Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 2-22-2026

Many people seem to expect me to draw this comic forever. Youโ€™ve seen the amount of hate that I get for it. Anyone who googles my name will be terrified to even speak to me. Every bit of the person I am is being shred and crushed and mocked. Itโ€™s practically destroying my life and any hope that I do anything else in the future, as well as affecting me on physical and mental levels.

Now why am I still doing it? Part of it because making comics is everything I wanted in my life. I guess I could make comics that would make the majority feel good or that arenโ€™t political, but that would feel like betraying my readers. Another part is because those readers are amazing and give me life. People have been sharing their stories with me in a way that would make any creator jealous.

The fact is that I am doing all of this by myself. I never got any help or support from publishers, editors, media, government or visible person of any kind. Iโ€™m putting everything in your hands. I trust my readers to keep this project alive. It might make my anxiety peak, as I know that as soon as you grow disinterested in my silly stories, I wonโ€™t have any other choice to survive than change my name and return to school.

So please, keep reblogging those stories, like them, comment on them. Thatโ€™s the reasons why theyโ€™re out there.ย โค

To support me :
www.patreon.com/sophielabelle
http://assignedmale.etsy.com

From my new zine โ€œHelp! Everything in my life is turning GAY!โ€

 

 

 

 

 

#Marjorie Taylor Greene from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

#rainbow from pureblindingcolour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Bramhall for 2/21/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al Goodwyn for 2/21/2026

 

 

David Horsey for 2/19/2026

 

 

#George Carlin from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

David Horsey for 2/12/2026

 

Mike Smith for 2/19/2026

 

 

#99 percent from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A magician stands onstage with his arms upraised.

โ€œFor my next trick, I will form an unbreakable political opinionโ€”from nothing at all!โ€

 

 

#Barack Obama from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Horsey for 2/11/2026

Mike Smith for 2/18/2026

 

Kirk Walters for 2/10/2026

 

 

 

Jimmy Margulies for 2/20/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Horsey for 2/18/2026

 

 

 

Steve Kelley for 2/21/2026

 

Mike Smith for 2/20/2026

 

Lee Judge for 2/20/2026

 

 

 

Jimmy Margulies for 2/18/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirk Walters for 2/20/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lee Judge for 2/19/2026

Lee Judge for 2/18/2026

 

Quickie Comedy

Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 2-21-2026

image

I know I already posted the one below but I love it and wanted to post it again.ย  I wish shy abused gay me had a protector.ย  The predators seemed everywhere.ย  Hugs

โ€œFemme boys shouldnโ€™t have to hide to feel safe.โ€
I have an anecdote about the second frame. After I ran away from my dadโ€™s house, I found myself in a very harsh neighborhood in Montreal, where I finished high school. I was pretty much out and proud...

 

 

 

seriously though

 

 

 

Tumblr: Image

 

#upl from numb

#lit from Type | @wordsnquotes

 

#suicide from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

#suicide from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

I will never tone down or stop fighting for everyone’s equality.ย  I wonder how many politicans said hey tone down this civil rights for black people stuff back in the late 1950s and early 1960s.ย  Where would they have been if they had been listened to?ย  Same with marriage equalityโ€”far too many democrats said don’t push for it.ย  Either we all have equality of civil rights or no one does.ย  I will not agree to disagree on someone’s basic rights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Pett for 2/17/2026

Dana Summers for 2/19/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milt Priggee Oak Harbor, WA

 

Image from WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR dot COM

 

 

#white people twitter from White People Twitter

 

Tom Stiglich for 2/19/2026

 

Tumblr: Image

 

 

 

Chip Bok for 2/12/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Bramhall for 2/16/2026

 

 

 

 

Joey Weatherford for 2/17/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redacted Documents

 

 

 

Joey Weatherford for 2/18/2026

 

 

Joey Weatherford for 2/20/2026

Michael Ramirez for 2/20/2026

 

 

What is with the desperate need to murder people, even criminals?ย  It doesn’t deter crime and can’t be reversed if it is found out to be a wrong conviction.ย  Hugs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Pett for 2/20/2026

 

 

 

 

Mike Luckovich for 2/20/2026

image

 

 

Trump and ET

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chip Bok for 2/20/2026

 

 

