Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People are weird.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Stand up, dammit!

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans in disarray!

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Two Sets of Rules (Two Americas?)

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Dan Pfeiffer suggests this as a way to state what Democrats are FOR – linking it to the Epstein Class since even normies are apparently paying attention to the Epstein story now.

There are two sets of rules in Donald Trump’s America: one for the elites and one for the rest of us.

That’s why billionaires and corporations get tax cuts and you get kicked off your healthcare.

It’s why politically connected fraudsters get pardons and hardworking people are getting snatched off the street because of the color of their skin.

And it’s why no one in the Epstein Files has been held accountable.

Donald Trump’s government is all about protecting the elites.

We need someone who will take on the Epstein Class.

Speaking of the Epstein Class… have you seen this at Status Kuo?   with this graphic:Two Sets of Rules (Two Americas?)

In her sworn testimony before Congress, Attorney General Pam Bondi made a sweeping claim. Asked by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) whether Donald Trump had ever attended a party with Jeffrey Epstein in the presence of underage girls, Bondi lashed out. “There is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime.”

But that was a lie. In a genius bit of forensics, reporter Roger Sollenberger pieced together evidence pointing to a credible sex crime allegation against Trump. Unlike the many tip-line allegations that were deemed non-credible or otherwise never pursued by the FBI, this one was well documented, and agents apparently interviewed both the witness and her childhood friend.

To no one’s surprise, a key FBI interview report of the victim, called a 302 form, has been heavily redacted. And the actual notes about Trump committing a sex crime with a minor may still not have been produced.

But there’s plenty of other material that helps put the pieces together. Let’s take a look at some key documents in what may soon become a focus for oversight lawmakers and investigative reporters.

 

 

 

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The Trump-Epstein World Cup

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Interesting read.  I dare to hope that some of these countries will step up.

Dave Zirin: A Call Is Rising for Nations to Boycott the Trump World Cup

As marauding state agents fill US streets, a leading German soccer official says countries should consider what was once unthinkable: skipping the 2026 World Cup.

Oke Göttlich, the president of FC St. Pauli, looks on before the Bundesliga match between FC St. Pauli 1910 and FC Bayern München at Millerntor Stadium on November 9, 2024, in Hamburg, Germany. (Getty Images)

This week, a leading German soccer official, Oke Göttlich, said that the time has come to consider the unthinkable: a boycott of the World Cup to protest Donald J. Trump’s United States. The most watched sporting event on earth is due to be played this year in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and Göttlich said in a Friday interview, before a federal agent murdered Minneapolis VA nurse Alex Pretti, that “the time has come” to “seriously consider and discuss this.”

Göttlich was responding not only to state agents marauding US streets but also to Trump’s military threats against Greenland and the people of Europe, which have shattered old alliances. However specious these alliances may have been, the alternative that Trump is advancing is a new world order of unchecked US aggression, where the ghoulish Stephen Miller feels free to call for occupation and bloodshed.

Göttlich is no lightweight. He is one of the German federation’s 10 vice presidents and the president of the Bundesliga club St. Pauli. Folks may know St. Pauli as a proudly left-wing, openly anti-fascist team whose fans generally align with what Göttlich is putting forward, although calling for a boycott goes beyond what any European soccer power broker has done.

It moves the “Overton window” as to where this discussion could go. Göttlich was pressed by a reporter about the St. Pauli players on the German national team and whether he felt like he was undercutting their personal and national ambitions. Göttlich replied, “The life of a professional player is not worth more than the lives of countless people in various regions who are being directly or indirectly attacked or threatened by the World Cup host. What were the justifications for the boycotts of the Olympic Games in the 1980s? By my reckoning the potential threat is greater now than it was then. We need to have this discussion.”

It is actually past time to have this discussion. Ten long months ago, I wrote a piece with Jules Boykoff titled, “With ICE Out of Control, How Can the US Cohost the 2026 World Cup?” It was a call for countries outside of the United States to boycott. We did not know at the time that the US would threaten war on European soil, abduct world leaders, blow fisher-folk out of the ocean, kidnap 5-year-olds, and execute US citizens in the streets. And yet even 10 months ago, in the aftermath of the ICE kidnappings of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk and the revelations that the US was sending people to labor camps in El Salvador, it was clear that the direction of this country would be toward fascist violence.

Our argument was that countries were being deeply irresponsible by not warning their citizens that traveling to the United States would be perilous and not just for them: players, coaches, and their families would all be at risk. Now even FIFA former chief, that monument to corruption Sepp Blatter, is saying that it could be dangerous for fans to travel to the United States.

