BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE THE WEEKEND EDITION JAN. 30-FEB. 1, 2026) — With a turn of the calendar page, we turn to the shortest month, another sign of the inevitable approach to spring. Saying that, THE PLANET loves that The Berkshires actually got winter this year, reminding us that the “snows of yesterday” can still occur today. Four seasons? Can’t beat it.

Ever wonder why the lesbian (Gov. Maura Healey), of-color (AG Andrea Campbell), and of-ugly (Senate president Karen Spilka) matriarchy that comprises the government in the Bay State provides so much more in money and benefits for criminals than hard-working taxpayers?

Yeah, thought so. We do, too.

One obvious reason is that the recipients of taxpayer giveaways form a controlled voting block. One overlooked reason has to be the still-smoldering remains of good, honest 1960s liberalism. In the 1960s, folks–young people, especially–caught on to the scam that is government on all levels. Peace and love were not slogans but attributes.

The Vietnam War peeled the institutional onion down do its redolent core. Cassius Clay, now Muhammed Ali, refused to be inducted, and we supported him. These genuine objectors weren’t motivated by outside agitators but by an individualized self-realization of the need to “rattle the windows and shake down the walls, for the times they were a-changing.”

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Back then, protesters came together sans social media, AI, and organized agitators. They weren’t paid. They freely gathered in virtuous UNcertainty, their doubt fueling a search for answers.

Today’s “protesters,” in contrast, consist of aging Baby Boomers who have failed to adjust their views to match reality plus an ignorant herd of clueless young people so easily manipulated by outside forces that do their thinking for them. This unlettered mob lacks the moral maturity of those who realize that a nation–indeed, nationhood itself–depends on secure borders and stringent litmus tests for citizenship.

Such idealists and sugary optimists are shallow thinkers who operate on their illusions. A true visionary and the grounded brand of optimist ponders more the underlying forces that motivate surface actions and operate on what IS rather than what they wish it to be. The first paints by numbers. The second makes art … the art of life.

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The lack of moral maturity among the disrupters masquerading as “protesters” can be seen in their rush to canonize the deservedly late Alex Pretti.  A week and a half before he met the death he invited, Pretti spit on federal agents, attacked and damaged one of their SUVs, and taunted “Assault me, motherfuckers.”

Apologists are still quick to mention the fact that Pretti was an IC nurse, but THE PLANET deigns to point out the non sequitur. IC nurse? So what? In fact, we will give 60 cents to anyone who can show how that is relevant here. Those IC patients are better off without this knucklehead. Good riddance.

ICE issues detainers only after officials establish probable cause that a “non-citizen” has been convicted of a crime or has been engaged in committing “one or more crimes.” They must also determine that the person represents “a public safety and/or national security threat.”

Reason for action, yeah? Action that Pretti tried to stop.

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Recall also how Autopen and Kackles allowed millions of unvetted illegals to pour into the United States, many of them the worst of the worst from their home countries.

For those seeking a better life for themselves, America has a process and procedure for admittance to the country, one that provides the path to citizenship. This welcoming of immigrants literally built this country. These people, which included THE PLANET‘s grandparents on both sides, came here, worked feverishly, put down roots, learned English, expected and received no welfare, and set themselves up to succeed and, indeed, prosper. Such a path to success is still open to any person on earth.

It’s the illegals that flock for the freebies (Gov. Healey has given away $3 billion in taxpayer money to those who don’t deserve it) who have drained the public treasury and contributed nothing but chaos in return. They have harmed every citizen.

You can do much better, Minnesota. You can do much better, Massachusetts.

Have a great weekend everybody.

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“For a Gentile, everything’s kosher. For an umpire, it’s Leo Durocher” — Sir Donald Turpentine, Knight of the Bath.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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