February 16, 2026

Monday Short Cuts

Notable quotables from Hillary Clinton, “Sarah” McBride, Abby Phillip, Barack Obama, Bill Maher, Al Gore, Tom Homan, Mark Alexander, and more.

The BIG Lie

“Are you one of nearly 70 million American women who changed their names when they got married? Republicans in Congress want to make it harder for you to vote.” —Hillary Clinton

Non Compos Mentis

“At the end of the day, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, and sexism are all rooted in the same prejudice. … And it’s why threats toward trans people are threats toward all women.” —Congressman “Sarah” (Tim) McBride

Dezinformatsiya

“I know Tom Homan has been big on this ‘lost children’ thing. But the idea that these children were lost or missing has never been true. … His characterization of them as being lost has never been accurate.” —CNN’s Abby Phillip

Lack of Self-Awareness Awards

“When I was president of the United States, I suppose I could have simply unilaterally ordered the military to go into some red state and harass and intimidate a governor there or cut off funding for states that didn’t vote for me. … But that is contrary to how I think our democracy is supposed to work.” —Barack “Sue the Nuns” Obama

“The other side does the mean, angry, exclusive, us/them, divisive politics. That’s their home court. Our court is coming together.” —Barack “Bitter Clingers” Obama

Hot Air

“Doug Burgum, he’s the interior secretary. Listen to this. … He said CO2, carbon, was never a pollutant. He said when we breathe, we emit CO2. Okay, Doug, you know what? Let’s try this little experiment. Tonight, when you get home, go in the garage, close the door, turn the car on, and let’s see if carbon is a pollutant, okay?” —political pundit Bill Maher conflating carbon dioxide, upon which life and nature depend, and carbon monoxide, which will literally kill you

“This climate crisis is continuing to get much worse. … Mother Nature is staging an intervention. … We don’t have much time left to wake up and start taking action. … Our very civilization is at stake.” —former Vice President Al Gore, who wrongly predicted that sea ice would be gone by now

Village Idiot

“Is it not obvious to everyone by now that Trump is acting on Putin’s orders, and that this is a form [of] treachery towards the United States?” —actor John Cleese

Cause for Celebration

“ICE here in this state [Minnesota] have located 3,364 missing unaccompanied alien children — children that the last administration lost and weren’t even looking for.” —Border Czar Tom Homan

Re: The Left

“I just think it’s nuts that we protect our beer more than our ballots in jurisdictions across this country.” —Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI)

“If the vote in the House of Representatives broke down according to the widely shared view of the American people, the SAVE America Act would pass 361 to 74. Instead, it just barely passed 218 to 213 because every House Democrat except one voted against it.” —Gary Bauer

“The American public are broadly in support of showing voter ID. It’s a north of 80% issue for the American public. You’ve got to ask yourself, who are the Democrats in the Senate representing? Over 70% of Democrats want this, yet we won’t have a single Democrat that will support it. Why is that?” —Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)

“How can Demos claim the SAVE Act disenfranchises women when they can’t even define ‘woman’?” —Mark Alexander

“Back in 1999, 26% of Democrats self-identified as conservative. Just 5% said that they were very liberal. … Now we’re talking about a fifth of Democrats, 21%, say they’re very liberal. … The far-Left, which used to just be a smidgen within the Democratic Party, has gained considerable power.” —CNN’s Harry Enten

For the Record

“I’ve noticed that almost all the people publicly torturing Charlie Kirk’s grieving widow also really hate Israel. An interesting connection worth exploring.” —Joel Berry

From the “Gender Confusion” Files

“The transgender cult ideology not only destroys the lives of gender-confused kids, but some of those kids then become a threat to all of us.” —Mark Alexander

“Kudos to The Telegraph, a British media outlet, for having the courage to ask, ‘Are Cross-Sex Drugs Driving Trans Shooters To Kill?’ Every American news organization should be asking the same thing.” —Gary Bauer

Upright

“Legal systems of free speech do not exist to bestow legitimacy on the idiosyncratic musings of any individual. … Rather, as was historically understood as far back as Plato’s Academy in ancient Athens, we maintain systems of free speech and free questioning because we believe it is helpful in pursuing The Truth. In bilateral or multilateral colloquy, it is the truth of the matter with which are primarily interested — not in ensuring that any individual feels heard or seen.” —Josh Hammer

And Last…

“We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline.” —Secretary of State Marco Rubio

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