Jonathan P. Baird

Among the strange stories happening now is the story of the FBI seizing ballots in Fulton County Georgia from the 2020 presidential race. Why would the FBI be seizing these ballots now? That race is long over and the results were audited three times. It was a clean election but Donald Trump has said, “People will soon be prosecuted for what they did”.

That was the election where Trump told the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger “to find me 11,780 votes”. Fulton County prosecutors indicted Trump along with 18 co-defendants for racketeering and fraud. His ascension to the presidency in 2024 allowed him to escape justice but for Trump the Georgia loss became a mad obsession. Contrary to all evidence, he has continued to believe that he was cheated. He has expressed regret that he didn’t federalize the National Guard to seize voting machines in 2020.

While this could be looked at as lunacy because the 2020 presidential term is over and what difference does it all make, I think that is the wrong way to view the seizure of the over 700 boxes of certified votes. The real question is what it means for the 2026 mid-term election and the 2028 election.

With Republicans spectacularly losing races even in red states. Trump is making a concerted multi-pronged effort to insure Republicans will not lose. He has called on Republicans to “take over the voting in at least 15 places” in advance of the next election. He has said elections should be “nationalized”. He has also said the U.S. shouldn’t hold a mid-term election this year because Republicans risk losing their majorities in the House and Senate.

Lost is the constitutional understanding that the President has no power over elections. States control elections. It is right there in the Constitution, Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1, the elections clause.

It is hard to evaluate the appropriate level of paranoia to have about Trump election interference but some facts are certain. Trump is very afraid of losing the House and Senate in 2026 because of his unpopularity. That is an outcome he wants to avoid at all costs because of the certainty of public investigation into his crimes and the likelihood of a renewed impeachment effort. He wants to keep people from voting so he can maintain unrestrained power. He also wants to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of any election where he or Republican candidates lose.

Key to the Trump effort is voter suppression. Voter suppression can take many forms. It is about creating roadblocks so that voters who might be likely to vote against him or Republicans are not able to vote. I thought it was telling when Attorney General Pam Bondi said she would remove ICE and Border Patrol from Minnesota if the state would agree to hand over its voter rolls. That has little to do with immigration.

Voter rolls include identifying information like driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers. It is private information that is maintained by top election officials in each state. The Trump regime has been trying to gain access to state voter data.

The federal government has sued more than 20 states and Washington DC for not complying with the data request. There has been no legitimate reason given to acquire this information. They are an encroachment on state’s power to run elections as outlined in the Constitution. However 11 red states have passed along full statewide voter registration lists to the feds.

I think the Trump regime wants the data so they can purge voters from the rolls if they think these voters will vote for Democrats. The purged voters would be mostly African American and women who have changed their names. Just last week Trump was baselessly railing about voter corruption in Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta, cities with large African American concentrations that always vote against him. He equates corruption with people who vote Democratic.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the SAVE Act (short for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) which passed the House by a 218-213 margin. The name is maximally Orwellian. The SAVE act would require people to present a valid U.S, passport or birth certificate when registering to vote. The proposal has drawn concern for women who changed their name after marriage. Name discrepancies could lead to significant voter disqualification.

The SAVE Act would likely prevent millions from voting. An estimated 21 million Americans do not have documents proving their citizenship readily available and 2.6 million lack any form of government-issued photo ID. Many of the disenfranchised would be African American, Latino. Native American, students and low income people. The SAVE Act has been called Jim Crow 2.0. The future of the SAVE Act remains uncertain in the Senate.

Trump has threatened to impose a ban on mail-in voting. He routinely alleges voter fraud with absolutely minimal basis. It is hard not to wonder if he will use ICE or the military (via the Insurrection Act) to intimidate people from voting. Steve Bannon has talked about ICE surrounding the polls.

No one knows for sure whether Trump will try and cancel elections. I am not saying it is impossible but it is a mistake to make that assumption. They are throwing up voting barriers, minor and major, and I haven’t even mentioned their gerrymandering. They will have post-election schemes too.

We must not give the regime powers it doesn’t have. They must be defeated at the polls and by mass popular rejection. Just as happened in Minneapolis, democracy can beat them back and people of all political stripes must vote like their lives depend on it. Those concentration camps they are building are not just for immigrants.

An old friend passed along this explanation of Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl and I wanted to share it. This was written by Karrie Emmanuel Cassasquillo.

