Hugely Snarky, So Fun

Woke Bitches Win Gold. MAGA Losers? Still Losers.

Cope and seethe forever.

Evan Hurst

Alysa Liu exits the ice after making history. (Screengrab: the Olympics)

God, Team USA is amazing.

“They hate to see two woke bitches winning,” said US figure skater Amber Glenn, who got death threats from America’s least important humans when she dared speak her mind about the vile regime running the United States right now.

The word I want you to keep in mind for this entire post is winning, because winning is the word that differentiates Olympians from the vile MAGA pieces of shit who have spent over a week now BITCHING and MOANING and CRYING and COMPLAINING and BELLYACHING and WHINING and WHINING and WHINING, all because a number of our finest athletes have met their Olympic moments by saying Hey, you know what? I’m proud to be here, but it’s not that easy right now to embrace everything this flag currently represents.

They’re already winners because they’re there, every one of them.

And every MAGA American is an absolute fucking loser.

Not long after I started The Moral High Ground, the Paris Olympics happened. During those games the MAGA freakout was over the absolutely wonderful opening ceremonies, which totally murdered white American conservative Christian culture by … we forget how, but we’re pretty sure they still bear the scars of that sexy-ass French opening ceremony with the heavy metal and the gender fludity and the joie de vivre. This month, these whining fucking losers have gotten their culture destroyed by Bad Bunny’s flagrant Spanish-speaking behavior at the Super Bowl, and of course by all these Olympians out here, accomplishing things and some of them not even tonguing Donald Trump’s asshole like a good little obedient Nazis!

MAGA goes into these situations already mad, if you haven’t noticed. They go into every situation already mad, because despite all the years they’ve spent bitching about cancel culture and snowflake liberals needing their safe spaces, the reality is that MAGA Americans are the softest, most pathetic clumps of human detritus ever to waste our fucking time making us listen to their grievances.

Shut Up And Sing/Dance/Skate/Ski!

It is the damnedest thing.

There is this pathological tendency among MAGA Americans to be simultaneously the least valuable players of the entire human race, yet still manage to believe everybody who does things they can’t do is on this earth solely to entertain them. That there’s some unspoken tradeoff wherein God gave all these other people musical brilliance or athletic prowess or [name skill or talent here], therefore they shouldn’t be allowed to have opinions, unless of course those opinions conform with the dominant beliefs of the … least valuable players of the entire human race.

Which they seldom do.

Because winners don’t tend to look at the world the same way losers do.

They’re not eaten up by the same fears, the xenophobia, the hatred, the resentment. They’re not susceptible to politicians who tell them to blame all their problems on people who look different from them, or who are less fortunate.

They’re too busy putting in the work, and then winning. Or putting in the work and coming in second or fourth or really fucking it up, but developing the discipline and the heart to dust themselves off, perhaps heal, and then try again. (My God, bless Lindsey Vonn’s heart.)

I said it during the last Olympics, but it bears repeating that even when MAGA culture wars manage to get close to a place of excellence, it’s remarkable how far from the actual winner’s podium they happen.

(Why is Riley Gaines one of MAGA’s athletic heroes? Because she’s a fucking loser. Maybe if she had been a stronger swimmer she could have taken a better path in life.)

(snip; Substack Note embed that didn’t)

But enough about Riley Gaines, let’s talk more about Olympians!

These Team USA athletes have shown us these past two weeks how they are heroes in their disciplines, but also a number of them by truly representing the best of the USA, speaking calmly, humbly, compassionately, bravely about what it feels like to be competing under the American flag right now, as the nation that’s often been considered the hope of the world is struggling and buckling under a white supremacist, fascist, neo-Nazi regime that seeks to destroy it.

US freestyle skier Hunter Hess said wearing the American flag doesn’t necessarily mean supporting everything that’s happening in the US right now, and that “it brings up mixed emotions.” He continued: “There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t,” and “I just think, if it aligns with my moral values I think I’m representing it.”

Another skier, Chris Lillis: “I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States. I think that as a country we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we are treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect.”

Amber Glenn: “It’s been a hard time for the [LGBTQ] community overall in this administration. It isn’t the first time that we’ve had to come together as a community and try and fight for our human rights.…I hope I can use my platform and my voice throughout these Games to try and encourage people to stay strong in these hard times.”

Rich Ruohonen, Minnesotan, curling team:

“First of all, I’d like to say I’m proud to be here to represent Team USA, and to represent our country,” Ruohonen began his statement. “But we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention what’s going on in Minnesota, and what a tough time it’s been for everybody. This stuff is happening right around where we live.

“I am a lawyer as you know, and we have a Constitution, and it allows us freedom of the press, freedom of speech, protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, and makes it that we have to have probable cause to be pulled over. What’s happening in Minnesota is wrong — there’s no shades of grey. It’s clear.”

You’re either with the Nazis or you’re against them. Period.

For speaking out, these Olympians, some of the real champions of this country, have been bullied, abused, received death threats. Amber Glenn has gotten it some of the worst, because MAGA trash always beats up women the hardest. She had to step off social media because of a “scary amount of hate/threats,” but even as the hate messages were rolling in — you know, while she was busy doing something worthwhile with her life — she said, “I know that a lot of people say you’re just an athlete, like, stick to your job, shut up about politics, but politics affect us all. It is something I will not just be quiet about.”