Gary Markstein for 2/20/2026

Jon Russo for 2/19/2026

Bill Bramhall for 2/19/2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joey Weatherford for 2/19/2026

 

 

Epstein Files Winter Games

 

 

tRump will never let the files go to any other government.ย  He will have them destroyed first.ย  Hugs

 

Political cartoon of the day

John Deering for 2/20/2026

 

Chip Bok for 2/19/2026

 

 

Chip Bok for 2/13/2026

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Pett for 2/19/2026

Michael Ramirez for 2/18/2026

 

 

Arcadio Esquivel Costa Rica

 

#wind from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

 

Bill Bramhall for 2/17/2026

 

 

 

The heading reads โ€œReal or A.I.โ€ Below are four pictures a cat dressed as a chef cooking an elephant painting a picture...

 

Dana Summers for 2/12/2026

 

Al Goodwyn for 2/20/2026

Image from What Are You Really Afraid Of?

 

 

Let’s talk about Trump vs the EU, Canada, the pacific, and the world….

tRump has managed to screw up a century of growth and progressive progress and diminished the US to nearly nothing in only a year.ย  Think of the damage his people could do in three more.ย  No wonder he wants a secret police force and a much larger military.ย  Putin must be so proud of his asset.ย  What has been done will be very difficult to undo. Hugs

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

image

โ€œFemme boys shouldnโ€™t have to hide to feel safe.โ€
I have an anecdote about the second frame. After I ran away from my dadโ€™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.ย  I did not think I gave off signs but the bullies sensed my vulnerability because I did not form friends and stayed to myself.ย  So they attacked me.ย  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.ย  Remember, I was not an out gay kid, I was an abused boy trying to keep his head down and get by each day.ย  But the future maga sinced my vunerablebiltey and attacked me.ย  Once it went around the school my entire teen school years became agony.ย  That is what the republican Christian nationalists are trying to drive us back to.ย  It changed in the 2000s with anti bulling and anti-discrimination programs.ย  tRump’s amdin has desperately attempted to remove all those programs and protections.ย  Hugs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About these letters.ย  Allison Gill on the Daily Beans news podcast gave sourced reports that ICE detention agents raided the childrenโ€™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.ย  Allison Gill has sued the government in court to save them and get them published.ย  I fear it will be too late.ย  Hugs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know she is a Russian asset and this further evidence that our republican government has been bought or compromised by Russia.

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 โ€œNow Is The Time,โ€ 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 cโ€ฆ

576

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

Letโ€™s get to it.

โ™ป๏ธ Help this post reach more readers: like, repost, and share ๐Ÿ“ฌ

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 Houseโ€™s counterproposals insufficient.

-Americansโ€™ approval of Trumpโ€™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 Showโ€™s YouTube page. View it here:

Earlier this month, the FCC opened an investigation into ABCโ€™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 โ€œseriously considerโ€ a bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

-In a Presidentsโ€™ Day message, former President George W. Bush paid tribute to George Washington, saying he โ€œensured America wouldnโ€™t become a monarchy, or worse.โ€

Read the full message on Substack here:

In Pursuit

George Washington by George W. Bush

Read more

2 days ago ยท 1386 likes ยท 291 comments ยท 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 โ€œfather of the atomic bomb,โ€ 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 Courtโ€™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 countryโ€™s long-term fiscal outlook.

The body, known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission, issued a report titled โ€œThe Moment of Truth,โ€ 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 โ€˜cover-upโ€™ over its handling of Epstein documents – CNN
Epstein survivor Juliette Bryant says she was trafficked from South Africa and soon realized it was โ€œnot a modeling opportunity, Iโ€™ve been kidnappedโ€ – CBS
Federal judge rules Kilmar Abrego Garcia canโ€™t be re-detained by immigration authorities – AP
Maryland bans partnerships with ICE, citing โ€˜unaccountable agentsโ€™ – Washington Post
Top DHS spokesperson who became a face of Trump immigration policy is leaving – NPR
Minnesotaโ€™s Legislature braces for a federal immigration fight as the enforcement surge winds down – AP
Senate clamps down on DC tax bill – Politico
Republican congressmanโ€™s anti-Muslim remark prompts calls for his resignation – NBC

Africa

-Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoฤŸan scorned Israelโ€™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 โ€œexistential threat,โ€ with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud saying that his country would โ€œfight in its capacityโ€ to prevent an Israeli military presence in the region.