Bad Bunny Super Bowl 2026

Last night’s halftime show was amazing. If you understood it, you understood it. And if you didn’t… I took the time to summarize it, because the amount of hate, misinformation, and division over a damn 15-minute performance is honestly ridiculous.

Bad Bunny opens in a massive sugarcane field. For those that don’t know, sugarcane was once one of Puerto Rico’s biggest economic drivers. It represents labor, history, survival. If you want the deep dive, Google it… because it matters.

As he walks through the fields you see workers, kiosks, piragua stands, domino players, nail tech hustle, food stands… everyday Puerto Rican life. Not glamorized. Just real. Because that hustle is part of our DNA.

Then he passes two Puerto Rican boxing champions, Xander Zayas and Emiliano Vargas, a reminder that boxing has always been a source of pride for the island.

Next thing you know he’s on top of a classic casita straight out of el campo singing some reggaeton bangers. Are they the most proper songs? No 😂 But he still had the tact to censor the bad words even though half the audience wouldn’t have known the difference anyway.

And let’s talk reggaeton for a second. That genre was born in the barrios and caseríos. It wasn’t always accepted. It was criticized before it went global. So when he says:
“Estás escuchando música de Puerto Rico, de los barrios, de los caseríos.”
That means:
“You’re listening to music from Puerto Rico. From the neighborhoods. From the housing projects.”
Translation? This global sound came from us.

Then comes the violin intro to Monaco and he introduces himself by his full name:
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.
Not Bad Bunny. Benito.
And he says:
“If I’m here today at the Super Bowl it’s because I never stopped believing in myself… and you should believe in yourself too. You’re worth more than you think.”
Goosebumps.

From there we transition into what looks like a full Puerto Rican wedding. And if you’ve ever been to one, you KNOW it’s basically a family reunion with louder music and better outfits.

Enter Lady Gaga in a light blue dress with a red flower, a subtle nod to the original colors of the Puerto Rican flag, singing “Die With a Smile.” A song about love, about choosing your person no matter what. But with a salsa twist and a live band… because nothing says celebration like live horns and percussion.

Benito says:
“Mientras uno está vivo, uno debe amar lo más que pueda.”
“While we’re alive, we should love as much as we possibly can.”

Then…
“Baila sin miedo, ama sin miedo.”
“Dance without fear. Love without fear.”

Kids dancing. Adults dancing. Just joy everywhere. At one point there’s even a little boy knocked out across three chairs… and every Latino watching laughed because we have ALL been that kid at the family party.
Then the shift.

Nuevayol.
New York.

La Marqueta. Corner store. Barbershop. People dancing in the streets. A love letter to the Puerto Rican diaspora and the communities that built culture far from the island.

He says:
“San Francisco, disfruta… que esto es por un momento solamente.”
“Enjoy this moment… because it won’t last forever.”

Then a cameo from legendary Toñita handing him a shot. If you know Caribbean Social Club in East Harlem, you know that’s real community history.

One of the most powerful moments? A family watching Benito on TV holding his Grammy… and then he walks into the scene and hands that Grammy to his younger self.

“Siempre cree en ti.”
“Always believe in yourself.”
Dream → reality.

Then comes another icon… Ricky Martin.
Straight into “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii,” touching on themes of identity and cultural preservation before exploding into “El Apagón.”

And if you know Puerto Rico, you know an apagón is more than a blackout. It’s one of the island’s biggest ongoing struggles. But what happens when the lights go out?

People come outside.
Neighbors connect.
Music finds a way.

Resilience.

Out comes the massive Puerto Rican flag… pride on full display.
Then the party ramps all the way up.
“Todos quieren ser Latinos pero les falta sazón!!”

Everybody wants to be Latino… but the seasoning is missing 😏
Suddenly flags from North, Central, and South America flood the field. As flags from every corner of North, Central, and South America flooded the field, the stadium lit up with one message across the screen: The only thing more powerful than hate is love. And honestly… that said everything.

He says God bless America… names countries across the continent… ends with:
“Y mi patria… Puerto Rico.”
My homeland.
Then a football that reads:
“Together we are America.”
And just when you think it can’t get bigger, he closes with “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” and turns the entire stadium into one giant celebration.

Listen…
The biggest stage in America had a jíbaro from Puerto Rico standing on it with class.

He brought history.
He brought struggle.
He brought pride.
He brought resilience.
He brought unity.

An American halftime show spoken largely in Spanish… showing that Puerto Rican history IS American history.

Connected to Latin America.
Connected to the diaspora.
Connected to each other.
Culture isn’t something you hide.
It’s something you carry.

