Author: opinionstogo

 

* According to Bill Kristol, neoconservative writer and founder of The Weekly Standard, the Dems are “almost certain to win the House, could possibly win the Senate” and have “a good chance to win the presidency” in 2028. Hope that Kristol Ball is spot on.

* Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Jack Schlossberg, grandson of JFK, for the U.S. House seat being vacated by New York’s Jerrold Nadler.

* High-profile California Gov. Gavin Newsom is on a book tour that keeps him in the 2028 conversation. Those conversations will likely include his recent dyxlexia revelations. “You’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech,” he acknowledged in an Atlanta gathering. “I haven’t overcome dyslexia. I’m living with it.”

 

* Printing made the Reformation possible. Wonder what instantaneous global communication presages?

* It wouldn’t take a deep Epstein Files dig to turn up names such as Donald Trump, global politicos, tycoons and moguls. Hardly revelatory. It’s human nature at its VIP sleaziest. But Noam Chomsky? Hardly a red-letter day for his legacy.

* I can’t be the only one. When buying a Valentine’s Card for the love of your life, you shuffle through a number of choices before finally selecting one that seems to particularly resonate. Then you turn it over to see what it costs. A reflex–or could it be a price gouge too far? Then you feel kind of embarrassed. Kind of. At least you’re not paying in Canadian dollars.

* Times’ signage: “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

* Finishing touch: “If I’m too much, go find less.”

 

* “The Epstein files have turned a lot of the base against Trump. They’re not happy with Bondi.”—Jake Hoffman, executive director of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans.

 

* “Florida has led the nation on DEI elimination.”—More nativist swag from Gov. Ron DisAstrous.

* Hallandale is hot. Hallandale Beach, a small, gritty city between Miami and Fort Lauderdale is now notably heating up as a luxury condo market. Among the buyers: sports fans who can avail themselves of relatively proximate stadium venues such as Hard Rock Stadium, which will be hosting multiple FIFA World Cup matches this summer. Hallandale Beach has morphed from its previous identity as a hub for illegal gambling and organized crime.

 

* The editors of The Nation magazine officially nominated the city of Minneapolis and its people for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

* Pluralistic update: Bad Bunny is the most streamed artist on Spotify in four separate years.

* Wall Street Journal headline after the SOTU speech: “Trump Hails an Economic Turnaround Many Voters Don’t See.”

 

* The U.S. beat Canada in overtime to win the Olympic gold medal in hockey. Most highly-hyped match-ups don’t measure up to the over-the-top anticipation. This one did. Including the replay.

* BTW, all that Olympic buzz—including nearly half the Lightning players making various national teams—had to have impacted the locker room. But there was an elephant in that room: Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasyleskiy. They are two of the best players in the world but were unable to participate because their country, Russia, was banned. Nothing was said in the media, which was prudent–and rare–but you can imagine it had its awkward moments.

* Over the winter, Rays All-Star Junior Caminero worked hard on his English, and he’s now prepared to do interviews without team translator Kevin Vera. Would that others follow his lead. Players, especially prominent ones, can’t truly connect to a community through a translator. Just ask the Lightning.

* “We believe in a meritocracy.” That was Bruce Meyer, executive director of the MLB Players Association. In other words: Don’t even think about a salary cap for Major League Baseball.

 

* “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch.”– That was Chief Justice John Roberts after SCOTUS struck down Trump’s tariffs.

* True that: “Only those Americans with no knowledge or who are self-deluded celebrate the start of the presidency of Donald John Trump, the most unqualified man ever to be elected to our highest office.” That was former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, on the day of Trump’s initial inauguration.

* The Trumpocalypse has distorted so much about America—its constitution, its ideals, its rule of law, its global reputation, that we forget that we still have a tool box. Impeachment hasn’t worked, but there’s still the 25^th Amendment. But it would take a country-first, vertebrate cabinet to employ it.

* The Big BOPPER: Trump’s Board of Peace members–Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Cambodia—each ponied up $1 billion to join. Sounds more Ponzi than peace-mongering.

* Donroe Doctrine: Encouraged, to to speak, by President Trump, the government of Guatamala is phasing out its use of Cuban doctors. The program has long provided valued income for Cuba.

* Iran-attack assessment: “Well done, Mr. President.”—Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S,C,

* “Presidential graffiti”: How House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries labeled Trump’s renaming efforts.

