During the agentsā violent attack on a delivery worker Saturday morning in DC, bystanders repeatedly demanded the agents share their badge numbers. One of themāhis face fully obscured by a black balaklavaāeventually shot back, āDo I have to answer to you?ā
āYou guys are ruining this country. You know that, right?ā one bystander said to the agents at one point during the incident. An agent, ironically clad in a rainbow face mask, replied āLiberals already ruined it.ā
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Last week on stage at the Netroots conference in New Orleans, I spoke with Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-IL) about ICE: specifically that she believes it should be abolished. Itās a stance thatās considered far left, but after witnessing ICE and other federal agents in DC this week, abolishing ICE should be the baseline Democratic position.
āICE is a terrorist organization,ā Ramirez told me. āIt needs to be defunded and needs to be abolished.ā
Thatās true, but in this manās mouth, āliberalsā almost certainly means anyone to the left of Hitler, and he doesnāt deserve the charitable reading youāre giving him. We have to interpret the statement appropriately to who is saying it.
Definitely shouldāve added that to my nuance. He and I are definitely not using the same definition of liberal.