The Mason Missile

The Mason Missile The E-Newsletter of John Oliver Mason January 25, 2026 johnomason@johnomason.com http://johnomason.com Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist —Ralph Waldo Emerson Greetings, Americans! We have just commemorated the birthday, life, and work of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.—not the sanitized saint, not the harmless peacenik, but the man who challenged the injustices of his day, such as poverty, war, and racism. Let us remember that at the time of his assassination, King understood the interconnection between racism and class, how low-income and working-class white people have everything in common with similarly low-income and working-class Black people But so many politicians have used racism, in its many veiled forms, to play white working-class people against their Black counterparts. This goes from Nixon and his “Southern Strategy” of siphoning off the voters for George Wallace in 1968 with the use of racial stereotypes while avoiding using the N-word; the mention of “lazy welfare bums,” “urban crime,” and the War On Drugs,” which gave law enforcement agencies the excuse the run rampant through African-American neighborhoods. Plus, conservative activists have continued to push the idea that it’s white males who are the ones discriminated against. Now, under the regime of Donald whatshisface, racist appeals to fears of the end of white dominance are out in the open, and government media, like X accounts, are broadcasting them. One X message from the Department of Labor had a picture of George Washington and the words, “Remember who you are, American;” another X message from Labor had the phrase “Trust The Plan,” a slogan of the Q-Anon conspiracy theory. (You remember, it was the idea that several prominent Democrats where part of a pedophile ring, and trump—Jeffery Epstein’s bosom buddy—was out to root it out.) Another X-gram, from the Department of Homeland Security, had the slogan, “We’ll have our home again,” a song used as an anthem for the Proud Boys. In an interview with reporters from the New York Times, published on January 11, trump spoke the common complaints abut the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties: “White people were very badly treated, where they did extremely well and they were not invited to go into a university or a college…it also hurt a lot of people — people that deserve to go to a college or deserve to get a job were unable to get a job. So it was, it was a reverse discrimination.” That’s the common whine from conservatives, “White people are discriminated against.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html We see this play out in Minnesota, where ICE goons have been terrorizing the residents of Minneapolis, including the murder (let’s call it what it is) of Nicole Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were involved in peaceful protests and monitoring the “agents’” behavior—may their memory be a blessing. Thugs like ICE have no respect for nonviolent protests, they’ll shoot at them anyway. How low will they sink? ICE “agents” arrested a five-year-old BOY, Liam Ramos, and his father as they were driving into the family’s driveway. The “agents” detained both Liam and his father and used Liam—all of five years old—to knock on people’s doors to see who was inside. ICE has a record of nabbing children going to and from school, like the four children detained by ICE in the suburb, Columbia Heights, including a 17-year-old nabbed as he was exiting his car. As for Liam and his family, they were in the process of seeking asylum in the United States, eventually becoming citizens. https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3mcxvaci2e22c https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/5-year-old-boy-among-four-students-detained-by-ice-according-to-school-leaders-mn/89-113e2490-282c-4e5d-a472-f5cf8f18a94b BUT, the valiant people of Minneapolis braved the elements—it was minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit—and took to the streets by the thousands to demand that ICE leave their city. People in other cities, including Philadelphia, also staged demonstrations in solidarity with Minneapolis. (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/24/thousands-in-minneapolis-brave-bitter-cold-to-protest-ice-crackdown) (https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philly-stands-with-minneapolis-ice-out-for-good-20260123.html) (https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/anti-ice-march-takes-place-171100952.html) From what I hear, Philadelphia will be the next target for ICE. Over the Martin Luther King weekend, protestors marched from Immigration Court and on to the ICE field office. Several City officials, such as District Attorney Larry Krasner and Sherrif Rochelle Bilal, held a press conference and condemned the shooting of Renee Good. It’s great to see SOME public officials show some guts against a wannabe despot. Krasner warned ICE: “We will arrest you. We will put handcuffs on you. We will close those cuffs. We will put you in a cell,” and, “We will do everything in our power to convict you and we will make sure you serve your entire sentence because Donald Trump has no power whatsoever to pardon you.” (https://www.cityandstatepa.com/politics/2026/01/ice-operations-philadelphia-have-immigration-advocates-high-alert/410794/?oref=cspa-homepage-river) (https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-mlk-day-2026-ice-raids-protest/) (https://billypenn.com/2026/01/08/krasner-ice-minneapolis-shooting-trump-city-council/) A group of demonstrators, including clergy-people, blocked the doorway of the garage of the Philadelphia ICE building, so their vehicles can’t exit the building. The demonstration was organized by the group no ICE Philly. https://6abc.com/post/protesters-no-ice-philly-form-human-blockade-outside-office-center-city-philadelphia/18438056/?link_source=ta_thread_link&taid=696fa6a41b14e40001df36bb&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=threads.net# We’re facing a government-funded gang of maniacs and killers, with not even the most rudimentary training, recruited by the most in-your-face racist appeals and slogans. These are trump’s enforcers. It has nothing to do with securing the border, it’s about terrorizing Democratic-run cities and minority communities. And, of course, they did not anticipate any resistance from the grassroots, they always expect us to sit back and take it. And, as always, the regime tries to convince us that it’s just a gang of troublemakers, not the American people. Are they trying really to persuade the public, or themselves? This shows how low the trump regime will go to retain power, so they can continue to claw back progress on Civil and Human Rights for previously excluded groups, such as African-Americans and women. As if to underscore the racism coursing through this country, here, in Philadelphia, the signs at the President’s House exhibit in Independence Mall, that described the lives of the people enslaved by George Washington, taken down. It’s part of the regime’s ongoing effort to deny the accomplishments, or even the existence, of people of color in this country. (https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/presidents-house-independence-mall-slavery-trump/) May 19 will be Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania; please find out the election dates in YOUR state. This is a serious situation we’re in—there are even those who say we’re on the verge of civil war! PLEASE get out and vote; the Republicans paid attention to last year’s elections and saw how poorly they did in municipal, state, and primary elections. We can do it! We CAN win! Don’t give up the fight! Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! Slava Ukraini! Am Yisrael Chai! Fuck trump! America will be free! Bye! ADVERTISEMENTS