And then “They hate to see woke bitches winning,” she said on TikTok, posing with Alysa Liu and their team gold figure skating medals.

But my God, how the histrionics have flowed forth from MAGA!

The New York Post can’t fucking stop whining. Wrote their editorial board, “If you don’t want to represent your country, stay home from the Olympics. That’s the message that ungrateful athletes need to hear, after they tore into America in front of the international press.”

Ungrateful athletes. Ungrateful to whom, please, bitchass MAGA losers?

In another article, they outsourced the whining to MAGA nobodies and zeroes on the internet:

“This privileged athlete’s comments clearly show that he puts himself far above his country in this competition,” one user on X wrote. “His comments are an insult to Team USA and the spirit of the Olympics.

“When you wear the Stars and Stripes, you represent ALL of us — not just the parts you like,” another commenter wrote.

“’Mixed emotions?’ Then stay home and let someone who loves this country shine.”

Another fumed that Hess’ “whole purpose in being there is to REPRESENT the USA,” adding that if he has mixed feelings, “there are other skiers that would love to be there.”

But other skiers didn’t make the cut, and guess who else didn’t? Literally every MAGA trash American punching out mad tweets with their diabetes fingers.

Of course, MAGA’s professional whiners, its elected politicians and pundits, have been doing everything they can to goose the culture war outrage for their little piggies.

“YOU chose to wear our flag. YOU chose to represent our country. YOU chose to compete at the @Olympics,” [Rep. Byron] Donalds (R-Fla.) wrote on X. “If that’s too hard for you, then GO HOME. Some things are bigger than politics. You just don’t get it.”

GOP Senator Rick Scott wants athletes caught expressing wrongthink to be “stripped of their USA Olympic uniform.” JD Vance said some shit but we couldn’t hear it over all the people booing him everywhere he went in Milan.

“Shut up and go play in the snow,” said GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, perhaps easily the stupidest member of Congress, at least on the House side. (Can’t definitively call him the stupidest in the whole building, not while Tommy Tuberville and Ron Johnson are still in the Senate.) He was mad about Hunter Hess’s remarks.

And of course, Stupid Hitler, 2016 election popular vote loser, 2020 total election loser, and 2024 couldn’t-even-get-50-percenter, called Hess a “total loser,” lied and said Hess said he “doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” and whined that he “shouldn’t have tried out for the team.”

Madame Miserable Megyn Kelly referred to Amber Glenn as “another turncoat to root against” on Twitter.

Raymond Arroyo, the little circus-cast-member-looking MAGA milquetoast who goes on Laura Ingraham to say Black guys love Trump because of how they love sneakers and mugshots, told Laura it’s “borderline treason” what Hess said. (He was also really upset that British skier Gus Kenworthy peed in the snow and spelled out “FUCK ICE.”)

Jesse Kelly: “I’m openly rooting against every one of these people. I hope they fall and embarrass themselves and come in dead last. Man, sports sucks now.” So very upset and angry.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s daughter Evita Duffy-Alonso: “I don’t know why we don’t start vetting these Olympians before they actually start to represent us overseas for their patriotism.”

Sure, Jan.

There is just no shortage of sad, whining, butthurt comments from these brokedicks, messages of hate from America’s Nothings to America’s Somethings, MAGA Cletuses and Karens whose grandchildren don’t call them on Christmas, but who yet sincerely believe they’ve got something valuable to say to our very finest Olympians. My God.

Here are two more, then I will stop giving these creeps airtime:

“I’d rather us lose with patriots, than win with traitors.”

“Hey kid, you’re not doing this Country a ‘favor’ by repping us. In fact, by doing what you’ve done… you’re NOT representing us. Take the uniform off. We don’t need ya.”

We don’t need them … for what? Do these people think they’re in some kind of relationship with America’s Olympians? Bless their hearts.

Notice, please, how these human fistulas all seem to think Olympians are there to serve them, to entertain them. All these mouthbreathers, incels and shut-ins, whining on Twitter and on Fox News that these winners refuse to represent them personally.

As if these nutsacks and walking participation trophies pounding out their messages with Cheeto dust on their scaly hands are somehow characters in our Olympians’ stories? LOL.

Here’s a cold hard truth:

They don’t represent you, MAGA, not really. Because they’re winners, and you’re fucking losers.

They’re winners, and you’re stupid, inbred cows, the absolute worst this country has to offer, the most rancid shit that ever lab-leaked out of the back entrance of God’s imagination factory while His little elves were out on a smoke break.

Sure, they technically compete under the same flag these dorks are always humping with their erections whenever that Lee Greenwood song comes on, but that’s about the extent of the connection.

Because they’re winners, and MAGA are fucking losers.

Lord, the New York Post was even forced to admit that in one of its pathetic articles, that Hess has been all over winners’ podiums at the World Cup and the X Games. That Lillis won gold in 2022 in Beijing. That Glenn is the reigning and three-time US figure skating champion.

Whining that these winners should be pulled from the team? Pffffffft. What, so some kind of 176th-place MAGA athletes can take their places? They think these woke Olympians are taking jobs MAGA would get otherwise?

