The State of the Union: Time Won't Let Me

The State of the Union had a lot of words, and it produced a lot of reaction, so it took us a while to sift through it all. We didn't get that done in time for yesterday's posting, but we're ready to rock now.

Setting the Record Straight

We're going to do this in sections, just to keep it as tidy as we can. To start, we want to clear up a few things left over from our writeup of the SOTU. We saw only 8 hockey players, and we looked carefully to see if there were more. It is possible that we missed it, or it's possible that different networks showed different things (as we noted, we were watching ABC's broadcast). Many, many readers wrote in to correct us, and to point out that there were actually 17 hockey players there. Reportedly, five members of the team took a pass on the Washington trip entirely, while three others were in the capital, but not at the SOTU. And 25-5-3 equals 17.

Also, we pointed out that we aren't fluent in Spanish, and so could not review the Spanish-language response given by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA). We heard from two readers who ARE fluent, and we wanted to pass along their responses:

J.G. in Chantilly, VA: Sen. Padilla delivered a concise, well articulated response which was naturally directed to the Spanish-speaking audience, but was consistent with broader Democratic messaging. He cited ICE and its abuses, attempts to steal the midterms, and the economic struggles most are facing. He appealed to American history, especially the history of all who have suffered discrimination in the past or present, and talked about his own story as a son of immigrants (as well as a victim of DHS abuse).

He ended on a strong positive note: "This is the history of the United States: only the people will save the people" encouraging everyone to "raise their voices, march, organize and vote." He even reminded everyone of Bad Bunny's appeal "Together we are America."

Occasionally using English to emphasize a point (and include Latinos listening with their abuelos), his delivery was clear and accessible to any Spanish-speaker, and he placed American flags in his backdrop. All delivered in 10 minutes. ¡Excelente!

E.W. in Skaneateles, NY: The speech basically had three themes that he drove home over and over. Theme one was that Trump is corrupt and is helping his rich friends instead of focusing on issues that working-class voters care about, such as affordability and health care.

Theme two was that Trump's immigration policies are illegal and un-American, are terrorizing Latino (brown) communities in particular, and are causing chaos and destroying our way of life. He did throw in a little history about past discrimination against Irish, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants, as well as Black people, and how they pushed back against it.

Theme three lined up with that idea, which is that Trump is threatening the integrity of the 2026 midterm elections by trying to disenfranchise and intimidate voters, particularly Latino ones. I liked how Padilla encouraged those folks to register and to vote, and to encourage their friends and family to do the same. Let's hope that they do register and vote for Democrats in droves!

The only critique I had was that Padilla didn't say much about what the Democrats might actually be able to do if they take control of Congress, other than blocking Trump. However, I do think the message of "we will rein in Trump if elected" could move Latino voters who are already dissatisfied with Trump. I doubt it would persuade many Latinos who still believe in Trump and are committed to him to switch sides.

Thanks to both of you!

Also, we got a fair number of responses like this one, from M.L.V. in Hollister, CA: "I did not watch the SOTU—Why on earth would I expend a moment of my life to see or hear him speak? Besides, I knew that I would get your detailed assessment the next morning. I have to say I am surprised at your 'passable' grade and almost positive spin. I was not expecting that."

Truth be told, even (V) felt that way, a bit. (Z) was surprised by all of that, and proposes this, a list of what the "takeaways" would have been, if we had approached the speech in that manner:

Electoral-Vote.com:

• Trump wasn't a disaster, which for him is a big win
• That said, he prattled on forever
• He was about as funny as he is capable of being, which is also a win for him
• That said, he was also very nasty, which is not going to help with anyone not MAGA
• The awarding of medals was memorable, most of the other theatrics not so much
• Lies, Lies, Lies
• No policy ideas, no plan for Iran
• Stop trying to cosplay as an inspiring speaker, Donald
• Remember, a credible SOTU didn't do Joe Biden a whole lot of good

In (Z)'s mind, at least, that writeup had 1½ stars written all over it. 30% on the Tomatometer. A 25 (generally unfavorable) on Metacritic. A 3.0, 3.0, 2.0 and 4.0 from the judges. Oh well, you know what they say about the eye of the beholder.

