Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Second rate propaganda. Guess who? Paying agents in the field too much, and not paying the propagandists enough. Penny wise, Pound foolish.

This one by screen capture. It speaks for itself.

click for full size to make reading easier

A government website designed by the least skilled of government folks. Join Ice.

An hour of Heather Cox Richardson where if you've not the hour it takes to view, you are a short-sighted slob. And you don't deserve the vote you have. Give it up and follow Erika Kirk, or dig a hole and then fill it up.

Link = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp6q6sT0HQQ

Or if you've not the time, you've not a mind. You can find somebody's boots to lick.

Fair notice, the final part of this hour has been separately posted on YouTube and has been linked to, in that exceprted form, in an earlier post about the Talerico candidacy in Texas. When you hit that, you will notice.

But the advice, watch it all in context, and see if what you may be feeling is touched by HCR's survey.

__________UPDATE__________

HCR begins her analysis by mention of a Marco Rubio speech in Munich. It is online here.

Rubio has always seemed to me to be a pompous bullshitter and sophist. That speech cemented the view and I could only take less than four minutes of it.

However, for those caring to see the item HCR analyzes, the link is given.

I really have no tolerance for pompous bullshitters and sophists.

Rubio would not be my first choice for anything. Nor second, nor third.

Rachel Maddow continues to broadcast, and her recent insights are on YouTube.

Link = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joqiTf0rZNg

It is her Presidents' Day braodcast, so, quite recent.

It is a serious and informative look at a number of things, and she mentions neither, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, JD Vance, nor Hegseth. Just, reporting things.

She does mention Trump.

On YouTube for your enjoyment/edification = ICE & DHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Link = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-KDUOHEZFk

James Talarico Pulled From Airing on Colbert

Colbert aired the stiffled segment on the Internet, and the easiest thing is to link there to show it, right up front, top of this post.

Hence, do it differently. We are each as we are, so first, Heather Cox Richardson.

For context. Link = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=encd88MywEg

She gives context, then at 4 min into it, Talarico!! Discussed, not a guest.

Why Trump administration is more concerned about James Talarico, Texas Dem US Senate candidate, than being concerned about Jasmine Crockett. She dissects that "Why?"

Talarico - my word how anti-Trump/Hegseth narrative - disses Christian Nationalism as un-Christian. Enough to make Trump load his pants. Blasphemy. Ask Hegseth, he'll show you his Jerusalm Cross Tattoo and say, "See!" So - what next?

MSNow, not yet Colbert, wait, be patient. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vawt9DsW3yk = more table setting. "MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell discusses why it would be impossible for Talarico's appearance on 'The Late Show' to trigger the FCC equal time rule." That's from the blurb YouTube puts under the video, before viewer commentary. It's part of the context of the story of Trump's FCC lackey's HS leaning on CBS, with its merger hopes, to stiffle Talarico's dissing Trump's Christian Nationalist exploitation as fundamental MAGA base, wear-the-hat folks, need-that-vote after the ICE/Border Patrol Minnesota approval rating kill.

Okay - the link we've all been waiting for - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A

And if you think, why did Trump so fear this that he had his FCC lackey murder the segment on network viewing to where it had to YouTubed to the masses, it's not that big a thing - join the list. Trump is TACOing again, chickening out of letting Talarico be seen, except there was a bit of blowback. The blurb under the video said. as of the time I accessed it where the number might climb,

5,453,340 views

Feb 16, 2026 #Colbert #Comedy #JamesTalarico

Stephen Colbert hosts Texas State Rep. James Talarico for an online-exclusive interview that touches on the issues raised in Talarico's campaign for the Democratic nomination for Senate including the separation of church and state, the dangers of consolidated corporate-owned media, and the fabricated culture wars pushed by Republicans in states like Texas. If you're curious why this interview with James Talarico was an online-exclusive, click here to watch Stephen Colbert explain: • Why CBS Didn't Broadcast Stephen Colbert's... .

Yeah, a real brain fart to make a big thing of it. But it's Trump, you know, and there are the mumblings about dementia. Plus, dementia aside, he's a classic asshole.

So enough words. Watch the video troika series linked to above, and decide, who'd be dumb enough to have a toady try to silence such an innocuous thing. (It was Trump, possibly with Stephen Miller's advice, who was that dumb, really.)

Bless the stupid, when they step on their own body part.

But, you know, the other Texas Dem US Senate candidate IS Jasmine Crockett, and there's a lot of reason for Trump/toady choosing to not give her a boost, so is the phrase "dumb like a fox" at play? We'll have to watch there, to see who wins that Dem primary. And, be good, Love thy neighbor.

