February 17, 2026

Tuesday Short Cuts

Notable quotables from Kathy Hochul, Andy Beshear, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Laura Ingraham, Rupert Lowe, Tony Perkins, and more.

The BIG Lie

“We have this bloated agency now … that’s dedicated to just taking people off our streets without any cause.” —New York Gov. Kathy Hochul regarding ICE

Make It Make Sense

“FEMA is incredibly important and, I will admit, is operating pretty well under this president. … But ICE is out of control.” —Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear explaining his support for a government shutdown

Nailed It!

“Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a um — this is, of course, a, um, very long-standing, um, policy of the United States and I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation — and for that question to even arise.” —Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) when asked if the U.S. should commit troops to defend Taiwan

Who Wants to Tell Her?

“[Nicolás Maduro] canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader. That doesn’t mean that we can kidnap a head of state and engage in acts of war just because the nation is below the equator.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who evidently needs a map

For the Record

“The gaffes by AOC are an example of what happens when a politician never faces real scrutiny in the press. He or she gets lazy and sloppy and then chokes on the big stage. The same thing happened to Harris.” —Laura Ingraham

Political Futures

“Britain does not need tinkering, minor reform around the edges. … It needs restoration. Full-scale restoration. A restoration of courage. A restoration of responsibility.” —British MP Rupert Lowe launching Restore Britain, a new political party

Upright

“We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir.” —Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Good Questions

“Are we living as though freedom has a purpose? Have we remembered that liberty is not merely the absence of restraint, but the opportunity to align ourselves with truth? Have we treated freedom as a gift to steward — or as an entitlement to consume?” —Tony Perkins

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