Rep. Lisa Demuth (R), who is running for governor of Minnesota, has admitted to different media sources that her ‘team’ has been working with Shirley. Representative Emmer, also a powerful republican in Minnesota, has been a loud & vocal mouthpiece for Shirley. Both of them as working representatives of the state should have known that these investigations have been going on for years. I had to Google both of them to see how involved they were. Apparently, I’m not the only one as info pops up fast and furious.
I just don’t understand what happened to people’s integrity? The terror that all this BS has done to people, so many that I know personally, and their children obviously makes my heart break but it is disgusting & deplorable.
Yes. They (dark PAC) are numerous and yet, to some extent, it is possible to track down some of the "donations" to certain causes. We need to keep track of this more now than ever before, simply because the GOP and Neoliberals are in cahoots with the uber-wealthy like Musk, Bezos, et al. The Heritage Foundation, more than others, is the source of funding for right-wing/Neo Nazi ideology that is the foundation for Project 2025. At the very least, we need the info and the means to "out" these people and cut away the MAGA image of being supporters for ordinary citizens on the political right. In reality, Project 2025 and the inherent ideology of Neoliberalism is for authoritarianism over ordinary people by an elite group of wealthy businessmen. MAGA people do not understand what that means, although surely they have learned a bit during the past year.
Yet, just a couple of generations ago, they did! They paid significant taxes. The question is, how did people like that get the idea that they deserve to NOT be obligated to pay taxes, despite being the beneficiaries of the greatest amounts of wealth? I surely hope that they can be convinced of the necessity - morally and financially - of their paying taxes, so that Americans don't have to wait until the entire country goes to hell in a handbasket like it did in the 1930s. We are sitting on the same powder keg as in that time, yet people don't understand that at all!
Unfortunately, many of them are not all there - wealthy berserkers with the attitude that "what's mine is mine, and what's your's is mine just as soon as I can get it". It is very obvious that allowing a very privileged few to accumulate great wealth hurts society (The People) as a whole.
Collective punishment is considered a war crime under international law, as it imposes penalties on individuals or groups for actions they did not commit. This practice is prohibited by treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, which emphasize individual responsibility for criminal acts.
U.S. citizens living, serving, or studying abroad—you can vote from wherever you are! 🌍 Visit https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas ballot.
It’s quick, free, and valid for all elections in 2026. Need help? Write to help@votefromabroad.org.
Vote from Abroad volunteers are ready to assist you with any questions about requesting or returning your ballot. Don’t wait! Request your ballot today and make your voice heard! 🗳️
In most cases, for those "crimes" committed by the Trump administration officials, there is enough evidence available to establish most of them as individually responsible for their actions. Moreover, the one way politicians and military individuals used to escape responsibility for actions while in an administration was "I was ordered to do it". That excuse was clearly eliminated during the Nuremberg Trials in Germany and today exists as a warning that following orders to commit a crime does not clear an individual of responsibility for the crime.
No way in hell would anyone in charge of any classroom allow strangers into an area where there are children present. Not only would it put them in danger, but you could get sued. There’s a reason why we regularly do intruder drills. And these guys were intruders.
Oh, and now to make things worse, Kelly Loeffler has jumped on the wagon and held up all day care funding to the entire state. Such a shill.
The State needs to withold federal taxes until they release that funding. Blue states need to do a soft succession and turn of the spigot to Rump's corrupt regime.
That would be difficult to do as withholding from everyone's paycheck goes directly to the US government on weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis depending on company size. The state can't touch it.
Sorry... no there isn't. Federal Laws make sure that it all goes directly to the US Treasury. The system is very efficient. Change requires Congress to pass a new law... and approval by POTUS. Both you and your employer are legally responsible to get the money to them. It is even embedded in the banking industry.