But Göttlich is taking it to the next level by challenging nations to stay home. FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, has witnessed its chief, Gianni Infantino, affect a weak and bent posture when in Trump’s presence. During Trump’s second term, Infantino has visited the White House more than any foreign leader and presented Trump with that tacky FIFA Peace Prize. Infantino might feel like a world leader when paraded around by Trump like a hairless poodle, but his subservience to Trump has created an opportunity for Göttlich to be a real leader.

“As organizations and society, we’re forgetting how to set taboos and boundaries, and how to defend values,” Göttlich said. “Taboos are an essential part of our stance. Is a taboo crossed when someone threatens? Is a taboo crossed when someone attacks? When people die? I would like to know from Donald Trump when he has reached his taboo, and I would like to know from [German soccer chief] Bernd Neuendorf and Gianni Infantino.”

While Göttlich cited the 1980 Olympic boycott of Moscow following their invasion of Afghanistan, a far better historical comparison comes from his own backyard: the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Hitler used these games to normalize his Nazi regime and project himself as a leader among world leaders. We can, of course, look back at that Olympics and revel in classic sports moments like Jesse Owens winning four gold medals and ruining Hitler’s dreams of Aryan supremacy.

But the deeper story of those games is the shameful decision of countries to travel to Berlin to play for the entertainment of their fascist hosts in the first place. This is not hindsight. There were explosive debates across the globe, particularly the United States, about competing in a Germany already imprisoning dissidents and Jews, burning books, and building a military arsenal for territorial expansion. Organizations like the NAACP agitated for a US boycott. The Amateur Athletic Union, by a sliver of a vote, ignored their pleas as well as the arguments of others and sent US athletes to compete. These decisions now look obscene.

Göttlich is offering countries a way to avoid being depicted as cowards, quislings, or villains in the eyes of history. Countries should boycott the World Cup games scheduled to be played in the United States. Ten months ago, they needed to do it for the safety of their own fans. Now they must act for the safety of the rest of us.

Open thread.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot re-detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia because a 90-day detention period has expired and the government has no viable plan for deporting him, a federal judge ruled. https://cnn.it/4kHhwqR

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— CNN (@cnn.com) February 17, 2026 at 3:30 PM

Some good news, to start the day… Per CNN, “ICE can’t take Kilmar Abrego Garcia back into custody, federal judge rules”:

Kilmar Abrego Garcia cannot be re-detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, dealing the Trump administration another blow in its effort to keep him locked up while it attempts to deport him again.

The injunction issued by US District Judge Paula Xinis, of the federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, follows an emergency order she handed down in December that similarly blocked officials from taking Abrego Garcia into immigration custody. But unlike the earlier ruling, the government can appeal the new one up to a Richmond, Virginia-based federal appeals court.

Tuesday’s decision is the latest judicial rebuke of the government’s maneuvering in Abrego Garcia’s case, which has come to symbolize the administration’s hardline — and, at times, slapdash — approach to immigration enforcement. Abrego Garcia was unlawfully deported to El Salvador last year and, following a series of court rulings, brought back to the US to face federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee…

“The court easily concludes that there is no ‘good reason to believe’ removal is likely in the reasonably foreseeable future,” she wrote in the 10-page decision. Federal officials, Xinis continued, “have done nothing to show that Abrego Garcia’s continued detention in ICE custody is consistent with due process.”

Though Abrego Garcia has for months said he would prefer to be sent to Costa Rica, where officials previously said they would give him some form of legal status, the Trump administration has given no support for that desire, mystifying both his attorneys and Xinis.

“In her decision today, she recognized that if the government were truly trying to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the United States, they would have sent him to Costa Rica long before today,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a lawyer for Abrego Garcia. “Instead, they’re flailing about trying to deport him to Africa – why? It’s clear that the only reason is to punish him for having the courage to stand up for his rights.”

Since he was first released from immigration custody in December, Abrego Garcia has been living in Maryland under the strict pre-trial release conditions imposed on him by the judge in Tennessee. Those conditions include being under the custody of his brother and not being able to travel outside of Maryland without permission from the Tennessee court…

Meanwhile, the legitimacy of his criminal case in Tennessee faces a major test next week as the federal judge overseeing his trial hears arguments over Abrego Garcia’s claim that he’s being unfairly targeted. The judge has already indicated through several rulings that he’s sympathetic to those arguments.

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Plagues & Pandemics Update – February 18, 2026

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ETA: Good news, maybe?

Breaking News: The FDA reversed its decision on Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine and agreed to review it for possible approval, Moderna said.

