Steve Kelman on politics, culture, and life July 18, 2025, read and subscribe for free

Treatment of immigrants

The Times stalwart Linda Greenhouse, who doesn't write much for the paper anymore, has a moving column today about the "cruelty" of Trump's immigration agenda. "People snapped up while waiting at a bus stop in peaceful Pasadena, the undocumented father of three Marines taken at his landscaping job, pinned down and punched by masked federal agents. People whose quiet presence among us was tolerated for decades as they paid their taxes and raised their American children are now hunted down like animals." Reading this made me deeply embarrassed and humiliated for our country, and the ignominy Trump has brought upon us.

Arresting political opponents

An article in The Times today discusses frequent examples where Trump has threatened to arrest political opponents.

Defense Department new press spokesperson

The new Defense Department press spokesperson has called for "zero immigration and mass deportations". She has stated that transgender people should not be allowed to own firearms and that they are not visible in a "healthy country". She stated that Lindsey Graham should be deported after he supported military aid to Ukraine.

In posts on X, she has opposed U.S. military interventions, including military support for Israel and Ukraine. In July 2024, she referred to NATO as an "international HR department". In a One America News interview in 2023, she called for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be arrested; conversely, she praised Vladimir Putin's "encyclopedic knowledge of his people's history." in Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin. In 2024, she endorsed the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany party.

She has repeated claims that a Jew, Leo Frank, committed the murder of Mary Phagan, for which he was lynched by a Georgia mob; modern historians generally agree that Frank was wrongfully convicted. She believes in the Great Replacement conspiracy theory.

Trump fires attorney investigating Epstein

Trump has fired the justice department career attorney in charge of the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. This smells to high heaven.

Work at home accommodations for religious feds

After becoming more strict with requests by federal employees for work at home accommodation due to disability, the office of personnel management is making it easier for people to get work at home accommodation because of their religion.

Musk chatbot promoting Hitler and holocaust

Musk's chatbot, Grok, has been promoting praise of Hitler and calls for a second Holocaust. What Musk content have they been trained on?