I struggle to comprehend the thought process of this Nick Shirley, coming up with the "fraud" of the daycares...You really would have to be creative to think that one up. He was just out looking for something that wasn't even there. Daycares are very protective of their little ones, no wonder they wouldn't let him, a stranger, in. I wonder how he dreamed it all up, he really must have twisted his sick brain in knots
I'm struggling with countering this misinformation from friends who are foaming at the mouth to show the fraud by believing this vile story without doing any true research. 😢
I hear you, and, I would add a few other reasons that people believe these stories:
1) They themselves are racist-leaning or outright racists who are suffering from "confirmation bias" when they read or see something like Shirley put out.
2) The same goes for people with any sort of bias or outright hatred against anyone who is NOT a straight, white Christian, and preferably male.
Very perceptive. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. These people have been fed huge doses of adrenaline and fear for literally decades now. It constructs their world view of hatred and fear
I continue to recommend that people watch the Star Trek (original) episode "Day of the Dove" as a metaphor of what is happening to us today. An evil being infiltrates the Enterprise and a Klingon ship and uses its powers to get them fighting each other. Kirk and Spock eventually figure out what is going on, and they defeat the entity by getting everyone to laugh at it, which shrinks it because it gets its energy from conflict. It finally flees the ship to the vacuum of space. The hard part for Kirk was getting the Klingons to believe him, but even his own crew members needed some convincing. Now Kirk's mission should be ours -- convince everyone that we are being played so we can chase out the hate.
Excellent comparison. A salient detail is that Kirk's own crew members needed convincing because the evil being had literally planted false information in their heads that made them outraged and bloodthirsty.
I read Heather Cox Richardson’s column about Lady Liberty followed by your column. Our history of immigrant abuse is profound. It sickens me. Shirley and others like him light a flame of lies here, there and across the country, we as firefighters in this analogy, grapple with which to subdue first. Bannon’s wish to “burn it all down” has spurred more arsonists than I dreamed possible. Burned out? Not yet. Thanks for your level-headed reporting. I know one-on-one conversation is the best way to combat these lies, but in a decade, my deluded friends and family refuse to accept proven facts, no matter how presented. I no longer try. I concentrate on the Republican congressman from my state. I’m sure he will block me at some point even though I am not rude.
This is one of those areas where the Fox News trickle down effect is so prevalent: Most Americans, according to polls I see, are basically anti-immigrant. They say they're against open borders, but by being in favor of harsh restrictions, they're saying they are anti-immigrant, even if they won't admit it.
Nonsense actors like Shirley would have zero standing in a normal media environment not dominated by Fox, Sinclair, and now Weiss/Ellison/CBS, to name just a few.
This is what happens when the right wing controls the media narrative. Even people who should know better get swept up by the hysteria and disinformation.
No one should believe anything that comes from trump or his supporters. They not only do not deal in truth, they actively oppose it. Everything about them and from them is a lie.
Collective punishment penalizes a whole group for the acts of an individual suspected to be part of the group, even though most of the people hurt had nothing to do with the act.
It is considered a war crime. - Intl. Committee Of The Red Cross (ICRC)
Collective punishment includes sanctions against a group in retaliation for an act committed by an individual and targets people who bear no responsibility for having committed the act.
What is collective punishment? How did the Nazis use it againstJews in WWII? How does Netanyahu use collective punishment against families in Gaza? Understand the Collective Punishment playbook Trump and Republicans are using with this infographic.
It is his retribution toward any state that "harbors" people who dislike trump and his policies and work against them. He said his would be a reign of retribution and here's one example of many.
That JD Vance comment about him being a "great journalist" - he's no Walter Winchell or Cronkite - let alone a Woodward or Bernstein.
He just finds the tag of a story, puts his own right wing spin on it, and publishes. And from seeing him interviewed, he doesn't even have much brain and even less education.
A certain ‘end justifies the means’ thinking is in play. Believing you stand for something important can give you ‘permission’ to lie, fabricate, cheat, and even kill others in order to advance a sacred cause. Said ‘cause’ can be out in the open, such as Christianity (the political one that masks racism, nationalism, misogyny, etc.) or submerged (like ethnic ‘cleansing’ or xenophobia). When these people so obviously disregard truth and justice, it is tempting to dismiss them as mentally ill kooks and maladapts. But they are not. They actually believe they are part of something big and radical and even inevitable that the rest of us will someday realize as they feel they do. That’s why they are dangerous. They can believe they are pioneers and heroes and agents of change, all evidence to the contrary.
