Beating a Dead Horse

 

Friends, today, (former) Prince Andrew was arrested, basically for allegedly sharing confidential government files with Jeffrey Epstein.  Well, I for one am quite tired of the Epstein pile-on, particularly as it affects, uhh, Mr. Windsor.  The man has been quite comprehensively ruined already.  It is more than a little ironic that the chief victim of the mass release of the "Epstein Files", demanded by Democrats, wasn't Donald Trump, as intended, but a member of the royal family.  And how many leading politicians, in Britain and the U.S., would be guilty of the same offense, I wonder: sharing privileged information with cronies?  I shudder to think!  Andrew is a fall guy extraordinaire, if you ask me, and it ill becomes the political elite to revel in his humiliation.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx28yel4811o 

 

In other news, a vast collection of U.S. military assets, including two aircraft carriers, is now present in or near the Persian Gulf, or soon will be.  Iran is the obvious target, but the purpose of any potential strikes is unclear.  Are we trying to force Iran to abandon its nuclear program, or are we trying to force the Iranian leadership to abandon the country and concede power to the people?  Those are two very different objectives, and if we're not very careful we may fall short in both respects.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1d64p3q2d0o 

 

Finally, we got word today that the total U.S. trade deficit for 2025 was down on 2024, but by a miniscule amount.  That seems surprising, given that we were told that Trump's tariffs would devastate our trading relationships, and no one would want to do business with us.  So much for that prediction!  On the other hand, you could say that tariffs have been a bit of a disappointment, because we were hoping to radically restructure our trading relationships and reduce our dependence on imports, but by and large that hasn't happened.  My conclusion is that tariffs are working, but not enough.  Maybe we need to increase them?

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/19/us-trade-deficit-totaled-901-billion-in-2025-despite-trumps-tariffs.html 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgk2d7yxm2zo 

Wait, Now Masks Are Bad???

 

Friends, the Left is very clear on a couple things: ICE=Nazis, and those Nazis should obligingly ditch their masks so that noble Antifa types can track them down and mete out some frontier justice to them.  What a great plan!  Well, Tom Homan lays out exactly why those masks are necessary.  It's the Dems/lefties themselves who have made it so!!!  The fact that, just a few years ago, these nutjobs were demanding that we all be masked makes this situation extra ludicrous, needless to say.

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/02/15/homan_i_dont_like_the_masks_either_but_ice_agents_have_to_protect_themselves.html 

Happy Presidents' Day!

 

Friends, Happy Presidents' Day!  We've had some doozies, all right...  How fortunate that we currently have a president whose statesmanship, wisdom, and integrity are beyond question.  (Ha!)  All kidding aside, presidents are great, but we may fixate on them a tad too much in America today.  Believe it or not, a president, even with the best of intentions, can only do so much...  They can do more, of course, when they have the American people on their side.

 

Speaking of the presidency, could the Dems be dense enough to renominate...Kamala Harris in 2028???  They could be!  My, what a gift that would be...

 

https://issuesinsights.com/2026/02/16/who-leads-in-2028-presidential-race-and-in-2026-midterm-elections-ii-tipp-poll/ 

 

Meanwhile, the Europeans are wringing their hands, as per usual, over the state of the transatlantic alliance.  They feel like they can no longer count on the U.S. to lead the charge against their favorite boogeyman: Russia.  Well, that's true, but on the other hand we still have tens of thousands of troops in Europe, we're still sending oodles of weapons to Ukraine (paid for by Europe, thankfully), and Europe is still sheltering under our nuclear umbrella.  Ergo, we still bear many of the costs of our "partnership" with Europe (and Canada), but we get more abuse than ever and could just as easily be sucked into another world war on their behalf.  I say: cut the cord!  End U.S. membership in NATO.  Give those Euro-weenies some tough love, at long last...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cddn002g6qzo 

Whither ICE?

