With each passing day, it seems the Trump administration is dropping the pretense that its immigration and deportation policies are all about law and order. The arrests of Marcelo Gomes da Silva and countless other non-violent immigrants have put that bogus argument to rest. Other obnoxious policy pronouncements (such as the latest anti-Harvard move and Trump’s travel ban) only reinforces the obvious: this is flat-out anti-immigration ideology at work. … But have you noticed how Dems are drifting more towards an outright opposition to all deportations, sometimes acting crazily in the process? The progressive wing of the party is successfully re-asserting itself — such as by demanding Gov. Maura Healey get more, well, progressive-like in her opposition to Trump – and you’re left with the general impression that the party is once again embracing a flat-out pro-immigration, identity politics-driven ideology. … The bottom line to it all: the ideological scorpions in the bottle are back at it.

Btw: Is there such a thing as a moderate position on immigration? I can’t speak for others, but my answer is, yes, there is a moderate middle. Here goes: Yours truly favors A.) closing the Mexican-U.S. border (which Trump has done – and which Biden pathetically failed to do) B.) arresting and deporting illegal-immigrant criminals and gang members (a policy Trump has aggressively expanded – and which Biden actually did rather well). C.) granting amnesty to most illegal immigrants because mass deportations are both cruel and unrealistic D.) Passing tough, comprehensive immigration reform that will make both conservatives and progressives yelp. … Well, at least moderates can dream, right?

The Globe has a good story on all the different ways the Trump administration’s actions are going to hit the Massachusetts economy hard. I particularly liked the following quote from Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at Flybridge Capital, a Boston VC firm: “The Commonwealth’s business model is at risk.” … I know what Jeff is talking about. But his quote still got me to thinking: Is there such a thing as a state business model, in terms of actually planning out a specific strategy for an economy? And can a state business model be easily exchanged for another one? Answers to both: Of course not. We don’t live in command economy. There are no state Five Year Plans. There was never any government or secret capitalist cabal that decided, for instance, to wipe out Digital Equipment and Wang in favor of Biogen and Sanofi etc. Or wiping out our once mighty big local banks, like Bank of Boston, Shawmut and Fleet, in favor of BofA, TD Bank, Citizens, etc. It all just sort happened, for good and bad.

But here’s the thing: government may be capable of inflicting great economic harm on a region (such as Boston’s destruction of the old West End, suburban towns’ opposition to badly needed new housing, or Trump 2.0’s gutting of the NIH) yet it can greatly help an economy by creating a sound business environment, via wise tax, regulatory, education and infrastructure policies, and state leaders better start thinking along these lines right now. Because we’re going to need wise and better business policies if Trump 2.0 prevails, as the Globe piece makes abundantly and depressingly clear.

Attention military history buffs: Ukraine’s bold and clever drone strikes on Russian airbases exposed how vulnerable U.S. military bases are to similar attacks, experts agree. But the U.S. really didn’t need Ukraine to prove the point about the effectiveness of cheap weapon systems in the hands of scrappy underdogs. The Houthis just taught the U.S. Navy a hard lesson or two on that score, the WSJ reports. It’s a pretty amazing David-vs-Goliath story – and we were Goliath.

Whenever I hear ‘advocates’ and government officials tinkering with word usage to advance a political/policy cause, George Orwell’s ‘meaningless words’ warning jumps to mind. … The “millionaires’ tax” is not the “Fair Share” tax, folks, despite what surtax proponents and government officials tell the Globe. … When you think about it, calling it the “millionaires’ tax” is probably why the referendum passed in their first place. It was a pithy, down-to-earth way to describe a tax on those making at least 10 times more than the median household income in Mass.

