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Mid-Day Digest · February 11, 2026

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“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”

THE FOUNDATION

“As riches increase and accumulate in few hands, as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard. This is the real disposition of human nature.” —Alexander Hamilton (1788)

IN TODAY’S DIGEST

EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY

The Editors

  • Canadian “gunperson” kills nine: A tragic school attack in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, has claimed nine lives and injured more than two dozen. At midday Tuesday, Canadian police received a report of an ongoing attack. Six people were killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, and another died in transit to the hospital. Two more were found dead in a nearby home — apparently the assailant’s family. As Leftmedia and Canadian officials would have it, that’s all there is to this tragic tale. However, when officials use terms like “gunperson,” it raises questions. Indeed, the alert described a “female in a dress with brown hair.” So, why the neutral pronouns? Well, journalist Andy Ngo appears to have the answer: This attacker wasn’t a female, but rather a trans-identifying male, as confirmed by his uncle. If Ngo’s reporting is true, we can expect Canadian media to sweep this attack under the rug as quickly as possible.
  • Solid jobs numbers: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January jobs report, which was delayed by a week due to the recent short-lived government shutdown. The report found that 130,000 jobs were added last month, coming in well above the Dow Jones estimate of 55,000. This also represents a significant uptick from December’s number, which was adjusted slightly downward to 48,000. The headline unemployment rate also came in slightly below predictions, hitting 4.3% rather than the estimated 4.4%. Meanwhile, hourly wages rose 0.4% for the month, 0.1% above expectations, but still met the 3.7% annual expectation. Labor force participation also increased slightly to 62.5%.
  • No indictment for “Seditious Six”: The six members of Congress, including Sen. Mark Kelly, who issued a video urging U.S. service members to refuse illegal orders were not indicted by a grand jury. This is not the first time the second Trump administration has seen its prosecutions stymied by a grand jury — perhaps they’d be better off with the proverbial ham sandwich. The Justice Department’s failure to proceed with this case should probably be a wake-up call. Democrats are really good at using and abusing the law, walking right up to the line of sedition, as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz did in January, without technically crossing it. Tenuous charges that get struck down make this administration look weak and like it is twisting the law to go after political enemies.
  • Three House Republicans side with Dems to force tariff vote: Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Kevin Kiley, and Don Bacon sided with Democrats on Tuesday, preventing the majority GOP from renewing a moratorium that withholds a vote on Donald Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act until after the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling. Trump has used the Act to impose sweeping tariffs, which many lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have criticized. Speaker Mike Johnson contended, “I think the sentiment is that we allow a bit more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch,” noting that “the president’s trade policies have been a great benefit to the country.” However, Bacon argued that continuing to extend the moratorium was “putting the important work of the House on pause, but Congress needs to be able to debate on tariffs.”
  • Addressing Iran’s ballistic missile program: The U.S. and the Iranian regime have been engaged in talks over Iran’s nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington, DC, yesterday to discuss a number of issues primarily dealing with Gaza. He weighed in on the negotiations, expressing his desire for peace in the region, which, importantly, from Israel’s perspective, includes not only preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons but also ending its ballistic missile threat. Israel has been the most frequent target of Iran’s ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Iran’s missile program was “never negotiable.” In the midst of these negotiations is the mullahs’ tenuous hold on power, with rumblings of the rising of a second wave of nationwide protests against the Islamic ruling regime, the first of which Tehran brutally put down.
  • Insane Democrat questioning: The House of Representatives doesn’t command the same respect as the Senate, and on Tuesday, Rep. LaMonica McIver reminded the world why. The House Committee on Homeland Security called in Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to testify on the ongoing deportation efforts, and he obliged voluntarily. Of course, any committee will have both hostile and friendly members, as any witness expects. What Lyons likely didn’t expect was to be asked, “Do you think you’re going to hell?” Rep. McIver also asked Lyons, “How do you think judgment day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?” Eventually, Chairman Andrew Garbarino overrode McIver and reminded her that she is expected to adhere to standards of decorum. McIver used her remaining time to explain why ICE should be entirely abolished.
  • Colony Ridge settlement: The Left has explained again and again that colonialism is evil — except apparently in cases where it’s a foreign colony on American soil. That is essentially what the Colony Ridge neighborhood north of Houston, Texas, was designed to be. The neighborhood was exposed in 2023 for its marketing scheme aimed at non-English-speaking illegal immigrants. The scheme was successful and became the fastest-growing development in the country, reaching more than 100,000 people. The Biden administration sued the development for targeting “Hispanic consumers with predatory loans.” Now, the Trump administration has reached a settlement. Colony Ridge will pay $68 million in penalties, which will be used to add necessary infrastructure and a law enforcement center inside the community. Future purchasers will be required to present a valid Texas ID or a visa issued after January 1, 2025.
  • Zuckerberg eyes Florida: Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest billionaire to join the list of wealthy moguls fleeing California over its proposed 5% wealth tax. This list includes Larry Ellison, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks. Zuckerberg and his wife are moving to Miami, Florida, to an exclusive enclave known as the “Billionaire Bunker.” Florida has become one of the most attractive destinations for the uber-wealthy precisely because they can keep more of their hard-earned wealth under the Sunshine State’s kinder tax laws. Florida is now reaping the benefits of local job growth and increased revenue as these industry leaders relocate to the state. Meanwhile, California lawmakers will find it even harder to meet their government’s overspending appetite with fewer tax dollars coming in. The Golden State’s Democrat legislature is effectively killing the golden goose.
  • Sexual assault by gender-bender in Washington: In another tragic example of why men should not compete in women’s sports, Kallie Keeler, a 16-year-old wrestler from the Puyallup School District in Washington State, was allegedly sexually assaulted in a wrestling match against a “trans-identifying” male. In a wrestling move, Kallie said her male opponent forcefully pushed his fingers into her genitals. She didn’t know what to do in the situation, and she didn’t even find out until afterwards that she was competing against a male, which left her feeling doubly violated. Wrestling experts reviewed the video of the match and ruled out accidental contact for that particular wrestling move. Kallie had immediately reported the incident to the school, but the school did nothing for two months — until media contact — despite being required by law to report suspected sexual assault to law enforcement within 48 hours.