Other Takeaways

Now, let's do a few ACTUAL lists of takeaways:

The Hill:

• Iran plans remain murky
• Seeking a midterms message
• A confrontation on immigration
• Politically, both parties got what they wanted

NBC News:

• Celebrating his economy
• Touting immigration crackdown
• Goading and clashing with Democrats

The New York Times:

• Trump tried to define Democrats on his own terms
• The former reality TV star put on a show
• Trump struggled to acknowledge Americans' economic pain
• Trump did not spend much time talking about Iran
• Supreme Court justices stayed mostly stone-faced
• Trump talked of others' fraud, but not his own ethical issues

PBS:

• Trump's 'roaring' economy is at odds with sour public sentiment
• Trump wraps himself in the flag
• Taking aim at Democrats
• The Supreme Court's 'unfortunate' decision
• Trump vows action on election 'cheating'
• No mention of Minneapolis
• Drumbeat for war gets louder
• On brand, the speech was the longest SOTU ever

The Washington Post:

• He touched on potential conflict with Iran
• He was defensive on the many issues where he's unpopular
• Democrats' opposition was varied
• This probably won't change much for Trump

NPR:

• Trump ignored the difficulties people are facing with the economy
• Trump's midterm message is... not new
• There was no legislative agenda
• The Democratic response had a wide range
• None of this will likely matter much politically because views of Trump are "baked in."

CNN:

• Trump goads Democrats on immigration
• A couple key points on tariffs
• Democrats lodged multiple protests
• Showmanship abounds
• The notable omissions
• Trump offers a rare case for potential Iran strikes
• An ominous line on voter fraud
• A characteristic cavalcade of falsehoods

There's a wider range here than is normally the case, but it was a very long speech, so we're not surprised that different commentators zoomed in on different things. That said, there's also no real disagreement here, either—you don't really have one outlet saying he conveyed an effective message on immigration, and another outlet saying he didn't. There's also a consensus view of sorts that can be drawn from all of these takeaways, and that also squares with our assessment, and it goes something like this: "Trump offered braggadocio and lies about his record, snide attacks and lies about the Democrats, and his odds of finding something useful to say or do about the kitchen-table issues that voters care about are about as good as his odds of finding Iran on a map. So, the speech is not likely to do much for him or the GOP long-term."

A Few Observations

We thought we'd also pass along a handful of observations we read and that we thought were interesting, for various reasons:

Eli Stokols, Politico: "It was, for better or worse, a speech not likely to change the political trajectory of Trump's second term. The historically long address was, in some ways, nearly indistinguishable from Trump's daily patter in the Oval Office, on Air Force One or in the White House driveway.

"For some leaders in the president's party, mindful of his capacity for political self-harm, that might be cause for relief. Republicans wake up on Wednesday morning with no political problems they did not have the day before.

"Yet the status quo of the midterm campaign does not favor the GOP: Trump is on the defensive on many of the issues driving the election cycle so far. That, too, did not change."

Catherine Rampell, The Bulwark: "There's an old joke about two elderly ladies kvetching about a meal. 'Oy, the food at this place is really terrible,' one complains. The other responds, 'And such small portions!'

"The same could be said of President Trump's affordability comments at last night's State of the Union, which were both brief and abysmal.

"Affordability is the issue for the 2026 midterms. In virtually every poll, with virtually every demographic, some version of 'inflation/prices/cost of living/economic problems' tops the list of the most important challenges facing the country. It also tops the list of reasons Trump's own voters are ditching him, according to polling from Morris Predictive Insights.

"And yet, according to the time-keepers from NBC News, in Trump's record-long 108-minute SOTU speech, he spoke about affordability for a measly 2.9 minutes."

