“As sports media star Stephen A. Smith teased talk of a presidential run in 2028 this weekend, there is one thing that he and those advising him must surely know: The Democratic Party does not nominate outsiders. This is a lesson that Sen. Bernie Sanders [I-VT] learned in both 2016 and 2020 as his populist socialist movement was blocked at every turn by party leaders. To his credit as a politician, Sanders and the socialists, after a decade of work, have now all but taken over the party. The more relevant example to Stephen A’s would-be grab for the golden ring in 2028 is not Sanders, it is Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose mistreatment by the DNC led him to endorse President Donald Trump in 2024.” (02/18/26)
“Democratic candidates have notched a series of wins in recent special elections — but a new AP-NORC poll finds views of the Democratic Party among rank-and-file Democrats have not bounced back since President Donald Trump ’s 2024 victory. Only about 7 in 10 Democrats have a positive view of the Democratic Party, according to new polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While the overwhelming majority of Democrats still feel good about their party, they’re much less positive than they’ve been in the past. The midterm elections are still many months away, and lackluster favorability doesn’t spell electoral doom. Other factors could benefit Democrats this year, including broadly negative views of Trump and other Republicans. But the lack of enthusiasm could be a longer-term problem for the party.” (02/18/26)
“The Metropolitan Police is carrying out ‘initial inquiries’ into allegations relating to close protection officers formerly assigned to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It comes after an unnamed former senior Met protection officer told LBC that members of the Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP) may have ‘wilfully turned a blind eye’ during visits to a private island owned by Jeffery Epstein. Multiple survivors have alleged they were trafficked to and abused on the island, known as Little St James, which Epstein purchased in 1998. In a statement, the Met said it had ‘not identified any wrongdoing’ but ‘initial enquiries into these specific allegations have begun so we can establish the facts’. Speaking to LBC on Tuesday, the former Met protection officer claimed Andrew’s protection team travelled with him to the private island on at least two occasions, including travelling on Epstein’s private jet on one of those occasions.” (02/18/26)
“The Friday nightcap session at the Munich Security Conference focused on ‘seismic shifts’ in U.S. foreign policy, and it featured a bit of an odd grouping: Matthew Whitaker, the current United States ambassador to NATO; Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan; and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive Democratic congresswoman from New York. The panelists sat in a circle at the center of the room, surrounded on both sides by the audience, all wearing lanyards around their neck, some sipping wine, and many reaching upward to take photos. The tilt of their iPhones gave away who they were all here to see.” (02/18/26)
“Hungary is suspending its shipments of diesel to neighboring Ukraine until interruptions to Russian oil supplies via a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory are resolved, Hungary’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since Jan. 27 after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian attacks that damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude into Central Europe. Hungary and Slovakia, which have both received a temporary exemption from a European Union policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil, have accused Ukraine — without providing evidence — of deliberately holding up supplies. In a video posted on social media Wednesday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said the interruption to oil deliveries was ‘a political decision made by the Ukrainian president himself.’ Ukraine has denied such accusations.” (02/18/26)
“Within the last six months, two friends, both pioneers and giants in the world of ideas in Washington, D.C., passed from this world. One, Ed Feulner, was the co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, which became the nation’s defining policy institute for conservative ideas. Now, last week, Ed Crane, the co-founder of the Cato Institute, passed away. Ed Crane built Cato to become the major presence in the nation’s capital for libertarian ideas and policy. My personal involvement with Cato began in 1996 when I was invited to join the national advisory board for Cato’s project to transform Social Security from a government tax and spend program to a program of individually owned personal retirement accounts. When I began working in the business of policy reform, a friend pointed out to me the words of futurist John Naisbitt, who observed, ‘Don’t get so far ahead of the parade that no one knows you’re in it.'” (02/18/26)
“Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook co-founder, arrived at a California court on Wednesday where he is due to testify in a landmark legal case over whether social media is addictive to children. It will mark Zuckerberg’s first appearance before a jury after years of backlash against his company, Meta Platforms, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp. Lawyers for Meta have argued the lead plaintiff in this case, known by her initials K.G.M, was hurt by other things in her life and not by her use of Instagram. The Los Angeles trial, in which Google’s YouTube is also a defendant, is being closely watched for its implications for thousands of similar lawsuits facing social media giants. TikTok and Snapchat, which had also been named in the lawsuit, settled shortly before trial was scheduled to begin. Terms of the settlements were not disclosed.” (02/18/26)
“Some Republican legislators are looking to restrict their states’ ability to set environmental regulations, a move that comes as President Donald Trump’s administration pushes to roll back environmental rules on power plants, water and greenhouse gases. The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday approved legislation backed by business groups that would prevent state agencies from setting restrictions on pollutants and hazardous substances exceeding those set by the federal government. In areas where no federal standard exists, the state could adopt new rules only if there is ‘a direct causal link’ between exposure to harmful emissions and ‘manifest bodily harm’ to humans. Supporters said the Alabama measure would ground standards in ‘sound science’ and prevent regulatory overreach. Environmental groups said it would cripple the state’s ability to respond to environmental or health risks, including a group of chemicals known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, that has contaminated swaths of the South.” (02/18/26)
“As Americans struggle with how to effectively confront an autocratic leader and his billionaire backers as they brazenly dismantle democracy and the rule of law, they might well look to a southern state where an unlikely movement managed to defeat the extreme-right agenda of a governor who followed a similar path. History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it often rhymes, as the aphorism goes. Consider this: A newly-elected executive appoints a powerful donor and plutocrat to dismantle government root and branch, mounts broad-based attacks on education, social safety net programs, and collective bargaining, and pushes income tax cuts that benefit corporations and the wealthy. Lawmakers quickly fall in line. The aggressive agenda seems set to succeed with remarkable speed, grinding all opposition into the ground with a sense of inevitability.” (02/17/26)
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Scott Baldauf
“It’s not every day that a reporter gets an email from Ben Franklin. In the course of reporting a story on historical reenactors from the American Revolutionary War period, I was in regular email contact with two Ben Franklins, one George Washington, and an 18th-century tavern owner from the British colony of New Hampshire. One of the Bens invited me to read his Substack column. It reads exactly like Ben Franklin would have written it if he did, in fact, live in a society that had capitalized on the newly discovered energy source of electricity, taken a magical carriage ride through the Industrial Age to the computer age, and ditched typeset printing tools for digital publishing. Why would a Monitor reporter do any of this? The answer is right there in the headlines we read (or avoid reading) every day.” (02/17/26)
