Cross-Examination

• Good news: Senate Republicans sink bad border bill: By a procedural vote of 49-50, the border bill that was chock-full of problematic provisions that would have effectively made the illegal immigration problem worse failed to reach the needed 60-vote threshold to advance. After weeks of wrangling, the majority of Republicans abandoned the bipartisan legislation that would have also provided more aid funding for Ukraine and Israel than our own border. The Republican-controlled House had already stated that the bill would be dead on arrival, so it would have been a work of futility even if the Senate had passed it. That said, Joe Biden and the Democrats are angling for more political fodder against Republicans for refusing to consider a bipartisan border bill after years of complaining about the border crisis and after their failed attempt to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Thankfully, the majority of Republican senators abandoned the legislation after senators like Ted Cruz blasted GOP leadership for supporting this bad bill. “Here’s really what’s accomplished: It is all about political messaging,” Cruz said. “This enables Chuck Schumer, it enables every Democrat running for reelection and enables Joe Biden to, number one, to not secure the border, to leave the crisis exactly as it is. But number two, to say, ‘Well, we wanted to secure the border, but the Republicans stopped us.’ This is all about giving political cover for Democrats.” Exactly.

• Biden special counsel is done writing report to absolve him: Robert Hur, the Justice Department special counsel handpicked by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate and clear his good friend Joe Biden, has completed his inquiry into the president’s “mishandling” of classified documents, and Hur’s report should soon be released to Congress and the public. We say “should be” because, of course, Team Biden needs to take a look at the report first to make sure it doesn’t say anything too critical of the corrupt pathological liar who’s currently ensconced in the White House. As the AP reports, AG Garland “did not detail the conclusions of the report from special counsel Robert Hur, but said he was committed to disclosing as much of the document as possible once the White House completes a review for potential executive privilege concerns.” According to Biden mouthpiece Ian Sams, that process “is expected to be completed by the end of the week,” just in time for a Friday afternoon news dump. The fundamentals of the case aren’t in dispute. We all know that the Big Guy had classified documents in his possession, that he had them in boxes in the garage next to his classic Corvette, and that the Walking Security Risk himself, Hunter Biden, would’ve had easy access to them. Interestingly, though, as former Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway noted: “In the Trump White House when the Mueller Report came out, we did not have advance notice. … We found out when the rest of the world found out. They should not get a heads-up.” Oh, but they are getting a heads-up, Kellyanne, because that’s the way these people operate.

• Biden kills a jihadi: Finally, one of Joe Biden’s retaliatory airstrikes following the Iranian-backed militia’s drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan last month has claimed a high-ranking jihadi commander in Baghdad, Iraq. A U.S. drone strike delivered on Wednesday evening killed three members of a militia called Kataib Hezbollah. Wissam Mohammed “Abu Bakr” al-Saadi, who was in charge of the group’s operations in Syria, was killed along with two other militants in a car they were traveling in. U.S. officials believe that the drone strike that killed the U.S. troops was directed by Kataib Hezbollah. After three Americans were killed in Jordan, as well as after 13 Americans were killed in Afghanistan, Biden’s initial retaliation killed civilians rather than enemy fighters.

• Five Marines die in helicopter crash: The sketchy news reports from yesterday morning were ominous, and today’s news — sadly, tragically — confirms them. Five U.S. Marines from Air Station Miramar were killed late Tuesday night when their CH-53E Super Stallion rotary-wing craft went down in bad weather in the mountains east of San Diego. The Marines were returning from training at Creech Air Force Base northwest of Las Vegas. “It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I share the loss of five outstanding Marines from 3d Marine Aircraft Wing and the ‘Flying Tigers,’” said Major General Michael J. Borgschulte, commander of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in a statement. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Training for war is deadly business, and though our warriors understand these risks, we’re no less grief-stricken by their loss, whether Marines in the mountains of Southern California or Navy SEALs in the Arabian Sea. “To the families of our fallen Marines,” said Borgschulte, “we send our deepest condolences and commit to ensuring your support and care during this incredibly difficult time.”

