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There is no precedent in modern times for this.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
Trump can\u2019t just shut off all federal funding to states he doesn\u2019t like. But no one doubts he would if he could \u2014 or doubts he\u2019s trying to. This is more than bloviation. Something important and dangerous is happening. The Trump administration is engaged in a comprehensive war, and its enemy is half of America. This war is being waged in rhetoric and regulation, budget cuts and violence. Its aim is to tear the country in two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is no precedent in modern times for this; one might make an analogy to Reconstruction in the wake of the Civil War, in which the federal government forced the South to accept democracy. But that was for the best of reasons, and Trump\u2019s attempt to bend blue states to his will is for the worst.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re seeing the ugliest face of Trump\u2019s plan in Minnesota. Minneapolis is under siege<\/a> from roving gangs of masked federal thugs. Trump promised<\/a> a \u201cDAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION\u201d against the city and the state of Minnesota, and he is already delivering. Even before an ICE officer shot dead Renee Good, ill-trained and overly aggressive agents rampaged through the community, brutalizing people<\/a>, lobbing tear gas<\/a> into crowds and spreading an atmosphere of fear<\/a> that has everyone in the city on edge. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote on social media this week, \u201cMinnesota voted against him three times<\/a> and now he\u2019s punishing us,\u201d and it\u2019s hard to argue, especially since Trump is openly talking about \u201cretribution.\u201d<\/p>\n
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