No court has authority to prevent the report from being subpoenaed by congress and read into the congressional record, FWIW

This is the future folks like Milhoan and Kennedy want: reduce vaccination with #polio vaccine and invite a resurgence of the disease. @melodyschreiber.com spoke with survivors @candidkitten.bsky.social and @artcap.bsky.social about what that future might entail.

GOOD

Relatedly, since they're now tossing active duty military servicemember lawyers into this shit, we should probably expect to see some very uncomfortable cases where a lawyer's duty to their legal profession and to their military profession come into direct conflict.

Peter Attia is out at CBS News after he appeared in 1,700+ Epstein documents

Appreciate it, Elie. I really busted my ass to cover Trump's presser, live-posting half of it through bad wifi on a flight and then racing to an airport bar to get the rest. If you find value in my efforts, it would mean a lot to me if you signed up for my newsletter: www.publicnotice.co/subscribe

I’m so glad team USA promptly embarrassed everyone who cheered for them by partying with Kash Patel and gleefully taking a phone call from the pedophile dictator in chief, complete with misogynist jokes. That’s your country and that’s your team America, the rest of the world is disgusted.

Kristi Noem's DHS definitely did not want you to see this But officials in Social Circle, Ga. trying to stop the regime's plan to turn a massive warehouse into a concentration camp for 8,500 humans have shared the floor plan It's worse than you think. My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...

Wrote a piece about many looking at the Epstein case all wrong: He's not the thing that connects a network of rich and powerful men; he's the lens that shows us how they were already connected. newrepublic.com/article/2068...

A Columbus City Council member is proposing banning city assistance to ICE. I doubt the zoning restrictions would be effective against ICE (maybe against private landlords), but the rest are a worthy effort, including criminalizing stalking kids near schools. abc6onyourside.com/news/local/n...

Just get an MMR Booster if you are 50+

I had to accept (when I became a single parent of three) that my parenting capital was extremely depleted and I just could not cope with the ‘investment’ expectations. I had no choice but to let go of some parenting ‘musts’ (and society’s judgement). This book seems extremely interesting!

In Overinvested, @ninabandelj.bsky.social explains what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor. Out now (17 March UK pub). Explore a free preview of this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... #Sociology

The overall fundraiser is over $150k, and y'all have contributed more than $1000 for me to match (+follows/reposts)! Let's keep it going; this weekend, sign up for a membership with or make a donation to The 51st (any amount!) - and I'll match it *and* send $50 to a food bank of your choice.

PayPal Confirms Data Breach — Money Stolen, Passwords Reset

I am never going to get over the fact thar so many Americans died that corpses stacked up in nursing homes and hospital morgues, that refrigerator trucks had to be brought in for the overflow, and that the big takeaway from Important Pundits is there should have been *less* mitigation.

Also if you're older consider getting your titers checked &/or getting a booster. As we age our immune system wanes & some of us are in the age group that only received 1 shot. We are seeing cases in older, vaccinated folks. Not many but no one needs to have their immune system wiped out by measles.

Organizations where the downside of things going wrong is “me and a few of my rich friends lose some money,” and organizations where the downsides of things going wrong is mass death and protracted chaos, should not be using the same standards. Really don’t think I’m out on a limb with this one.

I am loving these stories about the olympic women's hockey team. (gift link) www.wsj.com/sports/olymp...

Getting shown up in the arena of elite impunity by *the British monarchy* is an incredible “America at 250!” achievement

"A violent and criminal effort is underway to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank. Gangs of armed settlers persecute, harm, wound and even kill Palestinians living there. The rampages include burning olive groves, houses and cars; breaking into homes; and physically assaulting people.”

If I got that far up on my edges it'd be a ker-splatt-face-full-of-snow for real. I can't even imagine the strength she must have in her legs to hold 'em.

gift link (maybe) www.denverpost.com/2026/02/18/u...

Another American war in the Middle East. Not a word of discussion, debate or deliberation about this in Congress, nor indeed, anywhere inside the Beltway. Total abdication by the Congress of its constitutional duties.

A massive redeployment of USAF refueling assets to the Middle East. This brings to at least 55 the number of transports, tankers and E-3 AWACS (2) that were seen preparing, moving or participating in refuel ops for other aircraft to the Middle East. Just from the last 10 hours.

Bill Kristol: "That’s why it’s important that Minnesota be not just a shining example of what can be done. It needs to be a harbinger of what’s going to be done. It needs to be a model not just admired but emulated. We should all be Minnesotans now."

"Here’s what you need to remember: There is no reward that comes later. No righteous justice will be dispensed, not soon and not ever...But you also need to understand — and this is equally important — that we’ve already won. The reward is right now, this minute, this moment."

Absolutely love this video of two 50 y-o women attempting every Winter Olympic sport (and laughing throughout). This is the #Joy we need to cultivate in our lives. youtu.be/LtwjMsJoOZc?...

gift link www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

7 pt thread not to be missed. This *IS* what we're facing now. cc @pedinska.bsky.social

How it works.

I'm sorry that we're in "first they came for" territory, I really am. But we are.

“There is in fact an Epstein class, which not only believes in their own personal impunity, but seeks to protect their fellow travelers as well.” Read the article

@pedinska.bsky.social Don't miss the "measles" note. margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/how-to-wri...

1. Major corporations — including General Motors, State Farm, JPMorgan Chase, Delta, and Microsoft — are bankrolling a political ad from Senate candidate Andy Barr featuring a white nationalist slogan.

The new governor of Virginia says the attacks are a sign of her success. From NYT Politics (gift link). www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/u...

Calling it now: the US political media's treatment of AOC is going to make their treatment of Hillary Clinton or Al Gore look like a model of balance and discretion.

Tax-funded surveillance systems have targeted people seeking abortions, protesters exercising First Amendment rights, and communities impacted by discriminatory policing. Find out how your community can push back on 2/19 at "Get the Flock Out of Our City." RSVP today at www.eff.org/livestream-....

cc @pedinska.bsky.social

I’ve been thinking along similar lines—that for anyone who is set on a 2028 bid, saying so now, aggressively and definitively—holds a lot of upside. Normie Dems are desperate for a standard-bearer, not least because the median Dem hates Chuck Schumer. Give them one.

(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.

with alt text, because everyone needs to be able to read this 😭

This piece is free for everyone to read - no paywall. If you are a frequent reader of Democracy Americana, please consider becoming a paid member. As an independent writer, I fully rely on the support of my readers to make this work possible. Thank you!

Sunday reading: What is “Un-American”? We must acknowledge America’s history of state authoritarianism and racial violence – but also dare to claim its aspirational tradition of egalitarian democracy. Let’s Make MAGA un-American, finally. Some thoughts from my new piece: 🧵

The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory

Meta is putting a "Name Tag" feature in Ray-Bans - facial recognition through the glasses' camera. You look at someone, AI tells you who they are. In an internal document, the company wrote that the timing is good because civil society groups are busy with politics and won't cause problems.

Me in the grocery store

I wrote about something I've been thinking about for a long time. A kind of post-ironic collapse in our politics and culture where nihilism has become the lingua franca of the internet and beyond. It links Kirk, Clavicular, Epstein, memestock/coin stuff, mass shooters. I hope you'll read it.

@pedinska.bsky.social icymi