The Atlantic’s David Frum interviews former Washington Post and Boston Globe editor Marty Baron, who, after the obligatory discussion about Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos, etc., makes some excellent points about how the traditional media has lost touch with large swaths of the American public, thanks partly to ‘ideological rigidity’ and too many journalists sharing similar backgrounds. Some sample quotes:  

“I don’t disagree with you that there has been a certain ideological rigidity within newsrooms and unwillingness to recognize nuance, a tendency on the part of, particularly, the younger generation, I think, to divide the world into victims and victimizers, oppressors and the oppressed, and basically see the world without a nuance, see it through sort of a binary separation. …

“I think that the unwillingness to sort of recognize nuances has hurt our credibility with the general public. That’s where I think it’s done real damage, is that it has contributed to the decline in confidence in major news institutions. And that’s a perilous place to be.”

And he later laments “how sorely disconnected we are from so much of what is happening in the country, and I think that’s something that definitely needs to be corrected, and corrected quickly. It’s cause for a lot of self-reflection on the part of all of us who are in the media, and we need to make sure that that doesn’t continue.”

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Moderna Inc. – and it isn’t a pretty picture for the Cambridge company that only a few years was hailed as a world hero for developing a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. Today? It’s been kicked to the curb by Wall Street investors, with its share price plummeting from a high of $484 in 2021 to around $27 today. The main causes: a changing regulatory environment for vaccines (read: RFK Jr.) and a failure to diversify its products.

Update – 6.10.25 – From the Globe: “‘People inside Moderna are afraid’: As the anti-vaccine climate intensifies, a big local firm has much to lose.”

Re my post yesterday on the odd UNH survey showing a dramatic plunge in Gov. Healey’s poll numbers: I love Jon Keller’s response to the findings: “(P)art of Healey’s problem may be that it’s just a crappy time to be an incumbent. Her sworn enemy, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte, is doing no better, with an identical 49% approval rating and disapproval that’s up seven points since she took office this winter.”

It really is a crappy time. People are just tired of the same old same old. I know I am. Neither party seems to get it.

I’d like to see what other polls show before attributing too much to the latest UNH survey that suggests Gov. Maura Healey’s re-election bid is more shaky than thought. The UNH survey of Mass. residents found that only 49 percent of respondents thought Healey “deserves to be reelected,” according to the Herald … That’s at odds with other recent surveys showing Healey’s approval ratings in the 60 percent range. … The UNH survey results definitely ring true when it comes to the top concerns of residents – housing, immigration and general cost-of-living. 

The jig is up, Massachusetts. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has found us out. We’re all sanctuary-jurisdiction sinners despite Gov. Maura Healey’s repeated assertions that we’re not. … How did Kristi find out? Did Hampden County rat us out?  … The Herald and Universal Hub have more on the new Scarlet S on our foreheads.

I agree with the Globe’s Shirley Leung: Something feels different about the latest Demoulas family battle over control of the popular Market Basket supermarket chain. It doesn’t seem as simple as the dramatic power struggle 11 years ago between Bad Arthur and Good Arthur. Now you have siblings versus sibling – with Good Arthur once again at the center of controversy. … Maybe, just maybe, Good Arthur is also Pain-In-The-Neck Arthur? That’s one of the impressions I get reading this BBJ piece by Grant Welker, who snagged an interview with a company director, Steve Collins, who sounds genuinely frustrated with Good Arthur’s apparent go-it-alone, headstrong leadership style. My hunch says there will be no heroes in this latest round of the Demoulas family feud. …. Back to Shirley’s excellent piece: money and family succession are ultimately at the heart of this battle. You can bet on it. … The Globe’s Jon Chesto has more on the depressing family soap opera.

Update – Some shoppers are vowing a repeat of the 2014 MB boycotts in support of Good Arthur, the Globe reports.

Update II – 5.30.25 — UMass Lowell business professor Scott Latham tells the BBJ that this time is indeed different. “From what I can tell, this is not going to end well for Artie T.,” Lantham says. “He’s not in an ownership position that has leverage. As far as a repeat of 2014? Not a chance.”

Update III — 5.30.25 – Even Howie Carr is chiming in: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s my position on the latest family struggles involving Market Basket. I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong in this new saga in the ongoing Demoulas family feud. My only wish is that Market Basket remain what it is today – the best, most affordable supermarket chain.”