February 12, 2026

IT’S AS IF THE ANTI-MUSK “SENTIMENT” IS REALLY JUST A BUBBLE PHENOMENON:

Posted at 12:47 pm by Glenn Reynolds

CBS EVENING NEWS PRODUCER BAILS ON SHOW:

A CBS Evening News producer has complained that journalists are being forced to “self-censor or avoid challenging narratives” under the network’s new Trump-friendly management.

The attack came in a fiery farewell note to colleagues from producer Alicia Hastey explaining her decision to take a buyout and leave the program. The letter was shared on X by New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin.

Hastey does not mention by name either Bari Weiss, the MAGA-curious TV novice now running CBS News, or Tony Dokoupil, the much-criticized Evening News host Weiss installed.

Hastey does namecheck and quote the late Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS News anchor with whom the lightweight Dokoupil has been unfavorably compared:

* * * * * * * *

Walter Cronkite once said in response to critics: “If that is what makes us liberals, so be it, just as long as in reporting the news we adhere to the first ideals of good journalism — that news reports must be fair, accurate and unbiased.”

Cronkite’s idea is one of the best I’ve encountered. He understood that labels are inevitable, but standards are what matter. What defines journalism is not what critics call it, but whether it remains faithful to those principles.

The ghost of Barry Goldwater must be roaring with laughter right now.

Incidentally, the Daily Beast article linked above is headlined, “MAGA-Coded Anchor’s Show Producer Rips CBS in Fiery Farewell,” which is apparently something of a leitmotif at the leftist-coded Website:

Curiously, because Tony Dokoupil dared to actually do on-air journalism in the fall of 2024, and ask a few tough questions to leftist icon Ta-Nehisi Coates (for which he has forced to endure a Maoist struggle session under CBS News’ former management), he’s apparently “MAGA-coded,” despite being married to Katy Tur, who has not exactly been “MAGA-coded” in much of her coverage of Trump: Watch Katy Tur of NBC News Wonder If Trump Will Become Like Putin and Start Killing Journalists.

Related:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

VDH: Our Super Bowl Satyricon.

In his vile, obscene “Safaera,” to avoid being censored, Bunny omitted a few of the song’s lyrics about his celebration of exploitative sodomy, fellatio, and anilingus—with misogynistic trashing of his compliant female sexual partners as “hoes.”

(Do woke intersectional feminists weigh in on the side of Bunny’s DEI credentials and sexual fluidity, or do they bristle at Bunny’s “objectification” of women, as he reduces them to mere mindless receptacles of violent and toxic masculinity?).

If Bunny’s purpose was to shock America, then he should have sung his full lyrics of “Safaera” in English, ensuring that his first-time listeners were forced to hear and react to his sick adolescent riffs on breasts, bottoms, phalluses, and vaginas.

Bunny had been previously instructed not to repeat his prior performance-art trashing of ICE and to keep his politicking subtle and coded.

Translated, that meant the NFL had greenlighted some of his obscene references as long as they were relegated to a Spanish-speaking audience only and toned down a bit. But he was not overtly to alienate over half of the NFL’s viewership, who not long ago had voted to stop illegal immigration and millions crashing the border.

Bunny mostly complied, albeit with empty platitudes about hate and love, and reducing the American flag to a status similar to that of the other South and Central American states.

Ricky Martin chimed in with his own incoherent Spanish-language harangue about the American rape of paradise in Hawaii (“They want to take my river and my beach too/They want my neighborhood and grandma to leave”). If Martin’s point was the arrival of too many newcomers, then he might have first reflected on the 10-million uninvited illegal aliens who, during the Biden tenure, stormed America’s southern border.

A writer for the now-defunct sports section of the Washington Post had earlier and ludicrously boasted that the mostly forgotten Colin Kaepernick—the Dylan Mulvaney of the NFL—would be the most relevant figure at the 2026 Super Bowl.

He really was though – everything Kaep set in motion in the twilight of the Obama era was in full display during the halftime show on Sunday.

Posted at 12:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

WELL, THAT NARRATIVE COLLAPSED IN A HURRY: Bad Bunny Reportedly Lost Record Slice of Super Bowl Viewers Heading Into Halftime Show.

Glasspiegel reported 135.9 million people were watching the NBC and Telemundo broadcasts between 8:00-8:14 p.m. ET on Sunday; that dropped to 128.2 million combined viewers between 8:15-8:29 p.m. That exodus of 7.7 million viewers lined up with the halftime show.

“Bad Bunny’s performance occurred during the latter window,” he explained. “This was a decline of 7% from the game’s peak viewership of 137.9 million in the second quarter, and 5.7% from the immediately preceding quarter-hour.”