Headlines

  • Democrats suddenly oppose law enforcement body cameras they demanded (Legal Insurrection)
  • Oregon teen arrested for plotting assassination of ICE agents (Not the Bee)
  • Trump says he will block U.S.-Canada bridge unless Canada negotiates on trade (Fox News)
  • Black judge cuts black man’s rape sentence in half, despite violent outbursts at trial (Not the Bee)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.

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FEATURED ANALYSIS

The New York Times Has a Pot Epiphany

Nate Jackson

Well, that was a dopey thing to do.

So says The New York Times editorial board about legalizing marijuana without proper guardrails. It’s hard to believe the Times published an editorial that makes sense, but here we are. And the title is clear: “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.”

The Times doesn’t entirely recant its advocacy for legalizing weed, but the backtrack is significant. “This editorial board has long supported marijuana legalization,” the editors write. “In 2014, we published a six-part series that compared the federal marijuana ban to alcohol prohibition and argued for repeal. Much of what we wrote then holds up — but not all of it does.”

They acknowledge that they and others made promises of few downsides, and minor ones at that, because marijuana is a supposedly “harmless drug that might even bring net health benefits.” However, they concede, “It is now clear that many of these predictions were wrong.”

The Times lists a number of bad side effects from the drug or its legalization. For example, 18 million Americans use it almost daily, three times as many as in 2012, and about three million more than use alcohol daily. The Times says nearly three million Americans “suffer from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which causes severe vomiting and stomach pain.”

Widespread use leads to far more hospital visits for illnesses and injuries from car accidents. For example, one survey indicated that nearly 12 million Americans had driven while high in 2024.

Addiction is also a more real problem than the Times and other advocates initially promised. Yale Medicine researchers found that “30% of current users meet the criteria for addiction.” Another survey indicated that 20 million Americans say they’re always high.

That can lead to a number of other societal problems.

On the flip side, many companies advertise health benefits that simply aren’t true, but there’s little to no regulation of misleading information. The Times says that should change, and that “the government should crack down on these outlandish claims.”

While users are seeing green, companies are raking in the green. The Times notes, “The legal pot industry grew to more than $30 billion in U.S. sales in 2024, close to the total annual revenue of Starbucks.” Estimates are that it will reach $47 billion this year. More revenue means more lobbying, which is probably one reason why President Donald Trump unwisely signed an order opening the door to reclassifying weed in December — a move that would primarily benefit sellers with tax advantages they did not previously have.

