Government & Politics

• Johnson protects women: With Congresswoman Nancy Mace proposing a bill to ensure that males do not have access to women’s bathrooms in the Capitol after the election of the first “transgender” male to Congress — Tim Sarah McBride (D-DE) — Speaker Mike Johnson acted on Wednesday by issuing a new rule. It reads: “All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex. It is important to note that each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.” Johnson added, “Women deserve women’s only spaces.” McBride responded by stating that he was “not here to fight about bathrooms,” adding that he “will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.” If only he’d follow the rules of biology more generally.

• Biden’s grotesque Medal of Freedom: The “Good Catholic” Joe Biden quietly bestowed the nation’s highest civilian honor on former Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards on Wednesday. She led the country’s number one abortion mill from 2006 to 2018, overseeing the murder of millions of preborn babies. The award ceremony was not publicly announced until after the event, nor were the media allowed to attend. In other words, it was done on the down-low because the Biden administration knew how blatantly controversial and offensive this was. “The White House continues to promote abortion up to the bitter end,” observed Emily Davis, vice president of communications for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “Under Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood ended more than 3.8 million unborn lives and was caught harvesting baby body parts for sale. Where is the ‘freedom’ for babies and moms? It’s time to end Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer-funded ride.” Giving Richards this award is worse than bestowing a civil rights award on the Grand Wizard of the KKK.

• Why both Arabs and Israelis preferred Trump: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to congratulate Donald Trump on his electoral victory earlier this month, but the Saudi Crown Prince wasn’t far behind. Both men, despite their disparate interests and impassioned constituencies, have a common interest in regional peace and stability, and they believe Trump, far more than Kamala Harris, is equipped to bring it about. “In the Arab world,” writes former Obama Middle East diplomat R. David Harden, “the term ‘wasta’ is a colloquial expression describing the use of personal connections or influential relationships to gain advantage and favor. A man with wasta rewards loyalty, values tribe over governing norms, and trades in favors rather than acts on principle.” That last part is a none-too-subtle swipe at Trump, but what are we to expect from those whose milquetoast Middle East policies brought nothing but strife to the region? Harden, though, makes a far better point about the voting shift of Michigan’s large Arab-American community: “Dearborn voters know better than most of us the customs, practices and culture of the Middle East. Despite the Muslim ban, anti-immigrant rhetoric and Israeli-American activist Miriam Adelson’s $100 million donation to the Trump campaign, Michigan’s largest Arab American community decisively voted for Trump over Harris.”

Security

• Obama gave ICE’s Homan a Presidential Rank Award: Leftmedia pundits have been losing their collective minds over Donald Trump choosing Tom Homan to serve as border czar. Trump campaigned on promising to remove the massive number of illegal aliens who entered the country thanks to Joe Biden’s de facto open border policies. Tagging Homan to direct this effort is the first impactful step in making this campaign promise a reality. Therefore, the Left has smeared Homan as some jackbooted racist champing at the bit to “tear families apart.” Yet this is the same Homan who received a Presidential Rank Award, the nation’s highest civil service award, from none other than Barack Obama in 2016 for his service in Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homan, who served in ICE from 1984 to 2018, oversaw the deportation of over 2.4 million illegal aliens during the Obama administration. In other words, he’s the perfect man for the job of cleaning up the mess that Biden’s border malfeasance has created. Furthermore, he’s got the support of 58% of the American public, who support mass deportation of illegal aliens.

• Criminals can sponsor illegals under Biden’s “parole” program: Democrats remain in power by giving away “free” stuff. And they’ve endeavored to grow their voter base by opening our southern border to people with brown and black skin, believing incorrectly that these immutable epidermal characteristics somehow predict future Democrat voting fealty. These two cynical practices have been combined by the Biden-Harris administration in a pro-trafficking immigration program whose details practically beggar belief. As The Washington Times reports: “Sex traffickers may be using a Biden administration ‘parole’ program to sneak illegal immigrant women into the U.S., the House Judiciary Committee revealed Wednesday in an explosive report exposing fraud in one of the Homeland Security Department’s marquee border operations. Welfare recipients, people involved with criminal activity and even other illegal immigrants have been approved as sponsors for parolees from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.” DHS doesn’t check would-be sponsors for criminal records. So much damage has already been done, but at least we know that this awful program will be terminated on or about January 20, 2025.

