Cross-Examination

• Rishi Sunak becomes new UK prime minister: The United Kingdom’s 42-year-old former chief treasurer, Rishi Sunak, became the nation’s newest prime minister on Tuesday and the first Brit of Indian descent to serve in the UK’s highest office. Sunak takes over after the short and tumultuous term of Liz Truss. He has the unenviable task of pulling the UK out of an economic downturn while also seeking to pull together a Conservative Party that has begun to fracture over divergent agendas, much of it tied to political disagreements over Brexit. In taking over Number 10 Downing Street, Sunak stated: “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. This will mean difficult decisions to come.” Sunak opposed Truss’s economic moves that proved to send the British pound tanking and the markets spinning, but he’s not blameless. As the Wall Street Journal editorial board put it, he now “gets to manage the economy he helped to break.” Sunak rose to the PM position after two other Conservative candidates pulled out of the running. Sunak promised to unite the country and run a government that “will have integrity, professionalism, and accountability at every level.” He added, “Trust is earned, and I will earn yours.”

• Another Christian baker wins: A judge in California finally ruled in favor of Christian cake baker Cathy Miller, who was sued by the state’s Department of Fair Housing and Employment over her refusal to bake a specialty cake for a same-sex wedding in 2017. Miller had offered to sell the couple a pre-made cake, but refused to use her artistic skills to make a speciality cake for a same-sex ceremony, arguing that to do so would go against her sincerely held religious faith and her conscience. Judge Eric Bradshaw noted in his ruling that the state infringed on Miller’s freedom to follow her religious beliefs. One of Miller’s attorneys, Charles LiMandri of the Thomas More Society, praised the court’s decision. “The freedom to practice one’s religion is enshrined in the First Amendment,” he said, “and the United States Supreme Court has long upheld the freedom of artistic expression.” Another of Miller’s lawyers, Paul Jonna, observed that the state, which cited the 1959 Unruh Civil Rights Act when raising its lawsuit against Miller, ironically used “a law intended to protect individuals from religious discrimination … to discriminate against Cathy for her religious beliefs.” This is a big win for religious freedom and artistic freedom. No one has the right to compel the speech of others.

Headlines

• Storm clouds gather for blue-state Dems as more races shift towards GOP (Fox News)

• Judge strikes down Michigan secretary of state’s restrictions on poll challengers (The Federalist)

• Biden wingman Merrick Garland set to announce probe of “homegrown” “election infrastructure threats” (PJ Media)

• Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocks Lindsey Graham testimony in Georgia (AP)

• “The View” explodes after Ted Cruz calls out past Democrats on questioning election results (Fox News) | “The View” descends into chaos as hecklers interrupt taping to shout down Cruz (NY Post)

• Hialeah police: “No indication” of political motive in attack on Marco Rubio canvasser (Local 10 News)

• Senators confront PayPal on “misinformation” policy (Daily Wire)

• Social media allows jihadists to call for violence and spread hate (FPM)

• DOJ charges Chinese spies with obstructing Huawei investigation (Washington Examiner)

• Brittney Griner’s nine-year prison sentence in Russia upheld (Fox News)

• Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter dead at 68 (Fox News)

• Satire: Man pretending to be woman visits man pretending to be president (Babylon Bee)

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