Maybe Secretary Shitfaced Hegseth can teach them some of his Sit And Be Fit kettlebell swings to get their training started.

Whine whine whine whine whine whine whine. That’s all we ever hear from these people.

And to make a picky point here, but no, pedophile-loving MAGA piss troughs, these athletes don’t hate their country. They hate what these MAGA fascists are doing to their country, as they’re trying to seize permanent power and turn the United States into a shithole that only reflects MAGA’s darkest and most perverted shortcomings, and yanks us all away from the light we’re striving for. They hate MAGA’s vile, inferior vision for a United States that’s nothing but a humping blanket all their most pathetic fucking fears, weakness, grievances and hatred, and a vehicle for retribution against all those who don’t have to live that way because they aren’t total fucking losers like MAGA.

So yeah, I guess Olympians really aren’t competing for the MAGA version of America that’s drenched in the piss-stench of failure. Reckon most of ‘em are too nice to say that, though.

One final thing: As Parker Molloy notes, what these Olympians have said is actually pretty tame, comparatively, and you can really see how far the fascism has encroached comparing this year’s statements to past years under Trump. An example is 2017 Lindsey Vonn, who said “absolutely not” to the prospect of visiting Trump’s White House. What about just before these Olympics? “I’m not going to answer that question because, I’m just not going to answer it,” she said. “I want to keep my passport.” Unfortunately not a crazy thing to say.

I am of course sure MAGA is thrilled at how these Olympics have gone for Vonn.

That said, I do think it’s swinging back the other direction. I think six months ago, nine months ago, these athletes might not even have said the things they’ve said. But then ICE started cold-blooded murdering Americans in the streets and building concentration camps and the Epstein Files just kept leaking out and the fascists are trying to ban James Talarico from saying words on Stephen Colbert, and, and, and.

People are fucking pissed. And I think decent Americans have gotten their groove back, and are much more full of the sense these days that we are going to win.

Speaking of winning:

And Then Last Night!

If you saw the women’s free skate on Thursday, you already know. If you didn’t, LA LA LA LA LA SPOILERS.

After one painfully unfortunate mistake in Amber Glenn’s short program — which waddling MAGA spectators also celebrated — she was pretty much out of medal contention in 13th place, but came back to have the free skate of her absolute life, and climbed all the way to fifth in the final standings.

And then it was Alysa Liu’s turn. She was third after the short program, but she just … did something incredible. She skated to “MacArthur Park,” and she just floated and bounced across that ice like she didn’t have a care in the world. She was flawless. You knew you were seeing something special, the way the commentators just shut. up.

More than anything it was so fun. This woman, my God she is cool.

“THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ABOUT!” Liu shouted as she came off the ice. [It has been pointed out in the comments that she actually said “That’s what I’m FUCKIN’ talking about!” and that it was censored in subsequent broadcasts. This makes Liu even cooler. – Ed.] She won the US’s first women’s individual figure skating medal since 2006, the first American gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Two winners.

Oh yeah, and again, the American skaters won the team gold. Which includes Amber Glenn.

“They hate to see two woke bitches winning.”

Fuck yes they do.

Cope forever, losers.

About Those Tariffs,

I’m reading The Guardian’s live updates. Here are a couple of them.

First, I love Sen. Professor Warren:

Lawmakers react to supreme court ruling against Trump’s tariffs

We’re starting to see members of Congress react to the supreme court ruling that many of Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal.

Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, said that no decision can “undo the massive damage that the Trump tariffs have done to small businesses, to American supply chains, and especially to American families forced to pay higher prices on everything from groceries to housing”.

She added that there is “no legal mechanism for consumers and many small businesses to recoup the money they have already paid”.

“Giant corporations with their armies of lawyers and lobbyists can sue for tariff refunds, then just pocket the money for themselves. It’s one more example of how the game is rigged,” said Warren, who is the ranking member on the Senate banking committee. “Any refunds from the federal government should end up in the pockets of the millions of Americans and small businesses that were illegally cheated out of their hard-earned money by Donald Trump.”

==========

Haha. Also note, he’s true to form of accusing his opposition of what’s true about himself and his cult.

Trump lambasts liberal justices on supreme court, says they’re being ‘swayed by foreign interests’ without providing evidence

In his remarks today, Trump lambasted the liberal supreme court justices today, as well as those who concurred with the opinion that the use of IEEPA was illegal.

“The Democrats on the court are thrilled,” Trump said. “They’re against anything that makes America strong, healthy and great again. They also are a frankly, disgrace to our nation, those justices.”

He went on to criticize “certain” members of the court, which would include justices he nominated to the bench – such as Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett.

“They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our constitution,” Trump added. “It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” he said without citing any evidence for his claims.

Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 2-20-2026

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“Femme boys shouldn’t have to hide to feel safe.”
I have an anecdote about the second frame. After I ran away from my dad’s house, I found myself in a very harsh neighborhood in Montreal, where I finished high school. I was pretty much out and proud...

