THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR JAN. 29th, 2026

                                                                    CASH MICHAELS

        THE POWER OF THE CELLPHONE CITIZEN JOURNALIST 

  by Cash Michaels

Shamefully, it’s happened again!

Another innocent American life has been taken under the color of federal law enforcement in Minnesota, and once again, cellphone cameras were Johnny-on-the-spot to capture the truth for all the world to see.

And it’s a good thing too. The videos of the fateful encounter between Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti and half dozen federal Border Patrol officers were in the media news ether just in time to counter the bold-faced lies of President Donald Trump and U.S. Dept of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem about the cold-blooded killing (please remember my professional policy of not labeling something a “murder” before a court of law has had a chance to make an official legal determination, though from what I’ve seen of the various videotape angles here, this was as straight-up a senseless dispatch of an innocent life as I’ve ever seen).

So now, for the second time this month, cellphone citizen journalists are on the front lines fighting back against the feckless lies of a disgusting administration by capturing the true story to stand against the over-the-top propaganda issued by our government.

Something must be said about these cellphone citizen journalists who love their country so much, they’re willing to defy illegal commands to step back or step away when they see police injustice, and know that they and their cellphones are the only conduits to the truth for the rest of us.

Please keep in mind that these folks are citizens, and have First Amendment rights to both be at police scenes and record what they see. They are restricted, just like professional press, from getting in the way of, or getting involved in law enforcement activity.

         No, cellphone citizen journalists don’t write for newspapers (except maybe a blog or two). But those snazzy little mini-computers they carry have the ability to capture sharp pictures and great video/audio that tell the story better than any written words can, provided they’re in the right place at the right time with the right angle. And what has become most gratifying lately is that more times than not, when something newsworthy is happening, someone is there to record it for the rest of the world to see.

When something in you makes you want to document the facts and share them with the world, that “something” is the journalist in you! And without you, we may never know the truth. That’s what makes cellphone citizen journalists so special.

Particularly those folks in Minneapolis whose city and state have been targeted by the Trump Administration with bogus claims of having murderers and rapists roaming their streets, making their communities unsafe. Thus the justification for sending over 3,000 federal agents into the area under the auspices of cracking down on "out-of-control crime," particularly from the Somali community.

True, Minnesota had a very bad problem of late with the theft of federal funds by some in the Somali community that Gov. Tim Walz has taken responsibility for not knowing about. But none of that is reason enough for armed, undisciplined warrantless masked men in khakis to roam the streets, grabbing and brutalizing people without so much as a wink towards their constitutional rights.

So when cellphone citizen journalists see what’s happening on their streets, and boldly decide to document it, they are creating a vital record of constitutional violations for all of us to see and respond to.

Make no mistake - every time an ICE or Border Patrol agent illegally puts his hands on anyone, it’s in the name of the people of the United States, which means we ALL have a say about what we’re seeing, and whether or not we approve of it or the way it is being done.

         And no, we shouldn't fund ICE or Border Patrol anymore until they're straightened out enough to be law-abiding.

Back in the day before cellphones, if the cops beat some poor black kid to a pulp, or worse, shot him to death, there usually was no witness. And if there was, it was their word against the officer’s, and we were all conditioned to take the officer’s word for it no matter what, because he was the “good guy.” He stood for what was "right" in the community, and put his life on the line everyday to keep us safe.

Whoever the deceased black victim was, the powers-that-be dug into his background, and would always "find" something they could blowup into a justification for the officer extinguishing the victim’s “worthless” life. So at the end of the day, the cop was always exonerated, because his word had the force of law, and no one contradicted him.

And then came Rodney King, and the police beating video that literally changed the world.

It was March 3, 1991, when black motorist Rodney King was stopped for speeding in Los Angeles after a high speed chase. When L.A. police caught up with King, they beat him mercilessly with metal batons on the side of the road and further subdued him with stun guns. When it was all over, King had a fractured skull, broken bones in his face and ankle, and brain damage. The police story for his injuries was that he attacked them, so they had to "defend" themselves. But little did the L.A. officers know that their brutal actions were captured on tape by a man with an old-fashioned video camera from the upper balcony of his apartment building just across the street.

