PROGRESS: Dept. of Ed stops more than $600 million from funding CRT, DEI, other ‘divisive ideologies.’

ROGER KIMBALL: Were Trump’s comments about Ukraine a gambit to bring about peace?

The fate of Ukraine is one of those subjects that seems automatically to induce moralistic posturing all around. A couple of points. One can acknowledge that Russia is an aggressor while still admitting that it has real and legitimate interests. Should we support the idea of Ukrainian membership in NATO? I think that Loyola is correct: “the idea of NATO membership for Ukraine, while it still claims sovereignty over Russia’s most important naval base in the world, is both preposterous and needlessly provocative.” Russia may, as Loyola notes, be a “malign force in the world.” But that does not mean that it is without genuine political interests and real grievances. It’s fun to denounce Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal” and all-round bad hat. It allows one to bask in the glow of one’s superior moral fiber. But as Henry Kissinger observed, “The demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy, it is an alibi for the absence of one.”

The larger point, however, brings me back to the pot-stirrer in chief. Donald Trump’s comments about Ukraine and Zelensky sent the commentariat (and Zelensky himself) around the bend. But what if it was a gambit designed to bring about the peace he promised to bring to the region? And what if, despite the grumbling and grandstanding of the talking heads, it succeeds?

That happens a lot with stuff he says or does that is initially called crazy or dumb.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Trump DOJ Accuses Judge Handling Trans Military Case Of ‘Hostile And Egregious Misconduct.’ “DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle informed Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan on Friday that United States District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes engaged in such conduct toward DOJ’s attorneys, suggesting bias and disrespect toward the DOJ’s position and imperiling a fair weighing of the case.”

Dont’t let them perform for their lefty friends with impunity.

I’VE BEEN CALLING FOR THESE SINCE 2002:

BIG: Trump calls for national paper ballot elections – cost just 8% of the cost of electronic systems, can produce accurate auditable results on election night, and have invisible security features that prevent counterfeiting.

Fact Check: True -> More https://t.co/foMYd4A9AH https://t.co/WZZXSq4B48

— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) February 21, 2025

Related:

Election Integrity: 77% Favor Voter ID https://t.co/RWqKlyYBsX

— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) February 21, 2025

Once again, the Democrats are on the 20% side of 80/20 issues.

UPDATE:

Then the Democrats can’t cheat. Which is exactly why they fight against it so hard.

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) February 21, 2025

THIS SEEMS RIGHT, AS VDH GENERALLY DOES: 4 Mins of VDH Wisdom Gems on the ‘Trump Restoration.’ “I was sold at ‘…and the more radical third term of the Obama revolution, using or employing the waxen effigy of Joe Biden…’ The man’s a national treasure.”

EUROPE’S PIGEONS ARE COMING HOME TO ROOST:

Europeans abandoned the defense necessary for their own sovereignty so they could finance welfare states, which they then destroyed with mass immigration

So now they have infinite migrants, bankrupt social programs, and a complete lack of security https://t.co/n0yRAUqgRS

— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) February 20, 2025

THERE SURE IS A LOT OF MEDIA LYING GOING ON:

NBC Universal has agreed to settle a $30m defamation lawsuit after its MSNBC talent lied and said a Georgia doctor was performing Mengele-style “mass hysterectomies” at an ICE facility during the first Trump administration.@chrislhayes, Rachel @maddow, Nicole Wallace, and… pic.twitter.com/zLLNcfmUHU

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 22, 2025

LET’S FACE IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE THREATEN THE EU’S SURVIVAL:  Wrong, Politico, Climate Change Does Not Threaten the EU’s Survival, But Climate Policy Does.

And as always I’m rooting for the people, there as here.

WHAT ELSE HAVE THEY GOT?  Democrats Continue to Double Down After Schumer, Garcia Receive Letters From DOJ Over Concerning Remarks.