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

Somaliland profile - BBC News

-Nigeriaโ€™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 countryโ€™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 Sudanโ€™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 Lunguโ€™s family dismiss allegations he was poisoned – lawyers – BBC
South Africa cashes in on adventure tourism – Semafor

Americas and the Caribbean

-Peruโ€™s Congress voted to remove interim President Joล›e Jorรญ from office yesterday over undisclosed meetings he held with Chinese business executives.

Peruโ€™s Congress in Lima on February 16, 2026.

Jorรญ 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 countryโ€™s largest illegal armed group.

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

-Qatarโ€™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 Venezuelaโ€™s acting leader โ€˜has to sayโ€™ Nicolรกs 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 weekโ€™s parliamentary voteโ€”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 Hasinaโ€™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 Hasinaโ€™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.

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

Earlier this month, Takaichiโ€™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 Chinaโ€™s alarm – AP
Philippines says takes exception to Chinese Embassy comment on job losses – Reuters
Chinaโ€™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 Khanโ€™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 Ukraineโ€™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 countryโ€™s monarchy.

Today, he is regarded as a โ€œfounding fatherโ€ of what would become the European Union.

No photo description available.
Other Links:
Ukraineโ€™s Zelenskiy says Trump exerting undue pressure on him – Reuters
Russian woman carried Ukraine placard at Winter Olympics opening ceremony – AP
EU wonโ€™t โ€˜shy awayโ€™ 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 activistโ€™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 โ€œguiding principles.โ€

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 Tehranโ€™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 Targetsโ€”Assessing the ...

-Israelโ€™s cabinet has approved a plan that would mandate land registration in the West Bank, a move Palestinians regard as โ€œde facto annexation.โ€

-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 allianceโ€™s 12th member state alongside Greece.

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

18 Feb.1952 โ€“ 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
Trumpโ€™s โ€˜Board of Peaceโ€™ 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

Thatโ€™s all for today. See you tomorrow.

German referee assaulted after viral proposal to boyfriend

A man does something beautiful making so many happy.ย  But haters have to try to ruin something that doesn’t affect them at all.ย  None of the attackers are being asked to have same sex with the men, the attackers are not being asked to go to the wedding.ย  So seriously why be so angry that they attack a man for claiming his love for another man?ย  This shit is starting to get far too normal where straight cis people assault, injure, and make LGBTQ+ people afraid to be themselves openly in public.ย  ย For some reason it seems to infuriate these hateful bigots just to know someone not cis or straight exists.ย  Anyway.ย  At least in Germany he has free healthcare and even though the right wing fascists are rising as a political force driven by wealthy haters, Christian nationalists, and Russia their government is still left leaning.ย  I really wish the US government was still leaning left.ย  Hugs

https://www.advocate.com/news/german-referee-bisexual-assaulted-proposal

Pascal Kaiser was attacked by three men outside his house just days after his public proposal.

German referee Pascal Kaiser proposing to his partner

A video still of Pascal Kaiser proposing to his partner.ย  @fckoeln/Instagram

Moises Mendez Ii

A German soccer referee, who recently went viral for proposing to his boyfriend, was attacked outside his home.

Pascal Kaiser stole the hearts of millions last week after he proposed to his fiancรฉ in Cologneโ€™s RheinEnergieStadion during a match in front of 50,000 people. According to the French publicationย L’Equipe, Kaiser was assaulted in his home by three men late Saturday night into Sunday morning.

The publication wrote that the bisexual referee, prior to the incident, had reported that he was receiving threatening messages, including ones that included his address.ย Police told him there was no immediate threat. Butย Attitudeย reports that 20 minutes after he got off the phone with authorities, Kaiser was attacked while smoking a cigarette in his garden, which resulted in an injury to his right eye.

