01/19/2026
THIS MORNING, in news from the Church O’ The Pines, I posted (peripherally) about a right wing ‘influencer’ named Jake Lang, who came to Minnesota this weekend. He announced his intentions. He was coming, he said, to lead a white nationalist march and protest against immigrants and Somalis. And, by extension, the community that has defended them. He was also planning, he said, to burn the Quran.
It did not go well for Jake.
The temperature was about zero. As in, no degrees. None whatsoever. Normal for Minnesota this time of year. But not for Jake, who hails from Florida. He and his merry marchers—a disappointingly small ragtag 12–were not dressed for it. Several hundred—maybe more—Minnesotans came out to greet and welcome them, outside the Minneapolis Courthouse. Jake, sporting a sharp-looking outfit featuring a military-style vest with the word ‘Infidel’ emblazoned on it, with no hat and no gloves, looked cold.
Just as Jake was about to speak and orate and inspire the faithful, he was instead pelted with water balloons, an ingenious form of resistance in Minnesota in January. Jake quickly looked colder. And wetter. And ICE-ier. He was drenched with a child’s Super-Soaker watergun. And looked even colder and wetter and icier. He pleaded with the crowd to let him speak. They did not. Jake seemed unable to burn the Quran.
The Minneapolis Police stood back a fair distance, perhaps surmising that water balloons and a Super Soaker are not lethal weapons. In one video, Jake could be heard whimpering, ‘Please, stop.’ This leads one to wonder if the Capitol Police officer that Jake beat mercilessly with a baseball bat on January 6–for which he was pardoned by Donald Trump—may have said something similar. At this point poor Jake looked extremely cold and wet and icy. Some said he was in tears. But that is unverified because it was hard to tell where the water balloons left off and the tears began.
At some point, a kind Minnesotan—a Black man, the very sort of person to whom Jake feels vastly superior—guided poor Jake to safety. This is Minnesota, after all, home of Minnesota nice.
Postscript: There is no violent unrest in Minneapolis, except that unleashed by the Secret Police. There is no ‘insurrection’ to be repressed. No matter what the *president and Puppy-Killer Kristi Noem may say. These people lie. They lie habitually. They lie as they breathe. They lie when they could save money by telling the truth. These facts should probably be kept in mind whenever you see their lips moving.
And finally—it is cold in Minnesota. If you come to visit, dress warmly. You will be—as always—welcomed kindly. Unless you come to lead ‘white nationalist’ marches with other ‘very fine people.’ Or to burn books and denounce our friends and neighbors and promote hate. Then you might want to bring a good rain suit. And goggles. And hope for a kind soul to lead you to to warmth and safety.