Dem
47
GOP
53
We were supposed to run this on Wednesday, but then the guy in the Oval Office delivered that very long speech, and it took up all the time and space we had. So, today it is. We have a backlog, so it's more items than will normally be the case.
Also, the proposed feature name that specifically honored Staff Dachshund Flash did not prevail in the readers' vote. However, we take the view that any name that involves bites or bytes honors both of the staff dachshunds.
Here's today's rundown:
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Meet Sitting Bull: This is probably the final chapter of this particular saga, but there are two new data points in the story of the Bad Bunny halftime show, which swamped the Turning Point USA show in ratings, with something like 25 times as many viewers. As it turns out, one of the (many) problems was that even most MAGA voters did not watch the Kid Rock right-wing lovefest. According to the newest from The Economist/YouGov, at least 55% of folks who identify as MAGA took a pass, in favor of Bad Bunny, or the Puppy Bowl, or a bathroom break, or just listening to someone drag their fingernails along a chalkboard for 15 minutes. And the real total of "no, thanks" MAGA viewers may actually be higher than 55%, because 26% of those who say they DID watch the Kid Rock Goodtime Hour claim they caught it on Fox, ABC, NBC, or CBS. None of those networks actually carried the show.
Meanwhile, in a development that is surely part "the marketing power of being on the Super Bowl halftime show" and part Streisand Effect, the #1 song on the Billboard 100 the week after the Super Bowl was Bad Bunny's "DTMF." But yes, J.D. Vance, tell us more about how America doesn't like Bad Bunny.
Our Take: Rarely do these situations end with such a lopsided victory. This is the Little Bighorn of the culture wars.
Are They Nuts?: It would seem that, in the minds of some people, the best way to punish women for "killing babies" is to kill the women. Taking the view that abortion constitutes murder, two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee, state Reps. Jody Barrett and Mark Pody, have introduced a bill that would allow women who have abortions to be put to death.
Our Take: Are these two members secretly Democratic moles? What can they possibly be thinking? First, this is never going to become law, even in a Southern state like Tennessee. Second, they have now handed Democrats, both in Tennessee and elsewhere, a (literally) killer talking point: "Republicans don't just want to deny you the right to choose, they want to put you to death if you choose to exercise that right."
Oh, and if you guessed that, in this case, Jody is a man's name, you were right.
From the State That Brought You Brown v. Board: As long as we are on the subject of the gleeful crackdowns that are underway, thanks to the advent of Trump v2.0, Kansas has passed a law that requires trans drivers to surrender their drivers' licenses if the gender on them does not match their birth gender. Gov. Laura Kelly (D-KS) vetoed it, but her veto was overridden. There is no grace period at all, which makes clear that the legislators really, really, really want to see some trans drivers get busted.
Our Take: You know what won more converts to the cause of the Civil Rights Movement than just about anything else? The footage of cops attacking peaceful protesters with tear gas and police dogs. That made it impossible to ignore that, to a significant extent, the cruelty was the point. We think there's a similar dynamic here.
Truth Will Out: Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) is in the middle of an icky sex scandal, and it figures to get worse, as the widower of the woman he was allegedly cheating with before she committed suicide says he has many additional incriminating text messages. Yesterday, Rep. Troy Nehls was asked about the matter, and conceded that the whole thing definitely is icky, but that he's urging Gonzales not to resign, because "If he does that, then you got to give the gavel to Hakeem Jeffries."
Our Take: That is called—wait for it—saying the quiet part out loud. The political calculus here is hardly a secret; we pointed it out on Tuesday. But admitting it so openly is unusual, to say the least. That said, Nehls is part of a political faction that is trying to brush alleged sex trafficking, rape, assault and other crimes from the sitting president under the rug. So, maybe it's not so unusual after all.
No News Is Good News?: As long as we're talking Epstein, yesterday Hillary Clinton sat for the deposition demanded by House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY). We were going to do a full item about it, but there's not much to report, it seems. Clinton said she did not know about Epstein's crimes, and she was not privy to the details of Bill's interactions with the now-deceased sex trafficker. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) made some headlines by releasing a photo of the supposed-to-be-closed-door hearing, in contravention of the rules, but it was overall a pretty big nothingburger.
Our Take: Bill Clinton testifies today, and he's FAR more enmeshed with Epstein than Hillary was. So, this is Comer's very best opportunity to achieve... something. That said, if Bill neutralizes the Republicans on the Oversight Committee as effectively as Hillary did—and he's certainly got the skills—then this will be a disaster for Comer. Not only will it take even more wind out of the whole "this was a Clinton scandal" bit, it will also make it very, very hard to answer the question: "Why aren't you having Donald Trump testify?" After all, he's in the Epstein files far, far more than the Clintons are, and his justification "Hey! I haven't been charged with anything." also applies to the Clintons.
Truth Won't Out: "Judge" Aileen Cannon has "permanently" blocked the release of the second part of the report on Donald Trump's stockpiling of documents at Mar-a-Lago. Her 15-page ruling also tears into former special counsel Jack Smith, implying he's dishonest and that he flouted the law.
Our Take: Cannon's audition for the Supreme Court continues. That said, this isn't as "permanent" as she would like, as the case in her court involved parties on both sides (the Trump administration and the defendants) who wanted the report buried. There is another case, at a higher level of the court system, and brought on the grounds of freedom-of-information, where Cannon might be overruled. Failing that, there are surely many people with a PDF copy of the report; we imagine it just might get leaked if that's the only way to make sure it sees the light of day.
