I was blown away by what they did to Mahmoud Khalil and now, a few weeks later, it almost seems quaint. The depths of possibility, the countless forms our destruction can take, have not even been imagined.
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Yeah I’m worried about all the shit under the surface that we aren’t being told. I mean the media is owned by the same billionaires as the government that is dismantling everything and ruining lives for cruelty and Whitehouse Twitter posts LIKE FUCK. One horror story indicates thousands perhaps…?!.
He told us he wanted to make protesting illegal. These are the first steps. Testing it out on someone they view as being "illegally" here. Even though WE know he had every legal right to be here.
They're using speed to outrace the surging wave of public dissent, but that was always going to be high risk, and now that they've overplayed, there will be no correction. At least it will happen quickly. Hold firm and be ready for anything.
Perhaps you are new in advocating for the cause of the Palestinian people. But for those who have been involved in the struggle for many decades they are not surprised in the least about this unfolding event.
It is not directed at you per se, but a generalized statement towards those who are surprised by this particular decision to have Mahmoud deported. I'm sorry for the offense.
Me: “this is startling and upsetting though not surprising to me, a progressive pro-Palestine voice”
You: “um, other people know more than you, and they were not surprised”
I’m not going to flash my bonafides, many people know more, have risked everything, have dedicated infinite resources. I’m just going to remind you that “being haughty and right” is not an effective organizing strategy. No one is impressed or invited by it. that matters. we need everyone we can get.
I’m not new to this but if I were, what then? There are things I know about that you’ll be new to, too. I’ll invite you in with open arms. The point is to win, not to be right. Or first.
Why surprised? They always wanted to do mass deportation of immigrants, documented or not, and this is always what that meant. I'll give you a hint: don't be surprised when they try to deport naturalized or birthright citizens saying there was "error" or "fraud" next
I do have an issue with your framing though. When you say the paths our destruction can take haven't been imagined that's both misleading and disempowering to people. Quite literally they have been telling us what they want to do for months, we dont have to imagine it. They are not unknowable...
...undefeatable gods they are actually brute idiots throwing shit to the wall to see what sticks. It hurts our movement and demotivates our people to frame them otherwise
This is disingenuous, ungenerous, and again obnoxious. We know the broad contours of what he will do, the specifics aren’t always predictable given the infinite variables. I’d suggest that this nitpicky shit - “either you say it exactly how I would or you’re hurting our movement” - hurts it more.
There will be things that happen over the next few years you can not predict, just like there are already things that have happened where while you could imagine the blueprints you could not have predicted the exact impact of their renderings because you aren’t a psychic.
How is it "disempowering"? This argument seems very larded with therapyspeak and I don't really know what you want her to do besides say "you guys were right" or something. If you want her to help amplify what is happening to these poor folks, can't you just ask?
After 3 months a wasteland. Freedom of speech gone. The rule of law gone. Balance of power gone. Federalism about to go. The next atrocities will be the ones people will ask “How did they let this happen.”
I've read even more lawyers complain they can't find their clients and ICE won't tell them / claims to not know.And every single one's paperwork is full of errors. As if ICE doesn't even know who they arrested
I still care about Khalil and Öztürk, and all the thousands of people disappeared to torture camps. The regime must be held accountable. ICE must be held accountable.
"I was just following orders" didn't work at Nuremberg.
This prompted me to imagine what people would have said in November if you’d told them that three months into his term the Trump administration would be snatching immigrants with no criminal record off the streets and secretly shipping them to a torture camp in El Salvador
I subscribe to a number of podcasts. The number means I'm months behind on them. A few are entertaining and thoughtful legal ones. What surprises me are the people who thoughtfully predicted the events of today. I'm actually living their speculations! It's eerie and uncanny.
I think there is surprise at the gross, putrid concrete reality vs the worry that came with the abstract threats, with its accompanying self doubt at reacting.
🟩 Reuters: “An immigration judge on Tuesday gave the U.S. government a day to show evidence that Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil should be deported and said she would rule on the case on Friday…”
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Any of us can be "oopsied" now. There is no protection
(Though at least hers didn't include emojis, thank God)
Not Batman level contengincies, but the playbook was written and names for this year.
You: “um, other people know more than you, and they were not surprised”
…too much
…this could get extra dystopian entirely too quickly
When it comes down to it, we still don't know how to stop it or even know if it can be stopped.
You mean, like . . .
"I was just following orders" didn't work at Nuremberg.
The mechanism that is swallowing Khalil were there all along.
We could have at least demanded that Biden dismantle ICE and the deportation machine. Some did, but not enough.
But we slept, and now it swallows Khalil, and maybe soon us.
There is no constitution if there is no law.
Deadline is 5:00 pm Wednesday.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/government-given-one-day-produce-evidence-deporting-columbia-university-2025-04-08/