Chest all the way out with pride last night.
Puerto Rico está bien cabrón.
Acho… PR es otra cosa. 🇵🇷🔥

-Karrie Emmanuel Cassasquillo

February is Black history month. This year is actually the 100th anniversary of the celebration of Black history. It was started in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson, the second African-American to earn a doctorate in history from Harvard University (after W.E. B. DuBois).

Woodson originally promoted African-American history because American schools had systemically erased Black contributions from history. Textbooks ignored Black achievements or taught lies about Black people . “Lost cause” mythology from Confederacy sympathizers sought to justify segregation and advocated the racist ideology that Black people were inferior and that slavery had been benevolent.

James Baldwin described this reality:

“When I was growing up, I was taught in American history books that Africa had no history and neither did I. That I was a savage about whom the less said the better, who had been saved by Europe and brought to America. And, of course, I believed it. I didn’t have much choice, those were the only books there were.”

The origin of Black history celebration coincides with a period in American history referred to as the nadir of U.S. history. It was the lowest point in American race relations. After the death of Reconstruction, white supremacy dominated American life from 1890 to 1940. Voter suppression, Jim Crow segregation, lynchings, the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan and the proliferation of Confederate statutes reinforced white dominance and rule.

Now in 2026, we face a second nadir. The powers-that-be are again attempting to erase Black history. Whether it is removing slavery exhibits from museums, ending DEI programs or disenfranchising voters, the white power structure has been turning the clock backwards in the service of white supremacy. The National Park Service just removed language from visitor brochures at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson Mississippi that described the man who killed civil rights leader Medgar Evers as a racist.

The retrenchment could not be more apparent. Trump’s posting dehumanized videos of the Obamas as apes, calling Somalis “garbage” and talking about Haitians eating dogs and cats speaks volumes.

All the gains made from the civil rights movement in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s are endangered. Rights gained are being lost. This was certainly true after Reconstruction and it is true now. As a society, we have been going backwards.

This coming term the U.S. Supreme Court stands poised to eviscerate the remaining parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2013, Chief Justice John Roberts, on behalf of the conservative majority, invalidated Section 5 of the statute which required states with histories of racist voter suppression to “pre-clear” changes to the election laws with the Department of Justice. It looks like the Court may polish off Section 2 which has barred state and local governments from implementing policies that discriminate against minority voters.

Killing the Voting Rights Act would be a catastrophe. That has been a long-time goal of the conservative legal movement. It would represent a massive rollback of rights achieved at great cost by the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.

The Trump regime has further signaled their racist intentions by the use of Executive Orders targeting the Smithsonian for “Improper ideology” and reviving so-called “patriotic education” that excises and sanitizes Black history.

They also have sought to reverse the removal of Confederate monuments. Trump has described Confederate monuments as “beautiful” and he has argued that taking down the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee would be “foolish” and “a complete desecration”.

Lee is venerated as a general even though his military actions were traitorous to the United States. Less remembered is his role as an enslaver. Although he owned few slaves, he came to manage nearly 200 as the executor of his father-in-law’s estate. These individuals were supposed to be freed within five years of his father-in-law’s death. But Lee didn’t free them. He leased them out for profit maintaining a position as de facto slave owner.

One slave, Wesley Norris, along with two others, tried to escape to freedom in 1859. Lee hired a local law enforcement officer who caught up with the three before they crossed into the free state of Pennsylvania. Returned to Virginia, Lee ordered the three be tied to a post, stripped to the waist and whipped. Norris got 20 lashes, the others got 50. Lee ordered the estate’s overseer to wash the bleeding backs of the enslaved with salt water, to add to their agony. As further punishment, the three were separated from their families and sent to work away from their homes.

The New York Daily Tribune reported Norris’s account of these events. He later wrote about it in 1866 for the National Anti-Slavery Standard. Historian Elizabeth Brown Pryor who wrote a 2007 biography of Lee confirmed Norris’s account. Lee merits no monument nor do other Confederates.

Frederick Douglass wrote:

“Monuments to the “lost cause” will prove monuments of folly, both with memories of a wicked rebellion which they must necessarily perpetuate, and in the failure to accomplish the particular purpose had in view by those who build them. It is a needless record of stupidity and wrong.”

Even though it is a seesaw struggle to achieve genuine multi-racial democracy and we face the second nadir, I think we can appreciate that we are living through the last hurrah of white supremacy, an entirely discredited ideology. This Black history month, we can feel good about that.