Losing My Perspicacity, January 22, 2026
Good morning and Happy Thursday. Thanks for starting your day with me.
After joining Bluesky’s Air Force One vigil on Tuesday night, during which we all wondered if Air Force One’s return to the US after leaving for Davos meant that “it” had happened, I regret to inform you that Trump arrived in Switzerland in as good a shape as is possible for someone who subsists on Big Macs, Diet Coke, and rage. He then proceeded to embarrass us immediately.
Trump to Davos: "Without us, right now you'd all be speaking German and a little Japanese perhaps. After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? But we did it. But how ungrateful are they now?"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)2026-01-21T14:07:39.806Z
First of all, this is something I would have said to Europeans when I was like eight years old and only knew the vague outlines of World War II. Also, Davos is on the eastern side of Switzerland, where everyone speaks (checks notes) German. Trump is now convinced that he has entered into some kind of “framework” for a future deal that will allow him to “acquire” Greenland, which he confused with “Iceland” about five times during his speech.
Trump has also backed off his pledge to tariff EU countries, because Trump Always Chickens Out.
Let’s check in with Greenland and Denmark about this incredible deal for America:
In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, a member of Denmark’s parliament, Sascha Faxe, has suggested that the deal Donald Trump claims to have struck with Nato over Greenland is “not real”.
Oh.
“The thing is, there can’t be a deal without having Greenland as part of the negotiations, first of all,” Faxe said.
She went on to reference earlier comments from Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, saying: “I have heard from the Greenlanders that I know - so we have a Greenlandic MP in Denmark – and she’s very clear that this is not a prerogative of Rutte and Nato; they can’t trade the underground in Greenland, or Greenlandic security without Greenlanders being part of it.”
“And they are very clear: Greenland is not for sale, they are not up for negotiations,” Faxe added. “So it’s not real negotiations, it’s two men who have had a conversation,” she said.
That makes sense, because not only does Trump Always Chicken Out, he also lies constantly. NATO chief Mark Rutte went on FOX News last night and clarified that acquiring Greenland never even came up in his discussions with Trump.
Rutte says the status of Greenland was not discussed as part of the “framework” deal Trump announced
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)2026-01-22T00:41:53.704Z
At the very least, we seem to have avoided blowing up NATO for the time being. Let’s give Trump a few days, and maybe he’ll find something else to distract himself with (probably Cuba).
In other news: ICE is using children as bait and ignoring the 4th Amendment; Billionaires are sad that we don’t like AI more; Ted Cruz hightails it to warmer weather, which is bad news for Texans; and The High Note.
Here we go.
ICE is getting worse
I know that seems impossible, given that ICE has been killing people and tormenting an entire city in the dead of winter, but it’s true. I’m going to blow through this section without much commentary, because, honestly, my mental health can’t take it today. I’m trying to pace my rage so I don’t wind up committing myself to an institution.
First, here’s a five-year old child that ICE kidnapped yesterday and used as bait to lure his parents out before shipping him off to a detention center in Texas.
“ICE agents have been roaming our neighborhoods, circling our schools, following our buses, coming into our parking lots and taking our children. The sense of safety in our community and around our schools is shaken and our hearts are shattered," said Stenvik.
School officials say Tuesday afternoon 5-year-old preschool student, Liam Ramos, was detained by federal agents alongside his father as they were driving home from school.
“Why detain a 5-year-old? You can’t tell me this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal,” Stenvik says.
The family’s immigration lawyer, Marc Prokosch, says Liam and his father are likely being held at a detention facility in Texas.
Minnesota: "School officials say the [5-year-old] child was used as bait. They say [ICE] agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."
— Matt Novak (@paleofuture.bsky.social)2026-01-22T00:05:31.081Z
Then, last night, someone leaked an internal ICE memo that encourages agents to violate the 4th Amendment.
ICE secretly told its officers that any time someone has been ordered removed, ICE can break down their door. It has been accepted for generations that the only thing which can authorize agents to break into your home is a warrant signed by a judge. No wonder ICE hid this memo!
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social)2026-01-21T22:09:28.907Z
So allow me, a far more reliable source than ICE, to tell you what the law says: Law enforcement can not enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge. Administrative warrants, which are printed out en masse and which ICE agents fill out in their cars, are not real warrants. Worse, ICE knows this:
As I mentioned yesterday, Congress is set to vote on the new budget bill, which adds $10 billion to the DHS budget without addressing ICE or CBP’s brutality and lawlessness. Dems have even caved on prohibiting DHS from deporting American citizens. Call your reps, call your reps, call your reps. Democrats are getting absolutely terrible advice from their advisors.
Two congressional sources told the Prospect that Jeffries and his leadership team were “recommending” a no vote, but that is different from a whip operation where Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark and her deputies push members to support the leadership position on the bill. Several frontline Democrats in swing seats are expected to vote in favor of the appropriation.
“They’re terrified of being labeled anti–law enforcement,” said a Hill source tracking the legislation. “They want this to go away so they can talk about the cost of living more. Problem is, it’s not going away.”
Yeah, the cost of living sucks, but getting shot in the face by one of Greg Bovino’s thugs sucks more.
Finally, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted DHS an administrative stay while the federal gov’t appeals Judge Kate Menendez’s TRO that prohibited ICE from using excessive force on protestors in Minneapolis. Interpret that however you see fit. By all means, the judiciary should absolutely slow-walk this one, because everything in Minnesota seems great right now.
You guys, we are making tech bros sad
We don’t like their shiny new toys enough.
Look everyone, just because AI is putting creatives out of work, frying all our brains, ruining the environment, and enriching the worst people on earth, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all buy in.
There is no worse sign for Texans than Ted Cruz heading to the airport…
As a major winter storm takes aim at half of the United States (no, I’m not kidding), Ted Cruz (R-TX) has once again been caught high-tailing it to warmer climes.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was spotted earlier today, January 20, 2026, on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state of Texas braces for a rare ice threat and arctic cold front.
— Shea Jordan Smith (@sheajordansmith.bsky.social)2026-01-21T04:50:10.366Z
Dude, did you not learn your lesson the last time?
Governor Greg Abbott has already declared a state of emergency, as worries mount that Texas’s electrical grid will crash again, as it did in 2021, when Cruz conveniently headed to Cancùn. Last July, while floods ravaged Texas and killed 135 people, Cruz was standing in line to see the Parthenon in Greece.
Cruz’s officer super-super promises that he’ll be back in time for the storm.
On a related note, I can’t imagine anything worse than being stuck next to Ted Cruz on a plane. Or in a winter storm. Or… in life.
The High Note
Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.
Stand with Minneapolis and your fellow Americans. Abolish ICE. And stick it to Greg Bovino, if you can.
Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino marches through Minneapolis surrounded by federal agents, shouting at American citizens. This isn’t about deporting “the worst of the worst.” It’s about deliberately sowing fear and chaos in cities that oppose the Trump regime ht: @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social
— jen sometimes aph 🌻 (@bunnibytz.bsky.social)2026-01-18T15:34:30.267Z
Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down.
Reply