        The rest is history.

The Rodney King video was certainly the first of its kind, calling into question how many police abuse cases of black people we really didn't know the truth about. And yet, when the King case went to court a year later, the four white officers were inexplicably acquitted of all charges. The city of Los Angeles was literally torched and ripped to shreds because people couldn't understand how anyone couldn't see the unmistakable brutality for themselves, and not punish the four officers for it.

        However, years later, as more people began using iPhones and other personal video devices, more and more of these police brutality incidents came to light, calling into question the conduct of some police officers in communities of color across the country.

        No one will ever forget the horrific police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, captured by a cellphone citizen journalist who knew what she was seeing was wrong, as a police officer crushed the helpless black man’s head to the street with his knee until Mr. Floyd couldn't breathe. The young man cried for his mother, as his life was being squeezed out of him.

        And we all saw it! That officer is rightfully still in prison, convicted of murder!

It wasn’t long before law enforcement began wearing body-cams, so that they could maintain their own video record of contentious encounters with the public, and essentially protect themselves against allegations of brutality. Problem is not all police agencies use body-cams, or if they have them, don't require their officers to always have them on while on patrol. So when something horrific happens, like the January 7th ICE fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, the only honest video record we can count on comes from the citizen journalists on the scene with their cellphones.

Ironically in the tragic case of Renee Good - whose death has now been officially ruled a homicide - the best cellphone video was taken by the ICE agent who ultimately shot her to death. He was holding it in his hand, until he had to reach for his gun.

And yet, I find it fascinating that despite all of that video evidence, Trump, Noem and the heads of ICE and the Border Patrol, think they’re doing yeoman’s work by lying their despicable -sses off defending the offending predatory federal agents, and smearing the innocent victims after death.

Even before this latest fatal federal shooting, the White House was caught redhanded issuing a false AI generated picture of a local Minneapolis minister/civil rights attorney being arrested and “crying” as she was being led away in handcuffs. In fact, actual video of her arrest never shows the woman shedding a tear, but rather, looking defiant and strong as she was being led away. Proof that Trump’s minions see all of this as part of one big disgusting propaganda game.

In the case of Mr. Pretti, even though he had a registered gun, and a concealed carry permit, videos taken show he NEVER brandished it to threaten anybody the day he died. The best civilian video evidence shows Pretti being wrestled to the ground on all fours by several Border Patrol agents, at least one of them seeing Pretti’s gun still in his waistband, warning other officers about it, then grabbing it and walking away with it.

It’s then that we immediately hear a shot, agents backup off of Pretti, and randomly fire at him as he lay on his back in the street though HE HAD NO WEAPON AT THIS POINT to harm anyone with. 

        Shot to death like a poor dog in the street. There are reports Pretti was shot nine - ten  times, at least three in his back as he lay on the ground. And it's been determined that some of these Border Patrol agents were wearing bodycams. No doubt by the time we see any of that footage, if ever, it may be drastically altered. We'll see.

It’s a hard video to watch. It’s made harder when you realize Mr. Pretti died for nothing. He did nothing to deserve what many people are calling a "lynching." 

        This was truly an American tragedy.

        And yet, DHS Sec. Noem has declared her officers innocent of any wrongdoing, and portray Mr. Pretti as the "domestic terrorist" aggressor who deserved to die. And behind all of that, Noem, who deserves to be impeached and shown the door forever, says her agency will investigate its own officers in this.

         Telling us what we should see when we have reliable video from cellphone video journalists apparently doesn't work very well, does it?

        Trump apparently has not climbed out on this limb as far with Noem, and seems open to turning down the political volume, even talking with Gov. Walz constructively, and ordering the Border Patrol commander be replaced, and the number of federal officers there be cut to get the tragedy off the front pages. 

          My Lord!

  Former President Obama and his wife, Michelle, were compelled to issue a statement after seeing the video of Alex Pretti’s killing:

"And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they’ve deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren’t informed by any serious investigation – and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence… This has to stop."

