Nice Times Are Bigger In Texas: Tabs, Mon., Feb. 2, 2026

News and things to read and watch!

What is this strange sensation, is it good news? Well yeehaw! On Saturday in Texas (TEXAS!) a state senate seat was flipped by Democrat Taylor Rehmet, who defeated MAGA school-board scold Leigh Wambsganss by 14.4 percent! In the 9th district, which is one so solid red that it hasn’t elected a Democrat in 36 years! In 2024, Donald Trump won it by 17 points, so more than 30-point swing in less than a year! It was an unusually-timed special election to fill a vacancy, and the two candidates will have a re-match this November. Republicans still control every lever of power in the state, but their spurs are surely jangled. (Fort-Worth Star Telegram)

And Democrat Christian Menefee won the Texas special election for the US House, thinning Republicans’ slim majority even more. (Washington Post gift link)

Also in Texas, following a judge’s order (and rebuke), 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, have been released from a holding facility in Dilley and returned to Minnesota. (PBS)

President of Donald John Trump, in a (seeming) massive reversal, posted on his web platform that he’s ordered DHS to “under no circumstances” get involved with protests in Democratic-led cities unless they ask, and to only protect federal property. “ … to all complaining Local Governments, Governors, and Mayors, let us know when you are ready, and we will be there — But, before we do so, you must use the word, ‘PLEASE.’ Remember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE — ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property.” So... is that it? The DHS siege of blue cities is over now? Or at least until the next time Stephen Miller gets in for some facetime and convinces him to change his mind? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Reuters)

But guess he’s going to close the Kennedy Center and tear it down now. (Variety)

The two agents who shot and killed Alex Pretti have been identified from government records by ProPublica as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez. (ProPublica)

There was a 3-million-document EPSTEIN FILES DUMP, and OH BOY is there a lot in there! Melania emailed Ghislaine praise and signed off with “love.” (Maybe it was a different Melania?) Bari Weiss’s wife, and also a CBS contributor Weiss just hired, Dr. Peter Attia. Elon Musk, thirstily slobbering, “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” Epstein claiming Bill Gates got an STD from a Russian hooker. Howard Lutnick planning a visit to the island many years after he claimed to have cut ties. There’s New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. More than 5,300 files mention Trump, including FBI notes about a woman who accused Trump in a lawsuit of raping her when she was 13, and an FBI interview with one of Epstein’s victims who said Ghislaine Maxwell once “presented her” to Trump at a party. Photos of the Andrew formerly known as prince on all fours looming over a girl on the floor. Todd Blanche says anything in there that makes Trump look bad is fake, and the FBI won’t be doing any more investigating, nothing to see here, the end! (The Hill)

Oh, and Ghislaine Maxwell said she could name 29 men who got cushy secret plea deals as a result of Epstein’s highly unusual non-prosecution-of-co-conspirators deal gifted to them by to future Trump cabinet member Alexander Acosta. (The New Republic)

The DOJ and DHS are having such a hard time hiring lawyers that Stephen Miller and DHS acting general counsel Chad Mizelle have been begging on X for applicants to slide into their DMs. (Mediaite)

“Military Commanders Pressured Troops to Watch ‘Melania’” (Jonathan Larsen)

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts — you know, the guy who allegedly beat his neighbor’s dog to death with a shovel — has shifted his foundation’s focus away from infighting over how much antisemitism is okay, and back to its wheelhouse of figuring out ways the government can incentivize American-born women to pop babies out like clown cars and stay home in the rubble of the crumbling economy his think tank’s policies have made. It’s a crusade all the remaining pasty ghouls on the staff can surely get behind! (Heritage Foundation)

Speaking of how much antisemitism is okay, before departing from his post, Gregory Bovino reportedly mocked US attorney in Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen’s Orthodox Jewish faith. Not only abhorrent, but sure to come up in discussions of Bovino’s character in the many lawsuits against DHS sure to come! (New York Times gift link)

Longform, The Comics Journal places Dilbert creator Scott Adams in historical context with an epic eulogy entitled “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream at Black People.” (TCJ)

US House candidate from Illinois Kat Abughazaleh has achieved political-ad perfection.

Let this week bring good news!

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