I was an abused boy trying to deal with his budding sexuality being gay.  I did not think I gave off signs but the bullies sensed my vulnerability because I did not form friends and stayed to myself.  So they attacked me.  What shocked me was not that the bullies attacked me but that the teachers in the 1970s joined in, giving the bullies full permission to do so while restricting my grades.  Remember, I was not an out gay kid, I was an abused boy trying to keep his head down and get by each day.  But the future maga sinced my vunerablebiltey and attacked me.  Once it went around the school my entire teen school years became agony.  That is what the republican Christian nationalists are trying to drive us back to.  It changed in the 2000s with anti bulling and anti-discrimination programs.  tRump’s amdin has desperately attempted to remove all those programs and protections.  Hugs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The progressive comic about how girls being buried on Epstein golf courses.

 

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Plenty of gay men took their husbands name or they both hyphenated both their names.  So these gay couples would not have a matching birth certificate.  I am one of those.  I took Ron’s last name deperatly wanting to leave my abusive adoptive parents last name very far behind.  Hugs

 

 

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About these letters.  Allison Gill on the Daily Beans news podcast gave sourced reports that ICE detention agents raided the children’s rooms at this detention concentration camp for children / families and took all their letters with the intent to destroy their reports of what was happening to them.  Allison Gill has sued the government in court to save them and get them published.  I fear it will be too late.  Hugs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

I follow Allison Gill’s Daily Beans morning audio podcast which gives the news from the prior day with the sources to verify it.   This is one of the stories they cover deeply.  They now have a video version called Beans Talk on the YouTube channel MSW.  I do recommend them as a valid news source.  Hugs

 

 

It started with Mary Ellen.

As many here can imagine this was hard for me to post.  I am shaking and crying but the post is important to get out.  Children as property was how I was seen.  I was going to put it on the roundup page, but it just doesn’t belong there; it does belong here.  Thank you. Hugs

 

So I’m Reading This,

and wondering about the little internet anomalies that happened here after I sent a very nice letter to Sec. Noem about a young woman being detained for protesting, who’s starving to illness because halal food is not provided in her detention facility. You all know me; of course I made it very polite and non-confrontational. I had a few concerns for a bit, then let it go, slept, did yesterday only wondering a bit now and then, but nothing happened. Then this morning, I see this article. sigh I really hate posting this because I’m always encouraging people to write and direct our government, and this is certainly dis-encouraging. And discouraging. But necessary for people to know.

He Sent One Email. Then Federal Agents Came To His Door.

Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is weaponizing a little-known legal tool to crack down on free speech — and Big Tech is complying.

n October, a Philadelphia man sent an email to the Department of Homeland Security criticizing a government policy. Hours later, federal agents and local police were banging on his door to interrogate him without a warrant. It feels like something out of a movie, but it’s real.

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with ACLU attorney Steve Loney, who’s now representing the man involved, to ask some big questions: How are federal agencies obtaining your private data without a warrant? How are tech giants like Google enabling them? And what should you do if the feds come knocking on your door?

LISTEN: https://megaphone.link/TPG5560517715

Or read the transcript (as I’m doing.) Part of it below, then the rest on the page.

TRANSCRIPT

Following is an automated, unedited transcription of this episode. The text may contain grammatical or spelling errors, especially for proper nouns, or attribute text to the wrong speaker. If you plan to quote any part of this transcript, please first confirm that it is correct by listening to the audio.

[00:00:00] David Sirota: From The Lever’s reader, supported newsroom, it’s Lever Time. I’m David Sirota. The idea of civil liberties can seem abstract. Civil liberties are your basic right to speak out, criticize the government and feel free from state sponsored censorship or intimidation. And it’s easy to take civil liberties for granted as if they just exist.

That is, until they become less abstract and more concrete when the government goes full authoritarian against you. In recent months, we’ve seen the Trump administration deploying immigration enforcement agents to violently invade US cities. Killing people is an obvious violation of their civil liberties, to say the least.

But there’s a quieter assault on civil liberties also happening right now. One that can start with you just sending an innocuous email expressing opposition to a government policy, and then end up with federal agents banging on your door and big tech companies threatening to turn all of your digital data over to federal police.

Now, this may sound like science fiction or something happening in a far away country, but today on Lever Time, you’re gonna hear how it’s happening right here in America at a potentially massive scale, and I have some very big questions for the lawyer right in the middle of this battle.

How can a federal agency subpoena your personal data without a judicial warrant? Why are giant tech companies that once sold themselves as protecting customer’s privacy from government intrusion? Why are they now apparently working with the Trump administration to destroy that privacy? And what can you do if you find one of these subpoena threats in your own email inbox? Coming up, my discussion with ACLU attorney, Steve Loney, who tells the harrowing tale of one man being threatened by the government for sending an email opposing ICE’s policy and what they discovered when pushing back against the Trump administration and Big Tech.

Why don’t we start with, um, just who you are, uh, what you do, and anything you think the audience should know. Uh, for purposes of this conversation.

[00:02:22] Steve Loney: My name is Steve Loney. I’m the senior supervising attorney at the A CLU of Pennsylvania. Um, the senior attorney in the Alus Philadelphia office. I am a civil rights attorney, um, one of the last of the generalists.

So if, uh, people’s civil rights are being violated in Pennsylvania, then um, I may be on the case. I have a pretty significant First Amendment docket, which is how I got involved in cases involving people. Having their data subpoenaed by the federal government, and a couple of the most significant or high profile cases have come out of Pennsylvania and activists, uh, in suburban Philadelphia.

