I can confirm that top DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin planned to leave in December, but chose to stay on after 2 fatal ICE shootings. I told her she had the 2nd toughest job in Washington, after Kristi Noem, who she doggedly defended. Here's the link https://t.co/nI4rNNPjJT

— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) February 17, 2026

“A tsunami of Congressional oversight is headed straight for corporate America. Barring a dramatic and improbable reversal of both current and historic political trends, Democrats will retake control of the House of Representatives (and possibly the Senate) in November’s elections, ushering in two years of divided government. With prospects for passing major legislation during that period hovering between slim and none, oversight will become the leading substantive and political weapon for newly ascendant Democrats,” write consultancy dickbags Tucker Eskew and Matt Miller in a “client note” headlined “The Subpoenas Are Coming: How Companies Should Prepare for Next Year’s Congressional Oversight Blitz,” plainly aimed at upselling them on their firm Vianovo’s services.

Miller and Eskew cite two reasons, the first being a “widespread belief among Democrats that major corporations have drawn too close to the administration for comfort” citing attacks on “crypto companies for allegedly funneling money to the president and his family, called antitrust review ‘pay-to-play corruption,’ and questioned the relationship between the White House and oil companies.”

Yeah… You’d think that maybe PR scumbags elite enough to get a free Axios advertorial might be a little craftier with their their copy than that. Or maybe just the invoices these guys command creates overestimation that they aren’t just working backward from a daydreamed response of “My gosh, what ever could have informed such ‘widespread belief’? Who’s spreading these deranged conspiracy theories among the Democratic political class? What pernicious fiends would dare propagate allegations about Eric and Don Jr’s crypto industry innovations or Trump seeking to block Netflix from acquiring Warner Bros or question why he has so many friends in the fossil fuel industry? These challenges require, nay DEMAND, the expertise of elite-tier public relations pros to coach our own comms team on how best to respond to such harmful misperceptions of our business conduct – or at least highlight that our competitor’s CEO is mentioned in the Epstein files WAY more times than ours. Vianovo sure seems primed to synergize a game-changing paradigm strategy!”

“Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, who are responsible for the massive sewage spill in the Potomac River, must get to work, IMMEDIATELY. If they can’t do the job, they have to call me and ask, politely, to get it fixed. The Federal Government is not at all involved with what has taken place, but we can fix it. But remember, even in that case, with the Democrat Shutdown, we’ll have to bring in true Patriots to do the work because many are not working right now. These Democrat caused Disasters, both River and Shutdown, will only get worse. The two Governors and the Mayor of DC must act, IMMEDIATELY. This is a Radical Left caused Environmental Hazard. With all of their talk about carbon footprints and everything else, they’re allowing hundreds of tons of sewage to pour into the Mighty Potomac, making it much less mighty. ACT FAST. I am awaiting your call,” posted President Fecal Matter on Tuesday, again seizing on a localized distraction from his own failures.

In a Monday article headlined “Christian mother, teacher found dead as police hunt homicide suspect in Ohio home invasion” and begins with “A Christian mother of two has been found dead in her home in Ohio as authorities launch a homicide investigation,” Fox News wants you to know that 37 year-old Ashley Flynn was a Christian before you also are apprised that she was a mom of two kids, a substitute teacher in the local public school district, the middle school volleyball team’s head coach, that she was shot dead in her home around 2:31 AM under unclear circumstances while her husband was also in the house, and cops haven’t disclosed potential suspects of interest.

Then at the very bottom of the not-particularly-dense article they write “Christian Life Center in Butler Township said Flynn was a beloved member of the church,” and include the text of a Facebook post from Pastor Jordan Hansen who wrote “Ashley Flynn is with Jesus. Please pray for her husband and two daughters and extended family left behind. Please pray for [the] ongoing investigation. Please pray for God’s very presence to bring comfort to an unfathomable situation.”

And thus the sum total of information meriting the prepending of “Christian” to the headline and lede for Fox News’s reporting on the horrific murder of Ashley Flynn, a cruel tragedy that itself should never be derided or trivialized… But exploitation for clicks? Trying to shame Fox News for that is like trying to shame a swarm of hornets for overdoing it with a baby squirrel who wandered too close to their nest. What is noteworthy is how blatantly the propaganda network seems to be “chasing the dragon” on this one – like the amygdalae of their audience are so inured to “Suburban mom killed in home invasion” that they need to shoehorn “Christian” in there to pierce the tolerance their content has built up over the years. Whatever it takes to get them by while they’re stuck in a holding pattern waiting for a suspect to be identified, praying they’re a Haitian granted asylum by the Biden Administration or trans or something in Fox’s wheelhouse so they can begin carpet-bombing their audience with “Remember Ashley Flynn in November” and “Leftists have blood on their hands,” etc.

Cops in Ghana tell the BBC they intend to formally submit an extradition request to dictator Vladimir Putin’s regime after concluding that 36 year-old Vladislav Lyulkov, a lower-rent Russian version of Andrew Tate or Clavicular, had likely fled the west African country while being sought for arrest over his “pickup artist” exploitation of local women by filming sex acts for his audience, the BBC reports.