Thank you! Excellent summary. The part about going to day cares during non-business hours and declaring "fraud" because there were no kids? That slays me.
Another important note in this story, Republicans in Minnesota worked with Nick Shirley make this story happen, even though they knew it was already being investigated and having the ability to actually do something about it. Yes, fraud needs to be investigated, but it’s a tiny fraction of people involved in it. I live in a neighborhood full of Somali people and businesses and most people are just trying to live their lives honestly and in peace. It’s awful to witness people disturb the peace to further their political agenda. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5668078-minnesota-welfare-fraud-walz/amp/
It would be interesting to know who is financing Shirley's right-wing phony exposes - travel, film crews, etc.
Rep. Lisa Demuth (R), who is running for governor of Minnesota, has admitted to different media sources that her ‘team’ has been working with Shirley. Representative Emmer, also a powerful republican in Minnesota, has been a loud & vocal mouthpiece for Shirley. Both of them as working representatives of the state should have known that these investigations have been going on for years. I had to Google both of them to see how involved they were. Apparently, I’m not the only one as info pops up fast and furious.
I just don’t understand what happened to people’s integrity? The terror that all this BS has done to people, so many that I know personally, and their children obviously makes my heart break but it is disgusting & deplorable.
Minnesotans would really lose out it they elect a Republican as Governor. Those free school lunches would certainly be a thing of the past.
Amplifying your comment about the degree of fear that motavates politicians. Isn't that their weakness? That is what we will exploit 😉.
In the MN situation, he was working with a Republican candidate running against Walz for governor- Lisa Demuth. 😡
Ah...dark PAC money at work!
Yes. They (dark PAC) are numerous and yet, to some extent, it is possible to track down some of the "donations" to certain causes. We need to keep track of this more now than ever before, simply because the GOP and Neoliberals are in cahoots with the uber-wealthy like Musk, Bezos, et al. The Heritage Foundation, more than others, is the source of funding for right-wing/Neo Nazi ideology that is the foundation for Project 2025. At the very least, we need the info and the means to "out" these people and cut away the MAGA image of being supporters for ordinary citizens on the political right. In reality, Project 2025 and the inherent ideology of Neoliberalism is for authoritarianism over ordinary people by an elite group of wealthy businessmen. MAGA people do not understand what that means, although surely they have learned a bit during the past year.
You are spot on, IMO!
Name an Oligarch - almost any Oligarch - they are not going to pay more taxes cheerfully or even willingly.
Yet, just a couple of generations ago, they did! They paid significant taxes. The question is, how did people like that get the idea that they deserve to NOT be obligated to pay taxes, despite being the beneficiaries of the greatest amounts of wealth? I surely hope that they can be convinced of the necessity - morally and financially - of their paying taxes, so that Americans don't have to wait until the entire country goes to hell in a handbasket like it did in the 1930s. We are sitting on the same powder keg as in that time, yet people don't understand that at all!
Unfortunately, many of them are not all there - wealthy berserkers with the attitude that "what's mine is mine, and what's your's is mine just as soon as I can get it". It is very obvious that allowing a very privileged few to accumulate great wealth hurts society (The People) as a whole.
Elon bezos trump vance BASICALLY ALL OF THE PARASITES 🪱
Its time we tale back America for the people
I believe he's backed by Heritage Foundation.
That figures.
Why?
His involvement in Portland, Oregon, gained his seat at Trumps table. What a little worm.
He ran a scam for profit, through a "creator" crypto coin on Coinbase. Stands to make $65K. Check out $TheNickShirley
Exactly 💯 . Who you think 🤔 it is . Probably Ericka Kirk
More info here:
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-minnesota-daycare-fraud
I noticed his accent during the interview. Anyone reconize it?
Very bizarre accent.
Collective punishment is considered a war crime under international law, as it imposes penalties on individuals or groups for actions they did not commit. This practice is prohibited by treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, which emphasize individual responsibility for criminal acts.
