A big part of the authoritarian playbook is war. War takes over the news. War blots out criticism. War divides a nation’s people, subjecting those against it to being called unpatriotic. War grants leaders all sorts of emergency powers. War consumes everything else.
We mustn’t let this war do so.
No surprises here. WSJ Gift Link from me.
www.wsj.com/economy/hous...
“Ugh, my husband came home with crack today. First time since this exact time last year. We argued then both used. Again.
I prefer Thin Mints, but it was Samoas. Sigh. His dealer is just too fucking pushy for an 11 yo.”
Gift article
The Epstein Files and the Hidden World of an Unaccountable Elite www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u...
Summary of Super Bowl commercials:
--
wakes up
slams Budweisers with Pepsi chasers
opens crypto accounts
gobbles tater chips
gobbles fat pills
tells Alexa to Grubhub me 8 more pounds of fresh Lays
yells at AI to do all my tweets
gobbles more fat pills
yells at AI to place my bets on FanDuel
Seems like the people who can't come together and watch the Super Bowl halftime show are the same people who needed their own separate water fountains and latrines. #SuperBowlLX
NYT Gift Link from me:
n.b. HKS NIS programs also includes senior US and foreign civilians and foreign flag officers, we had several in my 2014 class.
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www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...
an *extremely* damning profile of Stephen Miller. this piece goes out of its way to cast him in a very harsh light, and it heavily implies that Miller is consciously lying to Trump to intentionally get him pissed off while several unnamed White House sources solely blame him for their worst actions.
Thefacebook was established on this day, 2004.
$meta market cap $1.75T
“You know what’s cool? A trillion dollar valuation.”
finance.yahoo.com/quote/META/
On this day in 1913, the federal income tax was born with the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It overturned Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, which had expressly forbidden a general income tax.
Gift Link NYT: A Year Inside Lil' Kash Patel’s F.B.I.
Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Gift link from me, thanks @hillaryclinton.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Bloomberg: Washington has a 230-acre federal no-man’s-land. Will Trump finally force its transformation?
Welcome to Fedlandia. (gift link from me)
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
There are three truths in religion:
1) Jewish people do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
2) Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith.
3) Baptists don't recognize each other in the liquor store.
WSJ Gift Link From Me: The 2026 War for Greenland
www.wsj.com/opinion/a-lo...
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind gets injunction against December 22 stop-work order, allowing construction to resume. That's now 3 for 3 of those projects that have had their day in court; 2 are still pending (gift link). 🔌💡
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/c...
Oh hell yes, Gov. Spanberger! www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/u... [gift link]
It's like the homeless just keep hanging around the high-end hotels and steakhouses around every major US city?
Josh Marshall. Read it. (Gift article.)
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/how-t...
Trump is going to use DOJ/FBI to try to steal the 2026 election. My legal team and I will fight back in court but we all have a role to play.
Tomorrow, I will offer my thoughts on what Trump is up to and what we need to do now. Subscribe to Democracy Docket for free to find out. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