        The NAACP also weighed in.

       "We are watching a crisis of accountability and humanity unfold in real time," said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. "We need mobilization and action from every background, every race, every socioeconomic status, every political party, and every religion. If you believe in dignity, if you believe in justice, if you believe America must live up to its creed — then you cannot sit this one out. We must show up, speak up, and organize with urgency to demand accountability and protect our communities."

If not for the many cellphone citizen journalists on the scene, we would have nothing to counter the official Trump Administration BS with. And thanks to them, major news organizations like CNN, The Washington Post, The NY Times and others with the resources, were able to dissect those videos and discover the truth of what really happened last Saturday in Minneapolis, and again on January 7th.

         But ponder this for a moment - brave and bold citizens with cellphones can't be everywhere all of the time. In Minneapolis, for instance, there are but so many of them, and over 3,000 federal officers on the ground, the majority of whom we haven't seen and never will. Renee Good and Alex Pretti happened to be white. But what about all of the Somali, Venezuelan, Honduran, Mexican and other victims of ICE/Border Patrol we've heard or seen absolutely nothing about? And what about the ICE agent killing of Keith Porter in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve? Where are the cellphone citizen videos documenting how many of them are being killed or hurt by the hateful, undisciplined and illegal actions  of Trump's rogue stormtroopers? We may never know.

        I pray that justice is ultimately done in the case of Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good and whomever else is victimized by the bloodthirsty tyranny of the Trump regime. And just like the videos from the January 6th U.S. Capitol insurrection tell the true story of that disturbing day in American history despite Republican attempts to the contrary, I pray that citizen journalists with cellphones all across this nation realize just how valuable they are in the fight to reclaim our country from what can only be called the evil police state mentality of the Trump Administration.

GOD BLESS THEM!!! GOD BLESS US ALL!!!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR THURSDAY, JAN. 29TH, 2026

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES

FOR BLACKS IN THE

2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

By Cash Michaels

An Analysis

With the March 3rd primaries coming up shortly, and the candidates ready to run to be selected for the November 3rd general elections, what are the critical issues important to black voters in the 2026 midterm elections?

Given that the midterm elections primarily affect Congressional representation, and which political party will control one, maybe two chambers of Congress, African-Americans may have the ability to return Democrats back to power in the U.S. House, and possibly in the U.S. Senate by this November if they come out in significant numbers. 

Here in North Carolina, with Republican mid-decade redistricting to gain an extra congressional seat at the expense of costing a second-term black Democratic congressman his seat, black representation in Washington, D.C. from the state could fall from the current three to just two. So black turnout is essential.

But again, what are the issues that will drive black turnout going towards the fall general elections?

For the most part, many of the same issues that affect the general population, but maybe more acutely. For instance, jobs and the state of the economy. African - Americans are known to traditionally have a higher unemployment rate than whites. In the Trump economy, where many blacks formally worked for many years for the federal government before being downsized and laid off in the past year, are they able to use those same federal government skills to find comparable work in the private sector?

That remains to be seen, especially in an economy where the cost of living remains high because of the cost of tariffs on everyday items. So economic justice, which includes issues like a hike in the minimum wage, affordable housing, and affordable child care are among the economic issues black Americans care most about.

Another issue that impacts African-Americans for the midterm elections is health care.  What is the future of Medicare and Medicaid after drastic funding cuts by Congress?

Also, with the government tax credit subsidies phased out from the Affordable Care Act, many black families can’t afford their health insurance premiums rising because Republicans and Democrats could not come to terms on extending those credits while both sides hash out the details for establishing permanent health insurance coverage.

Black voters will have to determine which side they support in Congress - the Republicans, who boast that they can come up with a better healthcare plan than the current Obamacare that 22 million Americans count on, or Democrats, who maintain that Americans like and trust Obamacare, and just want the current system of government funded tax credits to lower the cost to continue.

The ultimate answer to that question could cause yet another government shutdown.

What is the current status of social safety net programs like SNAP, which help low-income Americans stretch their food dollars? Thanks to the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” which passed Congress last year, many of those programs were cut, leaving it to the states to take up the slack. But can they do it?

