NEWS YOU CAN USE: Heart disease remains the top threat many women never see coming.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Doctors share the best ways to get the most from a bidet.

EZRA KLEIN AND MUZZLE VELOCITY:

He didn’t seem overwhelmed at all, and that was at night, on a gruelingly noisy plane, grilled by reporters after an evening event where, as WaPo puts it, “Trump tries humor, gets some silence, at black-tie dinner with ‘people I hate.'”

He seemed to be up for all of it. But I’m pretty sure Klein wants to think otherwise: “This is a presidency that is, by any measure, failing. Trump is unpopular; his brutality and his tariffs have turned immigration and affordability, once among of his strongest issues, into liabilities. Trump’s opposition is increasingly united and mobilized; Democrats are besting Republicans in elections all across the country and disciplined, brave, beautiful protest movements have emerged in the cities ICE has sought to occupy.”

By any measure? That can’t be true. He’s at least succeeding by that measure of “muzzle velocity” and the measure of courage and optimism in facing a hostile press. Ironically, Klein is exhibiting the same kind of optimism, energy, and boasting to which Trump is so deeply committed.

One of them’s right and it’s not Young Ezra. Who’s not so young as he was when that name was coined, but the, none of us is.

I ALREADY LOVE HER, YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP SELLING ME:

IT’S AN INSURRECTION, AND AN INSURGENCY, AND IT’S FOREIGN-FUNDED AND ORGANIZED:

Julio Rosas has spent years documenting left-wing riots. "What I’ve witnessed over the past five years is the emergence of something else entirely: networked, coordinated, ideologically committed groups that operate more like cells than citizens."https://t.co/lYLY7grNZ6

— Junto (@ReadJunto) February 2, 2026

SNOWFALLS ARE NOW A THING OF THE PAST: After huge snowstorm Penn climate scientists warn about . . . global warming.

Classical reference in the headline.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Texas State to host ‘Trauma-Informed Yoga’ and ‘Condoms Cocoa and Consent’ events.

THE GOVERNMENT AS CURRENTLY CONSTITUTED IS JUST A MONEY LAUNDRY FOR POLITICAL TYPES:

Truly insane levels of fraud!

18% of home healthcare billing nationwide is coming from one county in California … https://t.co/D7bez2Esan

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2026

STANDING UP AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AND BIGOTRY: EXCLUSIVE: FTC Warns Big Law Over DEI Program That Sets ‘Unwritten Rules’ for Diversity Hiring.

DON SURBER: America Shrugged: Maybe the UN can sell Dictator Scouts cookies as we stop footing its bills.

THE LEFT’S WORST NIGHTMARE, A FLOURISHING AMERICA:

The trump economic plan is working. Tariffs, deregulation, tax cuts, rate cuts, illegal immigration crackdown, energy build out. https://t.co/a17HY3XnuH

— unseen1 (@unseen1_unseen) February 1, 2026

ROGER KIMBALL: Conservatism’s Case for Cheerful Realism: Elite opinion hardens into “wisdom,” but conservatism thrives on realism, humor, and hard-earned limits—antidotes to the gloomy utopianism of perpetual reform.

JAMES FREEMAN: American Exceptionalism: It’s about time a European official forcefully rebutted the ‘Newsroom’ fallacy.

Even Barack Obama eventually came around to embracing American exceptionalism. But if one hangs around social media, one is periodically treated to a clip from an old HBO program in which a character played by Jeff Daniels seems to puncture the idea that there is something special and unique about the United States of America. The clip is often shared by those who wish to demonstrate that they are too smart and knowledgable to succumb to enthusiastic patriotism.

In the scene from a show called “The Newsroom,” Mr. Daniels is wittingly or unwittingly portraying a self-important and semi-informed media personage. His character dismisses the idea that the U.S. is the greatest country in the world and argues that freedom doesn’t particularly distinguish the U.S. He quickly rattles off an extensive list of other countries where people also enjoy freedom.

What he does not mention is that in every single one of the countries on his list, free people enjoy the protection of the American defense umbrella. The smug character then goes on to make the preposterous suggestion that roughly 180 countries in the world are free, as if it’s the natural state of things and not a blessing paid for with the blood of Americans and other brave people over many generations.

Of course there have also been enormous financial bills to pay. In only one country did free people build an economy large enough to fund the worldwide defense of liberty for decades. This exceptional and indispensable quality of America underlines why the financial health of the U.S. is also indispensable. There is no backstop for us. It’s essential that U.S. government spending is reduced and put on a path toward budget balance not just for Americans but because a collapse of the United States would be uniquely catastrophic for the world. Search history and it’s hard to find happy endings for governments that took on so much debt that interest payments rose above defense spending, as has recently occurred in the U.S.

Trump understands this.

IT’S TIME TO ABOLISH D.C. HOME RULE: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Seen Drinking, Posing for Photos at Mayoral Convention with City on Ice.

Honestly, we should probably abolish the District of Columbia entirely.

JOHN LUCAS: To the Individual ICE Agents on the Front Lines, “Thank You for Your Service.” The attacks on Border Patrol and ICE agents copy and expand on the abuse heaped on Vietnam veterans. And we owe them a “thank-you” for their service.

Related: OUT: ICE is stormtroopers for white supremacy.

IN:

Your multiracial working class coalition, sir: https://t.co/UvzLQ3FHEW

— Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (@pegobry_en) February 1, 2026

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE (CONT’D): Fla. woman charged with posing as teen to molest 5 middle-school-age boys is ‘the real victim,’ dad claims. “Since then, Zinger has remained in jail without bail on felony charges of lewd or lascivious battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, possession of child pornography, in-state transmission of child pornography by an electronic device and sexual cyber harassment.”

THE WALL OF DENIAL IS CRUMBLING ALL OVER:

Michigan election fraud claims explode as poll workers testify they were threatened, blocked from challenging ballots, and shut out of rooms while disputed votes were processed.pic.twitter.com/xPEgXnD1tC

— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) February 1, 2026

PUT THIS IN THE ELLIPSIS HALL OF FAME:

Did he just yada yada freedom of religion? https://t.co/k1uz78RUwb

— Frank J. Fleming (@IMAO_) January 31, 2026

Yes. He actually yada-yadaed freedom of religion.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. GOP can’t go soft on immigration with midterms looming — it’s why voters picked Trump.

ICE HAS THE CHANCE TO DO THE FUNNIEST THING:

ICE should setup a checkpoint right down the street. pic.twitter.com/guL6zTIH3J

— Adam Schiffylus (@GogginWalters) February 2, 2026

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE:

American hero https://t.co/mshtukYsZG

— Kaizen D. Asiedu (@thatsKAIZEN) February 1, 2026

Bravo.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Tesla climbs as SpaceX merger talks fuel Musk empire consolidation hopes.

GOOD: A Common Sleeping Pill May Reduce Buildup of Alzheimer’s Proteins, Study Reveals.

TWO-TIER JUSTICE:

My passport was confiscated by DOJ for 4.5 years.

J6ers charged with misdemeanors were given pre-trial house arrest.

Tim Hale was held in solitary confinement pre-trial for 18 months.

And a MN federal judge just granted Don 🍋 permission to take his annual vacation in France. https://t.co/OaP2jyrtCP pic.twitter.com/s3Ev5UUIXL

— Douglass Mackey (@douglassmackey) January 31, 2026