"President Trump delivered the first official State of the Union address of his second term on Tuesday.

"The speech came with the president beset by low approval ratings, especially on the economy, but seeking to rally his party ahead of November's midterms.

"Trump also gave his address, which clocked in at just short of an hour and 50 minutes, during a time of rising tension with Iran. The president has dispatched two aircraft carrier groups to the region."

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"New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani received a wave of criticism for the identification requirements for an emergency snow shoveler program he announced ahead of Sunday's winter storm. To 'register for an appointment' to be hired, prospective shovelers needed multiple forms of identification, a stark contrast to the identification necessary when voting in the city's election. The shoveler requirements also ran counter to Mamdani's stated position on voter identification, currently a hotly contested topic in U.S. political discourse."

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"Abigail Spanberger, the new governor of Virginia who has been tapped to deliver the Democrats' State of the Union reply Tuesday night, is the perfect avatar for her party's deception.

"With her long blond bob, minimalist makeup, pinched face and brisk air, she looks like the sort of competent working mom you'd encounter at school drop-off in any affluent suburb. In other words, she seems like somebody you instinctively trust.

"But don't be fooled by appearances. Spanberger is an expert at subterfuge, having spent eight years as an undercover CIA case officer, aka a spy, under Barack Obama and John Brennan, in the era when Democrats turned national security back on itself.

"Like Joe Biden, she posed as a moderate to fool willfully gullible voters and then showed her true colors the minute she took office."

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"The pivotal question of what will follow the crack-up of the liberal international order dominated the highest levels of European politics last week.

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave his own, forceful answer at the 2026 Munich Security Conference. Following Vice President JD Vance's provocative speech last year, Rubio delivered an equally spirited address that issued an ultimatum: rationalizing collapse and weakness is no longer the policy of the United States -- and it should no longer be Europe's policy either. America has no 'interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline,' he stated forthrightly.

"Instead, Rubio urged a reformation of the 'global institutions of the old order' to defend and strengthen the key pillars of Western civilization."

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"Could it really come to pass that no Democrat appears on the November general election ballot for governor in California? Despite handwringing from liberals and excited optimism from Republicans, it's unlikely. But the fact that such an outcome is even possible underscores the absurdity of California's voting procedures -- and casts a spotlight on rampant corruption and shadiness in the Golden State's elections.

For those unfamiliar with California politics, 16 years ago, the state exchanged its partisan primaries for a single June 'jungle' primary in which every candidate appears on the same ballot. Then, the two candidates who garner the most votes -- regardless of party -- compete against one another in the November general election for the ultimate prize.

The whole scheme was clearly devised to help Democrats, who dominate the state. Specifically, the idea was that instead of choosing between a Republican and Democrat in a general election, voters could choose between a radical left Democrat and an even more radical left Democrat.

So, what's the problem now? Well, there are twelve candidates in the race -- nine Democrats and three Republicans. The most recent polls show two GOP candidates leading the pack -- meaning that if the polls are accurate and the primary election were held today, Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, commanding 15 percent and 13 percent support, respectively, in the latest RealClearPolitics average, would advance to the November general election.

In short, the next governor of California, which hasn't elected a GOP candidate statewide since 2006, would be guaranteed to be a Republican, despite Republican candidates winning combined less than 30 percent of the overall vote share in the jungle primary."

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"'The bottom line is this: voter ID is not controversial in this country,' Harry Enten, the chief data analyst for CNN, recently reported. Nor is it controversial in virtually any other country in the world. Yet despite massive support among both Democrats (71%) and Republicans (95%), only one Democratic member of the House and one in the Senate are supporting the SAVE Act. Unless seven more of the 47 Senate Democrats step forward, their filibuster will kill the bill.

"Democrats argue that requiring free voter photo IDs -- even when the ID itself costs nothing -- harms eligible voters by creating practical barriers to casting a ballot. They contend that blacks would be especially hard hit. Interestingly, every country in Africa requires government-issued identification to vote. ...

"While 83% of American adults support requiring government-issued photo identification to vote, support is also strong among the very groups Democrats claim would be harmed: 82% of Hispanics and 76% of black Americans favor the requirement. Those figures suggest that most black and Hispanic Americans do not view obtaining a photo ID as the obstacle Democrats describe. Ten U.S. states have similarly strong photo ID requirements.

"Democrats claim that women are disproportionately disenfranchised by voter IDs, but women are also strongly supportive of IDs and have exactly the same level of support as men."

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"House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, this week suggested that the panel he leads would hold a markup of a bill to crack down on sanctuary cities in the coming weeks, as major metropolitan areas continue to clash with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement.

"'Sanctuary' jurisdictions refer to states, cities, and municipalities that have declared that they will not cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement and/or to instead place restrictions on the Feds' ability to conduct those enforcement actions in public spaces.

"Jordan stated that such jurisdictions include 11 states, 18 major cities, three counties, and the District of Columbia, collectively representing one-third of the population."

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"Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act represents 'Jim Crow' segregation laws because it would require states to obtain proof of citizenship in person when people register to vote.

"'I have said it before, and I'll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow-type laws to the entire country,' Schumer said. It marks the second time in five years that Democrats have mounted fierce opposition to voter identification requirements, echoing the backlash from Democrats, much of the press, and corporate America after Georgia passed its own voter ID law."

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"'Abolish ICE' is the rallying cry heard from the streets of Minneapolis to the main stage at the Grammy awards. It's the stick deployed against the Trump administration and the carrot consumed by Bad Bunny as he hops around at the Super Bowl.

"Closer to the nation's capital, however, people have been muttering 'abolish ice.' The denizens of the Acela Corridor aren't without their own misgivings about assertive immigration enforcement. But even the most hardened member of the Resistance -- frozen solid -- has to wonder why it takes two weeks after a moderate snowstorm for a Democratic-controlled city to plow a street or clear a sidewalk.

"Businesses, schools, and government offices were closed for days after the last snowflakes fell. Massive snow drifts were permitted to become encased in ice -- not ICE -- impervious to cheap shovels. It was almost as if the pandemic had returned for a moment. There was simply no expectation of a reopening unless the sun helped."

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"Some feel they've hit an appropriate retirement age. Others want to tend to their health or their families. Yet more are leaving because they don't like the workplace.

"Add it all together, and members of Congress are heading for the exit at a historically high rate ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with two more House Republicans adding themselves to a growing roster just last week.

"Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., announced Wednesday that he was retiring from Congress, while Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., announced Friday that he wouldn't run for re-election, either. Loudermilk said he wants 'to spend more dedicated time with my family,' while Amodei said it was 'the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch.'

"The latest retirements mean 60 members of Congress have decided not to run for re-election this year -- 51 House members and nine senators. It's the most retirements from both chambers combined this century, according to historical data from the Brookings Institution's Vital Statistics on Congress. That includes lawmakers who are retiring from political life altogether and those leaving their seats to run for other offices, but it doesn't include members who have resigned or died during the current Congress."

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