The Winds of (Civil) War

Did MN Gov. Tim Walz just threaten to use the MN National Guard against Federal agents? I am reminded of South Carolina firing on Federal troops at Fort Sumter 165 years ago. 

Walz is emotional and impulsive but is he that stupid? One certainly hopes not. I don't see the Guard fighting and dying to keep Somalis from being deported.

ICE and other feds are enforcing our nation's laws, passed by our elected representatives before Trump was elected the first time. In a government of laws, we change laws we don't like, or if that's not possible, we obey them. That presidents Obama and Biden didn't enforce the laws didn't invalidate them.

MN's Governor and Minneapolis' mayor have made clear they don't like our immigration law. That does not give them the right to stand in the door, metaphorically, as Govs. Faubus and Wallace tried to do. Trump is every bit as likely to send the 101st Airborne as Eisenhower was. 

Hat tip to Herman Wouk for my title idea.

New Numbers on the Great Sort

The website Issues & Insights has a chart based on the new U-Haul Growth Index and the results will not surprise you. People continue to flee blue states and move to red states.

Colors in the above chart refer to whether the state has a Republican (red) or Democrat (blue) governor. All but one of the winners voted for Donald Trump in 2024, 7 of the 10 losers voted for Kamala Harris. The article goes on to note the winning and losing states haven't changed dramatically for the last 3 years. If anyone tries to tell you this is coincidence, laugh in their face. 

Ohio's dramatic change in ranking is anomalous. I'm not sure why it suddenly became a loser after being a near-winner last year. Maybe someone in Ohio can publish something explaining the change?

It's FAFO in Minneapolis ... Again

In Minneapolis a woman - Renee Nicole Good - willfully obstructed ICE vehicles with her car. In a tense situation, she drove at one and hit him. He shot at her, she died, and a riot ensued. I fear this will become a rallying issue for the left.

Columnist Jack Dunphy, a retired LAPD cop, writes that it is likely the shooter will be exonerated even if he may have overreacted when attacked with a lethal weapon (her car). He writes police slang for such incidents is “awful but lawful.” 

If you want to know how LEOs view such situations, this column is very helpful. Unlike most of us, sworn officers potentially face life-threatening situations on any shift. If Dunphy himself never did personally, he knew colleagues who had mere seconds to decide how much lethal force to apply. 

Be glad if your occupation does not routinely include such instances. Also be glad there are fellow citizens willing to shoulder this burden to enforce our laws.

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Later ... Writing at Red State, Bob Hoge notes that the victim's wife was outside the vehicle filming what happened. Afterwards she sobbed words to the effect that the death "was her fault as she made her wife come to the ICE action." 

We can infer that the plan was Good drove the car to block ICE vehicles while the other took video of their exploit> To be used as ... bragging rights? online propaganda? lawsuit evidence?

Maybe label this FAFOF with the third F standing for "fatally."

Thursday Snark

Image courtesy of Lucianne.com, 1/8/2026.

In Lieu of Resolutions ….

In many ways the news drives what we write at COTTonLINE, and the year-end holidays are always a ‘dry spell.’ Rather dramatically, that spell is concluded as the dramatic rendition of Nicholas Maduro dominates the headlines. As a military action it was near-perfect, a thing of pride; the longer term results remain to be seen.

Also worth noting is the unexpected death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), at age 65 in surgery following a ruptured aneurysm. The other DrC knew him slightly and liked him. His daughter was one of her students.

We were “country neighbors” which is to say our place and his were several miles apart. We voted for him as our state assemblyman and state senator. After we shifted our legal residence to WY, he was the district’s Congressman for the last 8 years we wintered in northern CA.

For the last 2-3 decades being an active Republican in CA has resembled being white in South Africa. It isn’t for cowards nor the easily discouraged or offended. He advocated for rural northern CA with both grace and grit, and will be missed.

Expect the drumbeat of events to accelerate between now and November. Methinks we won’t be bored.

Karma … Maybe?

Gateway Pundit breaks a story about the Capitol cop who shot unarmed Ashli Babbitt - Lt. Michael Byrd. They post this accusation, he “has been running a unaccredited day-care center w/ wife Kaleska from their MD. home since 2008. MD. rec's $190m in HHS day-care funds."

We couldn’t get Al Capone for murder, we got him for tax evasion. Likewise, we couldn’t get Byrd for manslaughter/murder, maybe we can for welfare fraud? Like the man says, “It’s better than nothing.”

Hilton Hates ICE

One or more Hilton hotels in the greater Minneapolis area are refusing to rent rooms to ICE and other immigration enforcement agents, and cancelling already-made reservations. According to a Townhall column, it isn’t clear if this is Hilton corporate policy or that of the local franchisee, which appears to be owned by East Indians. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.

The article suggests people who support immigration enforcement might wish to boycott Hilton properties when other alternatives are available. If it turns out that this is only the local franchise owners, a review of their immigration status might determine denaturalization is in their futures.