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— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 18, 2026 at 8:55 AM

FDA reverses course, refuses to review Moderna’s application for new mRNA flu vaccine
The company expressed surprise and confusion about the decision, noting the FDA’s earlier support for the study plan.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/i…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 11, 2026 at 6:23 PM

Excellent summary of the (anti)healthcare story of the week:

… Moderna’s study included more than 40,000 adults age 50 and up and was intended to help the company get approval to use the vaccine in that age-group. In a press release, Moderna said the FDA determined that the company’s study was not “adequate and well-controlled” because the comparable vaccine used in the trial did not represent the “best-available standard of care” in the United States at the time of the study.

Neither federal rules for how drug studies must be designed, nor the FDA’s own guidance for flu vaccines, refer to the use of “best-available standard of care” in selecting comparator vaccines. Previous correspondence from the FDA to Moderna expressed a preference for the company to use a higher-dose vaccine for older adults as a comparator but stated, “We agree it would be acceptable to use a licensed standard dose influenza vaccine as the comparator in your Phase 3 study.”

The study followed a well-established framework for flu vaccine trials, according to virologist Angela Rasmussen, PhD, of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “The trial design they used is essentially the trial design that every single flu vaccine has used,” she tells CIDRAP news.

In an interview with The New York Times, Moderna’s president Stephen Hoge, MD, expressed surprise and confusion about the decision, noting the FDA’s earlier support for the company’s study plan. The company’s mRNA vaccine has been accepted for review in the European Union, Canada, and Australia. Moderna has requested a meeting with the FDA to understand the basis for their refusal…

Vaccine companies generally work with clear, well-established expectations of the kinds of studies considered acceptable by the FDA, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, of Baylor College of Medicine, tells CIDRAP News.

“There was a commitment,” he said, adding that to “string Moderna along and all of a sudden say, nope, we’re not going to even review it” risks undermining confidence in FDA processes. The decision, Hotez warned, could “have an immediate chilling effect on the vaccine industry.” Vaccine makers may start to reassess whether to invest in US-based vaccine development if regulatory expectations shift late in the process.

The FDA “changed their mind,” about whether Moderna could use a standard-dose flu shot in the trial, Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said, “which is really not fair.”…

Reporting today from STAT suggests that the decision to refuse Moderna’s application was not unanimous. Sources told STAT that Vinay Prasad, MD, director of CBER, overruled career scientists who had been preparing to move forward with a formal review.

A US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson disputed that characterization, saying there was a “diverse set of conclusions” among staff…

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized mRNA technology and has moved to scale back federal support for certain vaccine initiatives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer were deployed widely and credited with preventing severe disease and death. The technology was recognized with the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Since taking office, Kennedy, a vocal vaccine skeptic, has terminated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of grants aimed at developing mRNA technology…

CDC reports 6 more child deaths from #flu, as virus levels stay moderate to high
Flu, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19 levels still elevated in some parts of the country.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/i…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 2:35 PM

3. Wondering where things stand where you live? #Flu seems to be releasing its grasp on the NE, but lots of the country are still engulfed in flu transmission — more, actually, than about a month ago (map on the right).
For more on flu, see FluView here: www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv…

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— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) February 13, 2026 at 7:20 PM

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On The Road – Winter Wren – Golden Gate Bridge 10K

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Winter Wren

I arrived early Sunday afternoon into the Bay area to allow adjustment to the time zone for Monday business meetings, so I had enough time to drive up to Muir Woods and the Marin headlands north of San Francisco. After a lovely interlude in Muir Woods with the redwoods, I stopped at Fort Baker (situated below North Vista point which overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge on the Marin county side) and changed into my running shorts and T shirt for my first (and probably last run) across the bridge.

On The Road - Winter Wren - Golden Gate Bridge 10K 8
Fort Baker, CaliforniaMarch 2, 2025

This is the view of the bridge from near my starting point. It was a bright sunny day with a steady cool breeze coming from the ocean into the bay.

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Late Night Open Thread: DHS Spokesliar Tricia McLaughlin Is Leaving

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I may hate her more than anyone else in the administration. Pure lying hateful sociopath, & through DHS contracts to her husband, taking in millions of our tax dollars.

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 11:08 AM

Are the rats beginning to flee the S.S. Trumptanic? There’s been no big ceremonial announcement from the Orange Outrage, so it’s not that she’s being sacrificed to distract the media wolves… Per Politico, “DHS spokesperson to leave Trump administration amid agency turmoil”:

One of the Trump administration’s most vocal defenders of its aggressive immigration crackdown is leaving as public opinion sours against the hardline approach…

… [T]he news led House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to say, “Another MAGA extremist forced out of DHS. Noem next.”