Stephen Collinson, CNN: "Trump needed to tell a fresh story Tuesday night. But he ended up demonstrating instead that while the country can unite to cheer a new Miracle on Ice, a political coming together remains an impossible dream."

David Smith, The Guardian: "The more Trump talked, the less he said. He had gone into the address with an approval rating of 39% positive and 60% negative, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, lower than any past president delivering his first State of the Union address. Over an hour and 47 minutes, he offered little to change that equation. The longest State of the Union speech in history was also one of the most inconsequential."

GOP Strategist Karl Rove: "Trump offered elements of a credible, effective case for Republicans in the midterm campaign. But if they're to defend their majority successfully, congressional Republicans must offer more substance, be more forward-looking, display more empathy, and focus much more on the economy than what Americans heard Tuesday."

White House Press Release: "His powerful and uplifting address immediately earned widespread acclaim from media, commentators, lawmakers, and grassroots voices alike—who praised its bold optimism, masterful storytelling, and unapologetic celebration of American revival."

We hope the point here is reasonably clear. If you think you are doing GREAT (see last entry), you're not going to be listening to all the voices who say that maybe you need to change the game plan. If so, you really better hope those voices—left, right, and center—are wrong.

Barring the unexpected, that should be it in terms of items on this year's SOTU. Onward and upward. (Z)

Politics Bytes: Bring the Noise

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 George Armstrong Custer: 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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%.

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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)

Legal News: Cold as ICE

We started the Politics Bytes, in large part, because there is just too much worthy-of-attention political news to keep up with. We have the same basic problem with legal news. So, don't be too surprised if we end up doing a legal version of that feature once in a while. Not only are there a lot of salient legal rulings, but there is also the overall story of how the Department of Justice is continuing to break down amid the corruption and incompetence at the top.

Recently, there have been a LOT of court rulings on Donald Trump's immigration policies. Most of them have been bad for the administration, including increasing crackdowns on the DoJ's defiance of court orders, along with the complete erosion of any presumption of regularity. In other words, the courts don't trust this DoJ. This increases the hoops the DoJ must jump through to justify ICE activity.

Because of the volume this week, we'll have to do some quick hits:

Ain't No Sunshine: The first, and probably most significant, ruling comes out of California in a class action lawsuit challenging Trump's mandatory mass detention policy. As a refresher, CBP and ICE aren't supposed to round people up in the interior of the country and subject them to indefinite detention. Mandatory detention is reserved for those apprehended at the border, those who are "arriving" and seeking permission to enter the country. There are several reasons for this: (1) That's what the law says, (2) people have fewer constitutional rights before they've entered the country and (3) determining status is much simpler at the border. Even then, someone can apply for asylum and there are limits on the length of detention and other conditions of arrest. But Stephen Miller—er, Trump—decided that a noncitizen is considered as "arriving" no matter where they live or how long they've been in the country and can be subject to mandatory detention. As readers know, this has wreaked havoc across the country, as anyone who looks "foreign" has been swept up in ICE raids far from the border, resulting in violations of constitutional rights and other abuses. And by the way, being present in the country without authorization is not a crime, so there is generally no basis to arrest someone on those grounds.

A little more background: When the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide injunction last year barring this practice, all the people stuck in detention had to file individual habeas petitions, which is why the courts and administration lawyers are so overwhelmed and why one DOJ attorney begged to be held in contempt because "this job sucks" and she wanted some sleep.

An exception to the Court's ruling was a class action lawsuit. As we've written here before, those take much longer, which allows the mass detentions to continue and enables disasters like the Minnesota "surge." And even when a judge issues a ruling, it doesn't much matter if the Trump administration is just going to ignore it.

