‘I won’t vote for any funding’ for DHS, ICE unless our demands are met: Sen. Blumenthal

A democratic senator is speaking out against ICE and doing so forcefully. I appreciate him doing this. Where is Chuck Schumer? At least he is not getting in the way of others trying to get the democrat’s message out to the people. Hugs

Interview With Georgia Fort:

Georgia Fort Makes It Plain “Journalism Is Not A Crime”

Episode 2 of “I Spent Three Days In Minneapolis!”

W. Kamau Bell Feb 08, 2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/wkamaubell/p/georgia-fort-makes-it-plain-and-says?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

(The above link is for the video interview at the top of this Substack page; 20 minutes and small change. -A.)

Happy Superbowling to all who celebrate.

It’s been less than 48 hours since I sent out the first episode of I Spent Three Days in Minneapolis. (Are these “episodes”? I don’t know what else to call them. They are more than interviews… Moments? Happenings? Witnessings?) The response from you all has been amazing and truly heartening. It is inspiring to think that me and a small crew turned all this around so quickly AND ALSO that it has found an audience. It really makes me proud. I can’t wait to share more, so leeeeeeeeet’s gooooooooooo!

I’m sending this today, because my subscribers don’t seem like the types of people who’d get upset having their Superbowl activities interrupted with an incredible conversation. One of the big “gets” that my producer Deshawn Plair chased down was this meet-up with three-time Emmy-winning, Twin Cities journalist Georgia Fort. Luckily, our film crew, Destiny and Kai, were already working on a project with Georgia, so they helped set this up.

And while I’m always down to talk to an independent Black journalist, this was extremely special. Georgia was only a few days removed from making international news. On January 30, Georgia Fort and my fellow ex-CNNer Don Lemon were arrested for the “crime” of reporting on a news story. Georgia and Don were covering the protest of a church where a pastor is being accused of being a member of I.C.E. (FYI, joining I.C.E. is what Jesus wouldn’t do.)

The Trumped up charges (literally TRUMPED UP) against Georgia and Don are for conspiracy(?) and for interfering with the church goers first amendment rights(??). (Yeah, suuuuuuuuure!) As much as I am mocking the anti-constitutional arrests, these are still FEDERAL charges. Two other people (both Black) were also arrested at the protest.

Let’s not forget that arrests like these are even bigger than our country’s already big need to defend the first amendment. These arrests are about punishing people who the administration simply doesn’t agree with, and more people than just the ones arrested are affected. In addition to being an award-winning independent Black journalist, Georgia is a mom, a wife, a daughter, a mentor to young Black journalists, and community member who cares. During our talk Georgia bravely admits to being terrified, but as she declares, “God did not give me a spirit of fear.”

“God did not give me a spirit of fear.” – journalist Georgia Fort

This interview was taped around 5pm on February 3, 2026. Georgia was kind enough to sit with me after she had already had a day filled with interviews. As always, shout out to Destiny and Kai for turning this around so quickly. Again, I hope you don’t mind me filling up your inbox.

Thanks again to The McKnight Foundation for partnering with me on this project.

WHO’S WITH ME?

Here’s the video I made the day I learned about the arrests.

I had no idea that I would be talking with Georgia only four days later,

@wkamaubell

W. Kamau Bell on Instagram: “I stand with @donlemonofficial, @b…

(snip-Support Minnesota info, tours info)

https://open.substack.com/pub/wkamaubell/p/georgia-fort-makes-it-plain-and-says?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

2 MS Now clips on the administrations racism / ICE and attempts to whitewash history to remove words like racist. The goal is to erase anything that makes white people look bad.

ICE Demoralized And “Antifa Leader” Exposed | Ken Klippenstein | TMR

Short clips from MS Now on tRump’s racism

The video below details some of the racist attempts to purge black people from positions of authority and to erase the racist history of attacks on black people over time. The video also explains how tRump ordered the agencies of his government to remove black hoildays from the list of free entry days at national parks and instead replaced them with his birthday. This is simply the whitewashing of history, the removing of evidence of the massive racism / damage done to black people in the past, and the purification of the US as a white ethnostate. Just look how tRump refers to black journolists. Hugs

Short clips from MS Now on ICE actions and Stephen Miller

At the end of this clip the guest describes the conditions the kids are being held under in these for profit prisons. Horrible food, prison like conditions which means no freedom of movement, and other things. Remember the boy and his father are here legally like so many others scooped up by these racist ICE goon Gestapo gang thugs and the tRump admin. Hugs

The 2 year old got her hand cut during the attack on him. The father signed his deportation order because he worried they would keep coming back after his daughter and wanted to spare her that. The racists got what they wanted. The video also describes how ICE was arresting people, detaining them, and then releasing them in other parts of the country. Hugs

Three clips from The Majority Report dealing with ICE and AOC on Dem leaders funding ICE

Listen to tRump’s crazy ranting in the video below and it is so bizarre. He claims he built the military and so many crazy things I am stunned that this person is the US president. Hugs

Oregon immigration attorney intervenes as ICE agents attempt to arrest asylum seeker

Trigger warning. This is difficult to watch. ICE threatens a woman who stands up to them and threatens her. Lots of yelling and swearing.

