The Patriot Post® · Wednesday: Below the Fold

Cross-Examination

• Migrant families to be detained? In an apparent effort to combat the negative news surrounding Joe Biden’s open border, his administration is reportedly considering reengaging the detention of migrant families caught illegally crossing the border ahead of the May 11 deadline for the end of Title 42. With millions of illegal aliens crossing into the U.S. under Biden’s watch, directing the flow of migrants rather than stopping it has become his administration’s main border goal. Floating the detainment of migrant families for a maximum of 20 days is merely a way to continue this policy while appearing to engage the problem Biden has intentionally exacerbated. In other words, this news amounts to little more than smoke and mirrors, designed to suggest that something is being done about the border crisis.

• How TikTok is ruining girls: Last week, the ChiCom-directed social media company TikTok released a new filter that presents users with a “flawless” image of themselves. The filter has many folks ringing alarm bells, observing that it will lead to more mental health issues, especially for young girls. Discontentment with one’s physical appearance has been recognized as a natural issue for young people and girls in particular; this TikTok filter only heightens this struggle. Dr. Mitch Prinstein of the American Psychological Association warns that social media is conditioning self-destructive behavior in America’s youth. “We have 24/7 365 access to peers on social media,” he said. “Like mice in a box, we are now literally able to bar press for dopamine as much as we want. That’s super concerning.” It is literally teaching kids that physical attractiveness is the only thing that really matters.

• The OTHER Jew hater: Radical leftist “Squad” member Representative Cory Bush (D-MO) has anti-Semitic ties that makes her co-squad member Ilhan Omar appear tame. Bush’s closest private security guard, whom she has paid $137,000 since 2020, happens to be a vehement anti-Semite. Nathaniel Davis III, who goes by the name Aha Sen Piankhy for his other vocation as a spiritual guru, teaches home gardening as a way to avoid buying food from Jews. On his social media accounts, Davis peddles a litany of anti-Semite conspiracy theories, including the claim that the Rothschild family “runs the Western Hemisphere.” The fact is, Davis is just one in a long line of anti-Semites with whom Bush associates, and it should come as little surprise given her support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

• DC crime update: On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer surprisingly sided with Republicans on legislation that repeals the Council of the District of Columbia’s recently passed lax-on-crime law. Following Democrat Joe Manchin’s support for the Republicans’ bill, coupled with Joe Biden’s statement that he would not veto the legislation, Schumer clearly recognizes that appearing soft on crime isn’t playing well for Democrats nationally. However, that reality hasn’t stopped the criticism. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently weighed in by calling this a win for Republicans against the Democrats’ push for DC statehood. “I understand why some people voted against it,” she said. “But if the president’s going to do it, hey, could you give us a heads up too in the House?” Apparently, for Democrats expanding political power takes precedent over protecting Americans from surging violent crime.

• GOP blasts IRS for bias: GOP lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee and its Oversight Subcommittee are calling foul over the Internal Revenue Service’s tapping of the left-leaning New America think tank to study the feasibility of the IRS creating and running a free e-file tax return program. Representatives Jason Smith (MO) and David Schweikert (AZ) accuse the Biden administration of bias, noting that New America is filled with former Obama- and Clinton-era officials who “bring radically biased points of view that will [undoubtedly] shade any evaluation of the issues they are tasked to evaluate.” In the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, $15 million is allowed for “an independent third party” study of an IRS-run e-file system. Republicans contend that the choice of New America is effectively a means of rubber-stamping a program. This is a case of the foxes designing the hen house.

Headlines

• Capitol Police chief condemns Tucker Carlson’s January 6 segment as “offensive and misleading” — with support from McConnell (Forbes)

• Schumer begs Rupert Murdoch to kick Carlson off air because “democracy depends on it” (Daily Caller)

• McCarthy defends release of J6 footage to Carlson (Washington Examiner)

• President Reagan’s powerful “evil empire” speech to be honored in Washington, DC, on 40th anniversary (Fox News)

• Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico are dead, two alive (Fox News)

• Biden yanks agents from southern border to address migrant surge from Canada (Free Beacon)

• Taliban has $7.2 billion worth of U.S. military equipment abandoned in Afghanistan (Free Beacon)

• Officials believe pro-Ukraine group may have sabotaged Nord Stream (The Guardian)

• Georgia nuclear plant begins splitting atoms for first time (AP)

• Beloved children’s author says his books were edited without his knowledge to be more “current” (Daily Caller)

• “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” lyrics from “Song of the South” removed from Disneyland parade (NBC News)

• Chris Rock helps cancel “cancel culture” (Based Politics)

• Policy: Biden’s student loan bailout destroys the societal bond of duty (The Federalist)

• Humor: Tucker Carlson reveals startling footage of who was behind January 6 (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.