Top of the Fold

• Anything a woman can do, a man identifying as a woman can do better: USA Today just announced its choices for “Women of the Year,” and one of the individuals is not actually a woman. For its annual recognition, the Leftmedia outlet picked Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Rachel Levine, a man who identifies as a woman. In introducing Levine, USA Today writes: “Every day across our country, USA TODAY’s Women of the Year lead and inspire, promote and fight for equity, give others a place to seek help and find hope. They are strong and resilient women who have been champions of change and courage, often quietly, but with powerful results. And often despite their own challenges.” (Emphasis added.) Well, it appears that USA Today has just increased the difficultly threshold for actual women to meet its “influential woman” standard, as now they will be competing with biological men for the honor as well.

• Ohio becomes the 23rd constitutional carry state: Ohio has become the latest state to recognize and promote its citizens’ Second Amendment rights. Buckeye State Republican Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 215 into law, which allows for residents age 21 and up who legally own a firearm to conceal carry without requiring a permit to do so. The legislation’s cosponsor, state Senator Niraj Antani, explained: “The Constitution of the U.S. does not require you to have a permit or license to exercise the rights that are prescribed in the Constitution. Among those rights is the Second Amendment which is the right to bear arms.” Homicide and violent crime rates have spiked in some of Ohio’s largest cities over the past two years, causing a jump in the number of Ohioans seeking concealed carry permits, up 20% over last year. Now, the last hurdle for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment has been removed.

• GOP states defend preborn life: On Monday, Idaho’s state legislature passed a Texas-like abortion-limiting bill that now goes to the desk of Republican Governor Brad Little. The bill was modeled after Texas’s unique design, which essentially places enforcement of the law into the hands of private citizens who can sue those who aid and abet abortion after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected. If signed by Little, the law will go into effect in April. Meanwhile, West Virginia’s legislature just sent a bill to Republican Governor Jim Justice that would ban the abortion of preborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome or other physical or mental disabilities as a primary reason for seeking an abortion. The bill would also require doctors to direct parents of a preborn child with a disability diagnosis to relevant educational sources. Susan B. Anthony List state policy director Sue Liebel observed: “The West Virginia Legislature sent a strong message that eugenic discrimination abortions have no place in our society. … No child should be targeted for discrimination and Down Syndrome should never be a death sentence.”

• Rand Paul works to fire Dr. Fauci: Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) on Monday introduced an amendment that would eliminate and decentralize the current director position at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the position that Dr. Anthony Fauci has held since 1984. “No one person should be deemed ‘dictator-in-chief,’” Paul argued. “No one person should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans.” Paul’s proposal would create three five-year-term director positions to head each of the institutes. Those positions would be filled by a president’s nominees who would then need to be confirmed by the Senate. “The biggest lesson we have learned over the last two years is that no one person should have this much unchecked power,” Paul asserts. “And my amendment, which will get a vote this week, will finally force accountability and fire Dr. Fauci.”

Headlines

• Ukraine’s capital barraged; three EU nation leaders to visit (AP)

• Joe Manchin comes out against Biden Fed nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin, throwing her confirmation into doubt (CNBC)

• New drilling permits plummet 85% despite pressure on Biden to increase oil production (Washington Times)

• TikTok influencer blames high gas prices on Putin after White House gives her talking points (Daily Wire)

• Trucker convoy brings traffic and honking to DC (Washington Examiner)

• Mississippi governor signs Critical Race Theory ban (Daily Wire)

• NBA’s Kyrie Irving forced to watch from stands, triggers $50,000 team fine for stepping into locker room unvaxxed (Daily Wire)

• Federal Reserve expected to hike interest rates this week, despite Ukraine volatility (Fox Business)

• Policy: The Fed has failed in its inflation mandate (National Review)

• Humor: Kamala Harris quotes as motivational posters, because the time to be inspired is every day (The Federalist)

• Humor: Tom Brady realizes it’s easier to be hit by 300-pound linemen than stay home all day with young kids (Babylon Bee)

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

The Patriot Post is a certified ad-free news service, unlike third-party commercial news sites linked on this page, which may also require a paid subscription.