Speaking of taxes, that’s one remedy the Times editorial board recommends:

The federal government taxes alcohol and tobacco, for example, but not marijuana. And increases in tobacco taxes have been a major reason that its use has declined during the 21st century, with profound health benefits.

The first step in a strategy to reduce marijuana abuse should be a federal tax on pot. States should also raise taxes on pot; today, state taxes can be as low as a few additional cents on a joint. Taxes should be high enough to deter excessive use, on the scale of dollars per joint, not cents.

On the other hand, that just makes the federal government as dependent on pot revenue as states are already becoming.

Another problem needing regulation, the Times editors say, is potency: “Today’s cannabis is far more potent than the pot that preceded legalization. In 1995, the marijuana seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration was around 4 percent THC, the primary psychoactive compound in pot. Today, you can buy marijuana products with THC levels of 90 percent or more. As the cliché goes, this is not your parents’ weed.”

THC causes the “high” when smoking. It’s nasty stuff, and it’s arguably the main driver of addiction and illness.

Their conclusion is … eminently reasonable: “The unfortunate truth is that the loosening of marijuana policies — especially the decision to legalize pot without adequately regulating it — has led to worse outcomes than many Americans expected. It is time to acknowledge reality and change course.”

Yet their solutions are hardly satisfying, and many problems go unaddressed by the editors.

Smoking tobacco products is widely prohibited in public spaces, in large part due to the negative health effects of secondhand smoke. The Times never mentions the same thing about marijuana (and THC), or that our city streets increasingly reek of the skunk-like odor of pot.

The words “mental health” never appear in the Times editorial, yet we’ve written about various psychotic and mood disorders, including the correlation between smoking pot and schizophrenia. Cannabis use disorder has been linked to as many as 30% of schizophrenia cases in young men — who happen to use weed more widely than other demographic groups.

Many of those effects eventually lead to other problems, such as job loss, family troubles, and homelessness (read: vagrancy). Again, none of that is mentioned by the Times.

In short, the mea culpa is a welcome one, but it’s too little, too late. The states, the federal government, and American society at large opened Pandora’s box, and closing it again will prove extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Follow Nate Jackson on X/Twitter.

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MORE ANALYSIS

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.

BEST OF VIDEOS

SHORT CUTS

Persona Non Grata

“Erika [Kirk] should be dragged into a police precinct.” —lunatic podcaster Candace Owens

Non Compos Mentis

“Let me ask you some questions that you may be able to answer. … How do you think judgment day will work for you with so much blood on your hands? … Do you think you’re going to hell, Mr. Lyons?” —Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) insulting ICE Director Todd Lyons

Lawfare 2.0

“Mr. Lyons, Mr. Scott, Mr. Edlow: You have weaponized the government. You have supported a fascist enterprise at the expense of our constitutional rights. You have violated the law. But let me remind you, you will not always be in power. One day you will be held accountable for your role in this dark moment in America and our nation’s history. I guarantee it.” —Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) threatening to punish Trump administration officials for enforcing the law

Demagogue

“We’re talking about Sharia law? … There’s so much we could be dealing with concerning the Constitution and protecting America. White Christian nationalist ideology has been put forward.” —Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)

The BIG Lie

“The SAVE Act would put 1 in 4 women at risk of losing the right to vote.” —Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT)

Double Standards

“You even need an ID to attend events of most Democrat politicians, and even the Democrat National Convention. So, why would voting be any different than that? They can’t answer that question.” —House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA)

For the Record

“[President Trump] is quite possibly the strongest supporter of the SAVE America Act. … He has been very clear he wants House Republicans — and Democrats, too, if they were politically wise — to pass this legislation.” —White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

A Modest Proposal

“President Trump … should launch an investigation into those who violated the requirements for becoming American citizens. If proven they violated the law, they should be stripped of their citizenship, along with their right to vote.” —Cal Thomas

Political Futures

“If these [census] projections hold, the Republican presidential candidate in 2032 could lose Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada and win the presidency. The Democratic candidate would have to win those swing states and either Arizona or Georgia.” —Victor Joecks

“[British PM Keir] Starmer is a globalist at a time when the free world needs leaders who take their nations’ self-responsibilities far more seriously, especially in light of China’s ambitions.” —Daniel McCarthy

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TODAY’S MEME

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For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.

ON THIS DAY in 1752, Pennsylvania Hospital opened its doors in Philadelphia, becoming the first hospital in America.

“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”