Cross-Examination

Correction: Yesterday we published a summary with the lead, “Wisconsin pro-life firebomber arrested,” which should have more clearly read, “Wisconsin pro-life center firebomber arrested.”

• Interest rate cuts in ‘24? On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to maintain the 22-year-high interest rate at the current 5.25% to 5.5% range for the third straight time. With increasing signs that the economy is cooling off, a majority of Fed officials predicted that interest rates will likely be cut down next year to an estimated 4.6%. Furthermore, no Fed official anticipates interest rate hikes next year. This sentiment was reiterated by Fed Chair Jerome Powell: “We added the word 'any’ as an acknowledgment that we are likely at, or near, the peak rate for this cycle. But participants also didn’t want to take the possibility of further hikes off the table.” In other words, wait and see what the economy does. Will inflationary growth cool down enough? The Fed has repeatedly pointed at 2% inflation as its target. Inflation is currently at 3.1% over this time last year, considerably higher than the Fed’s target.

• Senate passes NDAA: The Senate approved the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act by a 87-13 margin, with seven Democrats including Bernie Sanders and six Republicans voting against it. The bill authorizes a significant 5.2% pay increase to military personnel and provides billions for aircraft and ships. It also includes another $800 million in funding for Ukraine. Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) heralded the NDAA’s passage by saying that it “enables us to hold the line against Russia, stand firm against the Chinese Communist Party, and ensure that America’s defenses remain state-of-the-art.” Republican Senator Josh Hawley (MO) voted against the NDAA, criticizing it for failing to include continued compensation to victims of radiation exposure. “When the government causes injury,” he said, “the government should make it right. It is wrong to let it expire, it is an injustice, it is a scar on the conscience of this body and on this nation.” The legislation now heads to the House, where it faces criticism from some Republicans for failing to sufficiently remove woke policies from within the Pentagon.

• Crime-ridden DC loses two sports teams: The Spectator’s Ben Domenech calls it “the ultimate indictment of incompetent Mayor Muriel Bowser and corrupt Democrats on the city council who let crime take over the nation’s capital.” And who can disagree? The decision by both the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association to pack up and hightail it out of DC is damning indeed. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to keep the teams in DC with a promise of $800 million for a three-year renovation of the Capital One Arena, which opened in 1997 and is where both teams play. No dice. Instead, she should’ve promised to clean up the crime-ridden city and make it a more desirable place to take the family and watch a game. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, whose state will benefit from the move, announced grand plans for “a brighter, more extraordinary future,” a $2 billion sports and entertainment district in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard. Youngkin also had this observation about the competition between governing philosophies: “States that are led by Republican governors are winning, and states that are led by Democrat governors are losing.”

• Boston mayor’s “no whites” holiday party: You’d think a mayor with a surname like Wu would be attuned to such things as racism, especially given that a nearby school, Harvard, was the defendant in a landmark legal case about discrimination against Asian students. But then you’d be wrong. Wu is facing some backlash — and rightly so — for holding an “Electeds of Color” holiday party. That’s right: no whites allowed. Unfortunately for Wu, the city’s director of city council relations, Denise DosSantos, mistakenly sent an email invitation for the party to all city council members rather than just the colorful ones. Oops. Asked about the divisiveness that such an event might engender, Wu seemed unpersuasive, even evasive. “We had individual conversations with everyone,” she said, “so people understand that it was truly just an honest mistake that went out in typing the email field.” DosSantos has since sent out The Email of Shame, a semi-literate walk-back of the original email that read: “I wanted to apologize for my previous email regarding a holiday party for tomorrow. I did send that to everyone by accident, I apologize if my email may have offended or came across as so. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.” No confusion here, Denise. You’re apologizing not for holding a racist holiday party but for getting caught. It seems to us that Mayor Wu has three choices: cancel the event, open it to everyone, or resign.