 

Friends, our immigration enforcement apparatus, including ICE and Border Patrol, is at a crossroads.  On one hand, we have a president who is now willing and apparently eager to enforce our immigration laws, and who has already removed 2+ million illegal immigrants from the country.  We also threw tens of billions of dollars at the mission of deporting illegals, courtesy of the "Big, Beautiful Bill", and that new infrastructure is just about to come online, as you'll read below.  On the other hand, the Dems and their media allies have made the demonization of ICE a top priority, and the retreat of DHS from Minneapolis suggests that the Trump Administration may be getting cold feet about aggressively enforcing immigration laws in blue cities and states, especially in an election year.  What's more, there are finite numbers of hardened felons to deport.  Once we're down to undocumented grandmas and fruit pickers, we have to wonder whether the Trump Administration will have the same zeal to deport, deport, deport...  The question is, therefore: are enforcement efforts about to ramp up, or are they about to cool down?  In essence, the answer to the question is 100% political.  It depends on the priorities and intestinal fortitude of Donald Trump himself.  

 

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/02/15/ice-detention-reengineering-plan-will-expand-capacity-speed-deportation-of-criminal-aliens/ 

My Love Letter to America

 

Friends, it's Valentine's Day, and that means that naturally I got you something special!!!  No, it's not flowers or a box of chocolates.  It's winter, so all the flowers are dead, and I can assure you that I ate all the chocolates.  Instead, this V-Day you're getting...my latest Newsmakers interview!  Oh boy!  What a treat.  Brian and I discuss who the protesters are in places like Minneapolis and what motivates them, the reticence of the younger generation on political controversies, the mass firing of Washington Post reporters, the unique poisiton of Rand Paul in the U.S. Senate, the propriety of the Department of War's campaign against drug boats coming to America, the prospects for the SAVE Act, the benefits (and costs) of cracking down on illegal immigration, the pros and cons of tariffs against Canada, the ongoing strength of the U.S. economy, and the relevance of the mainstream and alternative media to public opinion.  Sounds like the sort of lineup that ought to make you swoon!  You're welcome, and I hope that you and your special someone enjoy listening...

 

https://wysl.podbean.com/e/newsmakers-2-14-26/ 

A Legacy of Failure

 

Friends, everyone knows that there's still such a thing as the "mainstream media", a.k.a. the "legacy media", and it leans left (to put it mildly), but what is the alternative media, or the "new media", and who has the edge there?  This is not my area of expertise, but I'm sure the alternative media could be divided into many sub-categories.  One in which right-wingers appear to have an advantage is with social media "influencers".  Presumably, this means podcasters and bloggers and people who make short videos for YouTube, TikTok, and the like.  The Dems invested a lot of money in dominating this space in '24, and clearly they fell flat on their faces.  We can't count on them staying at a disadvantage forever, however.  As we speak, they're blanketing the internet with smears against ICE and edited videos of encounters with federal law enforcement that make, or try to make, Trump and Co. look worse than Pol Pot.  Expect this war for the "hearts and minds" of social media users to intensify in the months and years ahead, and special thanks to Elon Musk, whose purchase of X kept conservatives competitive in social media at a moment when it looked like we might be frozen out altogether...

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/02/14/the_battle_for_the_new_media_megaphone_153842.html 

Bull Market

 

Friends, the Dems and the media talking heads -- those irrepressible gloomy Guses -- have been trying to convince Americans ever since, oh, January 20th, 2025, that the economy BLOWS!!!  Well, news flash: it doesn't!  Today job growth beat estimates, the unemployment rate fell, wage gains remained robust, and, as per Peter Navarro, the early signs of a manufacturing renaissance are upon us.  This is all very good news, needless to say.  The bad news, however, is that the politics of the U.S. economy are largely about perception, not reality, and perceptions are still pessimistic, to say the least.  Be that as it may, if we really were in a recession, Republicans' goose would be cooked in November.  As it is, we at least have a fighting chance.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/jobs-report-january-2026-.html 

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/feb/10/trump-reversed-biden-made-manufacturing-decline/

 

In other news, the U.S. House, including six Republicans, have taken issue with President Trump's tariff policies towards Canada.  I hate to see Trump rebuked by Congress, but on the other hand I happen to agree with those six Republicans that DJT's decision to pick a fight with Canada (over fentanyl???) made very little sense.  And are they the 51st state yet?  No?  Guess that gambit backfired...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyz2142e77o  

 

So, yes, Trump does make the occasional mistake.  On the other hand, the Democrats seem determined to wreck the economy on purpose.  Witness California leftists' campaign to impose a crushing wealth tax on billionaires.  Not surprisingly, those billionaires are heading for the hills -- or, more accurately, for the warm waters of Biscayne Bay.  Can't say I blame 'em.

