DL Open Thread: Thursday, January 22, 2026

The Entire World Sees That Trump’s Insane–Also Racist:

Donald Trump turned up in Davos wielding an insult bazooka. He mocked Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses, chided Mark Carney (“Canada lives because of the United States”), asserted that the Swiss are “only good because of us” and had a dig at Denmark for losing Greenland “in six hours” during the second world war.

But beyond the fractious rhetoric, the US president brought a deeper message on Wednesday that sought to unify the west rather than divide it. It was his most dark, insidious and sinister project of all.

Trump surmised: Yes, we might have our internal squabbles, but I am bringing tough love because we are all in this together. We are the standard bearers of western civilisation. We must resist the barbarian hordes. We must save the white man.

The ageing president, who in 2024 complained, “We got a lot of bad genes in our country right now,” told the World Economic Forum that he was “derived from Europe”, namely: “100% Scotland, my mother; 100% German, my father. And we believe deeply in the bonds we share with Europe as a civilisation.”

What came next was pure racism as Trump reflected on immigration to his own country, where he has made the Somali community a special target of his deportation rhetoric after recent government fraud cases in Minnesota in which a majority of defendants had Somali roots.

“We’re cracking down on more than $19bn in fraud that was stolen by Somalian bandits,” he said. “Can you believe that Somalia – they turned out to be higher IQ than we thought. I always say these are low-IQ people. How did they go into Minnesota and steal all that money?”

We all saw how Iceland and Greenland are the same country, in what passes for Trump’s mind.  I’ll repeat my prediction–I don’t think he makes it through the year as President.

Speaking of Somalis–ICE Invades Maine:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the start of a major Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Maine Wednesday.

ICE says “Operation Catch of the Day” is targeting “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens who have terrorized communities.”

Officials say the operation started on Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security says it is targeting 1,400 people in Maine, and dozens have been arrested so far.

Westbrook Mayor David Morse confirmed ICE was conducting operations and detaining people in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday. “At least one peaceful US citizen observer from Westbrook was targeted for intimidation by a masked federal law enforcement officer this morning. This is outrageous behavior from a federal authority, and I stand by our citizens’ rights to peacefully observe and/or protest,” Morse said in a statement on Facebook.

Speaking Of Ice, The Head Goons Say They Can Bust Down Doors Without Warrants:

An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement document in May shows that ICE told officers and agents they can forcibly enter homes of people subject to deportation without warrants signed by judges.

The memo, dated May 12, which reads that it is from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, was shared with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., by two whistleblowers.

It says ICE agents are allowed to forcibly enter a person’s home using an administrative warrant if a judge has issued a “final order of removal.” Administrative warrants permit officers and agents to make arrests and are different from judicial warrants, which judges or magistrates sign allowing entry into homes.

“Although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not historically relied on administrative warrants alone to arrest aliens subject to final orders of removal in their place of residence, the DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants for this purpose,” the memo reads.

The group Whistleblower Aid, which is representing the whistleblowers who shared the memo with Congress, said, “This ‘policy’ flies in the face of longstanding federal law enforcement training material and policies, all rooted in constitutional assessments.”

“In other words: the Form I-205 does not authorize ICE agents to enter a home,” the group said in a statement. “Training new recruits, many of whom have zero prior law enforcement training or experience, to seemingly disregard the Fourth Amendment, should be of grave concern to everyone.”

‘More Funding For Higher Needs Students’:

High-needs students in Delaware could see a massive infusion of financial support under a new school funding formula proposed by a state legislative task force.

The state House and Senate Education committees gave an update Wednesday on the Public Education Funding Commission’s overhaul of the current unit-based formula, which dates back to the 1940s.

The task force is developing a hybrid model that preserves the foundation of the original formula, but simplifies distribution and gives districts more flexibility in how the money is used. It would also include more weighted funding for low-income and multilingual learners.

Commission Chairperson state Sen. Laura Sturgeon, D-Brandywine Hundred, said students in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other eastern seaboard states are performing better than Delaware students.

“Those states that spend more per pupil and target more funds towards low income and multilingual learners have better outcomes, have better test scores, have better outcomes in terms of graduation rates, long-term outcomes, employment and higher education,” she said.

Dave Sokola Has Had It With Eric Buckson.  That’s not the lead of this story, but Sokola’s right:

Delaware’s Senate Democrats want to expedite the passage of two bills that would give New Castle County new authority to review the results of its much maligned property reassessment.

They say that the pieces of legislation, introduced late on Tuesday, need to become law soon so that county officials can start an investigation into the true value of certain business properties that many suspect were drastically undervalued in reassessment results released last year.

But Senate Republicans warn that the bills are being needlessly rushed, risking unintended consequences.

The debate played out on Wednesday during a Senate Executive Committee hearing that turned tense at times with Republicans repeatedly questioning why the process shouldn’t be slowed to give their side a chance to offer amendments on the bills.

“What I’d like is a better understanding as to why? Why?” asked State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-Dover South) during the meeting that highlighted the geographical divide in the legislature as much as its partisan divide.  

In response, Senate President Pro Tem David Sokola – a Newark Democrat – said his party has often agreed to expedite Republican-requested legislative changes to the charters of downstate cities and towns.

When Buckson began to speak in response, Sokola interjected stating, “Do you have to respond to everything?”

That’s the ‘snippiest’ remark I’ve ever heard Sokola utter.  But Buckson is an annoying ‘mansplainer’ who just pontificates endlessly on the floor.  I suspect that legislators on both sides of the aisle got a chuckle out of this.  If you want to hear Buckson in all his oratorical glory, both of these bills are on today’s Senate Agenda.  Bet you can’t last more than ten minutes.

What do you want to talk about?