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Gail Shafton

@gailshafton48

Non-fiction reader. Amateur genealogist. Knitter. Vote ๐Ÿ’™ ๐Ÿˆโ€โฌ› &๐Ÿฆ‰ lover. Feminist. WI-born stuck in KS making JoCo Blue. LGBTQIA+ ally. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ โœก๏ธ Tikkun Olam matters. Life-long democrat. Boomer on the right side of history. ๐ŸšซMAGAโ€ผ๏ธ ๐Ÿšซ DMs

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12.11.2024
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Latest posts by Gail Shafton @gailshafton48

Kristi Noem has done a stunning amount of damage and itโ€™s good sheโ€™s gone.

But this doesnโ€™t change the fact that we need a complete overhaul of DHS, impartial investigations into the killings of two American citizens, and information on children that were taken from Minnesota.

05.03.2026 19:38 ๐Ÿ‘ 40345 ๐Ÿ” 9112 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1493 ๐Ÿ“Œ 307

I donโ€™t think nearly enough people understand this. While weโ€™re waiting for some people to stop electing people who donโ€™t really care about this world since theyโ€™re just waiting for the next one, we need to make sure theyโ€™re outnumbered at all levels of government.

28.02.2026 14:59 ๐Ÿ‘ 125 ๐Ÿ” 50 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I am in the metro area and my Temple is exploring an immigration initiative too. It is wonderful to see Beth Torah doing this series.

23.02.2026 02:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Join us for our monthly sermon series Welcoming the Stranger - Immigration Justice: Jewish Values in Action
Feb 27
Speaker: Mark Levin, Founding Rabbi and Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Torah Topic: Immigration and Jewish Values. Rabbi Levin will explore why immigration is not a peripheral political issue, but a core Jewish moral concern rooted in our collective story of displacement, vulnerability, and responsibility.
March 13 (HIAS Refugee Shabbat)
Speaker: Hilary Cohen Singer, Executive Director, Jewish Vocational Service
Topic: HIAS's Annual Global Refugee Shabbat. Learn from one of the primary refugee settlement organizations in Kansas City about refugee resettlement today, current challenges, what welcome looks like beyond arrival, bearing witness to immigration courts and enforcement practices, and how congregations can respond with presence, learning, and action.
April 10
Speaker: Kevin Hill, Attorney, Brown County, Volunteer Attorney for Asylum Seekers Topic: You Were Strangers in the Land of Egypt. Passover calls us to experience liberation as if we ourselves were freed. This session will explore the asylum process and legal barriers to freedom including prolonged detention and delayed due process.
May 8
Speaker: Micah Kubic, Executive Director, ACLU of Kansas
Topic: Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof /Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue. As Shavuot approaches, we're reminded of our obligation to uphold Jewish commandments. This session will examine civil liberties and immigration enforcement, due process and constitutional protections and the status of legal norms.
June 12
Speaker: Suzanne Gladney, Missouri Migrant Farm Worker Assistant Fund
Topic: Rooted in the Land, Sustained by Workers: Kavod Ha'Avodah (Dignity of Labor).
July 17
Speaker: Pastor Rick Behrens, Grandview Park Presbyterian
Topic: El Vecendario y La Hospitalidad / The Neighborhood and Hospitality.

All at Congregation Beth Torah

Join us for our monthly sermon series Welcoming the Stranger - Immigration Justice: Jewish Values in Action Feb 27 Speaker: Mark Levin, Founding Rabbi and Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Torah Topic: Immigration and Jewish Values. Rabbi Levin will explore why immigration is not a peripheral political issue, but a core Jewish moral concern rooted in our collective story of displacement, vulnerability, and responsibility. March 13 (HIAS Refugee Shabbat) Speaker: Hilary Cohen Singer, Executive Director, Jewish Vocational Service Topic: HIAS's Annual Global Refugee Shabbat. Learn from one of the primary refugee settlement organizations in Kansas City about refugee resettlement today, current challenges, what welcome looks like beyond arrival, bearing witness to immigration courts and enforcement practices, and how congregations can respond with presence, learning, and action. April 10 Speaker: Kevin Hill, Attorney, Brown County, Volunteer Attorney for Asylum Seekers Topic: You Were Strangers in the Land of Egypt. Passover calls us to experience liberation as if we ourselves were freed. This session will explore the asylum process and legal barriers to freedom including prolonged detention and delayed due process. May 8 Speaker: Micah Kubic, Executive Director, ACLU of Kansas Topic: Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof /Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue. As Shavuot approaches, we're reminded of our obligation to uphold Jewish commandments. This session will examine civil liberties and immigration enforcement, due process and constitutional protections and the status of legal norms. June 12 Speaker: Suzanne Gladney, Missouri Migrant Farm Worker Assistant Fund Topic: Rooted in the Land, Sustained by Workers: Kavod Ha'Avodah (Dignity of Labor). July 17 Speaker: Pastor Rick Behrens, Grandview Park Presbyterian Topic: El Vecendario y La Hospitalidad / The Neighborhood and Hospitality. All at Congregation Beth Torah