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/real-estate/mark-zuckerberg-becomes-latest-california-billionaire-relocate-florida-amid-tax-concerns 

SAVE Democracy Before It's Too Late?

 

Friends, DJT is encouraging Congressional Republicans to pass the SAVE Act, which in essence would require voter ID in federal elections.  This is a broadly popular notion, but Democrats are bitterly opposed to it (I wonder why?), so it's very, very unlikely to pass unless the Senate scraps the filibuster, and the chances of that seem slim to none.  Ergo, you can expect future elections to look a lot like past elections: messy and contested.  On the other hand, there's real hope that the Supreme Court might unilaterally alter the political/electoral landscape in ways that would be profoundly helpful to Republicans.  We've talked about some of those ways before, but here's another: it could eliminate illegal aliens from the count that determines Congressional apportionment.  If that happened, or if President Trump succeeded in evicting all 15+ million illegals from the country, the Dems would lose potentially dozens of House seats.  I like the sound of that!

 

https://wgme.com/news/nation-world/trump-urges-gop-to-back-save-act-as-house-sets-up-votemail-chuck-schumer-filibuster 

 

https://thefederalist.com/2026/02/09/if-scotus-bans-illegals-from-the-census-dems-could-lose-power-for-years/ 

 

Meanwhile, the murder rate is plummeting, in case you haven't heard.  Liberals are puzzled, since isn't EVERYTHING getting worse in Trump's America?  As this article makes plain, the concept that credit might be owed to Trump, or that the deportation of hundreds of thousands of criminals might explain some of the decline in murders, simply doesn't occur to Trump haters.  Surprise, surprise!  The big takeaway, though, is that, despite what the media might claim, EVERYONE in America is SAFER since Donald Trump took office.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/nobody-really-knows-why-the-murder-rate-is-plummeting/ar-AA1VYEmD 

 

Finally, Elon Musk is pivoting away from electric cars and Mars, to robots, AI, and the Moon.  I, for one, look forward to employing a robot maid in my Moon mansion, and you should too!

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-prioritizes-moon-before-mars-musk-says-rcna258168 

Protected Class

 

Friends, it ain't easy being a limousine liberal.  I mean, once in a while, you might have to put gas in your limousine, and there's a small possibility that your gold card will be declined...  Speaking of which, the Fourth Estate is INCENSED because some elite journalists at the Washington Post just got pink slips.  I mean, imagine the temerity: Jeff Bezos thinks he can FIRE the stuffed shirts who make it their business to lead the "resistance" to Orange-Man-Bad day in and day out???  Outrageous!  Like Stephen Colbert, these so-called reporters believe that their jobs are sacrosanct, because any refusal to employ them would be "censorship".  They have, in other words, a God-given right (or it is goddess-given?) to fulminate at Trump, MAGA, "white supremacists", ICE, capitalism, etc etc.  Well, I've got news for them: Jeff Bezos has every right to demand that his newspaper be a going concern, and he has every right to fire journalists who don't produce anything other than erudite propaganda.  Having said all that, I'm sure most of these effete Trump haters will land on their feet, because the TDS machine tends to take care of its own.  Pity, because I'd love to have seen some of these WaPo professional agitators working the checkout line at the Piggly Wiggly.  A man can dream!

 

https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/07/the-washington-post-cuts-prove-journalism-dies-in-wokeness/ 

Nothing to Hide

 

Friends, kudos to DHS, which has decided to require all ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis to wear body cams.  This will make it far easier to catch street thugs red-handed!

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-officers-minneapolis-body-cameras/ 

 

And kudos to President Trump as well, for playing nice with Colombia's President Gustavo Petro.  I mean, let's topple one leftist dictator at a time...  We've still got work to do in Venezuela, clearly!

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-meet-colombian-president-gustavo-petro-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-rcna257101