Cross-Examination

• Drone strike and retaliation: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a statement Thursday noting that the U.S. had launched a series of airstrikes in Syria against Iranian-backed facilities that resulted in the deaths of at least four individuals. Austin explained that “the airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against coalition forces in Syria.” Hostile forces associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had conducted a drone attack on U.S. forces in the region that left one U.S. contractor dead and wounded five American troops. The war in Syria has long served as a proxy war for Iran against the West.

• Biden left 175 Americans behind in Afghanistan: In a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that there are still American citizens detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan after Joe Biden’s disgraceful surrender and retreat. When pressed on the number, Blinken said “about 175,” adding that “44 of them are ready to leave, and we are working to effectuate their departure.” The disastrous pullout of Afghanistan continues to haunt the Biden administration and, more importantly, those Americans and Afghan allies who were left behind to suffer at the hands of the Taliban. No Americans should have been left behind — that is a momentous failure that has only emboldened America’s enemies. Of all the plethora of poor decisions Biden has made since taking office, his capitulation in Afghanistan to the Taliban is near the top of the list.

• More bravery in the NHL: More National Hockey League players are refusing to participate in their teams’ “Pride Night” LGBTQ+ promotions. The latest are two Florida Panthers, brothers Eric and Marc Staal, who refused to don Pride-themed warmup jerseys prior to a game. Both cited a commitment to their Christian faith as the reason for refusing to participate. “We carry no judgement on how people choose to live their lives, and believe that all people should be welcome in all aspects of the game of hockey,” they explained. “Having said that, we feel that by us wearing a Pride jersey it goes against our Christian beliefs.” Meanwhile, the Chicago Blackhawks team has canned wearing Pride warmup jerseys for its upcoming Pride Night over concerns that it would needlessly threaten its Russian players, who could face legal repercussions when returning home, as the country has laws banning the promotion of homosexuality.

• Good for West Texas A&M University! In a statement emailed to students and posted on his blog that he titled “A Harmless Drag Show? No Such Thing,” West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler explained why he recently canceled a student drag show on the school’s campus. Wendler noted drag shows are inherently degrading and misogynistic and therefore run counter to the school’s commitment to promote and protect the dignity of all members of the school. “WT endeavors to treat all people equally,” he wrote. “Drag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent. … I do not support any show, performance or artistic expression which denigrates others — in this case, women — for any reason.” He added: “Mocking or objectifying in any way members of any group based on appearance, bias or predisposition is unacceptable. No amount of fancy rhetorical footwork or legal wordsmithing eludes the fact that drag shows denigrate and demean women — noble goals notwithstanding.”

• Kidney equity: The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a private nonprofit government contractor, wants to rewrite priority standards for the transplant waiting list in order to adhere to the Left’s “equity” dogma. Currently, those at the top of the organ waiting list have met a number of factors that include age (children are generally higher on the list), being an organ donor themselves (living donor), or being a biological match. UNOS is specifically targeting the living donor prioritization, claiming it’s a standard that promotes inequity and is therefore unfair. The trouble is, the waiting list for organs is long, and deprioritizing living donors — it’s usually a kidney they have donated — will only serve to disincentivize and therefore diminish the number of living donors. In other words, UNOS is effectively virtue-signaling in a way that would result in effectively shrinking the already severely limited number of organs available.

• Biden blackouts are coming: As winter quickly turns to spring and spring to summer, the strain on America’s power grid will become more pronounced as people seek to cool their homes. In places like California, summer brings an increasing number of blackouts as demand on the aging power grid, as well as an increasing reliance on inherently inconsistent renewable energy sources, strains the system. Democrat politicians will repeatedly blame their favorite bogeyman climate change for the grid problem, but the real root of it has to do with bad policy, not climate. In reality, it has more to do with a disarray of political agendas and tangled regulations that serve to slow down development. Joe Biden hasn’t helped matters, as his ridiculous promotion of the radical leftist anti-fossil fuel agenda has only further hampered the power grid and spread California’s problem across the country.

Headlines

• TikTok CEO refuses to say whether officials at Chinese parent company helped him prepare for hearing (Daily Wire)

• Trump indictment won’t happen this week as grand jury considers different case (Washington Examiner)

• House fails to override Biden veto of ESG legislation (Washington Examiner)

• House passes parental school oversight measure (Roll Call)

• AOC roasted over calling Republican parents’ rights bill “fascism” (Fox News)

• Energy Secretary Granholm admits she has a gas stove while justifying push to regulate appliances (Daily Wire)

• Rand Paul, Chip Roy to introduce legislation to eliminate Fauci’s NIAID (Daily Caller)

• Arizona Supreme Court allows Lake to explore signature verification on 2022 early ballots (Just the News)

• Iowa bans transgender procedures on minors, trans-identifying students from using public facilities opposite of biological sex (Daily Wire)

• Track governing body bans “transgender” female athletes (NBC News)

• Washington Post poll inadvertently finds vast majority of “trans” people aren’t really transgender (Daily Caller)

• Policy: Biden’s wrongheaded embrace of ESG (National Review)

• Satire: TikTok CEO warns banning app could allow kids to grow up into happy, functional adults (Babylon Bee)

• Related satire: Government demands TikTok stop spying on Americans as that’s their job (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.