U.S. citizens living, serving, or studying abroad—you can vote from wherever you are! 🌍 Visit https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas ballot.
It’s quick, free, and valid for all elections in 2026. Need help? Write to help@votefromabroad.org.
Vote from Abroad volunteers are ready to assist you with any questions about requesting or returning your ballot. Don’t wait! Request your ballot today and make your voice heard! 🗳️
Exactly the reason we need them to do something about this ****show
In most cases, for those "crimes" committed by the Trump administration officials, there is enough evidence available to establish most of them as individually responsible for their actions. Moreover, the one way politicians and military individuals used to escape responsibility for actions while in an administration was "I was ordered to do it". That excuse was clearly eliminated during the Nuremberg Trials in Germany and today exists as a warning that following orders to commit a crime does not clear an individual of responsibility for the crime.
Public school teacher here-
No way in hell would anyone in charge of any classroom allow strangers into an area where there are children present. Not only would it put them in danger, but you could get sued. There’s a reason why we regularly do intruder drills. And these guys were intruders.
Oh, and now to make things worse, Kelly Loeffler has jumped on the wagon and held up all day care funding to the entire state. Such a shill.
The State needs to withold federal taxes until they release that funding. Blue states need to do a soft succession and turn of the spigot to Rump's corrupt regime.
That would be difficult to do as withholding from everyone's paycheck goes directly to the US government on weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis depending on company size. The state can't touch it.
Isn’t there an angle to get around that. Find a way
Absolutely. Take action
Sorry... no there isn't. Federal Laws make sure that it all goes directly to the US Treasury. The system is very efficient. Change requires Congress to pass a new law... and approval by POTUS. Both you and your employer are legally responsible to get the money to them. It is even embedded in the banking industry.
I struggle to comprehend the thought process of this Nick Shirley, coming up with the "fraud" of the daycares...You really would have to be creative to think that one up. He was just out looking for something that wasn't even there. Daycares are very protective of their little ones, no wonder they wouldn't let him, a stranger, in. I wonder how he dreamed it all up, he really must have twisted his sick brain in knots
I'm struggling with countering this misinformation from friends who are foaming at the mouth to show the fraud by believing this vile story without doing any true research. 😢
I think a lot of people in the US are now "hooked" on the outrage adrenaline rush.
"Somalis commiting fraud!" "Transitioning children!" "Haitians eating pets!"
They don't research because a) that takes time and thought and b) It cuts back on the "rush".
I hear you, and, I would add a few other reasons that people believe these stories:
1) They themselves are racist-leaning or outright racists who are suffering from "confirmation bias" when they read or see something like Shirley put out.
2) The same goes for people with any sort of bias or outright hatred against anyone who is NOT a straight, white Christian, and preferably male.
You are SPOT ON
Very perceptive. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. These people have been fed huge doses of adrenaline and fear for literally decades now. It constructs their world view of hatred and fear
More about Nick Shirley:
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-minnesota-daycare-fraud
Keep struggling!! ...they want proof for their prejudices.
I continue to recommend that people watch the Star Trek (original) episode "Day of the Dove" as a metaphor of what is happening to us today. An evil being infiltrates the Enterprise and a Klingon ship and uses its powers to get them fighting each other. Kirk and Spock eventually figure out what is going on, and they defeat the entity by getting everyone to laugh at it, which shrinks it because it gets its energy from conflict. It finally flees the ship to the vacuum of space. The hard part for Kirk was getting the Klingons to believe him, but even his own crew members needed some convincing. Now Kirk's mission should be ours -- convince everyone that we are being played so we can chase out the hate.
Wonderful analogy! Let’s try it. T can’t stand humor.
Excellent comparison. A salient detail is that Kirk's own crew members needed convincing because the evil being had literally planted false information in their heads that made them outraged and bloodthirsty.
I'm a huge fan of the Gene Roddenberry future because there is hope. Peace and long life. 🖖
Live long and prosper (in spirit).
Another young white man trying to get in the door and claim his 15 minutes of fame and fortune in MAGA land. Karma will prevail.
