Source: Libertarian Institute
by RT Hadley
“Mass deportations poll well, in part because many Americans believe immigrants should ‘get in line’ and follow the law. However, the core issue isn’t a nation’s right to enforce its borders. When people are willing to overlook constitutional violations to ‘solve the problem,’ they reveal a deeper disregard for the principles of liberty and individual rights that define America. If we abandon those first principles in moments of fear or frustration, we have to ask whether we still deserve to call ourselves a free society. Regardless of one’s views on immigration levels or deportation policy, constitutional rights cannot be suspended to achieve policy ends. The Constitution applies to everyone within U.S. borders—citizen and non‑citizen alike.” (02/17/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/ice-is-freezing-out-the-constitution/
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Hotel magnate Thomas Pritzker will retire as the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels after details of his affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein were revealed in documents related to the burgeoning investigation of ties between the notorious sex trafficker and the elite and powerful. Pritzker, in a prepared statement, said he deeply regrets his association with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a long time associate of Epstein. … There are many emails between Pritzker and Epstein included in a cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, with several detailing attempts for dinner meet ups and invitations to various functions.” (02/17/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/17/thomas-pritzker-hyatt-epstein/
Source: Independent Institute
by Daniel B Klein
“Adam Smith expressed his antipathy to hegemonic domination in The Wealth of Nations and other works. I highlight his rebuke of slavery, his paragraph calling for Britain to relinquish her colonies, his comments on the vanity and amusement of newspaper readers, his condemnation of the East India Company, his paragraph naturalizing multipolarity, and his remark about the real mediocrity of Britain’s circumstances. I close by reflecting on the enduring relevance of the anti-hegemist spirit of ’76.” (02/17/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/17/adam-smiths-anti-hegemist-spirit-of-76/
Source: Quillette
by Tomislav Kardum
“Populist rhetoric is exceptionally effective for pursuing and gaining power, but it provides no program for the complexities of actual governance.” (02/17/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/02/17/populisms-self-defeating-trap-trump-europe-dostoevsky/
Source: SFGate
“An air of defiance marked Kosovo’s independence celebrations on Tuesday as thousands of people joined a march in support of former fighters who are facing trial at a Netherlands-based court for alleged war crimes during a 1998-1999 separatist war from Serbia. Protesters, many wrapped in red and black Albanian flags, braved cold and snowy weather in the capital, Pristina, to voice their opposition to the proceedings in The Hague against former president and rebel leader Hashim Thaci and three others accused of atrocities during and after the conflict that killed some 13,000 people. Earlier on Tuesday, Kosovo’s security forces paraded in Pristina as part of the independence ceremonies, and Parliament held a special session. The war started in 1998 when the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army launched its struggle for independence and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. The war ended after NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999, eventually forcing it to pull out its troops from the territory.” (02/17/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/thousands-in-kosovo-march-against-war-crimes-21358288.php
Source: Crooked Media
“Fascist Mile High Club.” (02/16/26)
https://clrtpod.com/m/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/arttrk.com/p/CRMDA/mgln.ai/e/284/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audioboom.com/posts/8861990.mp3
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“People should be free to talk to each other about whatever they want as long as they’re not thereby conspiring to rob and murder and so forth. They should even be able to give advice. Including legal advice. New York State disagrees. The Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let the non-lawyer volunteers of a company called Upsolve keep giving advice to people facing lawsuits to collect debt.” (02/17/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/free2advise/
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Braving the New World.” (02/17/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/uncategorized/dhp-ep-285-braving-the-new-world
Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman
“Could the Arab parties be the key to transforming Israeli politics?” (02/17/26)
https://gideons.substack.com/p/the-stone-rejected-by-the-builders
Source: Washington Monthly
by Robert J Shapiro
“The late scholar of mass movements, charismatic leaders, and government violence foreshadowed the president’s rise and the MAGA movement in The Origins of Totalitarianism. Recent polling proves her prescience.” (02/17/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/17/hannah-arendt-understood-donald-trump/
