“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”
THE FOUNDATION
“Love your neighbor as yourself and your country more than yourself.” —Thomas Jefferson (1825)
IN TODAY’S DIGEST
- Executive News Summary
- Featured Analysis: Lack of Patriotism at the Olympics
- More Analysis
- Reader Comments
- Best of Right Opinion
- Best of Videos
- Short Cuts
- Today’s Meme
EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY
The Editors
- Ghislaine Maxwell invokes the Fifth: Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination during her deposition before the House yesterday. Maxwell appeared before the House Oversight Committee following months of negotiations, so her refusal to testify is unfortunate, said Committee Chairman James Comer. Maxwell’s attorney made clear that she wants to leverage her potential testimony to secure clemency from the White House. She claims she can clear the names of both President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Trump has not been credibly named in connection with any of Epstein and Maxwell’s criminal activities.
- House passes housing bill: On Monday, the House overwhelmingly passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act, bipartisan legislation that aims to make housing more affordable for Americans. As House Financial Committee Chairman French Hill explained, “This bill represents that consensus of both Democrat and Republican members in the House who want at the federal level to take some steps that we believe will lower the marginal cost of constructing housing, making [Department of Housing and Urban Development] programs more efficient, more effective, more accountable to taxpayers.” The bill would loosen some federal housing regulations and land-use rules to ease constraints on home construction. The question is whether the Senate will take up the House version after previously passing its own Road to Housing Act.
- California swipes entire bonus from Super Bowl champs: NFL teams may want to decide if they make a run at the Super Bowl if the championship game is scheduled to be played in California. That’s because the Golden State’s tax code fleeces the players from their hard-earned cash. Thanks to the state’s highest income taxes in the nation, many of the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks players, as well as the runner-up New England Patriots, are seeing their bonus payments sucked up by California taxes. For example, winning quarterback Sam Darnold, along with all his teammates, received a $188,000 bonus for the victory; however, under California’s tax laws, Darnold owes the state an estimated $202,102 in taxes for the 10 days he worked in the state. To put this in perspective, two years ago, the Super Bowl was played in Las Vegas, Nevada, where there is no state income tax, and the players got to keep their full bonuses.
- Big Brother’s Ring? Does having a camera on your property that anyone in your neighborhood can activate and access sound like a good idea? That seems to be what the Amazon Ring doorbell camera Super Bowl ad was selling. Pitched as a way to find lost dogs, the ad proudly proclaims, “One post of a dog’s photo to the Ring app starts outdoor cameras looking for a match.” The ad goes on to explain that AI then matches that photo to images of dogs in the area. Viewers were somewhat disturbed by the idea that AI might be using their personal cameras to surveil their neighborhood. Finding lost dogs is a harmless and beneficial use of this technology, but many fear it could easily be used to track individuals’ private actions.
- California’s ICE mask ban blocked by court: Federal Judge Christina Snyder blocked California from enforcing its recently enacted law that bars ICE officers from wearing masks. Snyder ruled that the state illegally targeted federal officers with its anti-masking law, writing, “Because such discrimination violates the Supremacy Clause, the Court is constrained to enjoin the facial covering prohibition.” Attorney General Pam Bondi heralded the decision as a “key court victory,” noting, “These federal agents are harassed, doxxed, obstructed, and attacked on a regular basis just for doing their jobs. We have no tolerance for it.” Snyder, however, did uphold the state requirement that federal officers wear visible identifying information.
- Biden’s parole program legally quashed: The Trump administration has garnered a legal settlement to end Joe Biden’s mass illegal alien parole program, which could prevent future presidents from reviving it. Biden’s parole program was designed as a legal loophole to allow migrants into the U.S. without securing a legal visa. Former immigration judge Andrew Arthur observed, “This consent decree will prevent a future administration from abusing DHS’s limited parole authority in the way that the Biden administration did.” According to The Washington Times, “It also binds the national government not to attempt any repeats for 15 years.” Florida AG’s press secretary Jae Williams welcomed the development, stating, “We thank the Trump administration for working with our office to obtain this result, which ensures that the next Democratic administration cannot abuse the parole system to allow another invasion of illegal aliens into our country.”
- Meta, YouTube sued for addicting children: In what is likely to be the first of many addiction lawsuits brought against social media companies, plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier argued that the case was “easy as ABC,” which stands for “addicting the brains of children” but may also be a reference to YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet. Lanier argued that the companies knew that children experienced “adverse events” from their platforms and were vulnerable to addiction, and that parental supervision did little to help. One plaintiff identified as KGM is an alleged victim of social media addiction, having started using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine, and uploading 284 videos to YouTube before reaching middle school. Meta’s representation argued that KGM’s mental health issues stem from interpersonal relationships, not social media. Conservatives might wonder how parents might better act in their children’s best interests.