The state of education is also a major concern in the African-American community. With the Trump Administration shutting down the U.S. Dept. of Education, many local school systems having to deal with funding cuts from the federal government as a result, black voters are having to pay attention to how new stringent policies are affecting their children’s learning.

Without question, there is general frustration among black voters with the Democratic Party, causing some to support Republican candidates. But then, the general negativism towards blacks, and particularly the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, in addition to the erasure of African-American history from schools, museums, libraries, etc. by the Trump Administration, has also left a bad taste in the mouths of many in the Black community.

No doubt there are other issues that African-Americans must concern themselves with this midterm elections, but the most important issue is that they do not take the right to vote for granted. There is little question that dramatic change is needed to improve the quality of life for all Americans, especially blacks.

That dramatic change can’t come unless African-American decide they want to be heard at the ballot box on March 3rd and November 3rd, 2026.

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HIGH POVERTY SCHOOLS 

TARGETED BY TRUMP 

FUNDING CUTS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

They came without warning.

$50 million in federal funding cuts to North Carolina’s predominately-black high poverty schools, in some of the state’s poorest counties. And according to the Trump Administration, the funding cuts were made because the grant money was going towards "...programs that reflect the prior administration's priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current administration." 

In case you hadn’t heard over the holiday season, NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced last month that the NC Dept. of Justice was suing the Trump Administration’s U.S. Dept. of Education for cutting a $50 million grant to the state that was through the Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program, which was approved by Congress in 2023 to provide support “…for the planning, implementation, and operation of full-service community schools that improve the coordination, integration, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children and families, particularly for children attending high-poverty schools, including high-poverty rural schools.”

FSCS grants also help historically black colleges and universities.

In North Carolina, the FSCS $50 million grant funding for 18 public school districts, 55 public schools and over 22,000 high poverty elementary and secondary school students in those areas provided “comprehensive services and family engagement initiatives.”

The grant was also assisting students in those counties impacted by Hurricane Helene.

When the Trump Administration Education Dept. inexplicably cut that funding, last month, NC AG Jackson warned that “A surprise cut of nearly $50 million from rural schools, with virtually no notice and no allegation of misuse, is unlawful and harmful.” 

Jackson added that by cutting the funding, the Trump Administration was “breaking the law” because Congress, not federal agencies , is empowered to cut funding if necessary.

The Trump Administration notified North Carolina that the FSCS grant would be terminated as of December 31st, 2025.

In a press release, the NC Dept. of Public Instruction indicated that the  funding cut would, “...if allowed to stand, ….force schools to shut down programs and potentially lay off staff in the middle of the school year.” 

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THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR JAN. 22, 2026

 

                                                                  CASH MICHAELS

                       FRUIT OF THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY

by Cash Michaels

We are IN it now, my fellow Americans!

This is what the tyrant in the gold-studded White House wants - to see the “little people” suffer under his great power while he brazenly tells the rest of the world where to get off. No compassion, no decency, and certainly not even a hint of humanity.

Just being the best tyrant a secondhand Nobel Peace Prize can buy. 

        What's next? Demanding that "Sinners" director Ryan Coogler hand over half of his record breaking 16 Academy Award nominations because no one should be allowed to make more history than Trump?

        Being an imperial tyrant allows him to create a "Board of Peace" (whatever the hell that is) which requires a $1 billion membership fee, has invited the murderous Vladimir Putin to buy a seat and allows Trump to serve as chairman for life; use tariffs to punish our friends and allies who refuse to go along with his crazy musings; feel free to erase our history (especially black history) right before our eyes; and target American cities as places where the U.S. military can go to practice invasion dry runs? 

        And do all of the above, and much, much more, with the straightest of faces!  

        Recently, The NY Times reported,"A review by the editorial board relying on analyses from news organizations shows that Mr. Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion. We know this number to be an underestimate because some of his profits remain hidden from public view. And they continue to grow.”

