Tyranny Is Here
The Social Contract Community Issue
This is The Social Contract Community Issue, our free weekly edition built by and for the readers of The Social Contract. If you have something to share with the community, we’d love to hear from you. Please send it our way at thesocialcontractwithjoewalsh@gmail.com. Thank you!
One quick message for you tonight: If the fascist, un-American bullshit that ICE is engaged in on the streets of America right now doesn’t motivate you to vote against EVERY Republican on the ballot this year, then nothing will. And you will deserve living under a fascist boot.
But remember: Donald Trump has a plan for the midterms, and ICE is a big part of it. He wants violence on our streets this year, because he thinks it will help him in the midterms—and also give him a pretext to attempt to “cancel” the election. So he’s pulled all guardrails off his masked thugs and given them the green light to be as abusive and cruel as possible, in the hopes that they’ll incite the American people to violence. That’s Trump’s plan.
Welcome to 2026.
EVERY DAY I’M FIGHTING THIS FASCIST ADMINISTRATION—AND I WON’T STOP.
I’M PROUDLY INDEPENDENT, WITH NO CORPORATE DONORS, NO INSTITUTIONAL BACKERS, NO DARK MONEY, NO BILLIONAIRES. SO I COULD USE YOUR HELP.
PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A PAID SUBSCRIBER TO HELP MY SMALL, FIERCELY PRO-DEMOCRACY TEAM KEEP MY VOICE OUT THERE. THANK YOU!
Here’s what some of you are thinking about this week…
Hey Joe. Believe it or not, The Social Contract isn’t my only Substack subscription. And when I came across this, I immediately thought of you and the group called Leaving MAGA. And honestly, I don’t know if it would penetrate with your average MAGA, because I’m not sure I know any true believers. But if it helps get somebody off the fence, it’s well worth my time to put it out there.
A Letter to the Trump Voter with Doubts
Rosie is an interesting sort. And she takes the deep dives that most of us don’t have the time to take. Make of it what you will. —James B.
You are bringing me to tears, man. Years ago, when you were on right-wing radio, I listened to you. I hated every word you said. To think that now I am looking to you for comfort!
I am fighting, Joe. I am fighting as best I can. No one is coming to save us but ourselves. I don’t believe in a higher power, Joe, but God bless you. You are doing more than your fair share of making up for your past.
Thanks, Joe! —Marcelo G.
People just need to remember the reason Trump pardoned the J6rs was because he was actually pardoning himself. If the whole thing had nothing to do with him, he wouldn’t have cared at all. To him, part of his “innocence” MUST be reflected through them being innocent.
Regarding the Minneapolis killing, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but things are feeling a little like a slow, silent civil war—declared by MAGA—is already underway, with an assist from the conservatives on the Supreme Court.
They ignore lower courts (the law) and 100% demonize the left at every opportunity, seemingly not even feeling that someone on the left has a value of life itself. This is what can happen from decades of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.
Lastly, maybe JD Vance was right about “America’s Hitler”—only it’s not Trump, it’s him.
For the record, I’m an Independent and somewhat conservative myself. —Stephen M.
Proud of the continued work you are doing to fight the horrors of this regime. Keep up the great work. I would add the American people as heroes, as they continue to show up at protests across the country. Some of the videos I see as they confront ICE are very inspiring.
As we move forward, I would like to see a bipartisan ticket in 2028. Either you, Liz Cheney, or the lieutenant governor in Georgia, who changed his party affiliation, would make a great addition to the ticket. —Bob M.
I say there still is an American “We,” and that we should reclaim the “We.” Ways to do this are here. —Joe S.
The shooting of the woman is a tragedy all the way around. We need to stop demonizing ICE and support their lawful police activity. People can protest, but they should not impede ICE from doing their jobs in getting criminals off our streets.
ICE is doing what needs to be done to take criminals off our street and have some accountability to illegal immigration. No other nation on earth would have allowed what the Biden Administration allowed, with illegals wandering around without regulation and accountability. —Dean Z.
Dean— Thanks for writing. I ask you to please read on and tell me if all of these people are criminals…or illegal immigrants…or immigrants at all. ICE are not police. Their authority with regard to U.S. citizens is extremely limited, and additionally, they are constrained by the 4th Amendment as well as DHS’s own policies. Anything beyond that is illegal and a violation of the Constitution. The behavior of many ICE agents is an affront to American law enforcement, which is, by and large, conducted lawfully and professionally.
Do you believe the officers of any law enforcement agency in a free country should have “absolute immunity,” as JD Vance has said ICE agents have? Do you agree that reducing the amount of training these masked, heavily armed agents receive was wise? Do you feel that an agent calling a woman he just shot three times in the head a “fucking bitch” is professional behavior? There are very good reasons we are fighting this egregious federal overreach. —Joe
I believe the cruelty of the Trump Administration will ultimately help defeat MAGA. Most Americans are not cruel. We are spreading the word about ICE’s cruel and unlawful behavior here every week. Please do the same with your own networks, and share any stories and videos you find with us.
To help make a difference in a tangible way, please support PAXIS, a “know-your-rights” app designed to provide help to immigrants and allies anywhere—immediately—when ICE shows up.
FIGHTING BACK
Hey, I want to hear from you! Got some feedback to share? Want to send us a 600+-word op-ed? How about a video clip on how we can mend our frayed social contract? Want to appear with Joe on Substack Live? Just need to vent? Send it our way!
Email our editor at TheSocialContractwithJoeWalsh@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
ISIS was also masked, it hard to tell the difference between ICE and ISIS.
Dear Joe,
Maybe you have posted all those videos of ICE terrorizing people in one email before, but I don't remember. I just watched all of them and I can barely breathe. I dare anyone to watch them all of them, one after another as I did, and not be horrified.
My husband is a naturalized U.S. citizen and his skin is darker than mine. I never feared for him before, but I do now, despite living in a very blue area of Northern VA.
I contributed to PAXIS on day one. I will continue to protest in Washington and call my electeds to demand that they act NOW to stop ICE from their thuggish, Nazi-like actions, and to demand that Kristi Noem be removed.
JOE, thank you for keeping this front and center. You may be a new Democrat who may be more "conservative" than most, as you claim, but that is just fine with us. We welcome you.