- Jimmy Lai gets 20 years: After spending the last five years in solitary confinement, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been sentenced without a jury to 20 years in prison. The 78-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, who has long fought for freedom for Hong Kong, was convicted of “conspiracy to collude with a foreign country to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious publications,” reports National Review. Lai, a British citizen, represented himself during the 156-day trial and pleaded not guilty to violating Chinese national security laws. Six of his former employees at the Apple Daily were sentenced to 10 years in jail. Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China called this another “stain on the human rights record of the Chinese Communist Party” and said he plans to “lead efforts to sanction those responsible for the repression of Lai and his colleagues.”
- Olympic medals are falling apart: One thing Olympians probably don’t expect as they celebrate winning a medal is for the medal itself to break. Unfortunately, at least four Olympians have suffered minor breakages of their medals so far. The affected medals include two golds, one silver, and one bronze. “I was jumping in excitement, and it broke,” said Team USA gold medalist Breezy Johnson. The 2026 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee says it is aware of “an issue affecting a small number of medals” and is investigating. Since the Olympic Games have just gotten started and significantly fewer than 100 medals have been awarded so far, the fact that all three metals — gold, silver, and bronze — have already been affected indicates that this issue is more widespread than the committee may want to admit.
Headlines
- FBI: Epstein didn’t run a sex-trafficking ring for the powerful (Hot Air)
- Trump DOJ seeks to dismiss Steve Bannon’s J6 conviction and indictment (Just the News)
- ObamaCare sign-ups drop, but the extent won’t be clear for months (CBS News)
- Japan’s right-wing party wins supermajority in mass rejection of migration and liberalism (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.
FEATURED ANALYSIS
Lack of Patriotism at the Olympics
Emmy Griffin
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy, officially got underway on Friday, February 6. Unfortunately, this time-honored tradition of the world’s best athletes competing against one another has already been marred by a few American athletes.
To be fair, most of the athletes were prompted into speaking by hounding “reporters.” Nevertheless, a handful of them decided to use their platform to display a troubling lack of patriotism.
Freestyle skier Hunter Hess is making his Olympic debut, and he chose to talk about this significant moment by saying, “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” Hess clarified, “If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S. I just kinda want to do it for my friends and my family and the people who supported me getting here.”
Figure skater Amber Glenn decided that her platform would be best used by talking about how President Donald Trump is “erasing rights” from the LGBTQ cohort. To which I ask: What rights? If Glenn is talking about the right of a gender-confused man to enter a women’s locker room, that’s not a right he is entitled to because it infringes on the already established rights of safety and privacy for women. If she’s referring to the rights of doctors to mutilate little girls who have been manipulated to believe they are boys, that’s also a nonstarter. Doctors are to do no harm, and “gender-affirming care” is active harm. Perhaps Glenn is referring to the slaying of Renee Good, who was a lesbian — only Good was shot because she hit an ICE officer with her vehicle after blocking traffic to agitate and impede the work of immigration agents. Her sexual preference was not a factor in her death whatsoever.
The most hypocritical athlete might be dual citizen and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who competed for the U.S. at the 2014 Sochi Games but has since been competing for the UK. Kenworthy posted a very crude picture with the words “F*** ICE” written in the snow using urine. This is rich considering he is representing a country that, like the U.S., has been overrun by illegal aliens, and where foreigner-run rape gangs operate with impunity, and free speech has become a thing of the past.
It is very troubling that these American athletes have decided the best way to represent their country (or spite it, in Kenworthy’s case) is to bash it. Frankly, we don’t really want to hear what athletes think about politics. It’s not because they can’t have an opinion. Of course they can. But when we are competing against other countries, our internal political differences should take a back seat, and our national interests should be front and center.
Pope Leo XIV issued a warning about turning the Olympics into propaganda, though it was aimed more at world leaders who used the Games to heighten political narratives. What is happening here is the opposite.
The media are actually the main driver of divisiveness. Another perfect example of their manipulation in action is outfits like The Daily Beast and The Washington Post insisting that Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were booed after appearing on screen when the American athletes entered the arena at the Opening Ceremony. However, others posted videos that seem to disprove this. No one was booing.
Podcaster Brett Cooper pointed out that reporters are trying to push athletes to comment on politics at every major sporting event. Tennis stars at the Australian Open had to shut that down, saying they were there to talk about tennis, not politics, because they didn’t want their words to get twisted and start a media firestorm.
Reporters know what they are doing. On the contrary, many athletes naively believe that their political opinions will change hearts and minds. Their excellent performances may influence young people to try their sport, but their political stances won’t move the needle at all.
And that’s just it. People tune in to the Olympics to see the world’s best exhibit their athletic prowess. The Games are supposed to be about peace and brotherhood. How is bringing up U.S. political divides doing any of these things? Also, how come only the U.S. athletes seem to be having to put up with this nonsense from the media? Reporters aren’t out there asking Iranian athletes about their country’s terrorist regime, or Nigerian athletes about their nation’s Islamic genocide of Christians, or Chinese athletes about their communist government’s concentration camps.
