Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
robschmidt.bsky.social
Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
@robschmidt.bsky.social
Freelance writer focused on Native American, social justice, and pop culture issues; publisher of Blue Corn Comics; host of Creative Spirit Screenwriters
Pinned
A new graphic novel from Blue Corn Comics--coming in 2026.
"Five Native American men being held in maximum security at Rhode Island’s Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston claim state prison officials have repeatedly denied their ability to practice their religion." rhodeislandcurrent.com/2026/02/13/a...
ACLU files another lawsuit over denial of Native American prisoners’ religious rights at ACI • Rhode Island Current
Five Native American men in Rhode Island’s maximum-security prison are suing state corrections officials, alleging repeated denials of their requests to hold traditional religious ceremonies.
rhodeislandcurrent.com
February 15, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Calling Dems' minimal demands "unreasonable," Homan:
- says racial profiling is "just not occurring," contrary to many videos everyone has seen
- lies about "assaults" against officers to justify masks
- says "they all have placards" about what agency they're working for, suggesting that's enough
Homan: "When they say 'stop racial profiling' -- that's just not occurring. ICE will briefly detain and question somebody based on reasonable suspicion. It has nothing to do with racial profiling."
February 15, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
"Reasonable Suspicion"
February 15, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Many people in South Africa, where Elon is from, died to create a genuinely multiracial polity. They were killed by people who thought like Elon.

The people who thought like Elon also lost. Seems their “common culture” of white supremacy wasn’t enough.

bsky.app/profile/alan...
1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.
February 15, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
This is your regular reminder that the idea that Christianity is a thing uniform beliefs that everyone within “Western Civilization” believed and agreed on is a fiction that just ignores centuries of Christians killing each other and fighting literal wars over their different beliefs.
The Rubio speech really is appalling, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should.

www.state.gov/releases/off...
February 15, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
I love that it's only gold-leafed .... they couldn't make it into a real gold statue.

'Drunk on power': Experts say Trump's cult of personality rivals history's worst dictators www.alternet.org/donald-trump...
'Drunk on power': Experts say Trump's cult of personality rivals history's worst dictators
President Donald Trump’s cult of personality is reaching a whole new level in his second term.New York Times reporter Peter Baker notes that Trump has always been obsessed with his own image and with ...
www.alternet.org
February 15, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
One of the things that really fucking annoys me about AI is that people *do not understand it* (on purpose, bc these companies want it that way) and they assume it’s as reliable as the computers they’ve been using their whole life when it’s actually about as reliable as your least capable intern
lol this is gonna burst so fucking hard
February 15, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
I wrote about the "I never want to see a child ever run away from our own government ever again" guy.

I think he shows why Trump being a dogshit president temporarily solves many of the Democrats' worst problems with the media. And we have to take advantage of this moment.
"I never want to see a child ever run away from our own government ever again"
Notes on changing brains. And Brians.
www.thefarce.org
February 15, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
In incredible news, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly for "The Full Recognition Of Trans Women As Women."

Even the center-right European People's Party voted for the declaration.

It will form a foundation for their position at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Our latest.
European Parliament Votes Overwhelmingly For "The Full Recognition Of Trans Women As Women"
The resolution, though nonbinding, is a significant shot at those who seek to erode transgender rights on the continent.
www.erininthemorning.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
"And guess who was not a threat in Rubio’s speech? Dictatorial Russia and China is the answer... Indeed I think they were ignored entirely. Rubio’s threats were not dictatorial states, but immigration, trade, tolerance and, I suppose people who do not have religious faith."
Rubio Calls For The End Of A Tolerant, Democratic Europe And The Crowd Goes Wild
Just over an hour ago, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the end of a tolerant, democratic Europe and its break-up into a disparate group of smaller, Trumpist states, and the Europeans in t...
phillipspobrien.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
More money than projected and in the hands of a mayor who is adamant on using it to build as soon as possible! I love this city.
February 14, 2026 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
The President, two of his current Cabinet secretaries, his former strategist, his biggest donor, and his pending Fed Chair nominee are all in the files of a pedophile who ran a sex trafficking ring, while the attorney general and a former Cabinet secretary let him get away with it.

