Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Abraham McLaughlin
“Keeping up with today’s national and global developments can feel like living in a cauldron of political pressure. If we’re not in the storm ourselves, the sheer volume of political twists and turns can make us feel numb to the news. Yet, looking to those who have withstood the storm and triumphed shows us that responding with grace and confidence in good starts with the truths we hold in our heart. The Bible offers compelling examples. Consider the spiritual clarity and bravery of four individuals: Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel. They’d been taken from their home in Israel and were being indoctrinated by their Babylonian captors. Yet they held in their hearts strong spiritual truths – and got to witness dramatic turnarounds. In Babylon, the pressure – political, religious, and cultural – was ferocious. One of the world’s most powerful kings was insisting that all his subjects worship a lifeless statue (see Daniel 3).” (02/03/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2026/0203/Facing-political-pressure-with-spiritual-strength
Source: Politico
“European lawmakers from three left-leaning parties said Wednesday the EU should investigate TikTok over allegations of censorship [sic] in favor of the right. One of TikTok’s new owners as of late January is a Donald Trump ally, Oracle’s Larry Ellison. Users say that since the change in ownership, the platform has censored [sic] hot-button issues in favor of the president and his political camp, according to reports — including limiting posts about the Epstein files and protests against U.S. border agents in Minnesota. TikTok said some users have experienced disruption due to technical issues.” [editor’s note: TikTok is not a government and has no power to censor, just to control how its own property is used. It will be interesting if a government “nudged” them, though – TLK] (02/04/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-lawmakers-tiktok-probe-alleged-censorship-over-epstein-files
Source: Washington Post
“How can cities win back families? This developer has a plan.” (02/04/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/how-can-cities-win-back-families-this-developer-has-a-plan/
Source: Hullabaloo
by Tom Sullivan
“Republicans enjoy using the Jim Crow-era Democratic Party’s support for segregation as proof that their embrace of white nationalism is not worth mentioning. It’s bothsidesism as a ‘get out of racism free’ card. There was a time post-September 11 when the GOP’s bogieman du jour was from somewhere vaguely Middle East or Muslim. We were coached to become a nation of bedwetters convinced that bearded men with long, curved knives were coming to kill us all in our beds. We packed heat and opened fire on anything that went bump in the night either at home or abroad. Now it’s anyone nonwhite.” (02/04/26)
https://digbysblog.net/2026/02/04/taking-trophies/
Source: Mother Jones
by Melissa Lewis & Daniel Moattar
“Donald Trump’s unbelievable year of pardons, visualized.” (02/04/26)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/trump-pardons-2025-january-6-fraud/
Source: Underthrow
“The Immigration Wedge: Soros is a Genius.” (02/04/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-immigration-wedge-soros-is-a
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“As the national debt is a few months from reaching $39 trillion, and perhaps $40 trillion by the end of this year, it is puzzling how unperturbed the political class is. Or perhaps not. Writer and political agitator Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) said: ‘It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.’ Or pretending not to. A bipartisan congressional consensus, more alarming than partisan rancor, is: There are no long-term fiscal gains without intense short-term political pains. So, because today’s congressional careers do not yet seem likely to coincide with coming dire consequences, let them come. In 2016, a budget expert was allotted 20 minutes to brief Donald Trump on those possible consequences. After five minutes, Trump said, ‘Yeah, but I’ll be gone.’ He was perfectly in sync with the political mainstream he professes to supplant.” (02/04/26)
https://archive.is/MDrjS
Source: Common Dreams
by Anthony Pahnke
“By now, we have heard the mantra that President Donald Trump was right to close the border, but wrong in his heavy-handed approach to immigration enforcement. We are also told that if he would have simply done what most Americans wanted, that is, arrest and deport violent criminals, then his poll numbers would be higher, and his administration wouldn’t find itself embroiled by crisis in the aftermath of two killings at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis. But this claim (that the problem with Trump’s immigration agenda is mainly about enforcement tactics) is flawed. Seriously addressing this country’s ongoing immigration crisis will require policy change, and to get to that point, there needs to be a narrative shift in this country away from indiscriminately criminalizing all undocumented people to humanizing them.” (02/04/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/sensible-immigration-policy
Source: USA Today
“The man accused of ambushing two West Virginia National Guard members in a shooting in the nation’s capital, killing one and wounding another, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in federal court on Feb. 4, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia confirmed. Prosecutors have steadily added new charges since the shooting unfolded on Nov. 26 near the White House, and told Judge Amit Mehta they plan to pursue more charges that would make Lakanwal eligible for the death penalty.” (02/04/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/04/national-guard-shooting-suspect-pleads-not-guilty/88506425007/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Why Do They Hate Thomas Massie?” (02/04/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1jMJgRBYDkPGL