[00:02:58] David Sirota: So the story that we’re talking about today starts with a Washington Post article, and I want you to tell me about this article published in late October. Of 2025 detailing how the Trump administration decided to deport a man, a father of two to Afghanistan, where he expected the Taliban to kill him.

Just set the scene here with this article coming out.

[00:03:26] Steve Loney: It started with a man who ended up being our client sitting in the suburbs of Philadelphia reading. This post article in October about the government sort of stripping status for an asylum seeker, somebody who was trying to stay in the United States legally.

Um, so to the extent that all of this debate around immigration is about, you know, trying to find a path to be here illegally, this individual apparently was seeking a path to be here illegally. He had a live asylum application. His asylum claim was based on his legitimate fear that if he returned. To Afghanistan after having helped the United States while he was there.

Then he would suffer retribution, maybe even be killed by the Taliban. So the post published an article about his case where the government was essentially revoking his status and attempting to deport him imminently. And the men ended up being our client. John, and I’ll avoid using his last name because part of the First Amendment issue here is DHS piercing the bail of anonymity for people who are trying to express their abuse anonymously.

John is a naturalized citizen in Pennsylvania who is very politically interested, very upset about what’s happening. Right now, especially as it pertains to immigration. As somebody who was born in another country and worked to become a United States citizen, he read this article and was appalled by the position the government was taking.

In that article, a government lawyer, a United States lawyer from the DOJ was identified as the lawyer identified by name. It’s this is a public servant doing the business of the government in public. So this is not a doxing situation, however people might try to use that term. This is somebody who publicly signed the papers in the Afghanistan refugees case and was identified by the Post.

Our client did a quick Google search, found the government lawyer’s email address listed publicly. Again, I think he found it on his state bar’s website, so he decided to send an email to the government lawyer. It was a very innocuous, non-threatening, just plea for. The government to do the right thing and not let this individual from Afghanistan go home to face torture and death.

[00:05:38] David Sirota: So at this point in, in this story, the Washington Post publishes a story that’s, uh, a pretty tragic story of the Trump administration deporting a guy potentially sending him back to a country where he could get killed. Somebody else reads this story. Sees the, uh, public official quoted emails, the public official, a plea for a different, a different decision.

[00:06:04] Steve Loney: I believe his words were a plea for decency. Apply human decency. That was this. This was the guy’s crime, was to ask a government official to be decent,

[00:06:12] David Sirota: and that gets to this next part, which is a crime, right? That apparently in doing this, the response was to treat the. Guy who sent the email almost as a criminal, what happened next?

[00:06:28] Steve Loney: What happened next was that the government investigated him or started to investigate him as a criminal. Within hours of hitting send on the email, he used his Gmail account to send this email to the government official, and within hours he received a notice on his Gmail account sort of form. Notice from Google saying that we’re waiting to notify you that your data has been requested by a government agency and you have seven days to seek a court order stopping this or else we’re gonna comply and hand over your data to the government.

[00:06:56] David Sirota: This is hours later.

[00:06:57] Steve Loney: Hours

[00:06:57] David Sirota: later, like not, not a few days later, not caught in the spam filter. It’s like sends the email, maybe goes out, does some errands, comes back, checks his email, and he gets this email in his Gmail precisely saying. The government is like knocking down our door. Google’s door demanding your data,

[00:07:13] Steve Loney: right?

And Google’s not gonna step up and try to resist this. Google’s not gonna look into whether this is a legitimate government inquiry. Google is putting the onus on this individual who all he did was send a two line email to navigate federal courts and figure out what motion to file on his own dime. To stop this train or else Google’s gonna comply with the subpoena.

[00:07:34] David Sirota: This subpoena, to be clear, is known as an administrative subpoena. So just for people who hear this term, it’s not like the government went to a judge, got a judge to sign off on a warrant, like in a couple of hours, and then sent something to Google. This is something. Different. And I think it’s important for people to understand what an administrative subpoena is as distinct from a, a judicial warrant,

[00:08:00] Steve Loney: right?

And, and a judicial warrant is what you would normally expect to be sought by a prosecutorial entity trying to prosecute or investigate a crime. So, as I said before, they treated him like a criminal, but they didn’t follow the procedures and the guardrails that are in place to protect our rights. In the event that.

A prosecutor wants a warrant to search your stuff. So what they’re doing instead is trying to shoehorn these kinds of requests into administrative subpoenas. So administrative subpoenas are authorized to some extent by statute. So DHS has statutory authority to investigate, essentially, I’m gonna oversimplify, but essentially violations of immigration law or interference with immigration functions.

So if DHS is legitimately. Investigating a violation of the immigration laws. It can issue its own subpoena. It doesn’t have to go to to a judge because it’s not, that is not a criminal process. That or it’s not yet a criminal process, right? So the agency can do agency things through an administrative subpoena, but there are still guardrails and, and a bygone, quaint era of Trump won.

We might’ve expected the tech companies who are under no obligation. This is, this is a big distinction between a criminal search warrant signed by a judge and an administrative subpoena. The recipient of the administrative subpoena, the tech company can actually say no. They can say thanks. No thanks.

