Cross-Examination

• GOP passes stopgap spending bill: It was beginning to look like déjà vu all over again, with House Republicans scrambling to keep the federal government from shutting down due to lack of funding. This time, though, the results are different, as the House yesterday overwhelmingly passed a temporary bill to keep the government running through the beginning months of 2024. The vote was 336-95, with the entire Democrat caucus voting with 127 Republicans for passage. Any bill that gets more Democrat support than Republican support should be viewed suspiciously, and this one is no exception. Ninety-three Republicans voted against it, including the conservative House Freedom Caucus, mostly because the bill didn’t contain any spending cuts or funding for our southern border. Despite this — or because of it — the bill now heads toward almost certain passage in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Less than a month into his new gig, House Speaker Mike Johnson is already faced with the scenario that led to the ousting of his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. But as we noted yesterday, Johnson called this stopgap measure “a necessary step” while vowing that things will be different next year with individual appropriations bills. Let’s wait and see.

• White House cocaine saga: The White House finally released photos of the infamous baggy of cocaine discovered in the White House this summer. The photos show a cubby locker open and entirely empty except for the small bag of cocaine. The story of the cocaine’s original discovery location changed multiple times, beginning in the library and then eventually ending up in a locker. The Secret Service conducted an investigation, dubiously concluding that it was unable to identify a suspect. So why is the White House now releasing these photos months after cocainegate has effectively blown over?

• Secret Service stops Naomi Biden’s car theft: Crime is growing in Biden’s America, especially in the nation’s capital. Joe Biden’s own granddaughter Naomi was a recent victim, as several criminals attempted to break into her car in her Georgetown neighborhood. She was not on the scene at the time, but her Secret Service detail was and intervened, leading to a shootout as the suspects fled. The Democrats’ soft-on-crime polices are coming home to roost, but most Americans don’t have their own security detail to protect them from criminals. And to make matters worse, in Democrat enclaves like Washington, DC, citizens are not allowed to carry firearms to protect themselves.

• A different kind of flash mob: In Memphis, Tennessee, a mob looted a FedEx truck that was stopped in traffic. The mob of predominately black males descended on the truck and, using an unidentified tool, broke open the back of the 53-foot trailer and proceeded to grab boxes and flee. An estimated $10,000 in damages and stolen items was caused by the thieves. Thus far, law enforcement has arrested only three men involved. Such smash-and-grab operations are becoming a growing problem in Biden’s America.

• Petgrave arrested in hockey death: This story has flown mostly under the radar, but it appears that justice may yet be served on hockey goon Matt Petgrave, who killed former NHLer Adam Johnson when his raised skate blade slashed Johnson’s throat during a collision in an Elite Ice Hockey League game in Sheffield, England, last month. Petgrave was arrested yesterday, although authorities didn’t name him. Weirdly, he’d received a standing ovation at the game just prior to his arrest. Two weeks ago, we asked whether this was manslaughter, and it appears that British law enforcement agrees. When one watches the video, it’s near impossible to view Petgrave’s raised leg as accidental, as a natural hockey movement. Petgrave is known as a dirty player, having led his league in penalty minutes last year. He’s also black, and one wonders whether his race has something to do with the lack of coverage. Hockey is a necessarily violent sport, but it’s exceedingly rare to see a player die on the ice at any level. That’s because hockey players know how dangerous their skate blades are, and because they never raise them intentionally — not even the game’s nastiest players. What Petgrave did was different and a radical departure from hockey norms. Petgrave isn’t a murderer, but he’s a vicious and reckless goon, and he’s rightly been arrested.

• Eighth-grader banned for “blackface”: An eighth grade student in California received a two-day school suspension and is banned from all future school sporting events after he was accused of wearing blackface. Days after attending a high school football game where he wore eyeblack under his eyes on his cheeks and chin — like countless football players of every color across the country do every week — the student was called into the principal’s office, where he was told he was guilty of what was characterized as “offensive comment, intent to harm.” The only racist in this story appears to be the principal, who falsely assumed racial intentions. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has come to the student’s defense, sending a letter to the school to immediately rescind false and frivolous blackface disciplinary actions. Former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Hollywood entertainer Jimmy Kimmel, and a host of other prominent leftists can get away with real blackface. This young kid obviously can’t even just be a football fan.

