#steve simon

Paul Blumenthal at HuffPost:

After a Border Patrol officer shot and killed Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis on Saturday, Attorney General Pam Bondi presented Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz with a chance to, in her words, “restore the rule of law” and “end the chaos in Minnesota.” The letter Bondi sent to Walz, a Democrat, read like a ransom note. Among the demands? That the state immediately turn over its entire voter file to the Department of Justice to “confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law.” That request was “deeply disturbing,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, told HuffPost. “The request about handing over voter rolls has nothing to do whatsoever with what’s going on in Minnesota,” Simon said. The letter is the most concrete link between three of the driving authoritarian urges of President Donald Trump’s second term, tying together his desire for a mass deportation campaign with little respect for the rule of law; his push to punish dissent and protesters like Pretti, who was observing ICE activity when he was shot; and his desire to seize control of the nation’s decentralized election system or, as he has quipped, “cancel the election.” The demand provided a new face on the administration’s assault on Minneapolis and any future municipality that does not bend the knee: comply with Trump’s orders — including ones courts might otherwise deem illegal — if you want the violent paramilitary to leave. Minnesota has already rejected Bondi’s demands. “The answer to her request is no,” Simon said. “And we don’t appreciate this ransom note for the state of Minnesota, implying that the price of our security and freedom and stability is to hand over private, personal voter data in violation of state and federal law.”

But this isn’t likely to be the last such demand. The Justice Department began requesting such voter registration data from states in June 2025 — a total that now reaches 44 states and Washington, D.C., including Minnesota, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Eleven states, all run by Republicans, stated they would comply, while the other states, including many run by Republicans, refused, noting that it would be illegal for them to hand over such sensitive data and privacy concerns about what the data would be used for, or simply provided their publicly available voter file. In response, the Justice Department sued 23 states and D.C., including Minnesota and several led by Republicans like Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire, to get a court to require that they hand over the data.

One reason why Bondi has now tied demands for this data to the administration’s roving assaults on municipalities run by Democrats is that those lawsuits aren’t going well. On Jan. 14, a federal judge issued a rare ruling from the bench dismissing the Justice Department’s case against Oregon. The next day, another federal judge issued a scathing opinion dismissing the case against California while calling the request “unprecedented and illegal.” A third case against Georgia was dismissed by a federal judge for being filed in the wrong jurisdiction on Jan. 23.

The Trump Regime has dreams of running Minnesota by fiat.

See Also:

Steve Simon, Harbingers of Peace

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How To Pray, part II

“Here is a Prayer which is absolutely Spiritual, and yet can have marvellous results for the good of all mankind if sincerely projected in the manner I have just described:

‘Light, Life and Love. May the Spirit of Goodness reach out into all Space. May the positive POWERS of these Principles overcome all negative conditions. And may Peace Profound reign everywhere. So mote it be. Amén, Amén, Amén.’

Face the East when doing this, and do it as many times each day and night as you can.

This will help the World in general, for you will attune with the Great White Brotherhood of all the Divine and Spiritual Entities; and they will HEAR you and ACT.

Once upon a time this Law was well known; but it has been lost to man on account of the selfishness or the ignorance—both of which are great sins—of the teachers and the priests, who should have kept it alive by reminding their disciples of it continually. Similarly, the Hierophants of the ancient times, who gradually obscured more and more the sacred laws for selfish reasons, have combined so cleverly the dogmas and symbols of their scientific religious systems, that this ancient Wisdom can be be grasped only if one has the combination and knowledge of all the keys.

Although it was necessary to preserve the chief interpretations from the profane and wrap them in the greatest secrecy, yet the more simple laws should never have been hidden; for this has done incalculable harm to humanity. They grope in the dark and make the most appalling errors with the best intentions.”

Rachel Leingang at The Guardian:

Democrats in the Minnesota house of representatives refused to show up to start a legislative session on Tuesday in an unprecedented move designed to boycott attempts by Republicans to take advantage of a temporary majority in the chamber. The house came out of the November election tied 67-67, and top leaders from both parties started to work out a power-sharing agreement that presumed a tie. But a judge late last month declared that a newly elected Democrat did not live in his heavily Democratic district. That gave the Republican party a 67-66 majority until a special election can take place in two weeks. Republicans declared their intent to take full advantage until the tie is restored. As of Tuesday afternoon, Republicans are pressing ahead on their agenda over the objections of the secretary of state, which will probably lead to lawsuits to intervene. The Minnesota senate is also temporarily tied after the death of a Democratic lawmaker, but party leaders in that chamber have agreed to share power. Democrats lost their government trifecta in the November elections. The trifecta allowed them to pass a raft of progressive legislation in 2023 and 2024, giving the Democratic governor, Tim Walz, national acclaim that eventually helped him secure a spot on the presidential ticket. The GOP lost a round in the power struggle earlier on Tuesday when a judge rejected a Republican effort to force a special election in a different race that the Democratic incumbent representive Brad Tabke won by only 14 votes after about 20 ballots went missing in the district. Republicans had threatened to use their power to refuse to seat him. Minnesota law gives the legislature final discretion in whether to seat Tabke. The top house leaders, the Democratic former speaker Melissa Hortman and the Republican former minority leader Lisa Demuth met late into the night on Monday and again on Tuesday morning to try to resolve the impasse ahead of a floor session that started at noon. Hortman said in a statement that Republicans indicated they would not seat Tabke, ignoring the court ruling, which is why Democrats decided not to show up and give Republicans the quorum needed to make their move. “We cannot allow Republicans to engage in this unprecedented abuse of power, and we will use every tool at our disposal to block it,” she said. Under Minnesota law, the secretary of state calls the house to order at the start of a session, declares whether a quorum is present, and hands over the gavel when a speaker is elected. It is normally a quick formality.

On Tuesday, the Democratic secretary of state, Steve Simon, stood before the Republicans gathered for the session and said: “There is no quorum as required by the constitution of the state of Minnesota. The House may not conduct any further business, and the house of representatives is adjourned.”