If youโ€™re in the KC metro, this education/activism series looks great. Starts 2/27, 6:30 p.m. (Beth Torahโ€™s Friday night services are short & mostly in English, itโ€™s fine)

23.02.2026 02:34 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
CoreCivic Claims It Operates 'Humane' Facilities The facts suggest otherwise

Another outstanding article from Dan Margolies. CoreCivic must be stopped. Inhumane and greedy crooks do not belong in Kansas. Letโ€™s hope the Leavenworth city council does the right thing and denies their license.

22.02.2026 22:11 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you to Greenland for providing emergency medical care to a US sailor on board the submarine, since we did not have adequate resources in the area to treat him. Iโ€™m sorry that our president felt the need to cover up our shortcomings with a deranged ghost hospital ship post.

22.02.2026 15:24 ๐Ÿ‘ 27820 ๐Ÿ” 7149 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 558 ๐Ÿ“Œ 217
Preview
Tell Your Members of Congress to rein in ICE NOW On January 24, federal forces with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. This was just over two weeks after the killing of Renee Good. These killings are a direc...

Itโ€™s extra important for Congress to hear from us right now. With a DHS funding deadline looming next week, we must demand that Democrats hold the line and refuse to fund DHS without ironclad limits on ICE and CBP, actual accountability for abuses, & clear guardrails to stop raids and intimidation.

06.02.2026 13:25 ๐Ÿ‘ 353 ๐Ÿ” 170 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 12 ๐Ÿ“Œ 10

The same is happening in Kansas and Missouri.

06.02.2026 13:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

๐Ÿคฌ

06.02.2026 13:36 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Harrowing indeed. Fascist more like. My district could qualify since itโ€™s been gerrymandered.

06.02.2026 13:34 ๐Ÿ‘ 68 ๐Ÿ” 16 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This is why winning the midterms itself isn't a strategy. Trump plans to ignore the results. Acknowledging this doesn't make you a doomer, but it does mean you have to plan for worst case scenarios. We gotta be ready, especially since they're telling us the plan outright.

02.02.2026 18:44 ๐Ÿ‘ 1012 ๐Ÿ” 320 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 55 ๐Ÿ“Œ 10
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29.01.2026 14:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 29569 ๐Ÿ” 9314 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2160 ๐Ÿ“Œ 673

Arresting journalists. Good God.

30.01.2026 15:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 1257 ๐Ÿ” 456 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 44 ๐Ÿ“Œ 22

We did not properly punish the confederates. We did not properly punish the insurrectionists on January 6th. We have to punish ICE.

They canโ€™t be allowed to slink back into their communities quietly. Expose them. Arrest them. Convict them. Imprison them.

29.01.2026 20:28 ๐Ÿ‘ 21056 ๐Ÿ” 5470 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 729 ๐Ÿ“Œ 327
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Don was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles.

30.01.2026 12:58 ๐Ÿ‘ 17377 ๐Ÿ” 7704 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1241 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1447
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Ossoff: "This is a seismic event. This should have people across the country absolutely shook. This is a huge deal. This is an FBI raid on the Fulton County Elections office ... This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections. He tried to steal power when he lost it in 2020."

29.01.2026 02:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 30750 ๐Ÿ” 13457 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 873 ๐Ÿ“Œ 717
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81 years later, the Jewish population still hasn't returned to pre-Holocaust levels.

