Cross-Examination

• Good news: Empowered woman: The newest “Mrs. American” winner, Hannah Neeleman, had quite the inspiring response when she was asked during the pageant, “When have you felt the most empowered?” Neeleman, a 33-year-old mother of seven, answered: “I have felt this feeling seven times now as I bring these sacred souls to the earth … [and] I hold that newborn baby in my arms. The feeling of motherhood … is the most empowering feeling I have ever felt.” Neeleman works a farm with her husband in Utah, is a graduate of Juilliard, and was previously crowned “Miss New York City.” But of those notable accomplishments, it’s beautiful that she views her experience of being a mother as the most significant.

• Good news: A small win against the Rainbow Mafia: A Canadian appellate court has ended a father’s incarceration and eliminated a $30,000 fine he was assessed when he was found guilty of violating a ridiculous law designed to stop parents from preventing their child from “transitioning.” Robert Hoogland had been found guilty by a judge of “misgendering” his 13-year-old daughter when he fought to prevent her from being injected with testosterone. According to British Columbia’s Infant Act, minors are free to receive gender-bending procedures without parental consent. Hoogland was imprisoned for speaking out against this as well as for referencing his daughter as “daughter.” The British Columbia Court of Appeals agreed that the judgment of a six-month sentence and $30,000 fine was excessive. Hoogland sees the ruling as momentum-changing: “The tide is turning, and to finally get a big win after just all these horrific losses and the way things were going — I think that’s just critical for morale, at the very least.”

• Hypocrite mayors and security: When politicians pander to a radical constituency, but don’t really embrace the “cause,” they are rightly to be labeled as hypocrites. When the leftist Black Lives Matter movement gained prominence in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death, it took the opportunity to push an anti-law enforcement agenda calling to “defund the police.” Several Democrat mayors of major cities didn’t reject the false narrative and instead jumped on board the insanity bandwagon. Mayors of such cities as Los Angeles, Denver, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis all acted by various means to cut down the size of their city’s police departments. Of course, the predictable result was a crime wave that continues to plague the residents of these cites. At the same time these mayors were cutting police budgets, they were quietly ensuring their own personal security details. In other words, these mayors knew that cutting policing budgets was dangerous, but they did it anyway to promote the woke narrative without suffering consequences themselves.

• School treads on kid: A 12-year-old student at a public charter school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was sent home for having a Gadsden flag patch on his backpack. The famous Revolutionary War-era flag features a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow field over the words “Don’t Tread on Me.” (You can buy one at the Patriot Post Shop.) When his mother confronted the school over the issue, an administrator falsely claimed that the Gadsden flag was associated with “slavery” and “the slave trade.” The student’s mother captured the meeting on video, which also shows the administrator asserting, “We can’t have that [flag] around other kids.” Furthermore, the administrator claimed she was merely following the school district’s policy. However, there is no such policy, which the student’s mother pointed out. As this story came to light, to his credit, Colorado Democrat Governor Jared Polis weighed in, calling the Gadsden flag “a proud symbol of the American revolution and an iconic warning to Britain or any government not to violate the liberties of Americans.” In fact, this incident is “a great teaching moment for a history lesson!” Thankfully, the school has reversed course and has reinstated the student, permitting him to attend with the Gadsden flag patch visible.

• Rittenhouse sued by deceased child molester’s estate: Ever since Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder charges in relation to the use of deadly force to defend himself against a mob of leftist rioters, the Left has painted a target on his back. Recently, the estate of one of those killed while attacking Rittenhouse — that of Joseph Rosenbaum, a convicted child molester — has raised a civil lawsuit against Rittenhouse over “wrongful death” claims. Rosenbaum was the first of two individuals to be killed while chasing after and attacking Rittenhouse. With the entire incident caught on video, there is simply no compelling evidence to suggest that Rittenhouse was in any way acting as the instigator or the aggressor. Indeed, when threatened, he sought to flee his attackers before as a last resort using his firearm to protect himself. This is a textbook case of self-defense, which appears to be why the Left is trying so hard to attack it. They don’t want this precedent.

Headlines

• Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in Florida (The Weather Channel)

• House Republican leaders want to launch Biden impeachment inquiry next month (Fox News)

• Tim Scott rolls out new education plan he says will “empower parents” (Washington Examiner)

• Miami Mayor Francis Suarez suspends Republican presidential bid (National Review)

• Consumer confidence wanes with prices still high and signs of a cooling job market (AP)

• Biden administration unveils first 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations (CNBC)

• Border Patrol Union says 7,000 illegals enter U.S. daily (PJ Media)

• “The governor is wrong”: NYC mayor blasts Hochul’s handling of migrant crisis (National Review)

• Obama judge compares Trump January 6 case with Boston Marathon bombing, 9/11 trials (Daily Wire)

• Chicago news crew robbed at gunpoint while filming story on robberies (Not the Bee)

• DC jury finds pro-life activists guilty on all counts of blockading abortion clinic (Daily Signal)

• Washington state 4-H competition threatens students for wearing “My pronouns are nor/mal” T-shirt (PM)

• NASCAR, other companies ban white job applicants (Washington Stand)

• OnlyFans owner made over $1 million a day in 2022 (Washington Stand)

• Policy: Welcome to the new era of nuclear brinkmanship (AEI)

• “Satire”: Donald Trump’s trial for election interference set to begin in time to interfere with election (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.