His face doesn't reflect happiness. He may need to grow up!
I read Heather Cox Richardson’s column about Lady Liberty followed by your column. Our history of immigrant abuse is profound. It sickens me. Shirley and others like him light a flame of lies here, there and across the country, we as firefighters in this analogy, grapple with which to subdue first. Bannon’s wish to “burn it all down” has spurred more arsonists than I dreamed possible. Burned out? Not yet. Thanks for your level-headed reporting. I know one-on-one conversation is the best way to combat these lies, but in a decade, my deluded friends and family refuse to accept proven facts, no matter how presented. I no longer try. I concentrate on the Republican congressman from my state. I’m sure he will block me at some point even though I am not rude.
This is one of those areas where the Fox News trickle down effect is so prevalent: Most Americans, according to polls I see, are basically anti-immigrant. They say they're against open borders, but by being in favor of harsh restrictions, they're saying they are anti-immigrant, even if they won't admit it.
Nonsense actors like Shirley would have zero standing in a normal media environment not dominated by Fox, Sinclair, and now Weiss/Ellison/CBS, to name just a few.
This is what happens when the right wing controls the media narrative. Even people who should know better get swept up by the hysteria and disinformation.
No one should believe anything that comes from trump or his supporters. They not only do not deal in truth, they actively oppose it. Everything about them and from them is a lie.
Trump’s Nazi-style COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT denies childcare in Minnesota.
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/01/02/minnesota-child-care-funding-impact-fraud-nazi-collective-punishment/
Collective punishment penalizes a whole group for the acts of an individual suspected to be part of the group, even though most of the people hurt had nothing to do with the act.
It is considered a war crime. - Intl. Committee Of The Red Cross (ICRC)
Collective punishment includes sanctions against a group in retaliation for an act committed by an individual and targets people who bear no responsibility for having committed the act.
What is collective punishment? How did the Nazis use it againstJews in WWII? How does Netanyahu use collective punishment against families in Gaza? Understand the Collective Punishment playbook Trump and Republicans are using with this infographic.
It is his retribution toward any state that "harbors" people who dislike trump and his policies and work against them. He said his would be a reign of retribution and here's one example of many.
That JD Vance comment about him being a "great journalist" - he's no Walter Winchell or Cronkite - let alone a Woodward or Bernstein.
He just finds the tag of a story, puts his own right wing spin on it, and publishes. And from seeing him interviewed, he doesn't even have much brain and even less education.
Amen. He makes a lot of mouth noises and never actually says anything truthful or even interesting.
A certain ‘end justifies the means’ thinking is in play. Believing you stand for something important can give you ‘permission’ to lie, fabricate, cheat, and even kill others in order to advance a sacred cause. Said ‘cause’ can be out in the open, such as Christianity (the political one that masks racism, nationalism, misogyny, etc.) or submerged (like ethnic ‘cleansing’ or xenophobia). When these people so obviously disregard truth and justice, it is tempting to dismiss them as mentally ill kooks and maladapts. But they are not. They actually believe they are part of something big and radical and even inevitable that the rest of us will someday realize as they feel they do. That’s why they are dangerous. They can believe they are pioneers and heroes and agents of change, all evidence to the contrary.
He's an influencer looking for clicks. Period.
These “men” all need the kind of attitude adjustment my dad’s generation would dispense. They are candy ass little twats.
I've never hit another human (I suppose that's rare, but whatever), but I kind of would like to deliver a few roundhouses to some of these idiots.
Thank you! Excellent summary. The part about going to day cares during non-business hours and declaring "fraud" because there were no kids? That slays me.
Another important note in this story, Republicans in Minnesota worked with Nick Shirley make this story happen, even though they knew it was already being investigated and having the ability to actually do something about it. Yes, fraud needs to be investigated, but it’s a tiny fraction of people involved in it. I live in a neighborhood full of Somali people and businesses and most people are just trying to live their lives honestly and in peace. It’s awful to witness people disturb the peace to further their political agenda. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5668078-minnesota-welfare-fraud-walz/amp/