_______________UPDATE____________

Telarico is a formidable person, but the Crabgrass choice is Crockett. That said, Telarico appears better placed as a white male to win Texas, where a black woman has a bigger push to do it. One thing about Crockett, when James Clyburn of South Carolina pushed Biden to put a black woman on the second spot, it is a crying shame that Crockett was not yet a person with national credibility established. The Crabgrass view is that Crockett is a more appealing person than Harris. The Crabgrass view is that Clyburn and Willie Brown did a disservice to the breaking down of racial bias by advancing careers of exceptionally talented and appealing people. The idea of a black woman on a Presidential ticket is now not solely a hypothetical, but choices of winners and losers is a fundamental requirement.

Harris was the choice in 2024 when Biden quit, but not the best among black women for the role. Crockett is a progressive, and well spoken in being that. The Harris campaign never grounded itself for what it's vision and standards were.

Crockett would not have any such problem, or has shown a lot to base that outlook upon. What you see is what you get. A committed woman who is clear on what-where her politics are grounded. No waffle.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

"WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released a comprehensive report detailing how the Trump Administration’s secret deportation deals are undermining U.S. interests and coming at great cost to taxpayers."

The headline is the opening paragraph: https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/dem/release/ranking-member-shaheen-major-new-report-on-true-cost-of-trump-administrations-third-country-deportation-deals

After fleshing out the theme of the headline, links were given to the full 30p Committee Minority Report and to a single page executive summary (both in pdf format).

From the report press release, per the headline and the opening link above:

The 30-page report, titled “At What Cost? Inside the Trump Administration’s Secret Deportation Deals,” is the first Congressional report examining the issue of third country deportations under the Trump Administration and is informed by a ten-month review of agreements, known deals and third country deportations through January 2026, staff travel to relevant countries and meetings and communication with current U.S. officials, foreign government officials, human rights organizations, deportees and attorneys. This report finds that the Trump Administration has expanded and institutionalized a system in which the United States urges or coerces countries to accept migrants who are not their citizens, often through arrangements that are costly, wasteful and poorly monitored. It catalogs the costly and ineffective operations, waste of taxpayer funds through unnecessary removals, concerning lack of oversight on U.S. funds to foreign governments and secret deals that do not serve American interests. Taken together, these actions have created an expensive and dangerous form of shadow diplomacy that prioritizes the appearance of toughness over the security of Americans.

“This report outlines the troubling practice by the Trump Administration of deporting individuals to third countries—places where these people have no connection—at great expense to the American taxpayer and raises serious questions,” said Ranking Member Shaheen. [...]

The report comes as the Administration is aggressively seeking to strip hundreds of thousands of migrants of legal status in the United States through the ending of temporary protected status and humanitarian parole, among other avenues, increasing the risk of expanded third country deportations.

This report identifies six central ways in which the Administration’s use of third country deportations has undermined U.S. interests:

Expensive and Ineffective Operations: The Administration has spent tens of millions of dollars to move a relatively small number of migrants to third countries, in some cases paying more than one million dollars per person, with little measurable impact on its deportation agenda.

Needlessly Wasting Taxpayer Funds: In many cases, migrants could have been returned directly to their home countries, avoiding costly third country deportations. As of January 2026, more than eighty percent of the migrants sent to third countries paid by the United States to take them in have already returned to their country of origin or are in the process of doing so. [...]

Providing Money to Corrupt Governments Without Oversight: The United States has sent more than thirty-two million dollars to foreign governments in direct connection with third country deportation deals, including those with records of corruption, human rights abuses and human trafficking, without monitoring how the money is used or whether taxpayer funds are being used to facilitate corruption, human rights abuses or human trafficking. It is unclear how much additional U.S. funding is being redirected to indirectly support these deals.

Failure to Monitor and Enforce Agreements: The State Department is not tracking foreign government compliance with diplomatic assurances or enforcing agreement terms, [...]

Secret Deals That Do Not Serve American Interests: Third country deportation agreements have become a central feature of U.S. bilateral relations, involving cash payments, political concessions and coercion, without transparency about the full extent of what the United States is giving in return or the pressures it is exerting. In addition, the Administration is making secret deals with adversarial regimes such as Iran, to accept their nationals back.

Circumventing U.S. Immigration Law: Evidence suggests the Administration is using third countries to carry out removals that U.S. law would otherwise prohibit, such as sending protected individuals onward to countries where they may face persecution or death.

See, also, AP reporting, here and here. I would not like to be a wrongly deported citizen to Cameroon.

I do not even know the major language there. Or how I'd be accepted. Kicked off a plane, "Fend for yourself, Charlie." It is an unsettling thing, done in secret.