Fallout (season 2)

At the end of last season, Lucy's father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), was shown to be the true monster.  While Maximus (Aaron Moten) returned to the Brotherhood of Steel with cold fusion, Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) followed Hank to New Vegas.

In flashback, Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) found himself at odds with his wife (Frances Turner) and roped into an assassination plot against noted industrialist, Robert Edwin House (Justin Theroux).  House was the CEO of a robotics company but was also developing a mind-control device for use on people. Cooper's past was further revealed with another flashback to his time in Alaska during the war.  Here he first saw a Deathclaw.

Back with the Brotherhood, Maximus gains considerable status on account of his recent success.  However, he has also grown on conscience on account of his recent travels with Lucy.  Can he accept that the power of cold fusion will launch his faction of the Brotherhood into a civil war with the rest?

In her trek to New Vegas, Lucy encountered various groups that seek to establish a new civilization.  First, there is Caesar's Legion, a band of people who have adopted the Roman Empire.  Among them is Lacerta Legate (Macaulay Culkin), a high ranking officer who controls Lucy's fate.  Then there are the soldiers of the New California Republic, a would-be government for the wasteland.

While Lucy hunts for her father, Norm finds his way to the surface with freshly awoken Vault 31 middle managers.  Can he fool them into believing he is in charge while also delegating to them solving his problems?  So far, so good.

Lastly, there are those who are still in the vault, trying to rebuild.  Not everyone is who they seem to be, especially Stephanie (Annabel O'Hagan).  Though promoted to overseer of the re-established Vault 32, she proves to be... gasp...  Canadian!  There is a lot of backstory for the cyclops lady.

The second season is outstanding, every bit as good as season 1.  Not only is more of the pre-apocalypse explored, there are many developments in the present.  Hugely entertaining and highly recommended! 

Filibuster

Traditionally, the filibuster was used to prevent legislation from proceeding to a vote in the Senate.  Strom Thurmond famously spoke for more than 24 hours in an effort to prevent passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.  The point is that the Senate allows debate to continue until everyone has had their say, even if it happens to be reading the phone directory into the Senate record.  In order to end debate, the Senate must assemble 60 votes.  What we have today is autopilot filibusters.  No one debates the bill.  No one puts in the time to speak ad nauseum to prevent a vote.  Nope, the minority party just says filibuster and voila, no vote without 60 votes.

The filibuster is a rule the Senate adopted that has no basis in the Constitution.  It could be eliminated, if the majority party so chose.  It has seen a lot of modification over the years, being nixed for judicial nominations, including Supreme Court nominees.  If no one is willing to carry on the debate, then it should just be a matter of calling for the vote.  The filibustering party should be required to talk the issue to death, which takes really commitment.

Debate or vote.

Asking Gangs to Fight ICE

Rogelio Martinez, a candidate for Mayor of Long Beach, has posted a message where he called for the gangs of Long Beach to eject ICE from the city.  My first question is whether or not this is real?  If so, this man is off his rocker.  Who would post a call for criminals to oppose federal law enforcement?  "Hello, FBI?  Could you come arrest me, posthaste?"  People who aren't all there have been convinced that anything is acceptable to fight the 'fascist Nazis' at ICE.

If you call someone a fascist or a Nazi, there is a minority - maybe a very small minority - of people who will believe it, embrace it, and act on it.  They will get their hands on a gun or a knife and attack the Nazi.  There was the crazy who shot Charlie Kirk, the crackpot who shot Trump, the other crackpot who tried to shoot Trump, and the loon who tried to gun down Republicans at a baseball field.  Though the left claims that the right-wing is likely to commit violence, it is more approving of the use of violence.  24% of far-leftist are okay with assassinations.  Only 4% of conservatives are on board with killing the competition, which is still too high.

It would appear that would-be Mayor Martinez is one of the crackpots who think it is okay to recruit criminals to fight law enforcement.  It has been so long since the US really tried to enforce some of its laws that it now feels like persecution.  It's not.

Black Bag (2025)

George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) went to a club to meet Philip Meacham.  Meacham explained that the agency had a traitor.  He provided a list with 5 names.  One of the names on the list was Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), who happened to be George's wife.  In order to ferret out the rat, George invited all of them to dinner at his home.  George is a gourmet; he also drugged the food.  Once everyone was sufficiently lubricated, the game began.  Make a resolution for the person on your right.  It turned out that everyone was sleeping with everyone else, but nothing to mark out a traitor.  However, after dinner, George spotted something amiss that implicated his wife.

In the week that followed, George investigated the suspects, including his wife.  His investigations led to further incriminating evidence against his wife!  Even if she was guilty, he would protect her.  He needed to thwart a clandestine plan while keeping his wife safe.  The crisscross of lies led everyone to suspect one another.

The climax was something of a letdown.  It is a replay of the original dinner party with life on the line.  That the villain grabbed the gun provided by the host as though it was actually useful was beyond foolish.  Of course, it's a dummy gun.  How in the world could anyone - especially someone who works in intelligence - believe a loaded gun would just be offered?

