“Today in Geneva, Switzerland, Jared Kushner will represent the United States in meetings with Iranian officials — a last-ditch effort to avoid war. Kushner, however, has serious financial conflicts that could make reaching a deal more difficult. … His main job is as the founder and CEO of Affinity Partners, an investment firm that has raised billions of dollars from foreign governments. Three of the firm’s largest clients are the governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Kushner collects tens of millions in management fees annually from these countries. Before Trump returned to the White House, Kushner publicly acknowledged that this was a debilitating conflict of interest and pledged not to be involved with the incoming Trump administration.” (02/25/26)
“The relationship between higher education and the state as it exists offers a possible justification for shock-and-awe policies for reform.” (02/25/26)
“Trump is clearly determined to show that no Supreme Court decision is going to hamstring him in his determination to have absolute control over tariff policy. That presents Republicans with another Trump-induced choice: whether to stay the course and let Trump work his will, try to reinstate the high tariffs by legislation, or abandon the party in the interest of consumers and small businesses that have been hit hard by the tariffs. After all, the politics of tariffs rests in their cost in prices, inflation, and jobs.” (02/25/26)
“This blizzard — or ‘blizzard;’ it seems to me better described as a ‘snowfall’ — has been heralded by legacy media now for a couple of days. The language about it has been histrionic. It is a ‘bomb cyclone!’ It is ‘SEVERE WEATHER’ that requires an ‘ALERT!’ A red rectangle on the weather sites, surround those scary words. You can’t travel. But it’s not just that you are being advised not to travel, as a sovereign person, as in the past. There are ‘TRAVEL BANS.’ … The headlines’ freakout conceals the fact that this snowfall is within the range of normal, for the Northeastern United States. … the headlines drumming up hysteria have prepared the way for what is unfolding right now via City Hall, and via our still-new-on-the-job Marxist-Islamist Mayor, Zohran K Mamdani.” (02/25/26)
“The Winter Olympics had its thrills and spills — and a deep philosophical divide represented by two American, or American-born, athletes. Jack Hughes, the gold medal-winning American hockey player for the US team, gave voice to a patriotic reflex in his unhesitating, heartfelt expressions of love of his country. Eileen Gu, the gold medal-winning American-born freestyle skier competing for China, exemplified a cosmopolitan ideal that purports to float above mere nationhood. This difference — between the bloody-mouthed hockey player draped in his own country’s flag and the exceptionally talented part-time model resistant to any questions about national loyalty — drives many of the divisions in American society. Is loyalty to country a matter of choice, or an unalterable commitment? Is the appropriate attitude toward America one of fundamental gratitude or critical distance?” (02/24/26)
“The longest State of the Union in modern history is now over. Donald Trump held court in the House of Representatives and said little of substance, but substance wasn’t the point. This year, he intended to put on a show, with an array of guest stars and special appearances. He was happy, because he was playing the roles he clearly loves: game-show host, ringmaster, MC, beneficent granter of wishes—and, where the Democrats were concerned, a self-righteous inquisitor.” (02/25/26)
“Another report, another dire prediction about Social Security. The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that the program’s trust fund will run out of money in 2032, during the next presidential term. The predominant response of official Washington was to ignore this warning like the ones before it. The serious-minded, public-spirited exceptions continued to ask: How are we going to save Social Security? Virtuous though they are, they’re asking the wrong question. It’s even backward, in that it focuses on the program rather than on the goals the program is supposed to serve. Better to ask instead: What kind of retirement system makes sense? And despite Social Security’s popularity, few Americans would design it as it currently is if they were answering that question from scratch.” (02/25/26)
“It is bad enough that Trump keeps concocting ways to pick out pockets; worse, he won’t return the money already snatched, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the IEEPA tariffs.” (02/25/26)
“Multiple prominent celebrities have denounced ICE and Trump, with Billie Eilish and Hannah Einbinder both condemning them in recent acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes and Grammys, respectively. The first artist to respond with art directly inspired by the murders of Alex Pretti and Renée Good was music legend Bruce Springsteen. The last week of January, Springsteen released ‘Streets of Minneapolis,’ his first original song in over five years, and a fiery screed condemning both the ICE agents that murdered Pretti and Good as well as the authoritarian President that put them on those streets to begin with. The song is notable for both its bluntness and its directness, mentioning Trump by name in its opening verse.” (02/25/26)
