Cross-Examination

• Disney’s Florida power exposed: A recently released independent audit of the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) found that Disney had effectively engaged in a “bait and switch” with Florida with the creation of the self-governing district. The auditors noted that Disney leveraged the RCID to give itself “complete and unaccountable governmental power” to “maximize its profits” at “the expense of the public good.” The audit came after Governor Ron DeSantis led the Florida legislature in eliminating the Disney-controlled district, as he argued at the time that Disney should “live under the same laws as everybody else” because “allowing a corporation to control its own government is bad policy.” Indeed it was. "Hardly anyone outside of the special district knew about the scope and scale of the problems plaguing it,“ the auditors found. "Complete and unaccountable governmental power was handed over to a private corporation, transforming a democratic institution into a private corporate monopoly.” Thankfully, DeSantis’s actions ended Disney’s abuses.

• Nuclear pledges: While much of the UN’s annual climate conference in Dubai has amounted to little other than the same old climate change fearmongering, at least one rational and practical agreement came out of this year’s event. Twenty-two countries, including the U.S., pledged to triple their nuclear energy capacity by the year 2050. Going nuclear is the only practical means of even coming close to the loudly stated goal of net-zero carbon emissions, but up until this conference the climate alarmists had maddeningly rejected expanding nuclear energy as a means to do so. Now, along with the U.S., Canada, France, South Korea, Sweden, and the UK are among the 22 countries that signed the nuclear pledge, which will help reduce dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation. Even Joe Biden’s climate czar John Kerry timidly endorsed going nuclear, stating, “We are not making the argument to anybody that this is absolutely going to be the sweeping alternative to every other energy source — no, that’s not what brings us here,” but “you can’t get to net-zero 2050 without some nuclear.” Correction: You can’t get there without a lot of nuclear.

• Top-tier justice for Wendy’s arsonists: Perhaps you remember the image from the long hot George Floyd summer of 2020: An Atlanta Wendy’s goes up in flames as Black Lives Matter thugs riot to protest the death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks. Brooks had been shot and killed by an Atlanta cop the previous night after failing a breathalyzer test, resisting arrest, assaulting a cop, taking another cop’s taser, attempting to flee, and then turning and firing the taser at the pursuing cop. Those officers were shamefully charged for their actions but ultimately cleared of wrongdoing. But what of the BLM arsonists who torched the Wendy’s? As The Blaze reports, “For reducing the business to ash and rubble, Chisom Kingston and the woman whom Rayshard Brooks indicated was his ‘girlfriend,’ Natalie Hanna White, will have to pay a $500 fine and complete 150 hours of community service.” That’s it. No prison time and no restitution for their role in burning down a business. Apparently, a guilty plea gets you a wrist slap and five years of toothless probation. A third arsonist, John Wesley Wade, has been held in federal prison and is set to go to trial today. But the lesson of this utter lack of justice is clear: Being on the Left side of history means never having to say you’re sorry.

• Bottom-tier justice for conservative actor: While BLM arsonists were getting the kid-glove treatment in Atlanta, a black conservative actor, activist, and Trump supporter was getting a dose of two-tiered justice from the FBI in Los Angeles. As RedState reports, Siaka Massaquoi, who writes for RedState and starred in various Babylon Bee skits and the recent Daily Wire film “Ladyballers,” “was arrested Thursday night at an LA airport on four misdemeanor charges related to his peaceful participation in protests in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.” Is it a coincidence that he was arrested nearly three years after January 6 on his way home from that movie premiere? Massaquoi, who ran for the California State Assembly in 2022, currently serves as the first vice-chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. We’re sure this is also purely a coincidence, though. Among the dire charges against him are trespassing, parading, and disorderly conduct — all of which apparently warranted separating him from his pregnant wife and taking him to jail for an overnight stay. Upon his release, Massaquoi said: “I’m so grateful to Jesus for being with me and my family throughout this unbelievable event. … It is heartbreaking and unfortunate for all that we are living in an America like this. We are at a fork in the road for our nation and its future.”

