Setting Fires to Control the Vote, Chips With Too Much Dip, & A Less-Than-Sober Union
February 28, 2026
What I am Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: From a time when leaders were positive.
Executive Power and Elections: Can Trump Control the Midterms?
If Taiwan Goes Down: The problem with dependence.
Video Break: What doesn’t kill you, just makes you stronger.
State of the Union: Ugly and unnecessary.
My Tribute to A Legend: A Lakers coach like no other.
What I’m Watching: Blue Moon
Jukebox Playlist: Erroll Garner plays Misty
Kareem’s Daily Quote:
“In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.” — President Barack Obama
I think back on my life, on the impossible odds that I faced personally, on the impossible odds that we faced as a country, even in the last 70 years or so. Impossible that Black people would be able to sit at a white counter at Woolworths and be served by a White waitress. Impossible that Black people could go swimming at their local public pool any day of the week—not just on the one day before the water’s about to be drained out and replaced, so that White families might enjoy it again. Those small steps forward were a very long time in coming, and they took a lot of pain and tears to achieve. Which reminds us that progress has never depended on perfect conditions or easy moments, but on people who refuse to shrug and say, “That’s just the way things are.”
Contrary to what some might think, preach or yell from the rafters, loving a country doesn’t mean pretending it has no flaws and never did. It means paying attention when something feels off. It means asking questions when the path forward looks uncertain or shady, and pushing back as hard as you can when it’s out-and-out reprehensible.
Every generation reaches a moment when the challenges in front of it feel just too damn big. The issues may look different on the surface, but the pattern is the same: systems under strain, institutions tested, people trying to make sense of what’s real and what’s noise. It’s easy to feel powerless. But history shows us that the turning points have always come from those who choose to stay engaged rather than step back. People who understand that silence is also a decision.
The quote is not bombastic. It doesn’t call for a parade. It’s simply a reminder that change doesn’t have to start with grand gestures. Sometimes, it starts with awareness. With the willingness to look directly at the things that aren’t working, and work to find a solution instead of hoping they’ll sort themselves out. It starts with people who care enough to ask, “What kind of country do we want to be?” and then do whatever they need to do to move us closer to that answer.