President Trump responded to Hess’s comments, posting, “U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Hess eventually backed down from his earlier comments. “I love my country,” he clarified. “There is so much that is great about America, but there are always things that could be better. One of the many things that makes this country so amazing is that we have the right and the freedom to point that out. The best part of the Olympics is that it brings people together, and when so many of us are divided we need that more than ever. I cannot wait to represent Team USA … when I compete.”
As a counterpoint to the unpatriotic comments, other athletes are proud to represent the U.S. Downhill skier Breezy Johnson, who won gold for her amazing performance, humbly sang the national anthem as she was able. She was choked up with emotion and pride.
As Wall Street Journal editor Matthew Hennessey points out, “The Olympics aren’t red versus blue. They’re red, white and blue versus the world.”
So, athletes, don’t fall for the temptation to give hack reporters the time of day. Tell us about the sport you love and be a steward for the next generation. Also, please earn more gold medals and make the Canadians even more sick of hearing our national anthem — particularly in hockey.
MORE ANALYSIS
- Nate Jackson: Epstein’s Solo Act and Maxwell’s Fifth Plea — It increasingly appears that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are the only two people who will face justice in this whole saga.
- Michael Swartz: Deadly Immigrant ‘Chameleon Carriers’ — Fraud is rampant for commercial driver’s licenses, and illegal aliens are causing increasingly frequent traffic accidents and deaths.
- Douglas Andrews: Trump’s Tariff Triumph — Donald Trump’s seemingly haphazard tariff regime is understandably unsettling to the elites and the globalist class, but the economic results speak for themselves.
- Jack DeVine: The Minneapolis Mess Unpacked — Deep-seated contempt for federal agents who are following lawful orders, on our behalf and for our own protection? Is that who we are?
- Gregory Lyakhov: The U.S. Is Running Out of Time on Population Decline — The Trump administration promotes an American culture that values family formation and stability, rather than treating families as an economic or social burden.
Reader Comments
Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
- Cal ThomasHas There Been Voter Fraud?
- Salena ZitoFaith, Not Foul-Mouthed Scolds, Shined at the Grammys
- Gary BauerFrom Miracle on Ice…
- Victor JoecksDemocrats Face a Demographic Doom Spiral
- Daniel McCarthyA Japanese Lesson for Troubled Britain
- The Babylon BeeSupport for ICE Skyrockets to 99% After Halftime Show
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.
BEST OF VIDEOS
- Hillary Chastises ‘Divisive Christians’ — Nick Freitas and Pastor Joe Rigney discuss the way empathy is weaponized by the Left to manipulate emotions and gain political power.
SHORT CUTS
Cultural Icon?
“I don’t know no Bad Bunny song.”
“I have no idea.”
“I don’t listen to Bad Bunny like that but she, she got some good stuff.”
“I don’t listen to Bad Bunny so I really don’t even have one.”
—NFL players after being asked to name their favorite Bad Bunny song
Touché
“Nothing is more pathetic than a bunch of sportswriters in their 40s and 50s pretending to like Bad Bunny in the hopes of annoying the Trump voters.” —Laura Ingraham
Oof
Q: “This was not where I was anticipating getting stuck. Are you aware of how many branches of government there are?” —North Carolina State Rep. Allen Chesser (R)
A: “No.” —Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Sheriff Garry McFadden
Non Compos Mentis
“When I’ve taken actions, like vetoing the nastiest piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation that ever came through my state … I said my faith teaches me that all children are children of God.” —Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) regarding child bodily mutilation
Delusions of Grandeur
“I’ve always been someone who has been intellectual.” —Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)
Straight Shooter
“I’ve heard a lot of generals say a lot of things. The dumbest thing I’ve heard a general say is that ‘our diversity is our strength.’ It’s the single dumbest phrase in military history.” —Secretary of War Pete Hegseth
Upright
“The Trump Administration is proud to stand with students, parents, and faculty who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights in schools across our great nation. Our Constitution safeguards the free exercise of religion as one of the guiding principles of our republic, and we will vigorously protect that right in America’s public schools.” —Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on new DOE guidance to protect religious freedom
Political Futures
“The map is not just a partisan power play, but a means of giving Northern Virginia hugely disproportionate sway over the state’s congressional delegation.” —Rich Lowry on the proposed Democrat gerrymander of Virginia
For the Record
“[Last] week, the [American Medical Association] acknowledged that there is insufficient evidence to continue supporting surgical interventions on minors under the banner of ‘gender-affirming care.’ … It appears the prospect of accountability — not compassion — finally prompted the AMA’s concession.” —Tony Perkins
“Focusing solely on the sexual dimension of [Jeffrey] Epstein’s crimes, while emotionally understandable, ultimately obscures the full truth. People did not simply pay for women. They paid for access to Epstein himself and to the doors he claimed he could open.” —Armstrong Williams
And Last…
“It is time we stop acquiescing, compromising, and submitting to the world’s most intolerant system of belief. Always remember that any Muslim who departs Islam is considered an apostate, punishable by death.” —Allen West
TODAY’S MEME
For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.
| ON THIS DAY in 1967, the nation ratified the 25th Amendment, which details the presidential succession and stipulates the process for handling a president who becomes “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” |
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