And in that past era when tech companies seemed to be more interested in kind of marketing how good of a job they were doing at protecting their users’, privacy would kind of tout that we will push back on these subpoenas. And they did. And there were some cases like this, that back and forth, the administrative subpoena goes to Google or any tech company, they look at it, they realize it’s not a judicially signed warrant.

They say, no thanks. Then the onus is on the government to go to court and they know how to file things in federal court. The onus is on the government to go to court and justify why their investigation is tied to that statutory authority. Right. And it’s so then it’s not on the end user. But things have shifted now in a couple of different ways.

One is we’ve learned that. DHS is overusing these administrative subpoenas.

[00:10:16] David Sirota: How much, like what are we talking about overusing?

(snip-more)

Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 2-19-2026

 

 

 

 

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I finally made a comic strip about fall (but without any references to pumpkin spice lattes).
This is me during high school in a nutshell btw

I finally made a comic strip about fall (but without any references to pumpkin spice lattes).

This is me during high school in a nutshell btw

 

 

#Demi Lovato from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

#neutral from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

I have been here.  No means no, stop means don’t argue just stop and change activites, consent can be withdrawn at any time during sex.  Hugs

 

 

Mike Luckovich for 2/18/2026

 

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“Our flag is red, white, and blue, but our nation is a rainbow—red, yellow, brown, black, and white—and we are all precious in God’s sight.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Branch for 2/17/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Varvel for 2/17/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#white people twitter from White People Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Britt for 2/17/2026

 

Jimmy Margulies for 2/12/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Smith for 2/12/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many people have requested such wearable designs lately, so I was happy to oblige. Just a bunch of funny, silly, lighthearted designs, yes, such as:

-“Sorry babe, I can’t make it to the function tonight, I have fascists to punch” (my personal favorite);

-“Abolish ICE” but in a beautiful gradient from the future;

-“Nerds against ICE” with a natural 20 (they are messing with the wrong DnD party);

-“I thought we agreed that concentration camps were BAD”;

-“ICE OUT” but in trans colors for added conservative nightmares.

There’s also a few variants and other new stuff! Check them out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Smith for 2/17/2026

 

Lee Judge for 2/17/2026

 

 

 

#ice from Captain PirateFace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Smith for 2/13/2026

 

 

 

Jimmy Margulies for 2/10/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lee Judge for 2/13/2026

Lee Judge for 2/12/2026

We know from testimony that there were abuse videos made and sent to Epstein.  Trigger warning the meme below is very graphic and difficult to read.  Hugs

Jimmy Margulies for 2/13/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truth, Putin and Trump

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmy Margulies for 2/17/2026

 

 

 

 

News From Rest Of The World

U.S. news, too; scroll past what you’ve seen. I like to know what’s happening outside the U.S. as well as here; I loved to read newspapers when they were big and full of news from everywhere. I don’t make time to read this often enough.

Everything Briefing

February 18, 2026

Talks and Passing

Jacob Redman

Good morning, everyone!

https://substack.com/embedjs/embed.js“>(snip-embedded note on the page; click this or the title above)

In 1984, Jesse Jackson became the first Black candidate to win a presidential primary contest and qualify for the ballot in all 50 states.

Campaigning under the slogan “Now Is The Time,” Jackson won more than three million votes and four contests in the Democratic primary.

Four years later, he placed second for the nomination, winning 11 c…

576

Today, we will look at a series of U.S. political developments, Ukrainian peace talks, and U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks.

Let’s get to it.

♻️ Help this post reach more readers: like, repost, and share 📬

Share


United States

-Congressional negotiations on a spending bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have stalled, as Democratic and Republican leaders remain divided on changes to immigration enforcement practices.

DHS, which houses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, entered a partial shutdown on Saturday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill amid the standoff.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to a compromise bill to fund all government agencies except for DHS through September as they negotiated changes to immigration enforcement tactics.

Ahead of the funding lapse, congressional Democrats called the White House’s counterproposals insufficient.

-Americans’ approval of Trump’s immigration policies has fallen to a new low, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

-Stephen Colbert said that CBS forced him to not air an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on his late-night show, saying that executives were fearful that the appearance could draw ire from the Federal Communications Commission.

The interview was posted to The Late Show’s YouTube page. View it here:

Earlier this month, the FCC opened an investigation into ABC’s The View after an appearance by Talarico.

The latest move came just as early voting began in Texas, where Talarico, a State Representative, is facing off against Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary.

The election will be held on March 3.

-Arizona Senator Mark Kelly said he will “seriously consider” a bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

-In a Presidents’ Day message, former President George W. Bush paid tribute to George Washington, saying he “ensured America wouldn’t become a monarchy, or worse.”

Read the full message on Substack here:

In Pursuit

George Washington by George W. Bush

Read more

2 days ago · 1386 likes · 291 comments · In Pursuit and George W. Bush

-Measles cases in South Carolina have surged.

-Speculation has swirled around whether Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito plans to retire this year.

-Jesse Jackson, the longtime civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate, died yesterday at the age of 84.

Tributes poured in following the news of his passing.

View them here.

Jesse Jackson exposed racism and rifts in politics - The Washington Post

-On this day in 1931, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio.