What we’re living under is known as an imperial presidency, where the man elected to the highest office of our land decides to put his God complex on full display. Recently he told The Times that the only restriction to the power he wields is his “own morality, own mind.”

That’s reassuring.

For instance, sprucing up what’s supposed to be public housing - OUR White House - with 14k gold; knocking down a whole one third of it for the expressed purpose of building a gawdy ballroom as a permanent monument to himself (he damn sure isn’t going to name it after Biden or Obama); and putting his name where, by law, it doesn’t belong  - like the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. Institute of Peace.

And all of that is just the cherry. The icing is ignoring international law, and illegally taking over governance of a sovereign nation like Venezuela by military force for its oil; threatening to invade another sovereign state, Iran, militarily, if leaders there don’t stop persecuting demonstrators and protesters - you know, like the kind Trump persecutes here.

And of course, the warning heard around the world that he wanted to grab NATO ally Greenland from Denmark for "national security" against China and Russia, despite the fact that we already have several military bases there. Reportedly the Imperial One, who began dropping ten-ton warning hints about Greenland because Norway would not give him his own Nobel Peace Prize, has now reached the "framework for a a deal" for "the block of ice" after foreign leaders gave him hell at Davos. Apparently the Danish aren't impressed, however, and for now, at least, reject any "deal" that violates their sovereignty, and rightfully so.

         Whatever ultimately happens,  there’s nothing like a little saber-rattling to make a tyrant want to wake up in the morning and start plotting and planning on what else he can grab that rightfully belongs to other folks.

Needless to say, Mexico and Columbia are paying close attention.

In the world of imperial presidencies, Donald J. Trump has certainly conquered the cherry and the icing. But the cake he’s still striving for …is us. How do you make America come to heel? How do you make America’s strict adherence to the rule of law irrelevant? How do you conquer your own country in front of everybody’s eyes and get away with it?

This is where that toxic brew of Trump’s imperialistic instincts along with the white supremacist cravings of Stephen Miller, J.D. Vance, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem and a host of other documented hatemongers in Trump’s Administration are proving to be a force we socially sleepy Americans simply weren’t ready for.

Thus we have what’s shamefully going on in Minneapolis. No, I’m not talking about the billion dollar fraud scheme there that officials are still cleaning up after, but the Petri dish civil war zone Minneapolis has provided Trump to send over 3000 federal agents to, with the threat of sending an additional 1600 military troops under the little used Insurrection Act.

         DHS Sec. Kristi Noem is now warning that everybody must have their "papers" handy to be shown because her ICE agents will be checking them. Kristi must think this is East Germany or something. What American carries identification papers proving their citizenship?

The stated pretense here is that Minneapolis’ large Somali community is crooked, violent and hurting “real Americans.” So if they won’t leave on their own, federal Immigration Customs Enforcement officers are officially tasked with raiding the city, finding not only Somalis, but anyone else who might be in the country “illegally,” and removing them.

Gee, what could go wrong?

These agents of Trump’s federal government have been given the green light to achieve this task, as Malcolm X once famously said, “By any means necessary,” which apparently, based on the Renee Nicole Good fatal shooting case, includes killing innocent people who are considered in the way.

But the real sight to see has been what has been happening in the streets of Minneapolis - the mass confrontations; people being forcibly grabbed and dragged out of their cars and homes (one was a grandfather in his underwear and slippers grabbed from his home covered only with a blanket in the bone cold who happened to be an American citizen) after agents have broken windows and doors to reach them; flash bang grenades to scare crowds; tear gas used against peaceful demonstrators; people being kidnapped off the streets; agents raiding hospitals and schools; people being kicked and beaten on the ground as agents handcuff them; ICE vehicles ramming cars and SUVs driven by ordinary citizens; arrestees being denied legal counsel before they’re shipped off to some other state; using five-year-old children as bait to lure parents out of their homes.

         And here's the one I found really interesting - off-duty black police officers being pulled over by ICE agents, having guns pulled on them and being asked for their "papers," but once those local black police officers whipped out their badges instead, the ICE agents reportedly left them alone. 

