February 20, 2026

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dems’ #RESIST Strategy Might Just Be Turning Into Background Noise. “They’re hoping that the seemingly endless anti-ICE protests will sufficiently demonize the agents, the Trump administration, and any politicians associated with him to propel the Democrats to victory next November. Seriously, the platform is pro-violent criminals and anti-law enforcement. That’s what they’re going with.”

Posted at 9:09 am by Stephen Green

IGNORE BASIC CYBERSECURITY AT YOUR PERIL:

Posted at 8:53 am by Stephen Green

CHANGE? Ted Cruz believes it’s ‘entirely possible’ regimes in Cuba, Iran and Venezuela will collapse in six months.

“We are at an extraordinary moment in history. It is entirely possible, Sean, that in the next six months, we will see the regimes fall in Iran, in Venezuela, and in Cuba, and we could also see governments replace them that want to be friends with the United States of America,” Cruz said on “Hannity.”

President Trump has dramatically ramped up pressure on all three US adversaries over recent weeks.

Since last year, the US has maintained an oil quarantine around Venezuela. Trump also authorized the Jan. 3 Operation Absolute Resolve raid to capture strongman Nicolas Maduro.

Those efforts enabled the US to cut off Cuba’s key source of oil, putting a big squeeze on Havana.

More recently, Trump has massed US military assets, including two aircraft carriers, near Iran as a show of force while allowing negotiations with the regime to continue playing out.

The Axis of Resistance could potentially shrink down to just North Korea, China, and Russia — and Russia looks more and more like a liability to Beijing than an asset.

Posted at 8:38 am by Stephen Green

METAPHOR ALERT: Legendary director Steven Spielberg is latest billionaire to flee California in another blow to state.

Steven Spielberg, phone home!

The legendary “E.T.” director and California resident has moved to Manhattan amid a billionaire exodus from the Golden State — as voters eye a controversial wealth tax.

But the move, first reported by the LA Times, allegedly had nothing to do with the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act.

“Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren,” spokeswoman Terry Press said.

Press did not answer queries about Spielberg’s stance on the proposed tax, which would slap a one-time 5% tax on individual fortunes exceeding $1 billion.

The tax, if approved by voters in November, would apply retroactively to the beginning of this year.

Proponents argue it will raise tens of billions of dollars to go toward the state’s health care shortfalls, while opponents — including Gavin Newsom — argue it’ll force skinflint billionaires to leave the state.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin wants to kill the tax. He’s funding an effort to build more opponents by appealing to California’s voting masses, who so far overwhelmingly back the tax.

At Power Line, Bill Glahn writes, “Spielberg’s departure for New York alone won’t made that state significantly bluer or California any more red. But just once I’d like to see one of these fleeing lefty billionaires lament their part in creating the mess they are leaving behind.” Indeed. But when it comes to holding on to their own money, as Robert Conquest’s First Law of Politics states, “Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.”

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY, THEY THINK DIFFERENTLY THERE:

In the 1990s, the official Democrat party line was still anti-illegal immigration, up to and including Harry Reid, and then-President Bill Clinton, so of course that was party operative with a Chyron Dan Rather’s take as well.

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

OR MAYBE IT’S THE X-FILES INSTEAD:

Update: These never get old.

Posted at 8:20 am by Stephen Green

JONATHAN TURLEY ON RO KHANNA’S ABUSE OF POWER: Ro Khanna and the Impunity of “Wealthy, Powerful Men.”

Last year, I wrote a column expressing concerns over the move to release the Epstein files en masse, including grand jury material. The files include a wide range of tangential figures and unsupported allegations common to criminal investigations. Politicians eager to capitalize on the scandal would likely show little concern for the underlying facts in “outing” names and repeating unproven allegations.

That fear was realized this week with the chest-pounding speech of Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Cal.) on the House floor in which he took credit for outing six “wealthy, powerful men” who he suggested were actively shielded by the DOJ from public exposure. After the DOJ unredacted the names at his request, he read them on the floor. It turns out that four have nothing to do with Epstein.

Had Khanna made these comments outside of the House floor, he would be looking at four defamation lawsuits. However, Khanna knew the men could not sue him because of the immunity afforded to him under the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause.

The four were literally just randoms who stood in a police lineup, as people do, along with the actual suspect. Congress should have internal remedies for abuse of the House and Senate floor.

Posted at 8:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

GOOD DOGS:

Every New Yorker with a dog should get involved. And what a great excuse to finally get a dog for those without.

Posted at 7:51 am by Stephen Green

SELLING OUT TO BEIJING:

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Moon mission fueling test concludes with no major problems.

NASA and contractor engineers pumped more than 750,000 gallons of supercold propellants into the agency’s huge Space Launch System rocket Thursday without any signs of hydrogen leaks or any other significant problems in a major step toward launching four astronauts on a flight around the moon as early as March 6.

The practice countdown began Tuesday night, kicking off a carefully choreographed series of steps to ready the world’s most powerful operational rocket for what amounted to a simulated launch Thursday at 8:42 p.m. EST. Controllers then carried out additional tests to make sure the team can recycle, hold and restart an actual launch countdown as needed to handle unexpected problems.

The initial stages of the rehearsal countdown went well and at 9:35 a.m. Thursday, Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson gave her “go” to begin the multi-hour process of pumping 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen fuel into the SLS rocket’s first stage. The second stage was loaded with another 22,500 gallons of oxygen and hydrogen propellants.

Unlike the rocket’s first fueling test earlier this month, when hydrogen leaks forced the team to call off the countdown, sensors detected no significant leaks the second time around and the rocket’s tanks were topped off without incident.

Well, good.

Posted at 7:36 am by Stephen Green

DECLINE IS A CHOICE:

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll

CHRIS QUEEN: Trump Returns to Red Georgia With Receipts. “Thursday’s event felt like a who’s who of MAGA Georgia. From Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is running for governor, to University of Georgia legend Herschel Walker, currently our ambassador to the Bahamas, to current UGA great Gunner Stockton, Georgia’s conservatives are turning out for the president.”

Posted at 7:05 am by Stephen Green

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY:

Posted at 7:00 am by Glenn Reynolds