• That Quantico incident? Nothing to see here: Remember the ruckus caused back in May by two Jordanian illegals who attempted to breach Marine Corps Base Quantico in a box truck posing as Amazon delivery drivers? Remember all the speculation about how they were likely conducting a dry run to test security at the base before launching a terrorist attack? Well, the Biden-Harris Justice Department wants you to move along. They say there’s nothing to see here. The DOJ “quietly dismissed charges,” reports The Washington Times, adding, “In court documents, the U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia said squelching the cases was in the interest of ‘the ends of justice,’” and the details of the case remain murky. “We are aware that one of these men entered through the Southwest border, claimed asylum, and was released into the interior just a month prior to the incident at Quantico,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green. “The circumstances surrounding this event remain concerning, and I urge the Biden-Harris administration to respond without further delay to Congress and the American people.” We’re shocked — SHOCKED — to report that the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on the dismissal of charges.

• Russia fires first intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine (Newsweek)

• Senate shoots down Bernie’s attempted arms embargo on Israel (Washington Free Beacon)

• ICC issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu (Newsweek)

Culture

• Another celebrity flees Trump’s America: We hate to see distressed leftist glitterati self-deporting in the wake of Orange Hitler’s resounding electoral victory and concomitant repudiation of Kamala Harris’s $1 billion advertising war chest. Still, we wish Ellen DeGeneres the happiest of trails. DeGeneres, whose last tango with relevancy took place some years ago, announced that she’s calling it quits and departing from the greatest country on Planet Earth. The onetime “comedian” and talk-show host “said that her recent stand-up special on Netflix would be her last,” the doleful Daily Beast reports. “And now, after getting ‘kicked out of show business,’ as she put it, the comedian has apparently self-exiled across the pond.” Show business is a tough racket, no? So is putting all of one’s eggs in the Kamala Harris basket. The Beast continued, “DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have put their Montecito, California home on the market and fled the country to Great Britain with no plans to return — a move spurred by the election of Donald Trump this month.” Now, if only we can convince more of her Hollywood fellow travelers to follow Ellen’s intrepid lead to an even more left-wing — and more white — foreign country.

• Women are boycotting Thanksgiving with their Trump-supporting family (Newsweek)

• Jussie Smollett conviction overturned by Illinois Supreme Court (Fox News)

• Colorado to pay over $1.5 million to settle lawsuit with Christian website designer (Christian Post)

• Jaguar rebrand called “disastrous” as focus on diversity comes under fire (Newsweek)

• Hospital apologizes for Chick-fil-A lunch, thanks employees who had the “courage” to complain (Daily Wire)

Economy

• Cali votes down minimum wage hike: The basic understanding of economic principles is not entirely lost on California voters as they voted down Prop 32, a measure that would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026. It took a while to count, but voters appear to have listened to the wisdom of the California Chamber of Commerce and opposed the bill, observing that its passage would result in job losses and higher taxes. As the chamber’s CEO, Jennifer Barrera, noted, “With the economy and costs top of mind for many voters this election, that message appears to have resonated.” Furthermore, given the negative fallout from the Golden State raising fast food workers’ minimum wage to $20 per hour in April of this year, it’s understandable that voters wanted no more of this economy-damaging policy.

• Ford to cut European jobs as EV shift, Chinese rivals take toll (Reuters)

Misc.

• Ethics Committee won’t release Gaetz report, as Democrats turn to other tactics (Roll Call)

• Gravy train derails at MSNBC: Top anchors face huge pay cut after Comcast severs ties with left-wing network (Washington Free Beacon)

• North Carolina GOP lawmakers vote to strip incoming Democratic leaders’ powers (NBC News)

• Humor: Here’s how 14 different news outlets are covering the “Trump Dance” craze (Babylon Bee)

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