Let that sink in.

We mourn not only the lives lost, but the family trees severed for good.

28.01.2026 00:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 79 ๐Ÿ” 31 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

This isn't about "training issues." The murderer who executed Renee Good has been with ICE for 10 years, and according to DHS, the murderer who executed Alex Pretti has been there for 8 years.

These aren't "new recruits," or officers that can be "retrained." ICE can't be reformed. Abolish ICE.

26.01.2026 23:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 26684 ๐Ÿ” 8851 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1063 ๐Ÿ“Œ 452

While glad to see Bovino humbled, I really donโ€™t have any higher opinion of Homanโ€”a cruel, cold, corrupt, calculating bureaucrat whoโ€™s devoted more of his career to mass deportation than almost anyone. Heโ€™s the architect of child separation.

27.01.2026 02:07 ๐Ÿ‘ 12213 ๐Ÿ” 2257 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 522 ๐Ÿ“Œ 113

Bovinoโ€™s removal isnโ€™t reform.
Itโ€™s containment.

Systems donโ€™t admit mistakes.
They remove exposure.

27.01.2026 00:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 33 ๐Ÿ” 11 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This is my great fear. We will go back to feeling โ€œnormalโ€ when we are not.

27.01.2026 00:58 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Minnesota National Guard members have arrived at a federal building and were directed to distribute donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate to anti-ICE protesters. Guard members were issued reflective vests so they would not be mistaken for federal agents.

25.01.2026 20:55 ๐Ÿ‘ 56319 ๐Ÿ” 13906 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1603 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1308
MY STATEMENT ON THE HORRIBLE SCENES
PLAYING OUT IN MINNEAPOLIS
AND ACROSS AMERICA
JANUARY 25, 2026
In recent weeks, we've watched horrible scenes play out in Minneapolis and other communities that I never thought would take place in America. People, including children, have been seized from their homes, workplaces, and the street by masked federal agents. Peaceful protesters and citizens exercising their constitutional right to observe and document law enforcement have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most searingly, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed.
All of this is unacceptable and should have been avoided. To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we've seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities.
Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back.
It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the People.

MY STATEMENT ON THE HORRIBLE SCENES PLAYING OUT IN MINNEAPOLIS AND ACROSS AMERICA JANUARY 25, 2026 In recent weeks, we've watched horrible scenes play out in Minneapolis and other communities that I never thought would take place in America. People, including children, have been seized from their homes, workplaces, and the street by masked federal agents. Peaceful protesters and citizens exercising their constitutional right to observe and document law enforcement have been arrested, beaten, teargassed, and most searingly, in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, shot and killed. All of this is unacceptable and should have been avoided. To make matters even worse, at every turn, the people in charge have lied to us, told us not to believe what we've seen with our own eyes, and pushed increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities. Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back. It is up to all of us who believe in the promise of American democracy to stand up, speak out, and show that our nation still belongs to We the People.

Statement by President Clinton

26.01.2026 00:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 2778 ๐Ÿ” 986 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 101 ๐Ÿ“Œ 100

๐Ÿ“ŒWe must never forget how quickly all these pathetic universities, corporations, and media outlets surrendered to this murdering fascist regime greasing the skids for all this.

25.01.2026 03:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 582 ๐Ÿ” 172 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 17 ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
jaderemedy โ€ข 4h ago
And now comes the most nauseating part of this whole goddamn mess: the hypocrisy. The same loud-mouthed idiots who spent years screaming about tyranny are suddenly dead fucking silent, or worse, cheering, now that it's their side doing it. "ThEy'Re cOminG fOr OuR gUnS!" "GoVerNMenT oVerReAch!" "ShAll nOt bE inFrinGeD!" All that chest-thumping bullshit evaporated the second armed federal agents started terrorizing people they don't like.
Let me get this straight: a civilian gets shot dead by federal agents, and the only thing you brainless cunts can muster is
"well, DHS says he had a gun"? THAT'S your red line? Guns are sacred when they're strapped to your waist, but magically become a death sentence when they're used as a post-hoc excuse by the government? Either the Second Amendment applies to everyone, or you never believed in it at all. Fucking pick one and own it.
This is exactly what tyranny looks like, by the way. Not jackboots marching in formation, but armed agents roaming neighborhoods, stopping people, killing civilians, and then daring the public to question it. Tyranny is execution followed by a press release. Tyranny is labeling the dead a "threat" so the state doesn't have to explain why someone's life just ended in the street. Tyranny is demanding obedience while shredding due process and calling it order.
And all you so-called "freedom lovers" are fucking fine with it, as long as it's brown people, immigrants, protesters, or anyone you've already dehumanized. Turns out "don't tread on me" actually meant "tread on them." You weren't afraid of tyranny.
You were afraid of losing dominance. There's a difference, and this moment exposes it completely.
"Just comply" isn't a principle. It's cowardice dressed up as common sense. It's the language of people who have already accepted that the state gets to decide who deserves rights and who doesn't. And once you make that deal, don't act shocked when the line moves, because it always fuckinโ€ฆ

