Cross-Examination

• McCarthy meets with Taiwan’s president: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday, defying warnings from Beijing not to do so. The meeting included lawmakers from both parties and was intended as a continued show of support for Taiwan’s independence against China’s growing aggression. McCarthy reiterated that Tsai is a “great friend to America,” adding that Taiwan’s bond with the U.S. “is stronger now than at any time or point in my lifetime.” McCarthy also acknowledged strong bipartisan support for Taiwan by stating, “Republicans and Democrats [are] united together in a place that symbolizes the freedom and the commitment and the bond that’s only become stronger with the president with us today.” For her part, Tsai responded, “I reiterated Taiwan’s commitment to defending the peaceful status quo, where the people of Taiwan may continue to thrive in a free and open society.”

• More than three-quarters of youth physically and mentally unfit for military service: How bad is America’s obesity problem? So bad that it’s becoming an existential threat to our national security. A recent study commissioned by the Pentagon found that 77% of recruitment-age young Americans are not mentally or physically fit enough for military service. Some 11% are disqualified solely due to being too fat, another 8% for drug abuse, and 7% for poor mental/physical health. Of the 77%, 44% have multiple disqualifying issues. To make matters worse, the Biden administration is pushing leftist woke DEI ideology in the military, serving to further undercut recruitment.

• Texas shooting settlement: Family members of those who were massacred in 2017 at First Baptist Church in the small town of Sutherland Springs have reached a tentative settlement with the Justice Department for $144 million. Twenty-six people were killed that day by a crazed individual and former Air Force member who had been dishonorably discharged. Following an investigation, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled that the Air Force was “60% liable” for the crime due to its failure to submit the perpetrator’s felony assault conviction to the national database. Rodriquez noted that if the Air Force had done its job, “it is more likely than not that [the perpetrator] would have been deterred from carrying out the Church shooting.”

• Biden delays reelection announcement: Will he or won’t he? Ever since Joe Biden took office, pundits have debated whether or not the clearly mentally diminishing now-octogenarian would last his first term, let alone run for reelection. Thus far having survived his first two years, and with Vice President Kamala Harris showing no signs of improving her low popularity numbers, will Biden himself seek reelection? Well, an answer to that question has been put off until at least the fall. According to polling, few Americans believe that Biden could last two full terms in office.

• Oregon’s Rainbow Mafia-infested adoption system: The Left’s commitment to promoting the LGBTQ agenda is not merely an effort to support the notion that people are free to indulge in their own sexual deviant behaviors so long as they aren’t hurting other people. Indeed, it’s much more than that. It’s a cultish religion, which is why the Rainbow Mafia is so adamantly opposed to Christianity. The latest evidence of this comes from the state of Oregon, where a Christian woman has raised a lawsuit against the state for denying her bid to adopt a child due to her refusal to adhere to the state’s redefinition of gender. What of the First Amendment’s religious liberty protections? This looks like a case ripe for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Headlines

• Leonardo DiCaprio says Malaysian financier planned to donate to Obama’s 2012 campaign (Reuters)

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files to run for president in 2024 (Daily Wire)

• SPLC to face the music for “hate group” defamation as lawsuit clears major hurdle (Daily Signal)

• Report details “staggering” church sex abuse in Maryland (AP)

• Michigan governor signs bill to implement abortions up to birth (LifeNews.com)

• Kansas bans male athletes from women’s sports as legislature overrides governor’s veto (Kansas City Star)

• Idaho, Indiana governors sign bills prohibiting gender-reassignment surgeries for minors (National Review)

• Study confirms trans “social contagion” theory (PJ Media)

• Report outlines Don Lemon’s alleged history of misogyny at CNN (Daily Wire)

• Libs lose it after Twitter slaps NPR with “state-affiliated media” label (Townhall)

• Cash App founder Bob Lee killed in San Francisco (Washington Post)

• Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties at talks in Beijing (NBC News)

• Policy: Data proves Left wrong: ID laws don’t suppress voting (Daily Signal)

• Humor: Sick of same old crime and violence, Chicago tries electing a Democrat this time (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.