• Big Sister controls New York: She’s following your posts. That’s effectively the message that New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul sent when she announced her social media surveillance monitoring program. Hiding behind the convenient guise of combating “hate speech,” Hochul said that her administration would be collecting social media data in order to police people’s online speech. Clearly, the governor has little to no respect for the First Amendment. The government’s job is to protect speech, not to protect people from speech. Meanwhile, when it comes to actual hateful speech, Hochul equivocates, refusing to name those most guilty of spreading hate — namely the pro-Hamas crowds that have descended on New York calling for an end to Israel. According to recent data, hate crimes against Jews in New York City have risen by 214% since October of last year. Of the 101 recorded hate crimes last month in NYC, 69 were anti-Jewish compared to eight that were anti-Muslim.

• GOP senator flexes on Teamsters boss: On Senator Markwayne Mullin’s X page, the Republican calls himself a “Christian, proud husband, father to six, strong conservative” and says he brings “Oklahoma values to the U.S. Senate.” Those values were on bold display yesterday during a Senate hearing, when he stood up and challenged thug Teamsters Union President Sean O'Brien to a fight. After reading O'Brien’s insulting posts, Mullin said, “You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults and we can finish it here.” O'Brien responded, “You stand your butt up, big guy,” to which Mullin happily obliged. For the record, Mullin, a very successful small business owner, is also a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, so he brings a unique and refreshing toughness to The World’s Greatest Deliberative Body. O'Brien is fortunate things didn’t escalate from there. Referee committee chairman, the ancient Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders, gaveled the boys down, demanding, “Sit down, you’re a United States Senator.” Recall that Sanders’s party hosts thug Senator John Fetterman (D-PA). Of note, unlike Sanders’s neighboring senator, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mullins actually IS of Cherokee descendant. Mullins later said, “This is some thug that’s a mob boss, so you’re supposed to be intimidated because he’s the boss of the Teamsters.” Clearly, Mullin wasn’t intimidated. We would pay good money to see Mullins and O'Brien in a cage fight. You can enjoy the Senate action here!

• Muslim-turned-atheist converts to Christianity: There was a remarkable moment over the weekend, as Aayan Hirsi Ali, a courageous and vociferous critic of radical Islam who had turned to atheism, announced her conversion to Christianity in an essay published Saturday on UnHerd. As The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson observes, “Ali’s conversion, which is laudable on its own (even if she doesn’t quite yet grasp the true object of her new faith), is a stark reminder that the liberal, secular West cannot survive without the Christian faith from which it emerged.” Ali is a woman of the Left, so the sweep and degree of her conversion are yet be fully understood. But at the end of her essay, she seemed sufficiently humble: “Of course, I still have a great deal to learn about Christianity. I discover a little more at church each Sunday. But I have recognized, in my own long journey through a wilderness of fear and self-doubt, that there is a better way to manage the challenges of existence than either Islam or unbelief had to offer.”

Headlines

• Biden, Xi meet amid disputes over military and economic issues (Reuters)

• Biden admin renews sanctions waiver giving Iran access to $10 billion from Iraq (New York Post)

• IDF forces raid Gaza’s main hospital, find weapons, “concrete evidence” of Hamas use (Times of Israel)

• Largest pro-Israel rally in U.S. history as 290,000 take to National Mall to condemn anti-Semitism (RedState)

• Hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators left stranded on tarmac after bus drivers coordinate anti-Semitic strike (National Review)

• Over 400 officials sign letter demanding call for ceasefire in Israel, criticize president’s handling of conflict (Not the Bee)

• Senate blocks $14.3 billion in aid for Israel (National Review)

• One hundred Harvard faculty members sign off on pro-genocide slogan “From the river to the sea” (Daily Wire)

• Columbia student sues organization behind “doxxing truck” for defamation (National Review)

• Senate tests new tactic to end Tuberville blockade of military promotions (Washington Examiner)

• Trump to remain on Michigan ballot after judge rejects 14th Amendment challenge to eligibility (Fox News)

• Tim Burchett accuses “bully” Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him as tempers erupt in Congress (Washington Examiner) | Ethics complaint filed against former speaker after hallway altercation (Roll Call)

• Hunter Biden to teach class on “fake news” at Tulane University (The Federalist)

• Finnish parliamentarian Paivi Rasanen acquitted over “hate speech” for sharing Bible verse (Washington Stand)

• Policy: Break off this China engagement (National Review)

• Satire: Hamas says all the AK-47s found in Gaza hospital were strictly for medicinal use (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.