Closing the tabs ...
No, I don’t trust the government. If the Executive Branch has limited control over the bureaucracy, and if Congress and the Judiciary are compromised by conflicts of interest driven by NGOs, then governance is no longer by "We The People."
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) February 25, 2025
Instead, it has become a self-serving…
Ed: This is exactly correct. And by the way, it exists that way by design. Woodrow Wilson disliked constitutional rule and wanted to create a technocracy to override it, and largely succeeded. Until now, hopefully.
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Just listen to what Rubio told the Senate. America, he said, won the Cold War 30 years ago, but promptly succumbed to triumphalism. We sought to retain our superpower status through open immigration, free trade, and foreign intervention. The results? A border crisis, deindustrialization, endless wars, and a rising China.
“The postwar global order is not just obsolete,” Rubio said. “It is now a weapon being used against us.” Under President Trump, Rubio continued, U.S. foreign policy will prioritize the national interest. The quest for world order will be abandoned. America will secure its borders, its power, its wealth.
Rubio’s transformation from Jeb Bush’s protégé to Donald Trump’s secretary of state is one of the great political stories of our time. But his confirmation statement was not a lark. His message was a preview of what was to come.
Ed: This may be one of the most clear-eyed analyses of Trump's foreign-policy aims. That's no surprise coming from Matthew Continetti. It gives credit to Trump for having a rational strategy, but raises reasonable questions as to whether it will work, and what the outcomes actually will be. It's worth reading in full.
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🔥🚨BREAKING: Rep Jasmine Crockett told Elon Musk to “Fuck Off” after a reporter asked her if she had anything to say to the Billionaire. pic.twitter.com/Urg017Iwm0
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) February 25, 2025
Ed: What an eloquent and intellectual defense of the bureaucratic state!
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The Trump administration and the Ukrainian government have reached a deal designed to allow the U.S. to tap some of Ukraine's immense mineral wealth and to spur post-war development in the country, two sources close to the Ukrainian government told Axios.
Why it matters: The conclusion of the deal after two weeks of negotiations could lower tensions between the countries and help to restore trust ahead of possible U.S.-led peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Ed: I'll wait for this to actually get announced before getting too excited about it. It's not clear yet what impact this will have on talks with Russia, but it's a good incentive for Trump to defend Ukrainian sovereignty in any deal to end the war.
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Democrat Hank Johnson suggests that he wants U.S. Marshals to arrest Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/3VsHYRgfbt
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 25, 2025
Ed: Hypotheticals built on hypotheticals are always hypothetical. Like Guam capsizing, for instance. I really did like the witness' "Sir, this is a Wendy's" response, though.
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An online content creator has been charged with criminal mischief for allegedly making “disturbing” videos of her contaminating store products by urinating on them, spawning an investigation and a product recall dating back four years ago.
The investigation began on Feb. 14 when the Keene Police Department in New Hampshire received an anonymous tipoff regarding a woman – later identified as 23-year-old Kelli Tedford – who had “posted disturbing videos to an internet site” of her “contaminating items in a local business with her urine,” according to a statement from the Keene Police Department released on Friday.
Ed: Believe it or not, this is only the second-nuttiest story of the week so far. The nuttiest will come up in a moment. She's been doing this for years, and only now has anyone thought to arrest her for it. Insane.
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NEW: GOP lawmakers to be briefed on FCC investigation into Billionaire George Soros, specifically a purchase of 200 radio stations across the country.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 25, 2025
The briefing comes in response to how a Soros-linked investment firm became the largest stakeholder in Audacy.
Audacy is an… pic.twitter.com/YKPI1N0dTi
Ed: I don't think that the FCC can reverse that prior decision now without some sort of cause. The effort by one of these Audacy stations in San Francisco to expose an undercover ICE operation could theoretically result in the loss of that one license, but not the whole sale. However, this sale was pretty strange, and the FCC's decision to rush the approval is equally questionable. Definitely worth investigating, even if the approval can't be rescinded.
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Tickets went on sale Monday for Fyre Festival 2, nearly eight years after the infamous Bahamas festival that led to its founder being convicted of wire fraud.
The new event, which is scheduled to take place in Mexico from May 30 to June 2, is being advertised under the slogan "FYRE Festival 2 is real," with tickets starting at $1,400.
"I'm sure many people think I'm crazy for doing this again. But I feel I'd be crazy not to do it again," Billy McFarland, the convicted founder behind 2017's failed Fyre Festival, said in a statement on Monday. "After years of reflection and now thoughtful planning, the new team and I have amazing plans for FYRE 2."
Ed: Anyone stupid enough to give McFarland their money for another festival had better not expect any sympathy when they're left holding the bag (lunch). Eight years ago, the fraud extended well beyond the festival; he committed securities fraud too.
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I recently attended the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London, which was dubbed an “alt-right heaven” by John Crace in The Guardian. Why? Well, speakers emphasized the need for Christian values, raised concerns about immigration, criticized “net zero” policies, encouraged more marriages, expressed worries about the fertility rate, and defended nationalism. The writer, dizzied by the devastating realization that not everyone shares his worldview, concluded haughtily, “I think I need to lie down in a darkened room for a while.”
But here’s something that will surely worsen his headache: Attendees thought that the speakers weren’t right-wing enough.
Ed: The ARC conference was intended for a pitch to European audiences for conservatism. It was calculated with the serious progressive tilt in the EU in mind. In fact, tonight I will let Konstantin Kisin have the final Final Word with his truly entertaining and inspirational speech at ARC. Watch it all.
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