Later … it turns out Hilton Corporate wants no part of the Minneapolis Hilton’s “No ICE” rule. Here is Hilton’s corporate policy. 

Presumably the ICE ban is the local franchisee with their panties in a twist. Perhaps they should be running hotels in Mumbai and Delhi, not Minneapolis and St. Paul. A review of their immigration and naturalization status is in order, as noted above. 

Walz Drops Out

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced today he will not run for reelection. The former Vice Presidential candidate leads a state with vast and spreading welfare fraud which he has done little to stem and in fact has downplayed.

It is widely speculated that some considerable amount of the Somali fraud proceeds ended up as campaign contributions to him. Dollars being fungible, that allegation is easily made but near-impossible to prove.

His shame reflects badly on former presidential candidate Kamala Harris who chose him to run with her. It was a choice that - in hindsight - questions her judgment.

The Question of the Season … Answered

I watched Die Hard for the nth time this evening with the thought in mind of determining whether it is a Christmas film. I am now convinced it is not a “Christmas Movie.”

It is a fun adventure film, a caper film, even a cops-and-robbers film, but not a Christmas movie. It is not about Christmas and things unique to Christmas. 

Setting the action at Christmastime is merely a plot device to answer the question why there was an evening party in the building and also why a separated husband and father cop would have traveled from NYC to SoCal to see his ex at said party.

Several films of this era (ca.1988) reflect a widely shared view Japan would end up owning nearly everything. Aren’t we happy they did not? Perhaps the China-as-world-hegemon trope will wither and die as well, if we can avoid going to war before that occurs.

Crazy on Stilts

Watching Democrats tie themselves into pretzel-like knots opposing everything our hyperactive President Trump does is fascinating. Little noticed in all the hoopla is that, as a reaction to Trump having five children, nearly a whole generation of leftists is going childless. 

Presumably they are likewise avoiding golf courses, McDonalds food, and IVF. What a way to order one’s life: find out what “the Donald” likes or supports and do the opposite, whatever nonsense that turns out to be. 

In case they haven’t noticed, with no intention on his part, he dictates their behavior. You can imagine him speaking in favor of breathing and finding them holding their breath. 

It is crazy on stilts.

Taking the Maduros, Step by Step

The Daily Mail (UK) has a somewhat detailed description of the process by which Maduro was located, captured, extracted, and transported to Gitmo, plus a few photos. If you liked Tom Clancy novels you’ll like this column but will wish it had even more detail. This time the kudos go to the Army’s Delta force, not the Navy Seals. 

The briefer was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, while SecWar Hegseth looked on approvingly. DoW covered itself in glory with this op. Maybe it will buy Hegseth some credibility with the legacy media who’ve heretofore been very negative about his leadership. 

Saturday Snark

Who knew the author of Dune was a prophet?

Images courtesy of Power Line's The Week in Pictures

and its Comments section.

Maduro in Custody

Multiple sources are reporting US forces have captured Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro who, with his wife, has been flown out of the country and is being held somewhere. There will be a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in less than an hour. 

I hope this isn’t someone’s idea of a masterful troll. It is on the White House website and several other places. 

Our get-it-done President can check off another accomplishment. There are autocratic governments in Cuba and Nicaragua that should be examining their exit strategies about now. 

I hope the good people of Venezuela can pull their country back together and, with the help of their huge oil reserves, once again become one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America. We need to send the thousands of Venezuelan refugees back home to help with this process.

Miserable in Minnesota

I haven’t much commented here about the welfare, childcare, autism, and other fraud which is currently in the news. Long time readers know I follow the Power Line website which these days originates almost entirely from Minnesota. 

The guys at PL have spent the last 2-3 years carping on this story of immigrant Somali fraud ripping off the federal government to the tune of perhaps billions of dollars. Much of the time they were talking to their considerable audience with next to no one else in media picking up the story. 

More than 50 were convicted of fraud - all but one Somali - and still no one wanted to notice. The aversion likely because Somalis are not-white Muslims and picking on them could be called racism laced with Islamophobia.

Comes along a young free-lance journalist with gumption and a cell phone camera, and the story finally breaks out. He documents Somali run day-care centers with no kids present during workdays and federal grants worth a million or more. Red-handed doesn’t begin to cover it.

Anyway, I’m happy something will finally be done about the abuse of our tax payments. But I’m sad it took years during which serious money was stolen and much of that sent of Somalia to fund Islamic terrorism. Meanwhile the legacy media looked away, ignored it.

I blame Obama’s (and Biden’s) woke and DEI policies for the resistance to recognizing wide-spread organized crime with a non-white immigrant face. The fact George Floyd died in Minneapolis was a coincidental but contributing factor too, I suspect.

Welcoming 2026

In case you haven’t noticed, the last couple of weeks of the year tend to be light on news, while somewhat heavy on thumb-sucking retrospectives summarizing the year that is ending. A few of the braver souls make predictions for the coming year.