That is what happened here. Back in December, U.S. District Court Judge Sunshine Sykes from the Central District of California issued a final judgment in a class action finding DHS's interpretation of immigration statutes unlawful and requiring immigration judges to order bond hearings for members of the class already detained—i.e., any noncitizen without a criminal record in indefinite detention. But that order was ignored, mass arrests continued and hundreds of habeas petitions were filed, clogging the courts and overwhelming government lawyers and everyone else. Now, Judge Sykes has issued a rather more pointed ruling, which completely threw out the decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals that had sanctioned the mass detentions in the first place. An instructive quote: "Respondents have far crossed the boundaries of constitutional conduct. Somehow, even after the judicial declaration of law that the DHS was misguided in its act of legal interpretation that nullified portions of a congressionally enacted statute, Respondents still insist they can continue their campaign of illegal action. The shameless submission that is Respondents' Opposition deliberately seeks to erode any semblance of separation of powers. Respondents can only do so in a world where the Constitution does not exist."

The upshot is that mass detentions under this policy are illegal and those in detention must be given an opportunity to be released without further delay.

Contemptible: Federal judges are fed up. They are now documenting all the court orders that DHS/DoJ are violating and they are starting to bring the hammer down. Just last week, two attorneys were held in contempt, for violating court orders, one in Minnesota and one in New Jersey. In New Jersey, the DoJ attorney made a rare admission that the administration has defied more than 50 court orders just in the Garden State alone.

And then, last night, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi ruled that if his orders are not followed, he will haul DHS officials into his courtroom to testify under oath: "The Government's continued actions after being called to task can now only be deemed intentional. The undersigned will not stand idly by and allow this intentional misconduct to go on. It ends today."

Over in Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy held that noncitizens cannot be deported to third countries without due process. DHS enacted a policy allowing the deportation of immigrants to countries where they've never lived, have no ties and where they may be subject to abuse without any kind of hearing. Judge Murphy struck that down but gave the administration 15 days to appeal, which they have already indicated they will do (along with insulting the judge, of course).

Breaking the Law. Breaking the Law: And finally, a whistleblower has come forward claiming that ICE recruits are being told they can violate the Constitution by entering homes without warrants and use force unnecessarily. Former ICE lawyer Ryan Schwank testified that the training program has been dismantled and that cadets are graduating who are unqualified and lack a basic understanding of laws that govern their work. "ICE is teaching cadets to violate the Constitution," he said on Monday at the event with congressional Democrats.

It remains to be seen if any of these actions will have any effect on ICE operations or on compliance with court orders. If Trump and his underlings are smart, they will take the hint and dramatically scale back the arrests, stop mandatory detentions, hold bond hearings and release detainees and reconstitute the training program. If ICE fades from view over the next few months, the government overreach would be a less salient issue in the midterms. So, while they complain and insult the judges issuing these rulings, the courts are throwing Trump a bone here if he is savvy enough to recognize it. (L)

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Melanie Makes Me Smile

We had two hints for last week's theme: (1) "[W]e'll guess that the musician Morrissey would probably have a pretty easy time with this one," and (2) "There's a character in The Matrix who would get it instantly. Or is he several characters? Several hundred? Several thousand?" And here is the solution, courtesy of reader M.H. in Ottawa, ON, Canada:

The theme this week: famous people with the surname Smith!

• TrumpWatch: Palm Beach International Airport Will Apparently Be Renamed—Will Smith, American rapper and actor
  
  
• Humor Hath Charms: I Stopped Calling the Toilet "John" and Named It "Jim" Instead—John Smith, English explorer
  
  
• I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: The Southside, aka Al Capone's Cocktail—Al Smith, former governor of New York
  
  
• This Week in Schadenfreude: I Wouldn't Know Him from Adam—Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher
  
  
• This Week in Freudenfreude: Jumpin' Jack Flash, It Was a Gas, Gas, Gas (Redux)—Jack Smith, American attorney

And as for your hint, while Morrissey doesn't have the surname Smith (and hence isn't himself a valid answer), he was the frontman for the Smiths.

