We live in strange times—but some moments are so surreal, they deserve to be written down just to confirm they actually happened.

This week, Bill Kristol—yes, that Bill Kristol, neoconservative icon and former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle—casually stated that he thinks ICE should be defunded and the Department of Homeland Security “probably disbanded.” And just like that, a man who once championed the Iraq War and helped shape the post-9/11 security state has suddenly found himself standing to the left of most elected Democrats on immigration enforcement.

Let that sink in.

When the architect of modern Republican hawkishness is voicing the kind of criticism usually reserved for leftist Twitter accounts and grassroots immigrant-rights groups, it’s not necessarily a sign of progress. It’s a sign that our so-called “mainstream” has shifted so far into institutional cowardice that even former empire-builders are noticing the rot.

Kristol isn’t having a moral awakening—he’s having a structural one. He’s looking at ICE, looking at DHS, and seeing what many Americans—especially immigrants and people of color—have been saying for years: these institutions are bloated, violent, unaccountable, and increasingly incompatible with democracy.

And where are the Democrats? Mostly quiet. Mostly afraid. Still operating under the delusion that “reforming” these agencies is enough. That ICE can be rebranded, that DHS can be saved with better leadership. Never mind that the architecture of these institutions was always about fear, control, and militarization—not safety, not service.

The reality is, Bill Kristol shouldn’t be leading this conversation. But the silence from the center-left has created a vacuum, and once again, it’s being filled by someone who, ten years ago, would’ve laughed at the idea of “defund ICE” being a legitimate talking point.

So yes—these are wild times. Wild because truth is leaking out from the mouths of unlikely messengers. Wild because those with the most to gain from bold moral leadership are still whispering from the sidelines. And wild because if Bill Kristol can say it out loud, what excuse do elected Democrats have for staying silent?

The question now is not whether ICE and DHS are reformable—they’re not. The question is whether anyone in the Democratic Party has the courage to admit it before another conservative beats them to the truth.