Hit List: “Four people familiar with U.S. intelligence said that Russia has drafted lists of Ukrainian political figures and other prominent individuals to be targeted for either arrest or assassination in the event of a Russian assault on Ukraine.” Russia Planning Post-Invasion Arrest and Assassination Campaign in Ukraine, U.S. Officials Say. Meanwhile, the troop buildup continues. And Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas gets it exactly right: Putin is ‘enjoying himself’ with military build-up. (Putin has been putting poison in the world’s underpants for decades…)

+ Cold as Ice: “It was ‘chilling’ to see the ‘cold’ way distraught Kamila Valieva was treated by her Russian coach after falls in her figure skating routine at Beijing 2022, says International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.” And when the IOC thinks you’re cold, you’re really cold. So was this the Valieva Olympics? Or were we obsessing over the coldness from a coach towards her 15 year-old ice skating prodigy while ignoring backdrop the human rights horror show? Or was this the Eileen Gu Olympics? Or was this an Olympics where the fake snow was a metaphor for the whole show? It’s hard to know what to make of anything these days, especially when the world’s most powerful players are working so hard to confuse you. How Bots and Fake Accounts Push China’s Vision of Winter Olympic Wonderland.

+ Taking it On the (Man)Chin: “The White House was unable to secure an extension of the program amid a disagreement over its broader economic proposal with Sen. Joe Manchin, who raised multiple objections to the child benefit and said it was discouraging parents from working. Virtually all Republicans have also opposed Biden’s expanded Child Tax Credit, and Washington has shifted away from pandemic spending as lawmakers seek to curb the worst inflationary spike in four decades.” WaPo: Child poverty spiked by 41 percent in January after Biden benefit program expired.

+ Reason Season: “It provided an example not of how the right can beat the left, but rather of how the left can regulate and reform the left—an example that can and should be emulated on the right.” David French: In San Francisco, Reason Beats Radicalism. (Bingo.)

+ Taser’s Edge: “Kim Potter, the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who said she confused her handgun for her Taser when she fatally shot Daunte Wright, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.”