        It doesn't take Einstein to figure out what would have happened to any of those off-duty black officers who didn't have their police ID with them. Be beaten or shot first, never get to answer any questions later.

A federal judge had to finally order ICE -who all wear masks, are heavily armed, and many poorly trained - to stop using excessive force and tactics. The only way that can happen is that they left the city and state entirely.

But this is what Trump and Co. want to prove - that any large American city, if not state - particularly and especially if it has voted Democratic against him - can be conquered.

Make no mistake, there are always the administrative levers of cutting federal money off to Democratic states and cities, and then you have what happened this week, which is the Minnesota governor, state attorney general, and three local mayors, all served with grand jury subpoenas in a federal criminal investigation...all because each one spoke out against the tyranny being perpetrated against their citizens.

        Once again, weaponizing the criminal justice system to crush your enemies. The mark of a true imperial president!

Thanks to the US Supreme Court, the Imperial One feels he has Carte Blanche to do anything he wants as long as he dresses it up as a national security matter. That gives him enormous latitude to create the kind of chaos he saw in his native New York City back in the sixties and seventies when radical groups like the Black Panthers and Young Lords roamed the city streets shouting revolution and battling the police every week.

No doubt Trump cheered every time there was a deadly police gun battle, and members of those groups were killed or captured. I’m sure young Donald and his racist, Ku Klux Klan member dad, Fred, watched it all on the news, buttered popcorn and beer in hand, as those gun battles played out on their TV screen.

But I say all of that to point out that Trump’s always been about using the great power of the federal government to crush the little guy, especially if the little guy looked anything like me. You know, quiet as it’s kept, the Somalis in Minnesota are black, and Trump routinely calls them “garbage.” 

Thanks to a recent New York Times interview, Trump has made clear how he feels not just about Somalis, but black people and the civil rights movement, and how the whole thing has caused white people, even now, to be "very badly treated" - what he calls “reverse discrimination.”

What’s different and scary about the sinister ICE turmoil he’s created in Minneapolis right now is that the white people there, along with everybody else, are being "very badly treated" because of him.

Even an innocent, white, 37-year-old mother of three who needlessly lost her life because she feared being manhandled by three masked ICE agents coming at her, trying to pull her out of her car, and eventually shooting her to death. The administration of the imperial president says it won't even bother to investigate this tragic loss of life because the ICE agent who killed  her committed no crime.

         But she did, apparently!

When you think of Renee Nicole Good and all of the other innocent people in Minneapolis and throughout this country who have, and are being victimized by Donald Trump, think of them as victims of a growing imperial presidency.

People who love their country, but are labeled as “terrorists” and “agitators” because they refuse to sit down and shutup when faced with injustice, especially from their government. An imperial government, I might add, that is quick to rewrite the narrative with boldface lies anytime something has gone wrong, or is done wrong. And according to Trump, yes, his people have made mistakes. Translation - they haven't learned to lie like he does yet!

America is a country split down the middle now - RED, for those who voted for Trump, and BLUE, meaning those who sensibly voted against him.

Those in the BLUE states are condemned to suffer Trump’s wrath. And what is shamefully happening in Minnesota is a stark message to California, Illinois, New York and yes, even North Carolina (even though we’re considered purple and voted for Trump, though we also voted for a Democratic governor) can happen…and WILL happen if we don’t drop to our knees, and worship the imperial president with his warped God complex, we're warned.

And don’t fool yourself. There’s more calamity from the imperial presidency to come, beyond your federal government telling you to eat more chicken pieces, broccoli sticks and corn tortillas to save money and get through the day. 

        Folks are literally expecting Trump to play games with the 2026 midterm elections so that he can’t lose his House Republican majority. Like cancelling the midterms by causing lots of mayhem on the ground in various BLUE vicinities.

Wait and see what happens. He’s going to try something. He may have already started.

Now if I’d wrote any of the above a year ago - when Donald Trump was officially being sworn-in for his second term as president - you would’ve laughed, shook your head, and dismissed me as suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome or something.

Well, what’s up snowflake? It’s now a year later.

I don’t hear you laughing?

        It's about to get REAL serious up in here!

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