Seems kinda bad?
At least half a dozen top Trump administration officials appear in the Jeffrey Epstein files
The degree to which each individual was connected to Epstein varies significantly, from a single email to years of communications.
www.nbcnews.com
February 14, 2026 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
"Trump has become a parody of a 1980s televangelist, openly grifting his followers for massive amounts of cash. (His ballroom is practically his own Heritage USA.) But Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart put on a more convincing show." — @playtyperguy.com
Trump is clowning his evangelical base
He's not even bothering to pretend anymore.
www.publicnotice.co
February 14, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
NEW: Hundreds of judges around the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that President Donald Trump’s administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully, a Reuters review of court records found.

The government keeps doing it nonetheless.

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
February 14, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Just noting this because I have cited the trends a lot recently: Tracking data from Civiqs now shows a plurality of the public favors abolishing ICE, with 47% in support and 46% opposed. Independents are net +5 on abolish, up from -40 a year ago substack.com/profile/4791...
February 14, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Remarkable: Majority of working class voters oppose deportations of undocumented immigrants with jobs/no criminal records, per new Marquette data.

Remember how pundits said 2024 meant Dems must become restrictionist to win back working class? I challenge that here:

newrepublic.com/article/2059...
February 14, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Yes and some in the pundit class badly want to believe that Trumpism represents the true mystical longings of the Real American volk, because they want liberals/Dems to accommodate Trumpism by scaling back their commitments to pluralism and the open society
My long-held, maybe-unprovable hypothesis is that immigration restriction is an issue a loud but small core of right-wing voters want, helped by a pundit class that agrees with it or is helplessly hooked on dumb balance.
Remarkable: Majority of working class voters oppose deportations of undocumented immigrants with jobs/no criminal records, per new Marquette data.

Remember how pundits said 2024 meant Dems must become restrictionist to win back working class? I challenge that here:

newrepublic.com/article/2059...
February 14, 2026 at 4:57 PM
"When the project started, Tribal Nations in the Court were losing a historic low of 80% of their cases. In contrast, and with the leadership of the project, in the last decade they have won 70% of their cases." narf.org/tribal-supre...
Tribal Supreme Court Project Celebrates 25th Anniversary - Native American Rights Fund
In 2026, the Tribal Supreme Court Project commemorates a quarter-century of service to Indian Country and envisions the next 25 years of protecting and furthering the interests of Tribal Nations at…
narf.org
February 14, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Love is in the air with ICT’s Annual Indigenous Valentine’s Day Playlist, featuring artists from Siibii to Supaman, plus timeless classics from Redbone.
ICT’s Annual Indigenous Valentine’s Day Playlist  - ICT
From Siibii to Supaman, love is in the air with these songs
ictnews.org
February 13, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
A new children’s book, major museum moment for Nanibah Chacon, award nominations for Crystal Shawanda and Keith Secola, and buzzy new buffalo-centered films — here’s the latest in Indigenous arts and entertainment.
INDIGENOUS A&E: Artist book illustrations, nominated music, future feature films - ICT
A biweekly column from ICT with the latest news from the arts and entertainment world
ictnews.org
February 13, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
Luda Kinok, a Yupik Indigenous activist originally from Chukotka and now living in the U.S., experienced a rollback of freedoms after Perestroika ended in Russia.

She says it feels eerily familiar as she watches democratic institutions erode in the United States.
February 13, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
"Republicans were ready. Democrats weren't." is an apt description of most of the major social & political developments of my lifetime.
February 13, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
This is striking: New Senate Majority PAC poll finds that GOP's advantage on immigration has been wiped out by unpopularity of Trump's agenda. Dems now at parity with Republicans.

This is a Dem poll but it dovetails with what other polls are showing (see piece/thread below)
February 13, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.

The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.

But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Rob Schmidt (Blue Corn Comics)
“.. using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought ..”

@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
February 13, 2026 at 12:45 PM