• House condemns campus anti-Semitism: Much to the chagrin of Democrat Squad members, the GOP-led House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday condemning both anti-Semitism and the disastrous and morally bankrupt testimony last week of The Three Stooges: University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who rightly resigned under pressure on Saturday, and Harvard President Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth, both of whom somehow managed to hang on to their jobs. “The world is watching,” posted New York Republican Elise Stefanik, the hero of last week’s evisceration of higher-education hatred and elitism. As The Daily Wire reports: “A final tally showed 303 members voting in support of the bipartisan measure, 126 members voting against it, and three lawmakers voting ‘present.’ Two others did not vote.” It’s noteworthy that all but one of those who voted against the measure are Democrats. The exception, as is often the case for resolutions such as this, was Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, whose free-speech absolutism isn’t to be taken lightly.

• Media Matters sues Texas: Leftmedia propaganda outfit Media Matters filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after he launched an investigation into the organization over “potential fraudulent activity” following its dubious claims that Elon Musk’s X platform was running major corporate advertising alongside anti-Semitic and white supremacist content. Following Media Matters’s reporting, several companies including Disney and Apple pulled their adds from X. In its lawsuit against Paxton, Media Matters is ironically alleging that the Texas AG is violating the organization’s free speech rights, arguing that the investigation has imposed a “chill” on its “ability to investigate and publish news stories and further chills their ability to participate in a robust public discussion around political extremism on the X platform.” Talk about a classic case of “rules for thee but not for me.” The folks at Media Matters have no qualms over conducting a disingenuous “investigation” into X, but they object when an investigation is raised against their own questionable “journalistic” methods. Meanwhile, Media Matters was hit with another investigation on Monday, as Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that he is looking into whether the media organization engaged in fraudulent solicitation for donations from Missourians.

• Douglas Emhoff botches Hanukkah: Douglas Emhoff, Kamala Harris’s husband, on Monday posted a video on social media that featured them lighting a menorah and included his written recounting of the story of Hanukkah. Emhoff, who is Jewish, wrote: “The story of Hanukkah and the story of the Jewish people has always been one of hope and resilience. In the Hanukkah story, the Jewish people were forced into hiding. No one thought they would survive or that the few drops of oil they had would last. But they survived and the oil kept burning. During those eight days in hiding, they recited their prayers and continued their traditions. That’s why Hanukkah means dedication. It was during those dark nights that the Maccabees dedicated themselves to maintaining hope and faith in the oil, each other, and their Judaism.” Evidently, Emhoff wasn’t paying very close attention when he was taught the history of Hanukkah, which didn’t involve eight days of Jews hiding. Rather, Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the second temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees defeated their Greek-Syrian oppressors. The oil referred to was the sacred oil for use only in the temple, where only a day’s supply was found for the rededication, but that oil supply miraculously lasted for eight days.

Headlines

• House votes to authorize Biden impeachment inquiry (Fox News)

• Supreme Court will hear J6 dispute that could “undo” hundreds of cases, impact Trump (Daily Wire) | Judge halts January 6 case against Trump (PJ Media)

• Supreme Court to rule on access to abortion pill (National Review)

• Out-of-state travel for abortion doubled since 2020 (Washington Stand)

• Seattle student failed quiz for answering “only women can get pregnant” (Fox News)

• Hallmark leans into LGBT content, vows more “inclusion” in 2024 (Washington Stand)

• Oklahoma governor joins DeSantis, bans using funds for DEI at all state agencies, universities (Daily Wire)

• Detroit man, 28, charged in killing of synagogue leader Samantha Woll (Detroit Free Press)

• Only 10% of Palestinians believe Hamas committed atrocities during Israel invasion (National Review)

• Divine justice: Turkish lawmaker declares Israel cannot “escape the wrath of God,” instantly collapses from heart attack (Daily Wire)

• “Satire”: “Did not attend Harvard” now number one quality employers seeking in job candidate (Babylon Bee)

• Humor: McConnell dresses as prostitute to lure Hunter into closed-door hearing (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.