As a consequence. posts here at COTTonLINE likewise have been somewhat light on the ground. Beginning next Monday, 2026 will begin in earnest and coverage of political and foreign news should pick up briskly. 

All eyes will be looking forward the fall’s midterm elections. Will Democrats wrest control of the House, the Senate, or both from Republicans who now narrowly control both? 

Old hands in DC predict the GOP will lose the House majority, hold on in the Senate. If accurate, the result will be two years of legislative stalemate. Alas that’s not so different from the last two years. 

However, in the Trump era the old hands have often been wrong. He is sui generis and that means past is less often prologue when he is “in the mix.” 

Much is still to unfold between now and November. Whatever 2026 brings, let us face it together with curiosity and brave hearts.

An El Greco Face

Former special counsel Jack Smith tried and failed to convict Donald Trump for instigating the Jan. 6 demonstration at the Capitol. He is currently in the news over his recent testimony to Congress concerning his former activities in office.

He is bearded and has a long face. Somewhere along the line I started seeing him as having an “El Greco face.” Look up Smith and get a good full face picture, then search “el greco faces” and see if I’m not correct. Smith could have been the model for quite a few of El Greco’s men, they (and he) look vaguely haunted - maybe afflicted with PTSD.

Once I saw it I couldn’t unsee it.

Traditional Black Eyed Peas

Fox News engages in what I believe is unwarranted “piling on” with regard to Cracker Barrel restaurants. See this column on the failure to offer black eyed peas on New Years. I write as a frequent, happy customer of the restaurants.

First, I understand black eyed peas at New Years is truly a southern tradition, one the DrsC have on occasion observed at home. And I do enjoy the bean-like “peas” which the other DrC cooks superbly, though in unskilled hands they can taste like cardboard and were, for me, an acquired taste.

If offered, the “peas” would be a “side” at CB, and are not listed on their year-round menus. Thus they’d have to be a “seasonal special” the availability of which would be touted off-menu in some fashion - not impossible but also not easy and perhaps not worth the effort in terms of amount sold.

Traditional Southern dishes like biscuits with gravy, fried okra, cooked-till-limp green beans, and cornbread continue to be offered at CB all year long. Making black eyed peas available for a couple of weeks around the New Year may not be worth the effort. 

I’ll forgive Cracker Barrel for no black eyed peas. My local ‘store’ does a great job of filling me with my grandma’s down home cooking at an attractive price point.

Trump's Sheer Audacity

Writing an epitaph for 2025, the sage of Aspen, Glenn Beaton, compares our President to Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte, and concludes as follows.

Enter Donald Trump. He is not a good man and never will be, but he may prove to be a great man. As in the case of other historical figures, consider his timing, circumstances and luck – and sheer audacity.

I concur. Audacity was a trait much valued by Gen. George Patton.

2025 Ends

The year of our Lord 2025 ends at midnight. This year the world has continued to find things over which to fight, with battles raging in Southeast Asia, the subcontinent, multiple places in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the streets of Port au Prince., and on most weekends the streets of Chicago.

President Trump II has exhibited tough love toward Europe. He admonished them to grow up and take responsibility for their neighborhood. They've been whining ever since that we no longer love them.

Biden assured us the leaky southern border could only be secured with amnesty to all illegals. We learned he was lying and stupid. Trump had it fixed in a matter of weeks! Doing so was merely a matter of enforcing existing laws. More than a half million illegals have been deported and another two million have self-deported.

Woke and DEI are mostly on the skids, and under attack in the remaining locations. Tariffs have demonstrated Uncle Sam is no longer willing to be the world's economic patsy. Contrary to frantic predictions, the world hasn't ended in depression.

Folks continue to feel pinched by too-high housing costs, not realizing the 20 million or more illegals still here are competing with them for living space. If we could get even half of those gone, home and rental prices would drop as demand and supply would equalize. 

Inflation is under control unemployment isn't particularly high, and gas prices are down a lot. The stock market is near record highs. 

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From where the DrsC sit, things aren't bad. We've each had health issues in the past year, miserable to be sure but none were life-threatening.

There is a metaphorical 'bullet' awaiting each of us eventually, and for us seniors in the not-distant future. Nevertheless, in 2025 the two of us dodged ours and we hope to keep doing so for the next few years. Life continues to be interesting, if somewhat less predictable.

I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year. And a few wonderful surprises to spark joy.

Clooney Out?

As several sources have reported, actor George Clooney and his celebrity wife Amal Alamuddin have been granted French citizenship. They own a farm in the south of France which they consider their residence-of-record.

As you may recollect, Clooney was very active in Democrat politics leading up the the last presidential election. I would expect him to abstain in future US elections as he no longer lives here and should devote his political attentions to French politics, as an immigrant to that society and an emigre from ours. Presumably he no longer has skin in our game, as other than an interested spectator.