Just 32% of Americans now say that Trump has had the right priorities, while 68% say he hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems. That’s the president’s most negative reading on that question to date during either of his terms in office. At the same time, Americans say, 61% to 38%, that Trump’s policies will move the country in the wrong direction rather than the right one. And Trump’s job approval rating among all adults remains mired at 36%.
Monday, February 23, 2026
Might Be Pony Time Soon
The Prince Of Darkness
They arrest people just for passing state secrets to their pedo pal, now.
Peter Mandelson arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
published at 17:09
17:09
Breaking
Peter Mandelson has been arrested. Here is the Met Police statement in full.
"Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
"He was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday, 23 February and has been taken to a London police station for interview.
"This follows search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas.”
For people who don't follow British politics closely, it's probably a bit hard to understand who Mandelson is. He was of the Blair era, but he kept having to resign in disgrace. Journalists would declare him to be "the disgraced Peter Mandelson" whose career was inevitably over.
Then, somehow Peter returned. Again and again. The "disgraced" would soon disappear from his name each time.
They thought it was hilarious to refer to him as the Prince of Darkness, without ever explaining why. We all have a good laugh with our friend Petey, the Prince of Darkness, on our podcast. Why do we call him that? Haha funny you ask, let's talk about something else.
Most recently, he's been the man behind the rise and and rule of Keir Starmer, a thing British journalists all knew but didn't really tell people (until much later, and even then quietly). British journalists are like that. Most people still have no idea, much as they have no idea why his nickname is the Prince of Darkness.
Constantly Like This
Conservatives and Republicans regularly say things like, "Democrats don't complain when serial killers kill people (bad) so why do they complain when cops kill people, which is good, obviously??? Check mate!!!"
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, appears to have deleted his tweet after these Democrats responded
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) February 23, 2026 at 5:05 AM
[image or embed]
Oh Did They Lie To The Courts
Everyone is shocked and will forget by tomorrow when they lie again.
Hoping for a tariff refund? Don’t hold your breath. Winning at the Supreme Court was the easy part. To understand what comes next, consider how the government survived the legal skirmishes that led to its loss last week.
From the earliest challenges at the Court of International Trade, Justice Department lawyers made one consistent argument against preliminary injunctions: “Plaintiffs face no harm from a stay; they can fully remedy any harms by obtaining a refund of any tariffs ultimately held invalid,” to quote a 2025 government motion. Justice Department lawyers entered formal stipulations in Princess Awesome v. CBP and a January 2026 consolidated proceeding, each promising not to contest the court’s authority to order reliquidation after a final decision. The courts denied the injunctions, refusing to suspend liquidation (the process that finalizes tariff payments) in direct reliance on those assurances. Yet the government now appears ready to litigate those very promises.
Pray I Don't Alter It Further
I am not going to try to decipher Trump's latest screed about his powers to bully other countries. The main point is he was never interested in "deals" and, as his long career showed us, he never feels bound by them anyway.
He first seized on tariffs because he has some broken brain understanding of trade balances and who actually pays them, but then kept pushing the tariff button because it got him attention and because he realized it was a good bullying tool.
It should not have taken the geniuses in the rest of the world this long to realize that you don't cave to bullies.
Europe has warned that trade deals struck with the U.S. could now be at risk after President Donald Trump unveiled a new global 15% tariff on all imports at the weekend.
Trump’s move came after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down his global tariffs policy, implemented last spring, that had upset the long-standing global trading order.
There are no deals! That is the whole thing with President Deals! That is his whole career! The art of the deal is breaking them!
...as I was writing this:
European Parliament negotiators on Monday suspended the EU-US trade pact, as threats from Washington and a US Supreme Court ruling cast doubt over the validity of the 2025 agreement.
and then:
Did Anyone Ever Figure Out What This Was About
I know the thing that most likely sparked Trump's hospital ship claim is Greenland rescuing a US Navy sub crewmember, but we're still missing the middle bit of this chain as far as I have seen?
I keep trying to construct possibilities and failing.
Sunday, February 22, 2026
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Keep Talking
I think it would be funny if Republicans remind Chuck Schumer that this is a thing he can do.
Senate Republicans are coming under intense pressure from President Trump and right-wing colleagues to embark on an old-fashioned filibuster fight in an effort to ram through a voter identification bill that their party regards as crucial to salvaging their dimming chances of winning the midterm elections.
Hamster Treat Button
Trump is pushing the tariff button again. Now up to 15%! Just keep raising it. Why not.
A Tax On Patriotic American Companies
I honestly don't know if these people have cooked their brains on propaganda so much that they don't know this, or if they just expect everyone to maintain the lie with them.
Friday, February 20, 2026
I Guess We're Still Doing This
Free speech is threatened when institutions listen to public pressure from the wrong sorts of people - the people who don't have have newspaper columns and who disagree with me! - and not when (looks around at the United States, 2026).
Security And Confidentiality
I have an idea. Why don't we force these onto every machine in the country, give them super-admin* access permissions by default, and have them send everything unecrypted into the generalized plagiarism machine. What could go wrong?
Oh I forgot - make sure it has access to everyone's passwords and bank/card information so it can do whatever it is supposed to do more efficiently.
*I don't know if "super-admin access permissions" is a thing but you get my point.
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