News of the Week for December 22nd, 2024
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Obamacare
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Dobbs Decision
A judge says Missouri’s abortion ban isn’t enforceable, but there’s no start date for abortions
A judge ruled Friday that Missouri’s near-total abortion ban is unenforceable under a new constitutional amendment, though Planned Parenthood said the decision is still not sufficient for it to resume providing abortions in the state.
Gun Rights
Judges topple gun restrictions as courts chart an uncertain path forward
More than two years after the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally expanded its interpretation of the Second Amendment, federal courts throughout the country continue to strike down state restrictions on gun ownership.
Seattle Police chief frontrunner doesn’t think 2nd Amendment is ‘appropriate’
Shon Barnes, the rumored frontrunner for the top job with the Seattle Police Department (SPD), has said he doesn’t believe in the Second Amendment. The comment came to light as Barnes gained national attention in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, where he currently serves as chief.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Gillibrand’s ERA Folly
The New York Times reports that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is “on a mission” to “convince” President Biden that he can “rescue his legacy” by adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution “as a way to protect abortion rights in post-Roe America.” All Biden has to do, Gillibrand maintains, is “direct the national archivist … to publish the E.R.A. as the 28th Amendment.”
Obamacare
Government in Healthcare
Republican Senators Launch Caucus to Advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘MAHA’ Agenda
A group of Republican senators launched a new caucus devoted to advancing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Basta! Italy’s National Bioethics Committee Urges Blocking Puberty Blockers
The tide is really turning against the gender ideologues who advocate experimenting on the bodies of children as a supposedly “medically necessary” treatment. Now, Italy’s National Bioethics Committee has recommended substantially ending the use of puberty-blocking drugs as a “treatment” for childhood gender confusion.
War & Terror
McConnell Warns Trump against Adopting a Democratic Foreign Policy
His criticism is reserved for advocates of retrenchment in Trump’s orbit whose influence is the subject of debate.
FBI warns some lawmakers that China aims to create fake stories about them to erode support for Taiwan
The FBI has provided classified, “defensive” briefings to lawmakers targeted by the Chinese Communist Party with false stories about taking bribes from Taiwan, two U.S. officials told NBC News.
The New Frontier for Drone Warfare Is Deep Underwater
Drones have revolutionized modern warfare in the sky. Now defense companies and navies are betting they can do the same underwater.
Syria: Israeli Airstrikes Reportedly Hit Ex-Regime’s Naval Base, Weapons Depots
Times of Israel: “Latest raids said to hit sites including air defense units and surface-to-surface missile depots.”
Permitting Reform: A Strategic Imperative for U.S. National Security and Global Competitiveness
Permitting reform has swiftly risen to the forefront in Washington as a pressing national security priority. The United States is grappling with the dual challenges of escalating energy demand and mounting global competition, particularly from China. Despite the critical role of our nation’s energy infrastructure, the U.S. is ensnared in a permitting process that can prolong vital projects by several years—or even decades. SAFE’s Center for Grid Security underscores that overhauling the procedures for approving and constructing energy infrastructure is not just a matter of efficiency—it is a matter of national urgency in the face of escalating global power competition.
Syrian mass graves expose Assad’s ‘machinery of death’
An international war crimes prosecutor said on Tuesday that evidence emerging from mass grave sites in Syria has exposed a state-run “machinery of death” under toppled leader Bashar Assad in which he estimated more than 100,000 people were tortured and murdered since 2013.
Two Unconvincing Defenses of Tulsi Gabbard
In the spirit of the high-minded intellectual debate National Review encourages, I was eager to read two pieces recently published in these pages in support of former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. I regret that I have been deprived of that opportunity. It isn’t just that the arguments are not compelling, though they aren’t. Their biggest problem is that they elide the fact that the only quality that makes Gabbard a unique candidate for the role for which she was nominated is also precisely why she should not be confirmed.
Some Republican senators reluctant on Gabbard for spy chief
Eight Republican senators are unsure about supporting former Democratic member of congress Tulsi Gabbard to become America’s top spy, according to a Trump transition source and a second source with knowledge of the issue, increasing doubts about whether her nomination will secure Senate confirmation.
National
New Jersey Bedeviled: Four Possible Explanations for the Nonstop Drone Sightings
On the menu today: More than just lonely truckers, tired pilots, and the town gadfly claim to see lights in the sky over New Jersey and other parts of the American eastern seaboard lately, the likes of former Maryland governor Larry Hogan and New Jersey senator Andy Kim are sharing footage of lights in the night sky over the east coast, and military officials have confirmed unauthorized drone incursions over their facilities. The question increasingly dominating the dinner tables, barstools, sheriff’s departments, and government offices of America is: Just what the heck is flying around up there? And with the federal government clinging to two contradictory statements — “No, we have no idea what they are,” and “there’s no reason to believe these represent a threat” — how concerned should we be?
Multiple injuries reported in Abundant Life Christian School shooting
The shooter at Abundant Life Christian School is “down,” according to police.
A Glorious, and Shackled, ‘Troublemaker’
Jimmy Lai has lived a great life: as an entrepreneur, as a media magnate, as a freedom-and-democracy advocate. His friends and admirers want him to have a decent ending. He has been a political prisoner in Hong Kong for almost four years. Most of that time, he has been in solitary confinement.
A Constitutional Convention? Some Democrats Fear It’s Coming.
As Republicans prepare to take control of Congress and the White House, among the many scenarios keeping Democrats up at night is an event that many Americans consider a historical relic: a constitutional convention.
The Gubernatorial Ambitions of Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg
Jack Butler called our attention to the efforts to recruit Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to run for governor of Michigan in 2026, and now CNN informs us, “top aides and people close to Kamala Harris have divided over whether she should head home to run for California governor in 2026 — and it all comes down to whether they believe she could win the Democratic nomination for president in an expected competitive primary in 2028.”
Bombshell Report Calls for FBI Investigation Into Liz Cheney
The House Oversight Subcommittee, headed by Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), released a 127-page Interim Report detailing a swath of shady conduct related to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building and the subsequent Democratic Select Committee that was ostensibly aimed at getting to the bottom of what happened on that day.
‘It’s a blessing’: US woman receives gene-edited pig kidney
Towana Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 only for the remaining one to fail several years later as a result of pregnancy complications
Florida’s Much-Needed General-Education Reform
If faculty won’t fix the curricula, trustees and administrators must.
In reversal, key House panel votes to release Matt Gaetz ethics report
The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
Border czar Tom Homan predicts ‘collateral arrests’ from Trump mass deportation plan
As President-elect Donald Trump’s team plans for Day One of mass deportations, border czar Tom Homan is warning that many illegal immigrants without criminal histories will undoubtedly get caught up in the arrests.
UC San Francisco med school to hold event led by unhinged prof who said ‘whites are psychopathic’
King previously said that ‘Whites are psychopaths, and their behavior represents an underlying biologically transmittable proclivity with roots deep in their evolutionary history.’
Institute for Justice Petitions Supreme Court to Take Case Seeking to Overrule Kelo v. City of New London
Kelo is the 2005 ruling in which the Supreme Court held that the government can take property for private “economic development.””
First Amendment Censorship Claims Against Stanford Internet Observatory Can Go Forward to Discovery as to Jurisdiction and Standing
The court didn’t agree with plaintiffs that they had conclusively established that the federal court in Louisiana had personal jurisdiction over defendants—but it did conclude that plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged facts that would justify further discovery as to personal jurisdiction
Invasive ‘murder hornets’ are wiped out in the US, officials say
The world’s largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honey bee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the U.S., five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.
How might the Nevada National Guard help with mass deportation?
Currently, no law enforcement agency in the state has an agreement with the federal government to release information about suspected undocumented detainees.
FBI agents search home of L.A. deputy mayor over City Hall bomb threat
FBI agents searched the home of a Los Angeles deputy mayor on Tuesday as part of an investigation into whether he made a bomb threat against City Hall, officials said.
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Venezuela?
Border czar–designee Tom Homan is clearly the right guy to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious deportation plans. But there’s one obstacle that’s out of his control.
Texas Public School District Bans Bible In Libraries
It “seems absurd to me that the Good Book was thrown out with the bad books.”
He’s anti-democracy and pro-Trump: the obscure ‘dark enlightenment’ blogger influencing the next US administration
Key figures in the incoming administration follow Curtis Yarvin, who’s pushing for an autocratic takeover of the US
‘Missing’ GOP Congresswoman Not Seen For Six Months Finally Found Living at Dementia Care Home
A Republican Congresswoman who has been “missing” for the past six months has finally been found.
A boy in north Georgia went for a walk down the road. It landed his mother in jail
It was near the end of an unusual day for the four Patterson children when the deputies came to arrest their mother.
Economy & Taxes
China’s November retail sales miss expectations as real estate slump deepens
China’s retail sales rose by 3% in November from a year ago, according to National Bureau of Statistics data released Monday, missing the forecast of 4.6% in a Reuters poll.
Republicans Can Kiss Their House Majority Goodbye If They Delay Trump’s Tax Cuts
Imagine you are a small businessman with a factory and 80 workers. Important to your town. Are you going to hire more workers? Expand your plant and equipment? You don’t know. Will the Obama tax rates come back? Every day congress waits to make the tax cuts permanent is a day decisions to create jobs today, tomorrow, and two years form now are being made. Or not.
Trump Calls For Abolishing Debt Limit: ‘Smartest Thing’ Congress Could Do
The president-elect floated the idea a day after he came out against the bipartisan spending deal to fund the government and avert a shutdown
Workers don’t understand the purpose of their jobs or companies, and it’s leading to ‘The Great Detachment’
Many workers aren’t happy with their jobs, and their limited options to find a new one are contributing to an era Gallup is calling “The Great Detachment,” according to a new report from the workplace advisory firm.
‘Trump Is NOT Happy’ After House Passes Bill Without ‘His Main Ask’: Report
President-elect Donald Trump is displeased that the House of Representatives passed a spending bill on Friday night that did not include an extension or elimination of the debt ceiling. Passage came just hours ahead of a potential government shutdown. The Senate later passed the bill by a vote of 85-11.
International
Hungary Redraws Electoral Map As Orban’s Party Slumps In Polls
Hungarian lawmakers passed an amendment Tuesday to redraw the country’s electoral map in a move seen as beneficial to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling party, which is facing an increasingly popular challenger.
Meloni Hails Italy’s New-found Political Stability
With France and Germany rocked by political turmoil, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday lauded the stability of her government, saying it gave her a “precious card to play” in EU affairs.
‘Not Woke’: Scholz’s Poll Rivals Outline Right-wing Vision For Germany
Germany’s conservative opposition, leading in the polls ahead of February 23 elections, on Tuesday outlined plans to shift the EU powerhouse firmly to the right on immigration, social and economic policy.
Opinion
Trump Is an Appalling Hypocrite When It Comes to Lawfare
Should we now cheer the sort of lawfare we denounced when it was used against Trump, merely because he’s returning serve?
RFK Jr. Is a Left-Wing Menace
RFK Jr. is a left-wing authoritarian, pro-abortion, pro-Berniecare, a man of proven bad character, and a menace to the health of Americans.
Tucker Carlson: The joy of Sachs
JNS reports that the U.S.-based advocacy group StopAntisemitism has named Candace Owens Antisemite of the Year. Candace has worked hard to earn the distinction and she revels in it. However, I think it should have gone to Tucker Carlson. In 2023 Tucker himself hosted Owens in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas massacres of 10/7.
Republicans in Disarray?
Well that didn’t take long. The fight to get some kind of government funding bill done to close out this Congress and make way for the second Trump term nearly reached an almost adequate conclusion, when Republicans decided to get in their own way. It will get resolved. But what happened on Wednesday was a warning sign about how the next Congress and administration will begin.
Elon Musk’s Ill-Informed Foray into Shutdown Politics
The neophytes should not be setting the agenda.
Elon Musk’s just won his first fight against the Swamp. But […] there’s a hidden threat that could sabotage his mission
After a 12-hour social media barrage, beginning in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Musk successfully killed a bill that would keep the federal government funded beyond December 20.
Fake Satanism in Minnesota
They’re celebrating Satan at the Minnesota State Capitol: “A Satanic holiday display at the Minnesota State Capitol has some sounding the alarm but Gov. Tim Walz says he can’t take it down as it is protected by the First Amendment. Minnesota Satanists applied through the Department of Administration, which manages the capitol grounds, to set it up near the first floor rotunda from Dec. 13 through 27.”
The Trump Campaign’s Worst Mistake
There is no question that the single biggest mistake of the 2024 election was Joe Biden’s stubborn, deluded insistence upon running again. That denied the Democrats the chance for an open primary that might have produced a different candidate — one better prepared to get distance from the unpopular Biden administration, and unconnected to the coverup of Biden’s declining capabilities. In the end, Biden’s decision didn’t even deliver the one thing it promised: the stability of an incumbent reelection.
Tucker Carlson, Superspreader
Tucker Carlson’s influence on American politics has always been hotly debated. When Carlson was still at Fox News, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson reportedly complained of Carlson’s sway over Republicans in Congress regarding support for Ukraine. “I’ve been amazed and horrified by how many people are frightened of a guy called Tucker Carlson,” Johnson said at the Atlantic Council last year. “Has anybody heard of Tucker Carlson? What is it with this guy?”
Twelve Things We Learned From the 2024 House Elections
In an era of narrow majorities and subsequent legislative gridlock, every single U.S. House race matters. Ultimately, Republicans maintained their majority by the skin of their teeth, winning 220 seats to Democrats’ 215.
Living Under Ad-Hocracy
On government spending, everybody knows what needs to be done. Nobody will do it.
The Bark and Bite of DOGE
Free-market conservatives should hope it succeeds at making government better serve the people
Trump Gets An Early Lesson On Limits of His Power Over Congress
When President-elect Trump won and Republicans took Congress, people were acting as if America had suddenly transformed into parliamentary system, and that as the head of his party, he would be able to get whatever he wanted.
Icarus 2.0: Did Kimberly Guilfoyle Fly Too Close to the Son?
Greece is the birthplace of “democratic values,” Kimberly Guilfoyle pointed out on Instagram after being nominated as ambassador by president-elect Donald Trump. Greece is also the birthplace of drama, which makes it a perfect fit for the two-time divorcee and dumped fiancée of Donald Trump, Jr. Subject to senate approval, this appointment could be seen as either a consolation prize…or a banishment from Mount Olympus.
Folie à Deux
President Trump and Speaker Musk.
Trump’s ‘stunningly unqualified’ diplomatic team shapes up at breakneck speed
Trump is hardly the first US president to introduce miscast nominees, but he has nominated ambassadors at a rate not recalled in recent memory