The British state media service did not name Lyulkov in their reporting, that comes from Tuko, a site based in Kenya where the Cyrillic dark web incel icon – who wore fucking “Meta glasses” to record his casual encounters with women – is also being sought for questioning by cops and potentially faces up to two years in the joint. In Ghana it’d be closer to 25 years per legislation passed in 2020.

Of course that’s all kind of theoretical because, as the BBC notes, Russia isn’t in the habit of extraditing nationals to other countries – except in the most “serious” of crimes. Not for nothing but it would seem that a state widely believed to have surreptitiously recorded a future president of the United States fondling himself while hookers peed on a hotel bed is going to see what Lyulkov did in Africa as all that serious of a crime. Hell them even recognizing it as a “crime” at all would seem to be a stretch and would make the Kremlin look “woke” to their international fan base.

Smuggling operations continue at U.S.-Canada border despite increased indictments https://t.co/44UQgNgqLo

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) February 17, 2026

Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime on Tuesday announced that the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow waterway through which 20 percent of the global oil supply moves – will be closed for a few hours as the IRGC conducts live fire drills ahead of the anticipated arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford to the region within the next few days, joining another carrier already in the area, the AP reports.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Civil Rights leader and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Honorable Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. He died peacefully on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family. His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity. A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless-from his Presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilizing millions to register to vote-leaving an indelible mark on history. Reverend Jackson is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; their children Santita, Jesse Jr, Jonathan, Yusef, Jacqueline; daughter Ashley Jackson, and grandchildren,” says the now-late Reverend’s family in a statement on Tuesday.

“Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced investigations into North East Independent School District (‘NEISD’) in San Antonio, Dallas Independent School District, and Manor Independent School District (‘MISD’) for facilitating and failing to keep students safe and accountable during various student protests against lawful immigration enforcement. The investigations are being announced following concerns that ISD administration and faculty orchestrated the protests. It appears that these ISDs have taken little to no action to ensure the safety of students and to stop large-scale interruptions of classroom instructional time,” says Picasso-face in a campaign fundraising pitch.

“‘I will not allow Texas schools to become breeding grounds for the radical Left’s open borders agenda,’ said Attorney General Ken Paxton. ‘Let this serve as a warning to any public school official or employee who unlawfully facilitates student participation in protests targeting our heroic law enforcement officers: my office will use every legal tool available to hold you accountable.’ Attorney General Paxton has demanded that each of the three ISDs hand over information regarding policies related to allowing students to leave campus, excused absence policies, security protocols of the ISD, and internal communications regarding the protests. The Office of the Attorney General will investigate the use of public funds and whether any laws were violated,” Pax continued.

It’s not clear if he expects school security to simply shoot the lib kids next time.

A very freaking hilariously-written paragraph from a Variety article printed last week: “Industry watchers are mixed on how ‘Melania’ will perform on Prime Video. Some believe that everyone who had interest has already watched Amazon’s glossy look at the first lady in the lead up to the inauguration. Others suggest it could see a surge from morbidly curious liberals who wouldn’t ever pay for a ticket for a film endorsed by the Trumps and directed by director Brett Ratner, who has been exiled from Hollywood since he was accused in 2017 of sexual harassment.”

Emphasis added on the “Well some libs who already subscribe to Amazon Prime will hate-watch it, so that might help boost the widely anticipated-to-be-terrible streaming numbers” part.

Anyway that was last week and the scam documentary suffered another massive drop-off at the box office this past weekend, its third in theaters, per the Daily Beast who report that the $75 million quid pro quo is projected to pull in $15.4 million by the time it’s finally dumped on Prime.

“I am opposed to the future boondoggle known as ‘Gateway,’ in New York/New Jersey, because it will cost many BILLIONS OF DOLLARS more than projected or anticipated, much like Gavin Newscum’s ‘Railroad’ to nowhere, which is many times over budget, with no end in sight, and could financially obliterate what is left, after Newscum, of the California Economy. It is a disaster!” posted convicted felon President Trump on Monday, leaving out that the funds for the job – congressionally appropriated in 2021 and thus were unlawfully halted by him over some “DEI” horseshit – have already been unblocked by a federal court. So now he’s “opposed” in a vague political sense.

“Gateway will likewise be financially catastrophic for the region, unless hard work and proper planning is done, NOW, to avoid insurmountable future cost overruns. Please let this statement represent the fact that, under no circumstances, will the Federal Government be responsible for ANY COST OVERRUNS – NOT ONE DOLLAR! The Federal Government is willing to meet, however, to make sure that this does not happen!” the fat bastard continued salving his wounded ego, likely after somebody told him just now that they lost 11 days ago and the stay expired on Thursday.