The article noted that the audience typically increases for the halftime show during most Super Bowls.

I enjoyed the Puppy Bowl.

Posted at 11:43 am by Stephen Green

BRICS WAS ALWAYS MORE WISHFUL THINKING THAN REALITY:

Posted at 11:27 am by Stephen Green

HOW TO SAFEGUARD WORSHIP PLACES: Violence against Christian churches and Jewish synagogues is on the rise in this country, but there are effective steps officials can and should take to reverse the tide. Richard Pollock has the scoop in an interview with holy places security expert Stephen Bryen.

Posted at 10:18 am by Mark Tapscott

THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Activist Investor Slams WBD For Rushing Into ‘Flawed’ Netflix Deal, Tells Board To Engage With Paramount As Temperature Rises.

Activist investor and Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder Ancora Holdings threatened to vote ‘no’ on the Netflix deal and launch its own proxy fight if the WBD board does not engage with Paramount.

The David Ellison company Tuesday sweetened its hostile takeover offer for Warner in its latest attempt to derail the company’s agreement with Netflix.

The WBD board “now has no choice but to deem Paramount’s amended offer as one that could reasonably be expected to result in a Superior Proposal, given Netflix’s presently inferior proposal and unaddressed regulatory issues. Once that happens, the Board could then engage in good faith with Paramount to maximize shareholder value, paving the way for WBD to secure an even higher offer. If the WBD Board refuses to do this, Ancora will vote “NO” on the inferior Netflix deal and seek to hold the WBD Board accountable at the 2026,” the firm said in a presentation posted on its website.

“The WBD Board opted to rush into a flawed deal with Netflix rather than earnestly pursue a superior offer from Paramount – in line with the directors’ fiduciary duties,” it said. Ancora, a nearly $11 billion firm, said it has an approximately $200 million economic interest in Warner Bros. Discovery.

Stay tuned.

Posted at 9:39 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Marco Rubio Would Make a Splendid Territorial Governor of Cuba. “Hey, if we can pick up the island on the cheap, Secretary of State Marco Rubio might want to don a seersucker suit and start a new gig as the territorial governor and enjoy presiding over a revitalized Havana.”

Posted at 9:08 am by Stephen Green

HMM:

Posted at 8:47 am by Glenn Reynolds

WELL, BYE: Famed Climate Scientist Who Sued Critics Wiped From Associated Press Article. “Associated Press released an article Monday concerning the Trump administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revoking a scientific finding that has been the backbone for US regulation on greenhouse gas emissions and quoted Mann saying the EPA would be cementing Republican climate denial with this measure. Associated Press later removed Mann’s statement from the article the same day it was published without stating why they did so.”

Posted at 8:45 am by Glenn Reynolds

COLONIZATION:

Posted at 8:42 am by Glenn Reynolds

THE ENEMY WITHIN: State Department finds Code Pink, People’s Forum linked to Chinese influence operations.

“Organizations like Code Pink and the People’s Forum denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes, and run cover for China while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

Rogers also said: “The State Department will pursue complete transparency for the donor and NGO networks that lobby for our adversaries and seek to weaken the resolve of the United States,” Rogers also said.

According to the report, “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference,” China allegedly “spreads propaganda through influence campaigns run by nonprofit organizations like Code Pink, the People’s Forum and groups linked with the notorious Singham network.”

Anyone surprised?

Posted at 8:37 am by Stephen Green

AARON HANSCOM: Sweden and Spain Move in Opposite Directions on Immigration Policy.

“No requirements to become a citizen”? That sounds a lot like what anti-ICE protesters in the U.S. and their supporters advocate. After all, Billie Eilish said at the Grammys that “no one is illegal on stolen land.” One can’t help but wonder if she would agree with ISIS’s claim that Spain is stolen land.

Heh, indeed.

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

INDUSTRIAL POWER—FINANCED BY HOUSEHOLDS, ENFORCED BY SILENCE:

The IMF puts China’s 2025 GDP per capita at $13,806 a year — roughly $1,150 a month.

But using China International Capital Corp (CICC) income buckets below, only about ~2.5% of Chinese actually clear that level in monthly income — ~35 million out of ~1.4 billion. Most don’t live anywhere near the “average.”

So when outsiders swoon over the skyline, the mega-bridges, the high-speed rail to end of map, and the factory machine that exports “cheap and good” to the world, keep the base reality in frame:

•~547 million live on < $145/month.

•~1.33 billion earn < $724/month.

In any case, it’s all fun and games, until the CCP begins welding the doors shut:

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll