Cross-Examination

• Busing works: When you put out the “welcome” sign, don’t complain when people show up. But that is exactly what Democrat leaders in self-declared “sanctuary” cities and states are doing. And it’s largely thanks to Republican governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis (remember Martha’s Vineyard?) and Texas’s Greg Abbott. The latter launched a migrant busing campaign that is successfully putting a spotlight on Joe Biden’s de facto open-border malfeasance. Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass complained, “LA has not extended an invitation asking for people to come.” Uh, hello — no one forced LA to declare itself a “sanctuary” city for illegal aliens. She then charged, “This is a political act.” So, the “sanctuary” city virtue signal was not political grandstanding? Please. Instead of blaming Abbott, these Democrat leaders should be blaming Biden. He’s responsible for creating this mess.

• Protect or groom the kids? A judge in Missouri ruled against an effort by the pro-trans lobby and the ACLU to stop the state’s ban on gender-bending procedures for minors from going into effect. As of today, any medical provider who violates the law may lose their license and is liable for at least $500,000 in damages from patients who sue within 15 years after receiving gender-bending procedures. Meanwhile, in Maryland, a judge ruled in favor of a Montgomery County Public Schools requirement that all students take a pro-LGBTQ class. Judge Deborah Boardman said that parents are not free to opt their children out of these classes, asserting that parents “do not face any coercion to violate their sacred duty to raise their child in their faith.” In other words, Boardman effectively ruled that the schools are free to indoctrinate children on any ideology they want, and the only option available to parents is to counter what the schools are teaching at home.

• Toxic paper straws: A recent study conducted by Belgian researchers has found that paper straws, a widely touted “eco-friendly” alternative to plastic straws, contained a much higher concentration of toxic so-called “forever chemicals” or PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) compared to plastic straws. Some 90% of paper straws contained PFAS compared to 75% of plastic straws. Even 80% of the other green alternative, bamboo straws, contained PFAS. The irony here is that certain countries like Belgium and the United Kingdom and cities like New York City have enacted or are seeking to ban plastic straws primarily on the basis of their PFAS content, and now it appears that the “green” alternative is worse for people and the environment.

• Chicago sues carmakers: In yet another example of bad government producing bad policy, Chicago’s new Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson is suing car manufacturers Kia and Hyundai for the spiking rate of car thefts in the city over the last three years. Johnson’s rationale is that these auto manufacturers are making their cars too easy for criminals to steal, so it’s the carmakers’ fault, not the thieves’. This is like blaming rape victims by claiming the way they dressed invited the attack. So, rather than cracking down on criminals responsible for auto theft, Johnson is sticking it to Kia and Hyundai, which by the way make some of the most affordable cars. The result will be to make cars even less affordable for the poor, who suffer the most when lawlessness is excused by politicians.

• Debate viewership numbers misnomer: Following the Republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News last week — a debate that Donald Trump conspicuously did not attend, as he opted for a friendly interview with Tucker Carlson — there was a lot of social media chatter over viewership numbers. Fox’s debate featured eight candidates, all polling well behind Trump, but drew 12.8 million viewers. While the viewership of the debate was far below Fox’s record-setting 24 million viewers in 2015 with the Republican debate field that included Trump, it was no slouch. Meanwhile, Trump touted viewership numbers of his Carlson interview: “231,000,000 Views, and still counting. The Biggest Video on Social Media, EVER, more than double the Super Bowl!” This “views” number is now over 235 million, but there is a huge caveat. According to the metric used by X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, a “view” is tabulated after a mere two seconds. According to Mashable, a more accurate viewership number for people who watched at least two seconds of Trump’s interview was 14.8 million.

• Maybe one day they’ll have their own state: A group of investors and entrepreneurs is seeking to buy land in northern California with a vision toward building a new green-tech-friendly city. The area for this project is near Travis Air Force Base, which has some folks raising national security concerns. These security concerns are regarding foreign ownership and investment in the project.

Headlines

• Tropical Storm Idalia is intensifying, will strengthen into major hurricane before Florida landfall this week (Fox Weather)

• Burisma’s Devon Archer met with then-Secretary of State Kerry just weeks before Shokin was fired (Fox News)

• Joe Biden’s handlers are getting nervous about Gavin Newsom debating Ron DeSantis (RedState)

• Biden invited WNBA champs to White House then ghosted them (Hot Air)

• Three people killed in racially motivated shooting in Florida (National Review) | Jacksonville sheriff says guns don’t cause shootings, wicked people do (RedState)

• Feds weighing criminal charges against top Democrat Senator Bob Menendez (Daily Wire)

• Biden suggests he will mandate a COVID booster for all Americans this fall (Townhall)

• CDC removes COVID vaccine adverse event reports from website (Daily Wire)

• The Biden administration wants to drive the cost of ceiling fans up $86 million per year to save you … $4 per year (Not the Bee)

• Study: Biden’s food stamp expansion linked to 15% jump in grocery prices (NY Post)

• Powell warns: “We are prepared to raise rates further” (Breitbart)

• “Joe the Plumber,” famously known for confronting Obama over taxes, dies at 49 (Daily Caller)

• Policy: The economic benefits of school choice (Daily Signal)

• Humor: Dogs in Heaven flee in terror as Bob Barker arrives (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.