Precisely. The Saturday hint referred to Agent Smith, the law enforcement officer from The Matrix, and this headline adds Melanie Smith, who isn't as famous as the others, but is fairly well remembered for a memorable guest turn on Seinfeld.

Here are the first 60 readers to get it right:

K.R. in Austin, TX M.M. in Dunellen, NJ R.H.O. in Portland, ME P.H. in Fort Lauderdale, FL T.K. in Manchester, MO J.N. in Zionsville, IN A.S. in Fairfax, VA S.K. in Ardmore, PA M.C. in Falls Church, VA J.E. in Gilbertsville, PA K.F. in Berea, KY R.E. in Birmingham, AL P.R. in Kirksville, MO S.R. in Robbinsville, NJ S.F. in Pemberton Borough, NJ P.A. in Redwood City, CA S.G. in Durham, NC K.M. in Ypsilanti, MI Z.K. in Albany, NY N.H. in London, England, UK M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO G.W. in Avon, CT S.T. in Asbury Park, NJ K.H. in Maryville, TN R.N. in Cleveland, OH D.S. in Layton, UT S.L. in St. Louis, MO D.D. in Bucks County, PA A.E. in Cleveland, OH M.S. in Canton, NY

M.J. in Oakdale, MN B.U. in St. Louis, MO R.S. in Milan, OH J.F. in Fayetteville, NC M.W. in Altea, Spain M.K. in Seattle, WA J.M. in Eagle Mills, NY D.L. in Uslar, Germany D.M. in Oakland, CA N.S. in Los Angeles, CA T.C. in Kirkwood, MO J.E. in San Jose, CA B.F. in Nashville, TN G.G. in Nicholasville, KY E.S. in Providence, RI M.H. in Ottawa M.R. in West Hartford, CT M.L. in West Hartford, CT B.B. in Avon, CT T.P. in Kings Park, NY J.S. in Huntington Station, NY J.P. in Fredericksburg, VA T.T. in Conway, AR G.M. in Arlington, VA D.O. in Brookline, MA A.S. in Santa Monica, CA J.K. in Chicago, IL Y.T. in Jacksonville, FL T.T. in Seattle, WA S.A. in Downey, CA

The 60th correct response was received at 12:06 p.m. PT on Sunday.

As we sometimes do, we've decided to go with song titles this week. That puts us in the category of Music, perhaps, or maybe Language. It also means that every word in each headline counts. For a hint, we'll offer the heads up that for one of the songs, it is NOT the Michael Jackson version we have in mind. We will also add that you have to tolerate one "alternate" spelling to make the theme work. It should be obvious what we mean if you figure the theme out.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line February 27 Headlines. (Z)

This Week in Schadenfreude: Smooth Criminal

Donald Trump is a convicted felon, so he's definitely a criminal. And he certainly thinks he's smooth. The U.S. Men's hockey team might not agree, however. At least, not anymore.

One of the big stories of the week, since it was intertwined with both the Winter Olympics and with the State of the Union, was the visit that the gold-medal-winning team made to the White House. By all indications, the 17 players who attended the SOTU, plus the three who did not but were in Washington, showed up. And for their trouble, they were rewarded with... a buffet of lukewarm fast food.

That's right, Trump dusted off the same maneuver that he's used so many times before, and served a championship-winning team a bunch of McDonald's hamburgers. It's also possible—we can't tell from the video—that Trump got fancy, and threw a few Filet-o-Fish in there, too. Or, as the President himself calls them, "Fish Delights" (really).

The first time Trump did this, for Clemson's football team back in 2019, the government was shut down. That meant that there was no White House kitchen staff to do the work, and that Trump not only had to come up with food for 100+ people, he had to pay for it out of his own pocket. Maybe fast food was easier than, say, hiring a caterer. Maybe it was just cheaper. In any event, there was at least some logic to it back then.

But the White House kitchen staff is not part of DHS, so they are not shut down or furloughed right now. Nor has that been a problem on the other non-Clemson occasions—at least four of them—when Trump has backed up the fast food wagon at the White House. What, then, is going on? A few theories:

1. Trump has somehow convinced himself that athletes—people who are in peak physical condition, mind you—really want greasy fast food to dine on, perhaps because athletes (especially college athletes) tend to be young, and young people tend to like fast food.
   
   
2. Trump has somehow convinced himself that everyone wants fast food, because that is what HE wants.
   
   
3. Trump thinks this somehow burnishes his image as a "man of the people."
   
   
4. While Trump doesn't have to pay for the food, it does come out of the White House budget. Maybe he just hates spending ANY funds over which he has control, or maybe he has other plans for that budget (the White House $TRUMP crypto stash?).

In any event, Trump is getting roundly mocked on social media for his "hospitality," while the hockey players are getting mocked for allowing themselves to be used as props and for getting $10 in fast food as their reward. Exactly where the schadenfreude is here, we will leave for readers to decide.

But wait, there's more. Brady Tkachuk is a left winger on the ice, but off the ice he definitely is not, and he was basically the MAGA face of the U.S. men's team. For that reason, after the White House visit, the administration's social media team decided to put up a video on TikTok in which Tkachuk says, "They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fu**s a lesson." There's only one small problem: Tkachuk never said that. He claims the video was doctored with AI, and he's clearly telling the truth, because the AI didn't even do a good job.

As is so often the case, we are mystified by the thought process here. What is to be gained by such clumsy propaganda? And in so doing, the administration hung out to dry a fellow who is less than a week removed from leading the U.S. team to a huge triumph, and who has been singing the praises of Trump for years. Now he is quite rightly pissed off. We don't imagine he will abandon his MAGA ways (though you never know for sure). What we do imagine is that the next time he's asked to serve as a prop, or as backdrop for a photo op, he won't be so eager to say "yes." (Z)

This Week in Freudenfreude: I Wanna Be a NY Ranger

In the Q&A, we have written that if any of the Big Four sports in the U.S. ever adds a female player, it will probably be the NHL, and probably a goalie. And if that happens, that player will probably be drawn from the U.S. Women's hockey team. So, one of this year's gold medalists as a New York Ranger? It could happen.

As we have noted, and as everyone knows at this point, Donald Trump and the U.S. men's hockey team did a bit of sniggering at the expense of the women's team, in the locker room after the men's gold-medal-winning game. Because yeah, patriotism is fun and all, but it's not as fun as reminding women that they are inferior. Trump has since extended to the women an offer for a visit to the White House, one that does not seem sincere, and one that is not likely to be accepted.

That's OK, though, because other folks have stepped up to the plate. Well, it's hockey, so they've stepped up to the face-off circle. First up is actor Stanley Tucci, who is well known as a lover of fine Italian cuisine. He even hosts a show about it. While the women's team was still in Italy, he told them he would be honored if they would be his guest at an Italian feast, and they accepted. Maybe this is crazy talk, but we take the position that some good-quality risotto or cacio e pepe is preferable to a room-temperature Quarter Pounder.

And then, once the team returned home, and had been insulted multiple times by Donald Trump, Flavor Flav—famous as the hype man for the group Public Enemy—took over from Tucci. Flav is a well-known, and visible supporter of women's sports, and he will host a knock-down, drag-out celebration of the gold medal, with the women's team, in Las Vegas sometime in July.

It's not entirely clear what that means, but Vegas has good food, it has nightclubs, it has swimming pools, and it's Flavor Fricking Flav. C'mon, here. Let's put it this way: The gap between "How much we would enjoy eating limp hamburgers at the White House with Donald Trump" and "How much we would enjoy hanging out with Flavor Flav in Las Vegas" almost cannot be expressed numerically. At very least, you'd need some serious scientific notation.

So, to Flavor Flav (and to Stanley Tucci), we say: "Yeah, boyyyyyy!"

Have a good weekend, all! (Z)

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