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The blinking has begun


"Commander-at-Large." That is the farcical title that Donald Trump's lackey Kristi Noem gave to that glorified slave catcher, Gregory Bovino, as he went from Democratic city to Democratic city bringing violence and chaos. I guess "Standartenführer" was considered too gauche.

Ever since the street execution of Alex Pretti, Bovino has been the face of the regime response. We really had never had a good look at this vile man; his blustering and flailing at the press briefings after the killing showed that, as Texans say, he was all hat and no cattle.

Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to a DHS official and two people with knowledge of the change.

Bovino’s sudden demotion is the clearest sign yet that the Trump administration is reconsidering its most aggressive tactics after the killing Saturday of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents under Bovino’s command.
That wasn't all that happened:
Earlier today, President Trump appeared to signal in a series of social-media posts a tactical shift in the administration’s mass-deportation campaign. Trump wrote that he spoke with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz—whom the White House has blamed for inciting violence—and the two men are now on “a similar wavelength.” Tom Homan, the former ICE chief whom Trump has designated “border czar,” will head to Minnesota to assume command of the federal mobilization there, Trump said.
Yes. Homan is a lunatic. This won't improve things. But considering the misfit toys with whom Trump has surrounded himself, he doesn't have many options. Unless, you know, he takes the "honorable way out" and saves this country and world a spot of bother. Hell, if he decided to self-deport to Hades I would even promise to not go shit on his grave.

And then, from the same article, this:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski, who were Bovino’s biggest backers at DHS, are also at risk of losing their jobs, two of the people told me.
These two ambulatory pond scum might be readying to learn of the famous Trump "loyalty". Whatever will they do if they can't boink each other on one of the DHS private jets which Noem had the department purchase? Oh, those two crazy kids will be alright.

Republicans from Greg Abbott to Rand Paul are suddenly realizing that they do not, in fact, have anywhere enough paramilitary forces to subdue a nation of 350 million people, many of whom are armed—yes, even liberals. And they are scared shitless.

No one on the other side of the aisle is acting like they won't face voters in November. And the sad fact is that the murder of Alex Pretti is the kind of thing which will rouse apathetic white voters to take notice. He was white, a VA nurse, and a responsible gun owner: just the demographic you do not want to antagonize. The murder of Keith Porter by an off-duty ICE thug didn't tip the scales, after all; sadly for the regime, which has been trying to get Black and brown people out into the street to be gunned down, they haven't taken the bait and understand the assignment. Mr. Porter is more the type of person that the regime wishes to target with violence. But Minnesota is mostly white, and this was bound to happen. 

Now that Alex Pretti's death has consumed all of the nation's attention, Republicans are looking for an off-ramp. Already facing an uphill climb this fall, they realize the only chance they have of avoiding an extinction level event is to lower the temperature. But, of course, this regime is run by the most incompetent people, as evidenced by this post on Twitter:
But, such bravado may be too late. This was the first response under that post:
"We didn't sign up for this" is something we're going to hear with more frequency. Aside from the violent fringe, the thought of Americans being executed on the street and having it captured by multiple videos is not something most people can stomach. Violent rhetoric is one thing; state-sanctioned murder is another. Which, if you think about it, is rather hopeful. They may hate us; they want to strip us of rights; but even so, extrajudicial killing is a bridge too far. It's not much, but it might be a place to begin.

This is a victory. But I want to close this piece by sharing this video I watched on Bluesky yesterday:
People need to realize that this will be a long struggle. They can't turn off and tune out. They have to be as determined and as resilient as Black civil rights marchers, as Chicano activists, as gay rights activists. They have to realize that what they have to save is the idea of this country as a democracy. And this is the work of the white electorate; it is the majority, and it has consistently voted to cut off its own nose. There is no deus ex machina; the gods will not descend and set things to rights. It's on us. 
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