"I am a middle-aged dad, and to quote Abe Simpson, a minor character from a show that was popular 30 years ago, 'I used to be with "it," then they changed what "it" was. Now what I'm with isn't "it," and what's "it" seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you!'

"Obviously, I am no longer an arbiter of what's cool, if I ever was one. If anything, my superpower is that I am old enough to be emotionally, socially, and financially secure, such that I get to care about things on the merits and am otherwise immune to feeling like I should approve of something because of its cultural cache.

"Which brings me to the Democrat party. I have a decades-long written record of disagreeing with their policies on the merits, and they've become so uncool I actually feel bad for them. I can't watch them right now without experiencing second-hand embarrassment. Now I'm sure there are many fine folks on the former bird app who are willing to angrily disabuse me of the notion I should feel bad for Democrats, and fair enough. But great Odin's raven, what are Democrats doing to themselves? (If you're keeping score, that reference is 21 years old.)"

Read the entire articel here.

"In normal times, the run-up to a presidential address to Congress would be filled with reports and guesses about what the president would say.

"There was plenty of that this week, but an inordinate amount of the focus in Washington was on how Democrats would react to Donald Trump.

"How many would boycott? How would the members dress? Would they hoot and holler, or maybe march out in an organized pro-test?

"In the end, it didn't matter.

"They were a sad, shrunken presence, especially after one of their main stooges, Rep. Al Green of Texas, got himself ejected early on by repeatedly interrupting.

"He was the lucky one. Those Dems who stayed were like fish out of water, waving their silly little paddles and representing nothing except resistance to whatever Trump said or did."

Read the entire article here.

"Europeans are boasting about plans for a greater role in aiding Ukraine in its war with Russia and taking on their own security, but they continue to drink down Russian oil as they may be allowing their own militaries to become weak and severely depleted.

"In the fallout from the Oval Office fracas between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European countries led by France and the United Kingdom have proposed unilaterally shouldering a greater defense burden and supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia.

"However, despite supposedly hard-hitting sanctions and tough talk towards Russia, Europe's lack of adherence when it comes to Russia's energy industry is mismatched with its rhetoric. A recent study found that Europe's purchases of Russian oil and gas in 2024 eclipsed its total financial aid to Ukraine that same year."

Read the entire article here.

"We have previously discussed polling showing the media at record lows in public trust. Well, the latest survey from Gallup shows that the media hit another all-time low. What is most impressive is that plummeting readers, revenues, and layoffs have done little to convince the mainstream media that the problem is not the public but themselves. The only institution with a lower lower level of public trust is Congress, and that says a lot. It is like beating Ebola as the preferred communicable disease.Some 69 percent of Americans now say that they have no or little trust in the media. Only 31 percent say that they have a great deal or fair amount of trust. The trending line looks like the sales of buggy whips after the introduction of the Model T Ford. Gallop put it into sharp terms:

"'About two-thirds of Americans in the 1970s trusted the "mass media -- such as newspapers, TV and radio" either 'a great deal' or 'a fair amount' to "[report] the news fully, accurately and fairly.' By the next measurement in 1997, confidence had fallen to 53%, and it has gradually trended downward since 2003. Americans are now divided into rough thirds, with 31% trusting the media a great deal or a fair amount, 33% saying they do 'not [trust it] very much," and 36%, up from 6% in 1972, saying they have no trust at all in it.'"

Read the entire article here.

"I'm writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.

"We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.

"There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader's doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.

"I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical -- it minimizes coercion -- and practical -- it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity. ...

"I'm confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I'm excited for us together to fill that void."

Read Mr. Bezos' entire post on X here.

"America's least popular politician is the mayor of a large, economically critical city in a blue state -- but not the one who was, until recently, under federal indictment.

Nearly 800 miles west of New York City, where Mayor Eric Adams is fighting to keep his job after the Justice Department moved to drop his corruption case, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has seen his reputation collapse.

A recent poll from M3 Strategies, conducted between February 20 and 21, showed the Democrat -- who just two years into his tenure -- with a 6.6 percent approval, one of the worst showings for any major political figure in the country's history."

Read the entire article here.

"Despite broadly circulating left-wing narratives that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was causing a cataclysmic drop in support for President Donald Trump's administration, a recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll has substantially undercut that assertion.

"The survey, released Monday, showed Trump with a 50% approval rating, compared to a 43% disapproval figure. That number largely aligns with the RealClearPolitics polling average, which gives Trump a 49.3% approval rating and a 47.5% disapproval.

"Eighty-three percent of voters expressed a preference for cutting government spending to raising taxes, while 77% supported a broad review of government spending. Sixty percent of voters, moreover, believe that DOGE is currently helping the government to make major cuts."

Read the entire article here.

"DOGE wants to see where our tax dollars go, and we should let them. No surprise that the 'government industrial complex' will resist every effort to bring transparency and accountability to how those funds are spent when the system is ripe with problems.

"I've had first-hand experience with USAID and other international aid organizations, such as the World Bank, UNESCO, and even the Red Cross, during my 40-plus trips to Haiti after being invited by then Haitian President Rene Preval to help rebuild the nation following the devastating 2010 earthquake.

"And I've seen how USAID, along with other NGOs, delivered on very few of their promises, failed to coordinate relief activities, and even skimmed money off the top."

Read the entire aritcle here.

"DOGE discovered $2 billion in taxpayer funds set aside for a fledgling nonprofit linked to perennial Georgia Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.

"The Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration awarded Power Forward Communities the grant in April 2024 as part of the agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program. Power Forward Communities received the green energy grant despite the fact that it was founded months earlier in late 2023 and never managed anywhere near the grant's dollar figure -- it reported just $100 in total revenue during its first three months in operation, according to its latest tax filings.

"Power Forward Communities' grant was one of just eight Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants that the EPA doled out in April 2024 and that, altogether, totaled $20 billion. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced on Feb. 13 that his staff and Department of Government Efficiency officials discovered that the Biden administration parked that same $20 billion at an outside financial institution before leaving office, limiting the federal government's oversight of the program."

Read the entire article here.

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered senior military officials to develop a budget plan that would slash defense spending by 8%, a dramatic cut which could reshape military end-strength and readiness for decades.

"In a memo first obtained by the Washington Post, Hegseth ordered the proposed cuts to be compiled by Feb. 24. Seventeen categories would be exempt from the budget reductions, including military operations at the southern U.S. border, nuclear weapons and missile defense programs, and acquisition of certain drones and munitions.

"The idea of steep defense cuts, originally reported by Bloomberg last week, is certain to draw opposition from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where Republicans in recent weeks had been discussing major increases in defense spending in upcoming years -- not significant cuts."

Read the entire article here.