An immigration attorney goes after ICE gang Gestapo thugs who pretend they know the laws and make claims that the lawyer shoots down with ease. However at the start one of the gang thugs reacts angrily and shoves her, then gets in her face to threaten her claiming she shoved him. She told him she was an attorney which seemed to give him pause even though he ran his mouth at her making threats to detain her or take her down, which is a euphemism for a beating. Hugs

People Are Fed Up With ICE’s Crimes

So Get A Load Of This, And

check to make sure your state isn’t trying to do the same thing. It’s insulting that ours would think we don’t know better, but this rings like some sort of ALEC type of a thing; those generally go national, or at least all red states. Anyway:

HCR5027: Proposing to amend article 1 of the constitution of the state of Kansas by adding a new section establishing a system of electing the governor and the lieutenant governor by creating a state electoral college whereby each state senatorial district would have a vote in selection of the governor and the lieutenant governor.

Current Status: In Committee (House)

=============================

And from my State oversight newsletter:

Top Stories of the Day

The House Elections Committee wants to elect Governor with an Electoral College

Most days, I rely on BillBee and other monitoring tools to flag the most important activities of the prior day and use those to substantially prepare this newsletter. Yesterday’s action, though, goes beyond anything we’ve tracked in two years of covering Kansas politics.

HCR 5027 proposes replacing the direct election of Kansas Governor and Lieutenant Governor with an electoral college. Under this system, voters in each of the 40 state senate districts would effectively be choosing an elector…not a governor. Those 40 electors would then cast the actual votes for our state’s top executive office.

If that sounds familiar, it’s modeled on how we elect the President. But with one critical difference: each senate district’s elector would carry equal weight, regardless of population. (It’s also unconstitutional.)

Why That Matters

Kansas senate districts vary significantly in population density. Rural western Kansas districts and suburban Johnson County districts each get one elector under this proposal, despite representing vastly different numbers of voters. This is intentional.

The proposal also includes a failsafe for the majority party: if no candidate pair wins 21 electoral votes, the Legislature elects the governor in a joint session, with each legislator casting one vote. Given the current supermajority dynamics in Topeka, this framework would likely cement one-party control of the governor’s mansion for a generation—regardless of statewide popular vote totals.

The Fine Print

You won’t find much about HCR 5027 on the Legislature’s website yet. At the time of this writing, the draft language appears only on page 1,709 of the House daily journal. Here’s the full text:

Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Kansas, two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members elected (or appointed) and qualified to the Senate concurring therein:
Section 1. The following proposition to amend the constitution of the state of Kansas shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the state for their approval or rejection: Article 1 of the constitution of the state of Kansas is hereby amended by adding a new section to read as follows:”
§ 17. Electoral college for governor and lieutenant governor.(a) The governor and the lieutenant governor shall be elected by an electoral college consisting of one elector from each state senate district, for a total of 40 electors.(b) In each state senate district, the candidate pair for governor and lieutenant governor receiving the highest number of votes shall receive such district’s elector, who shall be pledged to vote for governor and lieutenant governor.(c) The candidate pair receiving a majority of the electoral votes which shall be at least 21 votes shall be elected governor and lieutenant governor. If none of the pairs receives a majority, the legislature shall elect the governor and lieutenant governor in a joint session from among the two pairs receiving the highest number of electoral votes. Each member of the legislature having one vote and a majority shall be required to elect the governor and lieutenant governor.(d) Electors shall be qualified voters of Kansas, residents of their respective senate districts and nominated in advance by political parties or independent candidate pairs in accordance with law. Electors shall meet and cast votes as prescribed by law. Any elector voting contrary to their pledge shall be subject to penalties as provided by law.(e) The legislature shall enact laws to implement this section, including procedures for certification, meetings of electors, handling of ties or vacancies and enforcement.” Kansas House Committee on Elections

Constitutional Questions

As a constitutional amendment, HCR 5027 would need two-thirds approval from both chambers before appearing on a statewide ballot. Voters would then decide.

But even if passed through that process, the proposal may face legal challenges. Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution guarantees states a “Republican Form of Government”—language the Supreme Court has historically avoided interpreting, but which scholars argue requires some baseline of representative democracy. Whether an electoral college that can override the popular vote meets that standard is an open question.

There’s also the matter of the Kansas Constitution’s own Bill of Rights, Section 1: “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Courts have historically read such provisions as foundational to equal voting power.

Part of a Pattern

HCR 5027 doesn’t exist in isolation. This session has seen an unprecedented wave of election-related legislation, much of it now law:

Already signed:

SB 4: Advance ballots must arrive by 7 p.m. Election Day (no more postmark grace period)
SB 5: Blocks federal election funds without legislative approval
HB 2020: Requires DMV to send quarterly lists of noncitizen license holders to election officials
HB 2106: Bans out-of-state contributions to Kansas constitutional amendment campaigns
SB 105: Governor must pick replacements for U.S. Senate, state treasurer, and insurance commissioner from a three-name list approved by a new legislative committee

Moving through the House:

HB 2438: Limits online voter registration to .gov websitesHB 2452: Move local elections to even-numbered yearsHB 2525: Bans remote drop boxes for advance ballots

And that’s before counting the 23 other bills referred to the House Elections Committee this year alone.

What Happens Next

HCR 5027 is currently in the House Elections Committee. As a constitutional amendment, it faces a higher procedural bar than ordinary legislation, but in a supermajority environment that bar is not insurmountable.

We’ll be watching.