Take Heart! February 2, 2026 I attended a thing last week that confirmed my high hopes. Democrats have a terrific “bench” for 2028 and — in the crucial meantime — a really good shot at taking back the House and Senate. Tomorrow, I hope to get into some specifics, but while I pull that together . . . WHAT PRESIDENTS SHOULD BE LIKE Remember civility? Comity? Comedy? Barack Obama and John McCain modeled the kind of behavior we’d want our kids — and the world — to see (2½ minutes). It’s going to take a while, but we’re gonna get back to that. TAKE HEART! “They want us to lose hope, but we won’t,” argues Ben Meiselas, citing everything from our big Texas win Saturday . . . picking up a deep-red Senate seat by 14 points in a district Trump won by 17 — a 31-point swing (in a race of which Trump claimed to be totally unaware, despite having endorsed the loser three times) . . . to the effective shutdown of the Kennedy Center for “at least two years after his attempt to co-opt it completely failed. Performers canceled. Staff quit. Audiences stopped showing up. Authoritarianism doesn’t mix well with culture, and that failure matters.” Read it and be buoyed. SO ORDERED Marie B.: “Have you read this? It should be read out loud in every classroom in America.” It should indeed: Before the Court is the petition of asylum seeker Adrian Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son for protection of the Great Writ of habeas corpus. They seek nothing more than some modicum of due process and the rule of law. The case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children. This Court and others regularly send undocumented people to prison and orders them deported but do so by proper legal procedures. Apparent also is the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence. Thirty-three-year-old Thomas Jefferson enumerated grievances against a would-be authoritarian king over our nascent nation. Among others were: “He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People.” “He has excited domestic Insurrection among us.” “For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us.” “He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our Legislatures.” “We the people” are hearing echoes of that history. And then there is that pesky inconvenience called the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and persons or things to be seized. Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer. Accordingly, the Court finds that the Constitution of these United States trumps this administration’s detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son, L.C.R. The Great Writ and release from detention are GRANTED pursuant to the attached Judgment. Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned. Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane United States immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place. Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: “Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?” “A republic, if you can keep it.” With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 31st day of January, 2026. Fred Biery UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FINALLY . . . . . . On the off chance you haven’t seen these 6 minutes from Saturday Night Live, have fun! Here’s to all our Trump friends, in the hope that we can find “off ramps” for every single one of them; or at least the large majority (I believe), like Carl, who are fine folks . . . just reluctant to see the Trump family, Stephen Miller, et al, for who they really are.