TURNING IT INTO A CHAIN OF CONVENIENCE STORES?  Bondi Starts Clearing Out ATF.

THIS WON’T BE PRETTY:  Duffy Announces Review of California’s High-Speed Rail Boondoggle.

HELP, HELOISE! HOW DO I CLEAN EXPLODED HEAD FROM MY CEILING?  The List of Libs Writers Quitting Has Become a Butcher’s Bill.

ARE THEY FOR REAL NOW:  SCOTUS Punts On Whether District Court Can Prevent Trump From Firing Official.

UM…. HE VERY WELL MIGHT:  Musk: ISS should be de-orbited quickly! And he may be right.

SIT DOWN. LET’S TALK. CHANCES ARE YOU HAVE:  Battle Fatigue.

I DON’T KNOW, BUT WHAT WE’RE DOING AIN’T WORKING GREAT:  Is It Time to Rethink the Culling of Poultry in Response to Bird Flu?

Maybe rethink free range poultry? (More likely to come in contact with wild bird poop?)

DAMNED CLEVER IDF AIRSTRIKES, TO LEAVE STRANGULATION MARKS:  Here’s How the Bibas Children Were Murdered.

I’M RIGHT DOWN PROUD OF ALL THE INDIES COMING OUT AND STANDING UP:  More Authors On The Side of Liberty!

IT SEEMS A FAIR QUESTION TO ASK:

What if the fish like it?

— Mad Bull America (@america_mad) February 20, 2025

THAT’S WHAT TRUMP IS DOING. “Bring Back The Assholes.”

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

GOOD:

🚨New: Kash Patel delivers a new statement on becoming the FBI Director:

“I promise you the following: there will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI, and we will do it through rigorous constitutional oversight starting this weekend.”
pic.twitter.com/nlT6t8oPJ1

— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) February 21, 2025

Meanwhile, advice from a wired-in reader:

What Kash Patel needs to do is hit the ground running with a lightning strike round of firings, disciplinary actions, DOJ investigations and prosecutions. Which has already started but needs to be ramped wayTF up. Knock them back on their heels. Put every single senior agent in a personal defensive state. Plus a lot of the junior ones.

Go after them like … well, like the FBI. They’ll start turning on each other.

Put them on the receiving end for a change. A taste of their own medicine. With predawn raids and perp walks.
It’ll hamstring the agency at the upper levels, render it combat-ineffective. So political operations come to a complete halt. The lower level agents doing sometimes actually useful work in the field offices should be able for the most part to keep doing that. Unless any given agent here or there was involved in, you know, dirty unconstitutional gestapo-style work.

Knock them back on their heels with rapid fire firings, disciplinary action. Suspend all operations until they can justify those operations and their methods. What kind of coercion are they practicing, what use of criminal and other informants. Make them justify everything, because face it, their track record is spotty at best.

Treat the FBI like the corrupt, incompetent, partisan and criminal organization it is. Then work back from that. Get some of Elon’s 20-year-olds in there to apply the screws. You won’t see a lot of people shedding tears for dirty feds.

I highly doubt there is any worthwhile, legit FBI investigation or operation that will be harmed by a pause of a week or a month or two. Exempt counter-terrorism from suspension, not review. Not that they have that good a track record, but…

Oh, here’s a good one. Inform FBI agents they might be shown leniency if they rat out their rotten colleagues.
A few executions, I mean firings, should focus the minds of the others.

And don’t forget the pre-dawn raids and perp walks. Treat them as they have treated the American people.

Shock and awe. I’m pretty sure Kash is on the same page here. We’ll see.

ART OF THE DEAL: Zelensky surrenders to Trump and ‘will sign mineral deal within hours.’

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China readies Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return spacecraft for launch.

REGIME TOOLS:

NewsGuard's deep ties to the Biden admin have been EXPOSED. https://t.co/2FAbP6hBnC

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) February 22, 2025

I believe that NewsGuard was behind my demonetization.