McLaughlin publicly supported the Trump administration’s controversial tactics at some of the most tense moments amid its immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and Minneapolis, frequently sparring with social media detractors…

A former top communications aide to Vivek Ramaswamy’s 2024 presidential campaign and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, McLaughlin started planning to leave in December but delayed her departure amid the aftermath of the Renee Good and Alex Pretti shootings, according to the people briefed on her exit. (They were granted anonymity to speak about internal personnel matters.) In the instance of Good, McLaughlin was quick to characterize her actions as an example of “domestic terrorism.”

Some in the Trump administration have privately criticized Noem’s leadership of the department, which has drawn repeated bad headlines in part due to the department jumping to conclusions in the instances of the two fatal shootings. Trump put border czar Tom Homan in charge in Minneapolis in what some in the White House saw as a rebuttal to Noem’s more aggressive approach…

After Noem, McLaughlin was the biggest booster of the approach. At the peak of her tenure, McLaughlin, a former ABC News contributor, logged as many as five media appearances a day. Throughout her time in her job, she frequently did interviews on Fox News, as well as CNN, CBS News, NPR and Newsmax. She also appeared on many podcasts including those hosted by the late Charlie Kirk, Chris Cuomo and Howard Kurtz.

“Media is so much of the battle, so to speak, on the immigration issue,” the native Ohioan told her hometown paper the Cincinnati Enquirer last month. “So much of the debate is a [public relations] debate. It’s a PR war.”…

It’s unclear what she will do next but asked by the paper if she would ever run for office if she returned to Cincinnati, McLaughlin, who’s married to GOP consultant Ben Yoho, said she “wouldn’t rule anything out.”

While immigration was a major focus for McLaughlin, given the sprawling DHS remit, she also worked on issues including how TSA was affected by the government shutdown last year, the Coast Guard’s role in the Caribbean drug boat strikes and FEMA’s response to major storms…

McLaughlin became an avatar of the Trump administration’s communications campaign defending its immigration enforcement effort. In doing so, she assumed a level of prominence — and withering criticism — garnered not even by some Trump Cabinet officials.

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called her a “pathological liar.” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) accused her of “gaslighting the American people.”

But McLaughlin publicly maintained the backing of the only person who mattered through the end of her time atop all of DHS’ public affairs.

President Donald Trump praised the “wonderful TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN” after a December appearance on Fox. He added, “Tricia really knows her ‘STUFF!’”…

For today's ispost that is going to certainly get me yelled at because it isn't properly oughtposting:
These jobs are incredibly high stress, long hours, and kind of thankless. You take them to position yourself to take something nicer- like a lobbying gig. I'm surprised we've seen so few exits.

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 11:21 AM

The lack of turnover in the Trump admin in even these highly messy visible mouthpiece roles really implies to me that the people in the admin don't actually think they have a place to land after the admin.

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 11:22 AM

Late Night Open Thread: DHS Spokesliar Tricia McLaughlin Is LeavingPost + Comments (57)

War for Ukraine Day 1,454: Zelenskyy Finally Calls Out Trump

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A black and white cartoon with Popeye the Sailor Man facing forward and to the left. His word bubble says "I Yam Disgustipated"

I’m getting a late start on the update tonight, so just going to run through the basics.

President Zelenskyy finally called out Trump today:

I can’t believe that even our President has to spell it out, but pressure must be applied to the aggressor, not the victim.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 4:25 PM

Because, as usual, Trump has decided that Ukraine, which is defending itself against Russia’s genocidal re-invasion, is the problem.

“Ukraine better come to the table.” – Trump.

Russia launches missiles daily.
Kills civilians.
Leaves people without heating, electricity, homes.

PRESSURE THE VICTIM!🤦🏼‍♀️

Is there a clinical term for this?
Chronic appeasement syndrome?
Strategic moral blindness?
Pre-election cognitive distortion?

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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 8:58 AM

Ukraine is at the table. They’ve shown up and continue to participate in the US run farce because they need to keep Trump from completely throwing US support behind Putin and Russia.

In Geneva a new round of trilateral talks has begun between Ukraine, the United States, and russia.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 8:26 AM

All while Putin & Russia continue to hammer civilians & civilian infrastructure and facilities:

And once again on the very day of negotiations Russia launches a massive drone and missile attack.

Deliberate. Calculated. Targeting energy infrastructure.

The goal is to destroy whatever is still remaining. Leave tens of thousands more without heat and electricity. Break civilians.

— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 9:28 AM

When they cannot win on the battlefield, they wage war against apartment blocks and power grids.
When they cannot defeat an army, they try to freeze a nation.

— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 9:28 AM

We must not let these horrific russian atrocities against Ukrainians become normalized. Lasting peace will only come with justice.

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— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) February 17, 2026 at 11:24 AM

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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