Toni Morrison, the Teacher | The New Yorker

In 1938, Joseph Kennedy Sr., the father of future President John F. Kennedy, was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s in the Oval Office as President Franklin Roosevelt looked on.

In 1967, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb,” died at the age of 62.

In 1988, Anthony Kennedy was seated as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.

Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, Kennedy would go on to serve as the Court’s crucial swing vote on issues of abortion, affirmative action, and gay marriage.

Anthony Kennedy's Supreme Court tenure, in photos (and one drawing) -  POLITICO

In 2010, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, tasking Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles with identifying strategies to improve the country’s long-term fiscal outlook.

The body, known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission, issued a report titled “The Moment of Truth,” later that year, calling for a combination of spending cuts, tax and entitlement reforms, and other measures to reduce the deficit.

Obama Signs Executive Order To Create Fiscal Responsibility Commission
Other Links:
Hillary Clinton accuses Trump administration of a ‘cover-up’ over its handling of Epstein documents – CNN
Epstein survivor Juliette Bryant says she was trafficked from South Africa and soon realized it was “not a modeling opportunity, I’ve been kidnapped” – CBS
Federal judge rules Kilmar Abrego Garcia can’t be re-detained by immigration authorities – AP
Maryland bans partnerships with ICE, citing ‘unaccountable agents’ – Washington Post
Top DHS spokesperson who became a face of Trump immigration policy is leaving – NPR
Minnesota’s Legislature braces for a federal immigration fight as the enforcement surge winds down – AP
Senate clamps down on DC tax bill – Politico
Republican congressman’s anti-Muslim remark prompts calls for his resignation – NBC

Africa

-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan scorned Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, saying the move did not benefit the Horn of Africa region.

Israel officially recognized the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state in December, becoming the first member of the United Nations to do so.

In response, Somalia called the move an “existential threat,” with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud saying that his country would “fight in its capacity” to prevent an Israeli military presence in the region.

Somaliland declared independence in 1991 following a five-year civil war.

Somaliland profile - BBC News

-Nigeria’s defense ministry said yesterday that 100 more U.S. military personnel had arrived in the country as part of a mission to counter Islamist militant groups in the West African country.

President Trump ordered strikes on Islamic State targets in the country on Christmas Day and has accused the government of failing to protect Christians in its northwestern region, a claim it rejects.

-The new U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, conservative activist and writer Leo Brent Bozell III, arrived in the country yesterday amid strained bilateral ties.

-Unemployment in South Africa declined to 31.4% in the fourth quarter, a five-year low.

The jobless rate in the country has remained above 20% since the mid-1990s and remains one of the highest in the world.

-On this day in 2004, President Bush hosted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the Oval Office as Washington sought the North African country’s cooperation in its war against terrorist organizations.

According to press reports, Bush also urged Ben Ali to adopt democratic reforms.

Ben Ali ruled Tunisia with an iron fist from 1987 until 2011 when he was ousted by a pro-democracy movement that would sweep the region, which would become known as the Arab Spring.

Other Links:
At least 6,000 killed over 3 days during RSF attack on Sudan’s el-Fasher, UN says – AP
Prominent Angolan journalist targeted with Predator spyware – Reuters
Zimbabwe war veterans challenge Mnangagwa term extension in court – Reuters
Ex-Zambian President Edgar Lungu’s family dismiss allegations he was poisoned – lawyers – BBC
South Africa cashes in on adventure tourism – Semafor

Americas and the Caribbean

-Peru’s Congress voted to remove interim President Jośe Jorí from office yesterday over undisclosed meetings he held with Chinese business executives.

Peru’s Congress in Lima on February 16, 2026.

Jorí had just assumed office in October. His removal comes just ahead of a presidential election in April and as the public expresses outrage over rising crime in the Andean nation.

The country has had seven presidents since 2016.

-Guatemala lifted a state of emergency one month after the killing of 10 police officers by suspected gang members.

-The Colombian government said yesterday it would resume peace talks with the country’s largest illegal armed group.

-Prison deaths have continued to rise in Ecuador despite President Daniel Noboa’s strategy to rein them in, according to Reuters.

-Qatar’s prime minister arrived in Venezuela yesterday.

The Gulf nation has often acted as an intermediary between the United States and the government in Caracas.

-Canadians have cut their travel to the United States for a second consecutive year, according to new data.

-Annual inflation in Canada slowed to 2.3% in January, according to government data released yesterday. The decline was fueled by a steep drop in gasoline prices, offsetting a rise in food and clothing costs.

-On this day in 1940, President Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal Zone as part of an inspection tour.

FDR In Panama
Other Links:
Strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats kill 11 people, US military says – AP
Trump says Venezuela’s acting leader ‘has to say’ Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president – NBC
Prices Jump as Venezuelans Abroad Consider Buying Property Back Home – The New York Times
Colombia identifies remains of rebel group priest killed in 1966 – Reuters
Costa Rican authorities investigate killing of a US citizen in an apparent robbery – AP

Asia/Indo-Pacific

-Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman was sworn in as prime minister yesterday, capping two years of political instability in the South Asian nation.

The BNP secured a landslide election victory in last week’s parliamentary vote—the first since the ouster of authoritarian Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.