“Also, the naming of PENN Station (I LOVE Pennsylvania, but it is a direct competitor to New York, and ‘eating New York’s lunch!’) to TRUMP STATION, was brought up by certain politicians and construction union heads, not me – IT IS JUST MORE FAKE NEWS! NO COST OVERRUNS!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump then wrote, directly contradicting Krazy Karoline, who said the renaming idea was “something the President floated in his conversation with Chuck Schumer,” in response to a question from a White House reporter more than a week ago.

“In less than a week after he was expelled from the House for his myriad of scams and general scumbaggery, Republican now-former Long Island Congressman George Santos has earned a shit ton of money cranking out Cameo video greetings at now $200 to $300 each, Semafor reports. The wording of their story is slightly dicey but it appears he’s already just in the last few days earned more than the $174,000 annual salary he would’ve made had he survived a full year in Congress, according to screenshots Santos sent to Semafor that were verified by Cameo’s CEO,” wrote National Zero on December 6, 2023, just five days after Santos’s expulsion from the House.

The explainer of what Cameo is was probably in an earlier article so in brief it’s a service that allows, for example, users to spend $1,500 to buy a circa 1 minute personal video message recorded by that Shark Tank douchebag Kevin O’Leary, or $699 for one by Jean Claude Van Damme, or $450 for one by Chuck Norris, and so on… Oh shit, “🔥 Only 9 videos left at this price,” says Norris’s page.

“The videos take less than a minute to crank out and if Santos did a few thousand that’s a pretty realistic sum. The demand is obviously there too, as Georgie boy definitely seemed a little fatigued when Senator John Fetterman used Santos to troll scumbag colleague ‘Bobby from Jersey,'” the article continued and let’s skip ahead to noting they’re “a novelty that people are into right now because Santos just got expelled that will fade and then probably spike again when he goes on trial in the spring.” Yeah he just pleaded guilty, surrendered in July 2025, and did three months before other felon Trump commuted his seven and a half year sentence because fuck you, America.

For context, this is the leader of one of the key mainstream Muslim groups that supported Mamdani. pic.twitter.com/zcIs4tVyly

— Congressman Randy Fine (@RepFine) February 15, 2026

“Nicole Parker, formerly of the FBI, is doing a great job of explaining, on FoxNews, the Nancy Guthrie investigation. Others also, working so hard, with such expertise and knowledge. Hopefully there will be a positive result!” posted the President of the United States at 9:31 AM on Monday, a statement issued to reassure Americans he’s tirelessly pushing himself to the limits of human capacity around the clock to resolve a crisis that has thus far vexed his government’s greatest minds and…

Well it’s one thing for Donald to be sitting on his fat ass watching Fox News instead of literally anything that might reduce the cost of living for Americans. That’s been priced in with him, as is his praise of one of the self-promoting FBI washouts who quit in 2022 and got right to work as one of Jim Jordan’s fake “whistleblowers” because she didn’t want to arrest the Capitol insurrectionists.

It’s when you put those together with the utter sloth and passivity of “Hopefully there will be a positive result!” on a news cycle that – with all the caveats of being a horrible crime that merits some of the media bandwidth it has received – on balance affects fewer Americans than the stories under headlines like “When does McDonald’s Shamrock Shake come out? See return date,” at USA Today or “Costco May Have Just Quietly Changed Its Returns Policy: Reports” at Newsweek for example.

Like if he’s going to post about it instead of something actually kind of important or relevant why can’t he at the very least post something, anything that carries some imprimatur of initiative and command like “I’m ordering the NSA and CIA to begin examining satellite images from the night of Nancy Guthrie’s abduction to determine if there’s any data on what vehicles might have been in the neighborhood” or whatever. Why not just try to seem decisive and resolute instead of old and lazy?

France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin on Sunday accused far left extremist politicians’ rhetoric of having amped up the Antifa libs who savagely beat a 23 year-old far right extremist in the city of Lyon on Thursday under circumstances the AFP reports that local prosecutors haven’t fully revealed.

What is known is that far left France Unbowed (LFI) Euro Parliament MEP Rima Hassan was making an appearance and the victim, identified only as “Quentin” was there to provide security for right wingers protesting Hassan’s presence at the Sciences Po University in the city. According to an attorney for Quentin’s family, the man was quickly surrounded and thrashed by the “organized and trained individuals, vastly superior in number and armed, some with their faces masked.”

Quentin, an associate of the right wing “Nemesis Collective,” succumbed to his wounds on Saturday, leading Darmanin to decry “speeches, particularly from France Unbowed and the ultra-left, which unfortunately lead to unbridled violence on social networks and then in the physical world.”

“Words can kill,” Darmanin, seen as the among the most conservative members of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist cabinet continued living Pam Bondi’s wet dream of an actually violent episode of Antifa violence against a right winger instead of having to blame the victims.

As of 8:53 AM EST Monday morning users of Twitter (or “X” if you’re a douchebag) were logging in to find the platform roughly as functional as owner Elon Musk’s orbitofrontal cortex in that the pages loaded as well as the region of the South African-born tech tycoon’s brain that governs social behavior, impulse control, and the ability to anticipate future consequences of actions.

Really the only difference is that one is reparable and the other is most certainly beyond saving.