OLD AND BUSTED: I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It.

–Paraphrase of Voltaire’s philosophy by historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

The New Frenchness? French President Emmanuel Macron Says Free Speech Is ‘Pure Bulls**t’ Unless Regulated.

Translation from doublespeak to English: “I just want to be able to arrest people and seize their assets for thoughtcrimes.”

— Jason Wilkins (@TheJasonWilkins) February 18, 2026

Meanwhile in Germany, Freidrich Merz is partying like it’s 1939:

Germany’s most famous figures of civilian resistance, the Scholl siblings, for whom secrecy was a matter of survival, were captured by Nazi operatives on this day in 1943 and executed four days later. For Germany’s current leader to choose the 83rd anniversary of their capture to… https://t.co/Tag0oD6QIq

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) February 18, 2026

Tweet continues, “For Germany’s current leader to choose the 83rd anniversary of their capture to demand the unmasking of critical voices online is a grotesque display of a country that has learned nothing from its own history.”