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February 19, 2026

Damon Winter/The New York Times

Notable

When ICE came for our patients. “Hippocrates, the physician of ancient Greece, instructs us to ‘do no harm.’ Yet harm now seems to be woven into the very environment in which we practice.

— Robin Canada and Daphne Owen, doctors, and Elizabeth Whidden, an M.D. student

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What it’s like when empathy dies. “The problem in those cases isn’t with empathy, which is a vital human virtue, but rather in its selective application. Just as we wouldn’t call love a sin because we might be stingy in our love, empathy isn’t a sin because its application is incomplete.”

— David French, Opinion columnist

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Olympics for cowards? “The defining feature of American cultural life in this century is that everything has become political, an endless cycle of provocation and counterprovocation. I think Trump is chiefly to blame, but our politics would be helped if his critics wouldn’t constantly rise to his bait.”

— Bret Stephens, Opinion columnist, in conversation with Frank Bruni, contributing Opinion writer

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Spotlight

Photo illustration by Tam Stockton for The New York Times; source photographs by The New York Times

California Needs to Count Votes Faster

The slow counting of votes is a classic example of the perfect being the enemy of the good, the Editorial Board writes.

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ICYMI

The hockey rivalry that’s more than heated. “The resulting upswell in Canadian pride has found expression in the hockey-themed (what else?) slogan ‘Elbows Up,’ which is slang for a pugnacious playing style, and which was featured in an ad made by the comedian Mike Myers and Prime Minister Mark Carney.”

— Adam Sternbergh, a culture editor for Opinion

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Watch (or Listen)

The New York Times Interesting Times with Ross Douthat The Future Is Indian Why the next 30 years belong to a deal-making great power. 45 MIN LISTEN

More in Opinion

The Opinions The Best Moments So Far at the Winter Olympics Three writers and an Olympic medalist on the grit and grace of the winter games. 34 MIN LISTEN

David Wallace-Wells The MAHA Coalition Is Falling Apart A political movement cannot survive on spite alone. By David Wallace-Wells

Guest Essay Why Jesse Jackson Wore That Turtleneck Mr. Jackson was never worried about looking like he worked at a bank. By Robin Givhan

Guest Essay One Man Stole $660 Million. He’ll Never Pay It Back. Ordinary citizens have a range of legal tools to hold the rich and politically connected accountable. By Brendan Ballou

Jessica Grose Why Public School Families Are Protesting Linda McMahon’s Visits Linda McMahon is shocked — shocked! — that there’s been a backlash to the Department of Education’s ‘History Rocks!’ tour. By Jessica Grose

In Your Words

Re: “One Man Stole $660 Million. He’ll Never Pay It Back.”

The optimist in me says this sounds great. The pessimist says our legal system has been captured by the rich. I hope there are enough public-minded attorneys and wealthy people to pursue these types of claims. — A comment posted by Discouraged from Colorado

Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor.

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