Hasina resigned her post following massive student-led protests against a job quota system. After a harsh crackdown by her government, protesters marched on her official residence, forcing her to flee to India.

For decades, the BNP acted as the primary opposition to Hasina’s ruling Awami League, facing persistent targeting by the government.

The country was led by a transitional government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus since Hasina’s ouster.

Bangladesh | History, Capital, Map, Flag, Population, Pronunciation, &  Facts | Britannica
With a population of 285 million, Bangladesh is the eighth-most populous country in the world.

-Japan’s lower house of parliament, known as the Diet, will meet today to formally elect Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Earlier this month, Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party secured a landslide election victory following a snap parliamentary vote.

-President Trump said yesterday that Japan plans to invest $36 billion for industrial projects in Georgia, Ohio, and Texas.

Other Links:
US plans to deploy more missile launchers to the Philippines despite China’s alarm – AP
Philippines says takes exception to Chinese Embassy comment on job losses – Reuters
China’s humanoid robots take center stage at Lunar New Year show – NBC
Afghanistan says it has released 3 Pakistani soldiers captured during October cross-border fighting – AP
Imran Khan’s sons seek visas to visit him in Pakistan – Reuters

Europe

-Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia will meet today for a second round of U.S.-mediated talks as President Trump pushes Kyiv to agree to a settlement to end the nearly four-year-long war.

Just ahead of the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, Russia launched strikes across Ukraine, damaging the power network in the southern port city of Odesa.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the persistent overnight attacks have left tens of thousands of residents without heat and water amid freezing temperatures.

Next week, the war will enter its fifth year. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of the country, seeking to quickly capture the capital, but was met by resistance from Ukrainian forces.

Since then, Russia has captured roughly 20% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, with fighting stalling along the frontlines in recent months.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, Feb. 13, 2026 | ISW

Meanwhile, an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, compared with 275,000 to 325,000 Russian troops.

-Russia sentenced a U.S. citizen to four years in prison.

-According to a new poll, one in five Europeans say dictatorship is preferable to democratic rule.

-On this day in 1971, President Richard Nixon hosted Italian Prime Minister Emilio Colombo at the White House.

Colombo, who served as premier from 1970 to 1972, was the last surviving member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1948 Italian Constitution and abolished the country’s monarchy.

Today, he is regarded as a “founding father” of what would become the European Union.

No photo description available.
Other Links:
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says Trump exerting undue pressure on him – Reuters
Russian woman carried Ukraine placard at Winter Olympics opening ceremony – AP
EU won’t ‘shy away’ from new sanctions on Russia if G7 deal fails – Euronews
Six companies directed by former British duchess to shut down amid Epstein controversies – CNN
France arrests nine in right-wing activist’s death – DW

Middle East

-The United States and Iran held a second round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi saying the two sides agreed to “guiding principles.”

The talks come as President Trump seeks to get Iran to agree to limit its nuclear program, threatening military action if it does not.

In June, Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in a bid to disable its nuclear program. Tehran insists the program is for peaceful purposes, which Washington and European capitals reject.

In his first term, Trump withdrew Washington from the pact struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, that placed curbs on Tehran’s then-nascent nuclear program. The Biden administration sought to bring Iran back into compliance with the terms of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but was unsuccessful.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran possesses a substantial stockpile of enriched uranium, the fissile material needed to build a nuclear bomb. The watchdog reports that Iran has over 400 kg of 60% enriched uranium, which is just a short step from 90% weapons-grade.

U.S., Israel Attack Iranian Nuclear Targets—Assessing the ...

-Israel’s cabinet has approved a plan that would mandate land registration in the West Bank, a move Palestinians regard as “de facto annexation.”

-Hezbollah rejected a plan by the government for the terrorist group to disarm.

-On this day in 1952, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the western military alliance’s 12th member state alongside Greece.

Today, the Middle Eastern country contributes the second-largest army in the bloc.

18 Feb.1952 – 18 Feb.2012 : Marking 60 years of Turkey's NATO membership |  YERELCE
Other Links:
Iran says it temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz as it held more indirect talks with the US – AP
Trump says he will be involved indirectly in Iran talks – Reuters
Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Presses Hamas on Disarmament, Officials Say – The New York Times
Ramadan arrives in Gaza under shaky ceasefire deal, but the festive spirit eludes many Palestinians – AP
Australia rules out helping families of IS militants leave Syrian camp – Reuters

That’s all for today. See you tomorrow.

MS Now clips about ICE

ICE nearly kills another child by mistreatment and ignoring their worsening health and healthcare needs.  This is so familiar if you remember history.  Lack of food, no healthcare, no humanity.  Hugs

 

Children cry, thinking their parents will be taken if ICE follows them home.  All because they are brown skinned.  Is this the USA?  Hugs

 

 

 

 

 

Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 2-17-2026

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SORRY HATERS MY SMILE IS ICONIC

SORRY HATERS MY SMILE IS ICONIC

 

 

#MAGA from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An advertisement showing a moviegoer sitting among people sneezing and coughing says the 4D Immersive Cold Flu...

Michael Ramirez for 2/16/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#politics from Cartoon Politics

 

 

 

#politics from Cartoon Politics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Stiglich for 2/16/2026

 

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