Fassbender plays George as a flat, emotionless man.  He makes Roger Moore's raised eyebrow look like Shatnerian overacting by comparison.  He is a cold calculating machine with a keen eye for deception.  Cate Blanchett is similarly limited in emotional range.  It definitely gives the impression that these spies are focused and unflappable.  By contrast, the satellite operator, Clarissa, has wide emotional swings and the psychologist, Zoe, felt very normal as a person.  Pierce Brosnan plays Arthur Stieglitz, the chief of the agency.  It is not a good role, as he gets outmaneuvered by his subordinates and seemed to be oblivious to what was happening.

The movie feels like an old British spy thriller in the vein of The Ipcress File or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.  There is a lot of dialogue and no action.  This is more of a whodunit than a spy movie.  That the villain proved to be sloppy and incompetent was disappointing.

Just okay.

An Inside Job

Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan is an admin of the Signal Chat that has organized the resistance against ICE in Minnesota.  Yes, the government of Minnesota is actively interfering with federal officers who are just trying to remove illegal aliens.  When the governor of Arkansas tried to keep blacks out of schools in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education, President Eisenhower called out the National Guard.  States don't get to decide which federal laws they will obey.  This sure looks a lot like an insurrection, and Democrats have stated how wrong those are for the past 5 years.

Insurrection: A violent uprising by a group against lawful authority or government power.  It typically unfolds through organized, illegal actions, such as riots or armed resistance, that obstruct the enforcement of laws.

Clearly, they are obstructing the enforcement of laws.  Alex Pretti was armed, which means that Minneapolis has seen more gun-carrying protestors than J6 had.  One ICE agent had his finger bitten off, another was beaten with a shovel, and one was hit by a car.  Organized action by members of the state government to thwart the federal government.  Yeah, we're right on the precipice of insurrection.  Is this to protect hard-working, law-abiding undocumented immigrants from being sent back to their home countries?  Or is it to distract from fraud growing out of migrant communities?  How many illegals voted in Minnesota?  How much of the money acquired from fraudulent daycares and medical clinics was kicked back to politicians, like the suddenly wealthy Ilhan Omar?  How far will insiders take this to prevent that information from being revealed?

Engineered Chaos

The state that has seen the most activity from ICE is Texas.  23% of all arrests have taken place there.  By contrast, Minnesota accounts for 2.2% of arrests.  Why have things gone comparatively much smoother in Texas than in Minnesota?  Texas has cooperated with ICE where Minnesota has cried, "Get the F___ out!"  Governor Walz, Mayor Frey, Attorney General Ellison, and Senator Klobuchar have all denounced ICE as the problem.  The intransigence of the state has caused the problem, and the Democrats are using the resulting chaos as a weapon against immigration enforcement.

Then again, there is potentially a darker explanation.  No sooner had the multi-billion-dollar Somali fraud schemes been revealed than the big story switched to ICE.  Suddenly, the massive fraud carried out under the noses of the Minnesota government fades into the background, overwhelmed by 'fascist ICE agents' sent by President Trump.  Look at that timely use of an Uno Reverse Card.  Rather than being on defense against financial fraud, Governor Walz is now on the offense against ICE raids.

The chaos is not by chance and is not merely concerned citizens marching in the streets.  Opposition to ICE in Minneapolis is a highly organized and well-funded operation.  Cam Higby successfully infiltrated a Signal chat that kept track of ICE vehicles and sent activists to the site of arrests to engage.  The anti-ICE forces have patrols throughout the city, tail vehicles, access to license plate data so they can ID vehicles belonging to ICE, and so on.  Cynical Publius observed that the anti-ICE forces are using the tactics of a paramilitary operation.  Again, these are trained operatives, not random citizens taking a day off work to aid those in need.  This is a fifth column.

The New Nullification Crisis

ICE agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis.  The man was armed and resisting arrest.  This article reports that his parents urged him not to engage with ICE.  Though I am in favor of the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms, it does not seem wise to be armed when you know you are going to be in contact with armed police.  Don't bring a gun to a peaceful protest.  Definitely don't escalate things when you are armed.

Combined with Renee Good's death, the situation in Minnesota is spiraling out of control.  Governor Walz and Mayor Frey are making matters worse with their vocal opposition to ICE.  This is a resurrection of the Nullification Crisis of 1832.  President Andrew Jackson threatened to march an army into South Carolina and his Vice President, John C. Calhoun, resigned over the issue.  Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Cynical Publius, an insightful commentator on X, argues that the problem is that no one is asking the right question.  Currently, the Democrats are framing the issue by hyping the protests and claiming that the administration is fascist.  The Republicans are, as usual, on defense.  The simple solution is to turn it around would be to ask this question:

Why do you oppose the lawful enforcement of America's long-standing bipartisan immigration laws?

That is what is happening.  Duly passed laws are being enforced.  There is no good answer to this question, so every politician will dodge it, change the subject, or claim it isn't the law.  That reaction is an answer in itself.