• Hamas, Israeli women, and the Left’s shameful silence: The silence of the Left continues to deafen us in the wake of the increasingly well-documented sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli women during the murderous terrorist attack of October 7. Apparently, many of those on the Left are content to believe the words of a dismissive Hamas spokesman, who said that rape is forbidden and therefore couldn’t possibly have happened. At least one Democrat, though — New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand — couldn’t stomach the silence any longer. At the United Nations yesterday, she rightly denounced her colleagues: “When I saw the list of women’s rights organizations who have said nothing, I nearly choked. Where is the solidarity for women in this country and in this world?” Among those disgracefully silent leftist organizations are Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List, the World Health Organization, the Democratic Women’s Caucus, and the American Association of University Women. Further, for leftist women like Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal to protest the loss of life in Gaza without calling out the depravity of Hamas toward Israeli women is — let’s face it — sickening.

• A school trip turns into a transgender nightmare: Those who think the transgender cult is much ado about nothing should put themselves in the shoes of Christian parents Joe and Serena Wailes. As Fox News reports, they learned that their 11-year-old daughter, whom they entrusted to the Jefferson County Public Schools for a cross-country summer trip from their home in Colorado to Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, “said they discovered that JCPS had assigned their daughter to share a room with a biological male who identifies as a girl without notifying them or informing their daughter.” Apparently, their daughter only learned of her male bedmate’s identity because the student told her on the first night of the trip. The Alliance Defending Freedom has taken up the case, arguing: “It then took the girl and her parents multiple requests to get her moved to another room. And even then, chaperones told the girl to lie about the reason for her move because of the district’s overnight rooming policy — a policy that violates parental rights and student privacy.”

• Gold Bar Bob: When federal agents searched New Jersey Democrat Senator Bob Menendez’s home back in September in the government’s high-profile bribery investigation, they found several gold bars. We’ve now learned that the gold bars that were found weren’t just any gold bars but were tied to a robbery a decade ago. Back in 2013, four armed men beat and robbed wealthy New Jersey real estate developer Fred Daibes at his apartment in Edgewater. Among the items the robbers stole were 22 gold bars. Serial numbers on four of the gold bars recovered at Menendez’s home match some of the ones stolen from Daibes, who just happens to be one of the individuals allegedly involved in the years-long bribery scheme for which Menendez has been indicted. Back in September following his indictment, Menendez maintained his innocence, claiming, “When all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.” This latest evidence will be tough to explain away.

• Burgum quits race, disappointing dozens: North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is out of the Republican presidential primary race. On Monday, the largely unknown candidate who was polling at less than 1% nationally announced that he was ending his long-shot bid. Burgum, who made a fortune in Big Tech, focused on the economy and confronting China as the primary issues of his campaign. Burgum now joins several other higher-profile individuals such as Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, and Larry Elder who dropped out of the race. As the field has shrunk, the fourth Republican debate will happen Wednesday in Alabama, and only four candidates will be on the stage: Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Christie. Donald Trump will again be a no-show.

Headlines

• China-linked company directly paid Joe Biden, latest released bank records show (Daily Signal)

• World carbon dioxide emissions increase again, driven by China, India, and aviation (AP)

• Israeli journalist doubles down on report linking UN’s Palestinian agency to Hamas hostage-taking (National Review)

• Michelle Obama’s response when asked to condemn Hamas’ rapes of Israeli women won’t shock you (RedState)

• Biden threatens to veto GOP bid to repeal income-driven repayment regulation (Washington Examiner)

• Tuohy family claims Michael Oher tried to shake them down for millions, threatened family (Fox Sports)

• Prestigious science journals confirm censored views: masks at best don’t reduce COVID infection (Just the News)

• Ammunition and gunpowder prices are about to get even steeper in 2024 (RedState)

• Math scores for U.S. students hit all-time low on international exam (Washington Post)

• Satire: Public educators warn low literacy rates may prevent kids from reading about gay sex (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.