Carla Antonelli, a Spanish politician and LGBTQ+ advocate,ย uploaded a post to Instagramย in support of Kaiser and shared a photo of his bruised face. โ€œTerrible message, if you make yourself visible, weโ€™ll put you in the closet: Referee Pascal Kaiser, who proposed to his partner before the Cologne-Wolfsburg match, was assaulted at his home. It is known that prior to the assault, the address of Pascal Kaiserโ€™s house had leaked on social media and received direct threats,” her caption reads. “Police intervened after the attack, and Pascal Kaiser is now in a safe place under police protection.โ€

Kaiser’s Instagram account, and the couple’s account he shares with his partner, are now both locked and private.

Last week,ย Kaiser got down on one knee and professed his love for his fiancรฉย while delivering a prepared speech, declaring, “I want everyone to see that I love this person. A man. As a man. In football.” After the proposal, FC Kรถln, a professional soccer team that plays at the field where they got engaged, uploaded a video of the couple’s special moment and wrote in the caption, “Pascal Kaiser is a referee and a huge FC fan. Pascal is queer and came out three years ago. Today, he had a special plan, which FC Cologne supported. Pascal proposed to his long-term partner at the RheinEnergieStadion, but see for yourselves!” The team continued, writing, “Congratulations, you two!โ€

Kaiser has long been an advocate for LGBTQ+ visibility in sports. As he previously toldย Schwulissimo, a major German news outlet, โ€œI see this as my mission: to create visibility. To be a voice. And to encourage people who arenโ€™t yet brave enough to speak up,โ€ he said. โ€œI know how lonely it can be to think youโ€™re the only one. I want no one to have to feel that way again.โ€

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

image

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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Ooo! Spies! Black History Month

Black American Spies and Why They Were The Best

Black spies used their invisibility in plain sight to carry out some of the nationโ€™s most important war efforts.

By Shellie M. Scott

circa 1925: Portrait of American-born singer and dancer Josephine Baker (1906 โ€“ 1975) lying on a tiger rug in a silk evening gown and diamond earrings. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

When most people think of historyโ€™s American spies, they imagine a sleuthy white man, tracking troop movements, planting bugs and obtaining secrets under the radar of the enemy. Whatโ€™s rarely imagined, let alone taught, is the role Black Americans played in espionage from the Revolutionary War through modern times.

Enslaved and free Black men and women slipped into rooms they werenโ€™t meant to enter, cozied up to marks who underestimated them and quietly ran intelligence networks that relied on invisibility in plain sight. Here are Black spies whose intelligence work shaped history.

Mary Elizabeth Bowser

Screenshot: YouTube โ€œMary Elizabeth Bowser: Unsung Heroes of the Civil War | Ancestral Finding Postcardโ€

Dubbed the โ€œbaddest bitch in historyโ€ by Comedy Central, Bowser became known as one of the Unionโ€™s most daring Civil War spies. Literate and underestimated, Bowser worked as an undercover agent from inside the Confederacyโ€™s most vulnerable locations โ€” Confederate President Jefferson Davisโ€™s home, according to African American Registry.

Masking her intelligence by pretending to be bat sh*t crazy, โ€œCrazy Bet,โ€ as she was known, used a rumored photographic memory to collect important military information and pass it on to Ulysses S. Grant.

James Armistead Lafayette

Fascimile of the Marquis de Lafayetteโ€™s original certificate commending James Armistead for his revolutionary war service, 1784. From the New York Public Library. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

James Armistead Lafayette was born enslaved but became a master of deception during the American Revolution. According to Americaโ€™s Army Museum, he disguised himself as a runaway, infiltrated British camps, delivered key intelligence to the Marquis de Lafayette and fed false information to the enemy. His double agent work was crucial at Yorktown in 1781.

With Marquis de Lafayetteโ€™s support, he later won his freedom and dropped his enslaverโ€™s name.

Josephine Baker

circa 1925: Portrait of American-born singer and dancer Josephine Baker (1906 โ€“ 1975) lying on a tiger rug in a silk evening gown and diamond earrings. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Josephine Baker was a known boundary-breaking dancer, singer and international icon, but few knew she was also a World War II spy for the French Resistance. Though she spied on behalf of France rather than the U.S., Baker belongs in this conversation about Black espionage.

At the height of her fame, Baker used her celebrity to move through elite European society and collect information on Nazi Germany and other Axis powers, according to History.com. Baker hid intelligence in invisible ink on sheet music and pinned notes inside her clothing, later explaining, โ€œnobody would think I was a spy.โ€

Her bravery earned her Franceโ€™s highest military honors.