Putting the "Ass" in "Ambassador": The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, took a break from hawking quack sleep cures to share with the world his view that Israel is entitled to most of the Middle East. The Arab nations were none too happy about that. Meanwhile, the U.S. Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, took a break from reporting in to his parole officer to share with the world his view that far-left Frenchmen and women were to blame for the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque, and they should be prosecuted aggressively. The French government was none too happy about that. The State Department has been busy cleaning up both messes, and for the moment, Kushner is banned (by the French) from meeting with French government officials.
Our Take: Surely the most minimal qualification for an ambassador is "smart enough to keep their yaps shut and not create diplomatic incidents." In other words, it's another reminder that the Trump White House likes to hire people who aren't even minimally qualified for their jobs.
Democrats Have Work To Do?: A new survey from Democratic-aligned pollsters whose job it is to take the "temperature" of Black voters says that 52% of Black men say their vote has not been affected by the events of the first year of Trump v2.0.
Our Take: The issue that the pollster is trying to assess is a little squishy, and the questions that were asked were also a little squishy, so we're not sure how reliable that finding is. Still, the Democrats would be wise to assume that it's on-target. There is now plenty of evidence that "Donald Trump bad" doesn't work all that well, while "Here are ideas for how we can make things better" does work. We don't exactly know what Kamala Harris' signature policy proposal was, but we sure as heck know what Joe Biden's was, and what Barack Obama's was.
So Much for Those Rebate Checks: Millions of Americans, this year, are going to become familiar with an experience known well to many contractors and vendors in New York, Miami, Atlantic City, etc.: Donald Trump promises money is coming, doesn't deliver. In view of the Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs, experts in these matters say that those $2,000 tariff dividend checks aren't gonna happen.
Our Take: We are not experts on tariffs or international trade, but we still think we're able to put a number on this. The odds of those checks happening now: 0%. For comparison's sake, the odds when Trump first made the announcement, back in January: 0%.
Funny Bit, Though: Speaking of the Supreme Court's tariff ruling, shortly after it was announced, "John Barron" called in to C-SPAN to whine and moan and complain about it:
John Barron, of course, is one of the two noms-de-plume that Donald Trump used to use when he made phone calls about himself to New York media outlets.Our Take: It was obvious to us that it was an AI Trump (and not even one of the better ones). And it has since been confirmed that the call was made while Trump was in the middle of a meeting. Still, whoever was behind the prank got a lot of attention, and certainly fooled a lot of people.
Take a Hint: Jeanine Pirro is very partisan, but she's also pretty smart. After she could not get a single grand juror to vote to indict the six Democratic members of Congress who made the "Don't follow illegal orders video," she did some reflecting and decided to drop the matter. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is very partisan, and he's also pretty stupid. So, he promptly announced that he is going to keep fighting for his "right" to punish Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
Our Take: It is unbelievable how bad Hegseth's political instincts are. Does he not realize that all he's doing is boosting Kelly's national profile? Although, truth be told, the important thing is not whether Hegseth realizes it. It's whether Donald Trump, the one-man audience for whom this little drama is being staged, realizes it. (Note that we originally typed that as "one-mad audience," which may or may not be a Freudian slip.)
Reverse Psychology, Part I: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), as you might have heard, is planning to run for president in 2028. He's plugging his autobiography right now (a must for a wannabe presidential candidate) and he sat down for an interview with MS NOW's Jen Psaki. When asked about the 2028 field, Newsom took the opportunity to identify the one GOP candidate who has him worried: "Vance, for whatever reason, scares me... almost more than Trump." The Governor explained that this is because the chameleon-like Vance is capable of being whatever he needs to be, in order to win.
Our Take: Come on. Newsom could barely keep a straight face as he said that. He's trying to plant a seed in MAGA voters' brains, in hopes they will back the candidate that Newsom thinks he has the best chance of beating. He's a wily one, that's for sure. That said, it is fair to wonder exactly how many MAGA voters are watching a show on MS NOW, hosted by a person who served in both the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations.
Reverse Psychology, Part II: If you are someone running for Congress, as Kat Abughazaleh is in IL-09, and you gave your media team a two-word instruction for the next commercial—"reverse psychology"—then this is the ad they might come up with:
Our Take: The prize for "Best Ad of the 2026 Cycle" might already be locked up. IL-09 is both very blue (D+16) and is an open seat (Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D, is retiring after 13 terms). If the very lefty and very media-savvy Abughazaleh wins, she figures to become a high-profile member of the House, perhaps even another Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Unite the... Left: Speaking of AOC, she and Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-New York City)—a.k.a. the two most prominent Democratic socialists in New York—have just recorded an ad meant to encourage Spanish-speaking New Yorkers to enroll their kids in pre-K classes. She speaks mostly in (fluent) Spanish, while he speaks mostly in (not fluent, but not too bad) Spanish. If you can stand to look at another (brief) video, one that is really quite charming, here it is:
Our Take: They are both young, they are both charismatic, they are both good on TV/social media, and they both have policy ideas. Mamdani and AOC might be "too lefty" for many Americans, and even for some Democrats, but you could be looking at the future of the NY Democrats, maybe even the national Democratic Party, here.
Stik Den Op I Røven: Those who speak low-country languages might recognize the first three words of that as "Shove It Up." We'll leave the rest for readers to figure out on their own. In any event, Donald Trump announced that he was planning to send a U.S. Navy hospital ship to Greenland to help all the allegedly sick people there. Who knows if he really meant it, since the Navy only has two such ships, and they're both in Alabama right now (and so, a roughly 10-day trip away from Greenland). The Danes not-so-politely said, "No, thanks," and they (and pretty much everyone else) took the opportunity to point out that Danes (and, thus, Greenlanders) have government-backed health care for everyone, while Americans do not.
Our Take: We believe that's called an "own goal."
Wow. That's so many Political Bytes that maybe we should have called it Political Kilobytes. (Z)