Inland Empire Progressive

Welcome to the new era of academic cringe: where the paragons of independent thought once sat in Ivy Towers are now lining up to bend the knee before the Trump Administration, offering their autonomy as tribute. Meanwhile, MIT just gave the kind of middle finger that should stiffen the spine of those in tweed jackets. The Trump administration rolled out its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” effectively preferential funding in exchange for policy demands. Universities were invited to sign on to a curriculum of ideological compliance: caps on international students, rigid definitions of gender, and elimination of “belittling” conservative views (fucking conservative snowflakes).  What happens when you turn your most esteemed intellectual institutions into subordinate appendages of the Trump Administration?  Research becomes aligned with political fashion, not curiosity. Faculty dare not criticize or deviate. Student expression is squeezed into the narrow cor...

As the Epstein scandal grows Trump is increasingly acting like wild-eyed strongman. Father Michael Pfleger recently blamed the White House of violence coming from within the White House and not merely in rhetoric, but via real policy that blocks food access, medical care and basic social supports.  When the Trump administration weaponizes the tools of government and mobilizes violence against his own people, democracy teeters on the brink of authoritarianism. The pattern is clear federal troops deployed in U.S. cities, executive orders that ignore or override courts, selective punishments for political opponents and the rigorous use of “emergency” powers. The Trump administration has followed the textbook authoritarian playbook by purging institutions, attacking civil society and bypassing constitutional norms .  Father Pfleger’s didn’t just say look at Chicago. He said America is in a state of emergency. Cuts to SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid amount to state-sponsored violence, for...

Rep. Jay Obernolte's performative stunts are failing the Inland Empire. Inlanders, this is not a clean continuing resolution (CR) as Obernolte keeps trying to tell us. This CR is a continuation of the March CR which funded the American Gestapo to conduct immigration raids of Victorville, Adelanto, and Hesperia with the blessing of the activist judges on the Supreme Court.   The very fabric of our region is fraying, thanks to the kind of nihilistic, self-righteous brinksmanship that seems to delight the modern Republican playbook. Meanwhile, Obernolte acts as though the Inland Empire is glad to act as the president's doormat. Grow a spine Congressman! Thousands of federal workers and contractors across the Inland Empire are seeing their income vanish into thin air, furloughed or forced to work with zero guarantee of pay. That means teachers, social workers, forest rangers, park staff, grant administrators all watching their utility bills, mortgages, and grocery needs pile up wh...

FBI Director Kash Patel's actions regarding the January 6th insurrection must be called out. While the public has been told that the release of phone records and metadata was a step toward transparency, what’s really happening looks like a desperate attempt to whitewash the events of January 6th and as a means to enrich those allegedly involved. Behind the curtain of these carefully timed disclosures lies a pattern: Patel’s maneuvering appears to shield Republican lawmakers from any meaningful investigation into coordination or complicity in the insurrection itself. The FBI examined the phone metadata of at least eight Republican senators and one House member for the period of January 4–7, 2021 in the lead-up to the storming of the Capitol . Now here’s where Patel’s role becomes toxic: by releasing selective phone records he is trying to absolve Republican lawmakers. The metadata reveals nothing of call content, leaving gaping holes whether coordination, directives, or conspiratori...