jaderemedy โ€ข 4h ago And now comes the most nauseating part of this whole goddamn mess: the hypocrisy. The same loud-mouthed idiots who spent years screaming about tyranny are suddenly dead fucking silent, or worse, cheering, now that it's their side doing it. "ThEy'Re cOminG fOr OuR gUnS!" "GoVerNMenT oVerReAch!" "ShAll nOt bE inFrinGeD!" All that chest-thumping bullshit evaporated the second armed federal agents started terrorizing people they don't like. Let me get this straight: a civilian gets shot dead by federal agents, and the only thing you brainless cunts can muster is "well, DHS says he had a gun"? THAT'S your red line? Guns are sacred when they're strapped to your waist, but magically become a death sentence when they're used as a post-hoc excuse by the government? Either the Second Amendment applies to everyone, or you never believed in it at all. Fucking pick one and own it. This is exactly what tyranny looks like, by the way. Not jackboots marching in formation, but armed agents roaming neighborhoods, stopping people, killing civilians, and then daring the public to question it. Tyranny is execution followed by a press release. Tyranny is labeling the dead a "threat" so the state doesn't have to explain why someone's life just ended in the street. Tyranny is demanding obedience while shredding due process and calling it order. And all you so-called "freedom lovers" are fucking fine with it, as long as it's brown people, immigrants, protesters, or anyone you've already dehumanized. Turns out "don't tread on me" actually meant "tread on them." You weren't afraid of tyranny. You were afraid of losing dominance. There's a difference, and this moment exposes it completely. "Just comply" isn't a principle. It's cowardice dressed up as common sense. It's the language of people who have already accepted that the state gets to decide who deserves rights and who doesn't. And once you make that deal, don't act shocked when the line moves, because it always fuckinโ€ฆ

Absolute banger of a comment on r/military:

www.reddit.com/r/Military/c...

25.01.2026 01:33 ๐Ÿ‘ 9633 ๐Ÿ” 3340 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 92 ๐Ÿ“Œ 241

Journalists arenโ€™t supposed to report โ€œboth sides.โ€
They are supposed to report the truth.

DHS is not telling the truth. Stop reporting their lies.

24.01.2026 23:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 3132 ๐Ÿ” 915 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 78 ๐Ÿ“Œ 41
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Van Hollen: "They really think the American people are stupid. I mean, we can all see the video. We saw the video with Renee Good. We saw the video with Alex Pretti. The real domestic terrorists are in the White House right now."

25.01.2026 00:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 42949 ๐Ÿ” 13834 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1346 ๐Ÿ“Œ 633

Also, may I say that I donโ€™t agree with people saying ICE and CBP need โ€œmore training.โ€ Theyโ€™re doing exactly what this administration has trained them toโ€”impose a reign of fear in blue cities. They donโ€™t need more training. They need to be ripped up root and branch.

24.01.2026 23:01 ๐Ÿ‘ 38724 ๐Ÿ” 9574 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1114 ๐Ÿ“Œ 893
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www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

24.01.2026 00:14 ๐Ÿ‘ 8816 ๐Ÿ” 2703 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 339 ๐Ÿ“Œ 168
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in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today

24.01.2026 00:38 ๐Ÿ‘ 50067 ๐Ÿ” 14415 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 968 ๐Ÿ“Œ 852