* Trump legacy update: For the record, the under-construction gilded ballroom that’s replacing the razed East Wing, will actually be larger than the White House itself.

* “Elements might endure, but the MAGA movement is at heart a cult of personality unlikely to outlast its singular leader for very long in its existing form.”—Michelle Cottle, NYT.

* “This is a political investment, not a for-profit movie venture.”—David A. Gross, a film consultant on the documentary-infomercial “Melania.”

* DOGE reality: The IRS has more than 25% fewer staffers than last tax season.

* “A people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”—President James Madison.

* “Forgiving serves to undo the deeds of the past, whose ‘sins’ hang like Damocles’ sword over every new generation.”—Hannah Arendt.

* “In terms of security, our asymmetrical advantage as Americans has always been our strong international network of alliances and partners.”–Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William McQuilkin.

* “History shows that the consequences of entering conflicts without defined objectives or a realistic plan to conclude them cost our nation dearly.”—U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.

* “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”—President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

* “The refund process is likely to be a mess.”—Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on what ultimately results from SCOTUS striking down President Trump’s import tariffs.

* “No man ever forgets—where he buried the hatchet.”—Ogden Nash.

* “Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV.”—CBS’s Stephen Colbert.

* “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”—Margaret Thatcher.

* “If we want change, we must be agents of change.”—Laila Lalani, author of “Conditional Citizens.”

* “There’s that proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ I think we’ve learned that it takes a very powerful network to abuse so many children.”—Anand Giridharadas, author of “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World.”

* “They put (Ashley) Moody in the Senate to be a ‘yes’ vote for Trump and the billionaires. She’s not Florida’s senator. She’s theirs.”—Retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a Democrat and the whistleblower who triggered Donald Trump’s first impeachment, who is now challenging Moody for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Marco Rubio.

* “I’m excited to update our History of Communism standards detailing the fall of the Maduro regime.”—Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas.

* “Let’s go from being that rising star to being the star.”—USF’s new president, Moez Limayem.

* “Major League Baseball belongs in Tampa Bay.”—MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

 

Thanks to President Donald Trump, Greenland is in the geopolitical cross hairs. His latest real estate fixation has alienated allies and pleased those benefiting from NATO chaos. It’s manifestly not what America should be fostering, but in the narcissistic world of Trump, it’s about what it has always been about: ego-driven, artless deal-making and Donsense branding. Only this isn’t about stiffing leverage-challenged subcontrators or playing the bankruptcy card. He’s playing the hand dealt to the one in charge, the one who happens to be the worst-case iteration of Roy Cohn.

Greenland is of legitimate interest. It has been looked at through a strategic lens before. During the Cold War, the U.S., under an agreement with Denmark, turned Greenland into a military asset. The U.S. even offered to purchase Greenland in 1946. But after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, most U.S. military installations were closed.

Today’s geopolitical reality includes security concerns over Arctic competition with Russia and China over natural resources and shipping lanes. It’s a legitimate issue, but one that can be addressed collectively by the U.S. and its 31 NATO allies. This, however, is counter-intuitive to Trump, who’s never played well with others unless they’re bearing gifts.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, has been evolving along with melting ice. But Trump the unilateralist isn’t about prioritizing mutual security, the lodestar of NATO, or working with allies. It’s about owning the world’s largest island.

He even admitted in a recent White House gaggle that it was “psychologically important to me.” Fiona Hill, a senior director for Russian and European affairs in the first Trump Administration, summed it up all too accurately. “He wants the greatest land deal in history—that’s the context,” she underscored.

Trump recently posted an altered image on social media showing a map of the United States that included Venezuela, Cuba, Canada and Greenland. It’s all part of his “branding” instinct—as if he were presiding over the U.S. Organization. Maybe he envisions a Trump Tower Nuuk.

 

* According to the Federal Election Commission, the RNC raised $172 million in 2025; the DNC raised $145 million for the year.

* “I think it will be part of every single campaign, up and down the ballot.”—Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, on the critical role of health care in the mid-terms.

* National Newsom News: “Louisiana’s request is denied.” That was California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s high-profile response to an extradition request for a doctor charged with providing abortion pills in Louisiana.

* Political reality: According to a recent Gallup poll, 45% of Americans identify as political independents. This is in sync, however, with long-held political science theory that such “independents” are often partisans in disguise—with most leaning one way or the other, as opposed to third-party yearnings.