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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026

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would it be good if all law-enforcement officers always wore masks?

I think it would be a sad thing because it would indicate that society had broken down to such an extent that a simple traffic cop feared retaliation. But I wouldn't begrudge the officer the use of the mask.

he single failed attack on the Dallas facility notwithstanding, that's not what ICE officers face at the time I'm writing this, as far as I can tell.

There was also the attack on the Alvarado, Texas facility. And those are the attacks from US citizens on ICE within the past year.

I believe ICE has more reason to fear from Cartels, gangs, and other drug and human trafficking organizations. That they have so far mostly avoided dying by the droves shows that their tactics work. We know how vicious cartels can be. They're not letting ICE alone out of the kindness of their hearts when a few cartel members get deported.

an authority outside Trump's chain of command

See, the problem I have with this is making an executive who isn't in the executive branch. I have problems with creating positions that are not accountable to the American people in some way.

I don't see it as Red Tribe submitting to experts. It's more just... I'm related to five police officers, two of whom became captains, one of whom went on to a security gig after getting shot. I know there are bad ones, and even the good ones can do bad things. But I also see first hand how miserable the media treats police officers who are doing their best to treat people right and keep the vulnerable safe. I always give police the benefit of the doubt. You might see this as a flaw, but it's my own lived experience.

I believe ICE has more reason to fear from Cartels, gangs, and other drug and human trafficking organizations.

The largest human trafficking organization in the world has already threatened to prosecute each and every ICE agent for the crime of enforcing the law against human trafficking.