Debra Evans Smith

Screenshot: YouTube

While working in Records Management, Debra Evans Smith attended the FBI Academy after gaining nine pounds to meet the minimum weight requirement.

When only one percent of Black women were spies, Smith was drawn to counterintelligence. She volunteered for surveillance, learned Russian, and spent four years handling Russian counterintelligence in Los Angeles, conducting interviews and investigations in the language, according to the FBI. For her, the work was never about individual casesโ€”it was about serving the country.

Abraham Gallaway

Screenshot:ย https://6abc.com/post/meet-the-most-important-civil-war-leader-youve-never-heard-of/5921540/

If youโ€™ve never heard of Abraham Gallaway, thatโ€™s no accident. According to historian Dr. David Cecelski, Gallaway may have been the most important Southern war hero, but his legacy was erased when North Carolina rewrote its own history in the late 1800s, depicting enslaved people as โ€œdocile.โ€ Gallawayโ€™s story did not fit their narrative.

Born enslaved in 1837 near Wilmington, N.C., he escaped at 19. Gallaway became a โ€œmaster spyโ€ for the Union Army during the Civil War, providing military intelligence from within the South and establishing a spy network. He also became a state senator, according to 6 ABC. Today, his story is preserved at the North Carolina Museum of History.

Mary Louvestre

Mary Louvestre (sometimes spelled Touvestre) was a free Black woman who would not take no for an answer. Working as a seamstress in Virginia, she stole documents about troop movements and walked to deliver them to Union officials in Washington, D.C. When officers brushed her off, hesitating to meet with her, she kept going back until they listened.

Darrell M. Blocker

Darrell M. Blocker spent 32 years in U.S. intelligence, retiring in 2018 as the most senior Black officer in the CIAโ€™s Directorate of Operations and earning the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. A second-generation intelligence professional, Blockerโ€™s work took him to dangerous territory in places like Iran and North Korea, according to the International Spy Museum.

Having lived in 10 foreign countries, he has held titles including Deputy Director of the Counterterrorism Center and managed the CIAโ€™s Ebola response.

Recently, he flipped his knowledge into a role as Hollywood creative consultant.

Harriet Tubman

A portrait of Harriet Tubman, African-American abolitionist and a Union spy during the American Civil War, circa 1870. (Photo by HB Lindsey/Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

Harriet Tubman was more than the Underground Railroadโ€™s โ€œMoses.โ€ She made power moves in the Union Army, using her reputation to recruit Black scouts. Tubman gathered intel no one else could. According to Brandeis University, she became the first woman to lead a U.S. military raid in 1863, which freed 750 people and sealed her acumen as a true strategist.

George E. Hocker, Jr.

YouTube: โ€œ2025 Maryโ€™s Woods MLK Jr Celebrationโ€

George E. Hocker, Jr., a Washington, D.C. native, joined the CIA in 1957 while studying at Howard University. Working as a file clerk to fund his education, he stopped short of aspirations to work as a spy because CIA leaders told him Black people were not intelligent enough or able to โ€œblend in.โ€

He believed them โ€ฆ until the 1963 March on Washington inspired him to pursue his dream despite racism. During the Cold War, Hocker gathered intelligence in Africa and later went to Latin America, risking his life on dangerous assignments. Hoker never lost sight of the fight at home, stating, โ€œWhile I was fighting for my countryโ€™s interests abroad, my fellow Black Americans were facing war zones of their own at home,โ€ as quoted in Newsweek.

Robert Smalls

Robert Smalls, 1887. African-American politician, publisher, businessman and maritime pilot. Born into slavery, he escaped, and commandeered and piloted a Confederate transport ship which became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army. From โ€œMen of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Risingโ€ by William J. Simmons. Creator: Unknown. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

Born into slavery in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, Robert Smalls rose to become a skilled pilot on the Confederate transport CSSโ€ฏPlanter by his early twenties. In a bold act of courage in 1862, he seized the ship, picked up his family, and navigated past Confederate forts under the guise of a captain, delivering the vessel safely to Union forces. Smalls went on to become the first African American to command a U.S. naval vessel, and after the war, he purchased his former enslaverโ€™s house, reclaiming a space that had once symbolized his bondage.