Despite this being the middle of January, it was a glorious summer’s day here in Arcata, sunny with a high of 59. (For whatever reason, that feels like 75 here; on those rare occasions when it does get over 70, it starts to feel too hot.) I find myself thinking about the good people of Minneapolis, where it was a balmy 43 degrees today, but the forecast for Saturday is a high of 8 and a low of –1.

Also they are currently in the midst of being invaded by a foreign power called the United States. ICE is on the streets there shooting people, throwing teargas around, and generally behaving like the low-rent Gestapo it is. So far the Minneapolitans are handling it admirably well — taking to the streets and resisting without slipping over into violence, which of course is what the Alt-Reich (new nickname, what do you think?) wants, an excuse to kick out the jams.

I am also thinking about the people of Iran, who are currently being slaughtered by their government on a whole different scale. Demonstrating once and for all that he is immune to irony, our president has been threatening to bomb their country, which is sure to help. Here is his message to them:

Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.

I would say the same thing to the Minnesotans, and to Portlanders, and to anyone else currently under siege. Stay strong, stay peaceful, and Illegitimi non carborundum.

Thanks also to our Shadow President Jon Stewart, whose stemwinder of an opening segment last night struck just the right tone of combined incredulity and outrage.

At the end, Stewbeef riffed on the weird moment earlier this week where That Fucking Guy wandered off during a meeting with oil executives to gaze out a window at an imaginary ballroom. As Jon looked over at nothing, I briefly imagined he was gazing into a future where this wave of madness has broken and rolled back, and some modicum of human decency has prevailed. At the moment I’m clinging to that. It’s something.