• Young Chiefs fan sues for “blackface” defamation: Deadspin better hope for a good lawyer because the Leftmedia rag is going to need him. The lefty sports commentary site has been hit with a lawsuit on behalf of the young Kansas City Chiefs fan whom it defamed for allegedly appearing in blackface at the Chiefs-Raiders game on Thanksgiving weekend. As our Nate Jackson noted at the time, the Deadspin reporter in question, Carron Phillips, “decided to bully a young kid with a racist screed based on a misleading screenshot at the top of the article showing the fan turned sideways to show only black paint on his face under the Chiefs headdress.” This is despite a view of the boy’s full face showing that the other half was painted in an unmistakable shade of “Chiefs” red. “Soon after the story was published,” reports National Review, “Deadspin was contacted by conservative sports site Outkick about issuing a retraction, but Deadspin opted for a Dan Campbellesque doubling down. That decision may end up being ruinously expensive.” Let’s hope so. And let’s hope this kid’s lawyers have already been in touch with the legal team of the Covington Catholic kids.

• Atlanta is a squatter’s paradise: There seems to be a common and undeniable connection between rising crime and Democrat leadership. Most of America’s largest cities are run by Democrats, and the criminal problems that ensue just seem to get worse. Atlanta is one of those Democrat-run cities facing a worsening litany of crime problems. One example of this is the growing problem of squatting in the city. More than 1,200 homes are occupied by squatters in Atlanta. Entire neighborhoods have been taken over by squatters, and, as one home-cleaning company manager put it, “I’d be terrified in Atlanta to lease out one of my properties.” The problem has gotten so bad that, in some instances, property owners have bribed squatters to leave. How has it gotten so bad? Well, as Atlanta-area resident editor and columnist for PJ Media Chris Queen observes, “Certain parts of metro Atlanta — the areas under total Democrat control — are looking the other way when it comes to crime, so it’s no surprise that criminals are getting bolder and more creative.”

• Disney’s DEI double-down: Suffice it to say that The Walt Disney Company is not a learning organization. Otherwise, it would have looked at its balance sheet and its long-sorry stock price and made the necessary adjustments. If only it had done so — if only it had sworn off the ruinous and divisive policies of so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — it wouldn’t have attracted the attention of the anti-woke warrior who buys his ink by the terabyte. “An anonymous source just sent me this from Disney,” posted Elon Musk on Tuesday, “It is mandatory, institutionalized racism and sexism!” The subject of Musk’s post was a leaked document that spelled out Disney’s “Inclusion Standards” for General Entertainment Content. Not content with that single broadside, though, Musk let loose with an additional salvo: “Here is the full racist, sexist, etc discriminatory set of laws enforced by Disney’s DEI Gestapo.” And another one, after which Musk noted the, er, challenges that this sort of woke dogmatism presents to the creative process. “No wonder most of their content produced over the past several years has sucked.” Indeed, no wonder.

• Biden EPA’s new rule will kill manufacturing jobs: On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a new stricter air pollution standard that promises to impact America’s manufacturing industry negatively. The new air pollution rule lowers the legal limit for particulate matter (PM2.5) by nearly 25%, from 12 micrograms per cubic meter down to nine micrograms. According to a 2023 study by Oxford Economics, the new strict PM2.5 regulation would result in a loss of between $162.4 and $197.4 billion in economic activity and cost nearly one million Americans their jobs. “Tightening the NAAQS PM2.5 standard will grind permits to a halt for a large portion of our country,” contended Marty Durbin, senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “EPA’s new rule is expected to put 569 counties out of compliance and push many others close to the limit, which threatens economic growth.” It’s not just Bidenflation that has been negatively impacting the economy; it’s also been Biden’s regulatory czars.

Headlines

• Supreme Court hears arguments about whether Trump can be on 2024 ballot in landmark case (New York Post)

• Yellen dodges on whether Treasury Department moved to surveil Americans’ legal purchases (Fox Business)

• Marianne Williamson ends 2024 campaign after Nevada loss to Biden (Washington Examiner)

• Biden mixes up Kohl and Merkel in second gaffe this week (The Hill)

• Car insurance rates jump 26% across the U.S. in 2024 (CBS News)

• Credit card debt hits a staggering $1.13 trillion (CNBC)

• Fast foodies are getting fed up with price hikes at the drive-thru (NBC News)

• One out of five “new jobs” in Biden’s economy are government jobs (FrontPage Mag)

• Trans people are happy so shut up you bigot: Survey of over 90,000 trans people shows vast improvement in life satisfaction after transition (NBC News)

• “Convinced by the data”: Dartmouth College reinstates SAT requirement (College Fix)

• Netanyahu rejects Hamas cease-fire demands, vows to fight until “absolute victory” (AP)

• Humor: Biden urges Congress: “Make me president so I can finally fix the border” (Genesius Times)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.