We begin today with Sophia Tesfaye of Salon announcing that MAGA is turning on FBI Director Kash Patel.
Patel’s tenure has been marked by a pattern of premature announcements and theatrical incompetence. Under his leadership, the FBI has lost significant institutional expertise. About 3,063 FBI employees reportedly left the bureau in 2025, according to data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Of those who remain, roughly 1,000 special agents and others are said to be focused on redacting materials related to the Epstein files. A leaked internal FBI document from December revealed agents describing the bureau under Patel as “dismal,” “all f****d up” and a “rudderless ship,” concluding the director is “in over his head.”
The FBI’s investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance isn’t helping Patel brighten MAGA’s dimming view of his leadership. The 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie was reported missing on Feb. 1 after failing to show up at a friend’s house, where they had planned to livestream their church’s service. This week Patel went on Fox News’ “Hannity” to boast that the FBI was investigating “persons of interest” and that “substantial progress” had been made. Hours later, authorities detained delivery driver Carlos Palazuelos during a traffic stop in Tucson. He was questioned and released the same day without charges. [...]
The director has made a habit of being careless with high-profile investigations. In September, mere hours after Charlie Kirk was killed, Patel prematurely announced a suspect had been apprehended — only to have to backtrack when authorities had taken the wrong man into custody. He repeated the mistake in December, touting how the FBI had detained a person of interest in the shooting at Brown University who was later cleared of any connection to the deadly crime.
As if Patel’s blunders in these cases and the Guthrie investigation weren’t damaging enough, his handling of the Epstein files may prove his ultimate undoing with the MAGA base.
Even Franz Kafka never imagined that he (or Gregor Samsa) would be transformed into a red party ballon flying somewhat aimlessly over El Paso, Texas but Rex Huppke of USA Today sure did imagine that.
In case you missed it, the airspace over El Paso was suddenly shut down Feb. 10 without explanation, creating chaos and widespread confusion throughout El Paso County. The closure was initially blamed on an “incursion” of drones controlled by Mexican drug cartels. But news reports since then found the closure stemmed from immigration officials in the area using a high-powered anti-drone laser without first coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration. [...]
As a party balloon, suffice it to say I have questions.
My first questions are: Do I look like a freakin’ Mexican cartel drone to you, laser boys? Have you never been to a party that included balloons? Is there something about our delightfully bulbous, spherical-ish shapes and joy-inducing nature that made you think one of us was something other than A F---ING BALLOON?!? [...]
The next question relates to both the balloon and the human community. Who decided that giving a high-powered laser to the folks who’ve been part of the Trump administration’s violent, sometimes deadly, and broadly ham-handed immigration enforcement operations was a good idea? Didn’t the fact that two U.S. citizens have been gunned down by federal immigration agents THIS YEAR give anyone pause when considering who should get the giant laser gun?
Carron J. Phillips of The Contrarian suggests asking Republicans and white evangelicals about the tacky shoe salesman’s racist posting about former president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Recently, the most racist thing a sitting president has ever done — in public — was all anyone could talk about. Instead of asking Black people how they feel, the focus should be on engaging those who choose to support, vote for, and stand beside Donald Trump.
Republicans and white evangelical Christians: “Is this your king?” [...]
Too often, the oppressed are asked to address their oppression, instead of the oppressed hearing from those who have the privilege of being unscathed. We see this a lot when it comes to activism in sports, which is why it was so refreshing to see a bevy of white American athletes being asked about the state of America during the Winter Olympics. [...]
Trump is the irritating and destructive byproduct of the systemic issues at hand; he is not the root cause. And the people who comply with and actively take part in his antics contribute to even further damage. Consider how White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the video: “an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King.” [...]
The politics for many in the Republican Party are at odds with the “Christian morals” they claim as their foundation. According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of white evangelicals approve of how Trump is handling things in his second term, and 58% support all or most of his plans and policies. They remain his strongest supporters.
Fletcher School (Tufts University) Professor Alnoor Ebrahim writes for The Conversation noting that OpenAI removed its commitment to safety from its mission statement on their IRS disclosure forms.
While reviewing its latest IRS disclosure form, which was released in November 2025 and covers 2024, I noticed OpenAI had removed “safely” from its mission statement, among other changes. That change in wording coincided with its transformation from a nonprofit organization into a business increasingly focused on profits.
OpenAI currently faces several lawsuits related to its products’ safety, making this change newsworthy. Many of the plaintiffs suing the AI company allege psychological manipulation, wrongful death and assisted suicide, while others have filed negligence claims. [...]
OpenAI had dropped its commitment to safety from its mission statement – along with a commitment to being “unconstrained” by a need to make money for investors. According to Platformer, a tech media outlet, it has also disbanded its “mission alignment” team.
In my view, these changes explicitly signal that OpenAI is making its profits a higher priority than the safety of its products.
Felicia Schwartz of POLITICO Europe reports from the Munich Security Conference that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to sell bu*lsh*t to the Europeans.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, he made no apology for the Trump administration’s repeated calls to annex Greenland or at times harsh criticisms of Europe, but he took a conciliatory tone — stressing that the U.S. wants to cooperate with Europe to “revitalize an old friendship.” [...]
Rubio pleaded with the assembled world leaders to get on board with the critique of the global order that drove President Donald Trump’s return to office last year. He rehashed the administration’s complaints on the failure of international institutions, unfettered trade and energy policies that he said are “impoverishing our people,” as well as “mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies.”
“We made these mistakes together, and now together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward,” he said. “It is our preference, and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe.
“For the United States and Europe, we belong together,” he said.
Finally today, parliamentary elections in Hungary occur April 12 and the opposition Tisza Party has a sizable lead over the Fidesz Party headed by Victor Orbán but András Bíró-Nagy writes for The Guardian that Orbán may still have a trump card to play.
After 16 years of uninterrupted power, Viktor Orbán is facing his biggest electoral challenge. For years Hungary’s prime minister has spun weak policy performance as success. The rise of a rival, Péter Magyar, and the opposition Tisza party has exposed the limits of that strategy.
The economy is stagnating, despite repeated promises of a long-awaited takeoff. Over the past decade and a half, Hungary has slipped from being one of central and eastern Europe’s strongest performers to one of its weakest. Public services, from healthcare to transport, are widely seen as neglected, and Policy Solutions surveys show that voters have noticed. Hungary is not alone in facing a cost of living crisis, but comparisons offer little consolation to voters who were assured that Orbán’s model would deliver exceptional results. [...]
Yet preference is not the same as confidence. Many voters still doubt that change is within reach. This tension between dissatisfaction with the status quo and nervousness about the feasibility of political change has created an unpredictable electoral landscape. Frustration with Orbán may not be sufficient to overcome fear of the unknown.
Orbán also has something his rival can’t match: he has a tailwind from Washington. While he may have little to shout about at home, Orbán has gained new momentum in Donald Trump’s volatile second term.
Everyone have the best possible day that you can!
