From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending 2-21-26
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Politics
Supreme Court Overturns Trump Tariffs
We begin in Washington D.C. where the supreme court ruled Friday that the tariffs issued by Trump under IEEPA were done so unlawfully. This includes anything drug trafficking related, reciprocal or trade-deficit tariffs. That’s the 25% on most Canadian imports, 25% on most Mexican imports, 10% on most Chinese imports, and a minimum 10% on all trading partners. Trump responded saying that he has options. While he can’t continue to enforce tariffs under IEEPA, has the ability to enact embargo, or stop all trade with a given country. Referencing Justice Kavanaugh’s dissent and thanking him for his work, Trump pointed out that he can still impose tariffs under section 232 and 301. He announced a global tariff of 10% over and above existing tariffs saying he intends to sign a new executive order later Friday. Democrats celebrated the ruling as a victory, but in reality, the other provisions will allow Trump to reenact the same tariffs in just a different way.
Colbert Helps Talarico Against Crocket
I don’t even know where to start this story. Stephen Colbert invited Texas Gubernatorial candidate James Talarico to come on his show. The FCC requires that TV networks offer equal time to candidates during election cycles. Talarico is running in the democratic primary against congresswoman Jasmine Crocket, who’s district was removed as part of the state redistricting. CBS said in a statement that they provided legal guidance to The Late Show regarding equal time. Colbert pulled the segment, but published it to YouTube. Colbert and Talarico then blamed Trump and the FCC, saying the first amendment rights of the press are being infringed. Jasmine Crocket reaffirmed that the federal government did not shut down the interview. Talarico bragged on X that his campaign raised $2.5M on the blatant lie that Trump was afraid of the interview. The Babylon Bee even posted that “Colbert Announces He Would Rather Show Not Air At All Than Have To Interview Black Woman”. If that isn’t the most blatant psyop ever pulled by a network and a political candidate, I don’t know what is.
Talarico Saying First Amendment Violated
Colbert Saying CBS Wouldn’t Allow Talarico
Texas Driver License and Registration Rules
Texas has amended their identification requirement to register a vehicle. You must now provide proof of citizenship to register a vehicle in Texas. They also require proof of residency, identity, and insurance as well as your social security number and proof of registration to obtain a driver license in the state.
Maryland Cancels 287(g) Agreements
Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed a law this week ending 287(g) agreements between ICE and state and local law enforcement. The agreements allowed jails to hold individuals beyond release time so that ICE can take them into immigration custody after they serve their criminal sentence.
Current Events
ICE Arrests / Illegal Crime This Week
This week, ICE released details on four separate arrests involving illegal aliens. On February 16, agents attempted to stop Oscar Vasquez Lopez, a Guatemalan with a final order of removal. He fled, made an illegal U turn, ran a red light and crashed, killing 52 year old Linda Davis, a teacher in Savannah, GA. Lopez is now charged with vehicular homicide. On February 19, in Martin County Florida, a Venezuelan national, Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez attempted to drown a woman who was walking on the beach. She survived and he is charged with attempted murder and now has a federal immigration detainer. In North Carolina on February 11, two illegal aliens from Mexico broke into a home and restrained the owner at knife point. They then sodomized him and pulled out his fingernails. February 19, Indiana Senator Jim Banks released a statement about traffic fatalities involving illegal alien truck drivers in his state, referencing a February 18 incident as well as two others over the last several months.
Mexicans Beat, Sodomize, Tear out Fingernails
Venezuelan Attempts To Drown Florida Woman
Savannah Teacher Killed by Illegal
DOT Safety Changes
Friday, February 20, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy spoke about the rash of recent deaths involving alien truck drivers. Under Biden and former secretary Pete Buttigieg allowed truck driver schools to self-certify as being capable of training truck drivers. Many of these would then simply sell a certificate without providing any training. Additionally, some states outsource testing to a third party. Some of these testing companies were also bypassing testing. Duffy stated “So you go to a fake school, you go to a fake third party tester, and you take the piece of paper and they take your picture and give you a commercial driver license and you basically have no skills.” DOT has been auditing for months and has shut down 7000 self-certified driving schools. They have set up a sting operation where they are stopping trucks to verify English proficiency. California was allowing test takers to choose from 20 languages. US DOT is forcing English only for CDL tests. They are also cracking down on illegal electronic logging devices. He also spoke about partnership with states, pointing out that while he has criticized Gavin Newsom, he is thankful and proud for Newsom’s work and help to resolve some of these issues.
Florida Cow on Highway
Online video this week showed Florida law enforcement running lights to slow traffic while a man on horseback used a lasso to capture a cow that was running down the side of a highway. That’s the whole story, just…Florida right?
Pootomic River…
The Maryland Department of the Environment announced that on January 19, a 72 inch waste water pipe failed, releasing between 250 and 300 million gallons of untreated wastewater into the Patomic river. On February 18, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency. While the president blamed Maryland Governor Wes Moore, DC owns and operates the wastewater line. FEMA is now coordinating the remediation and cleanup and officials have stated that the line is repaired and the water is returning to normal.
Karoline Leavitt Statement (short)
Karoline Leavitt Statement (full)
Pawtucket Hockey Rink Shooting
Monday, February 15, at a youth hockey game in Pawtucket Rhode Island, Robert Dorgan who also went by Roberta Esposito fatally shot his ex wife Rhonda and their adult son Aidan. Rhonda’s parents and a family friend were also victims who were last listed in critical condition. Bystanders attempted to intervene but the shooter was able to draw a second firearm and took his own life.
Additional Footage From Inside The Arena
Robert Duval
Sunday, February 15, Actor Robert Duval passed away. Famous for roles in Apocalypse Now, The Godfather and Lonesome Dove, he also played Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird in 1962. In 1976, he played in Network, a film about TV companies sensationalizing news for profit. I saw it the first time more than 20 years ago and it remains a poignant statement on news media even today. It was part of my motivation to start this project. Robert Duval was 95 years old.
Jesse Jackson
Tuesday, February 17, The Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away in Chicago. Jackson was with Martin Luther King Jr. when he was assassinated in 1968 and became an integral part of the civil rights movement. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1984 and 1988. He was involved in the Trayvon Martin case and outspoken about the shooting of Michael Brown. Speaking Wednesday at a Black History Month event at the White House, President Trump said “A lotta people you get to know them they get worse and worse, Jesse got better”. He described Jesse as gregarious, truly loved people and was a force of nature. Jesse Jackson was 84 years old.
James Van Der Beek & Eric Dane
The entertainment world also said goodbye to actor James Van Der Beek who lost his battle with colorectal cancer February 11. Best known for Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues, James Van Der Beek was 48 years old. And February 19, Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria actor Eric Dane died of ALS. He was 53 years old.
World
Prince Andrew
In World News, Thames Valley Police announced February 19 the arrest of “a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office”. The King of England named Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former Prince Andrew, saying “the law must take its course”. The former prince is implicated in the Epstein files.
Finance
Markets
Markets rose gently this week. The Dow Jones gained 125 points, staying under the highly touted 50k number, closing at 49,625. The NASDAQ had a slightly better pick up, gaining 340 points and closing at 22,886. The S&P 500 rose 73 and finished 6,909. Gold futures didn’t keep up with the spot price, but gained $25 and finished at $5080 per ounce.
Sports
Daytona 500
And in Sports, Sunday February 15, Tyler Reddick won the Daytona 500 for team 23XI. Michael Jordan owns a 60% stake in the team and celebrated the victory in pit lane. The race featured several big crashes, with the last lap seeing several cars in top positions collide and crash out. Reddick then made a late pass to take the trophy in the 68th running of the race.
Flavor Flav
Who had Flavor Flav riding a skeleton sled down the Olympic track in Italy this week? Well the 66 year old rapper dawned a helmet and skin suit and gave it a shot. Have to see it to believe it.
Flavor Flav Rides The Frozen Lightening
Sherrone Moore Court Hearing
Former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore was in court February 17 for pretrial motions. Moore’s attorney argued that the stalking charge is invalidated by the working relationship between Moore and complainant. Detectives did not disclose the employer-employee relationship and the defense argued that omission materially affected the magistrates probable cause determination. The judge called the omission “glaring” and ordered a formal evidentiary hearing to determine ultimately whether the warrant and complain remain valid. That hearing will take place on March 2.
NCAAM
The unranked Arizona sun devils beat 13th ranked Texas tech Tuesday night 72-67. Wednesday night unranked creighton beat fifth ranked UConn 91-84. Unranked Missouri took down 19th ranked Vanderbilt 81-80. Saturday saw unranked teams triumph. Tennessee beat number 19 Vanderbilt 69-65, Cincinnati took down 8th ranked Kansas 87-64. Top ranked Michigan fell to number 3 Duke 68-63. The defending national championship Florida Gators won their 7th in a row, improving to 21-6 on the season and holding onto the top spot in the SEC.
Olympics
The Milano Cortina Olympics is ongoing with Norway continuing their dominance in cross country skiing, biathlon and ski jumping. The United States Women’s Hockey team took the gold medal, beating Canada. Sunday, February 22 is the final day of the games, and the US Men’s Hockey team has a shot at gold this morning. If they win, it will be their first gold since 1980 when they got to the gold medal match by defeating Russia in the Miracle on ice game.
*** UPDATE *** The US Men and Women both won Gold at Olympic Hockey. The men haven’t won since 1980 following the Miracle on Ice game.
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take