Top of the Fold

• Biden orders U.S. embassy families to leave Ukraine: In a clear indication of just how high tensions have risen between Russia and Ukraine, Joe Biden’s State Department ordered all families of American embassy personnel in Ukraine to leave the country. “The security conditions, particularly along Ukraine’s borders, in Russia-occupied Crimea, and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine, are unpredictable and can deteriorate with little notice,” the order warned. “Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19.” This action is also intended as a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin, yet the question is: Does Putin really believe Biden presents any serious threat?

• Manhattan DA rethinks “decriminalization/non prosecution” memo: Earlier this month, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a controversial internal staff memo in which he called for ending prosecutions against certain “low-level” crimes such as marijuana possession, trespassing, resisting arrest, and prostitution, as well as downgrading certain felony crimes like drug dealing and armed robbery. Bragg asserted that doing so would be “in the best interest of safety and justice.” However, following an attack against two New York City police officers responding to a domestic violence call that left one officer dead on Friday, Bragg sought to distance himself from his memo by claiming that it gave “the wrong impression.” He then declared that “any use of a gun to rob a store by definition is and must be and will be treated seriously.” As Bragg is now learning, going soft on crime only invites more of it.

• Biden’s bad poll numbers are sinking Dems: Joe Biden may be the biggest lead weight for Democrats already facing dim election prospects come November. A recent NBC News poll finds that a whopping 72% of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. That’s a recipe for disaster for the party in power. Underscoring this, while the poll shows Republicans with a favorability score just a point higher than Democrats, it’s the high unpopularity of the Democrats that’s striking — 48% have a negative view. Biden’s biggest failure in his litany of them may be the fact that he has done the opposite of what he promised, namely to unite the country. His hard-left policies have only produced more problems and increased division, with one arguable exception: Just 33% of Americans believe that Biden is mentally and physically fit for the job. We’re wondering how it’s even that high. Maybe the one bright spot for Biden is that he’s still not polling as badly as Kamala Harris.

• UK university issues trigger warning for Orwell’s 1984: In an apparent attempt to reclassify George Orwell’s famous work of fiction 1984 as a history book, the University of Northampton in Orwell’s Britain decided to become Big Brother, issuing a trigger warning against the book for containing “explicit material” that students may find “offensive and unsettling.” The trigger warning had Tory MP Andrew Bridgen observing: “There’s a certain irony that students are now being issued trigger warnings before reading Nineteen Eighty-Four. Our university campuses are fast becoming dystopian Big Brother zones where Newspeak is practiced to diminish the range of intellectual thought and cancel speakers who don’t conform to it.”

More From Your Patriot Post Team

• Nate Jackson: Vax Mandates Still Losing in Court — A federal judge issued an injunction against Biden’s mandate applying to federal workers.

• Emmy Griffin: Starbucks Shows Good COVID Sense — The coffee powerhouse has decided to forgo making its employees get the vaccine.

• Douglas Andrews: Joe Biden Is Toxic Even to Democrats — With his poll numbers in the toilet, office-seeking Democrats don’t want this president anywhere near them during the campaign season.

• Thomas Gallatin: Biden the Red-Tape Dispenser — In just his first year, Biden has outdone both Donald Trump and Barack Obama in new regulatory costs.

• Douglas Andrews: The Leftmedia Is Trying to Divide Republicans on Trump — The mainstream media is doing its best to start a fight between Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

• In Brief: Don’t Work for a Living? — Ending the expectation for adults to work erases human dignity.

Government & Politics

• Supreme Court will consider challenges to affirmative action in Harvard, UNC admissions (NBC News)

• Republicans pin national education battle to Parents’ Bill of Rights (Free Beacon)

• Arizona Democrat Party censures Kyrsten Sinema over filibuster integrity stance (National Review)

• NPR fake-newster erupts after editor criticizes SCOTUS masking hearsay denied by justices (Daily Wire)

Economy

• Intel is building a $20 billion computer chip facility in Ohio amid a global shortage (AP)

• Government to allow teens to become truck drivers to combat supply chain issues (NY Post)

Culture

• Thug who allegedly ambushed two NYPD officers was out on probation (Post Millennial)

• “Women are now third-class citizens”: Lia (read: Will) Thomas teammate speaks out (Daily Wire)

• FBI says Brian Laundrie claimed responsibility for Gabby Petito’s death in notebook (Washington Examiner)

Odds & Ends

• Taiwan intercepts massive swarm of Chinese military aircraft as weak Biden tested around world (Daily Wire)

• Trial begins in Sarah Palin’s libel suit against The New York Times (National Review)

• The shifting definition of fully vaccinated (Axios)

Closing Arguments

• Policy: The Russia sanctions that could actually stop Putin (Politico)

• Satire: Biden says Russia can invade Ukraine so long as it avoids Hunter’s gas company (Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.

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