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Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Biden Gives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky $200 Million During Visit to Capital

Wall Street Journal: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky found a sympathetic but unmoved audience in Republicans on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, as he made a personal appeal for more money and weapons to bolster his forces in their war against Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Many lawmakers of both parties support tens of billions of dollars in new aid for Kyiv, but House and Senate Republicans are demanding a crackdown on crossings at the southern U.S. border as a condition for their votes, a step Democrats have rejected. That policy fight has left funding for Kyiv at a standstill headed into Christmas break, almost certainly pushing any deal into next year, just as the White House has warned that previous rounds of cash and supplies are almost exhausted (Wall Street Journal). CNN: US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that if Congress fails to pass Ukraine-Israel aid package it would give Russian President Vladimir Putin “the greatest Christmas gift.” The president also announced an additional $200 million in drawdown funds for Ukraine. Zelensky is meeting with Biden after he met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for more aid as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues (CNN).

Harvard President Claudine Gay is Off the Hook for Everything

Katie Pavlich: Harvard President Claudine Gay will keep her job after disastrous and discriminatory testimony to Congress last week. Gay also won’t be punished for rampant plagiarism found by reporters and is asking for corrections (Townhall). Harvard University: The Harvard Corporation: “In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay” (X). Elise Stefanik: There have been absolutely no updates to Harvard’s code of conduct to condemn the calls for genocide of Jews and protect Jewish students on campus. The only update to Harvard’s code of conduct is to allow plagiarists as president (X). National Review: The university has made an exception to its own rules by allowing Gay to update her decades-old work so that it comports with the academic standards to which she should have adhered at the time of their publication. Why are we witnessing this herculean lift on Gay’s behalf? Because, unlike Magill, Gay represents the full flowering of the voguish progressive commitment to social-justice activism. To sacrifice Gay to her critics would be to indict the whole project (National Review).

Israel’s IDF Begins Flooding Hamas Tunnels with Seawater

Wall Street Journal: Israel’s military has begun pumping seawater into Hamas’s vast complex of tunnels in Gaza, according to U.S. officials briefed on the Israeli military’s operations, part of an intensive effort to destroy the underground infrastructure that has underpinned the group’s operations. The move to flood the tunnels with water from the Mediterranean, which is in an early stage, is one of several techniques Israel is using to try to clear and destroy the tunnels. Israeli officials say that Hamas’s underground system has been key to its operations on the battlefield. The tunnel system, they say, is used by Hamas to maneuver fighters across the battlefield and store the group’s rockets and munitions, and enables the group’s leaders to command and control their forces (Wall Street Journal). National Review: Many of Israel’s detractors imply without saying as much that the IDF should pursue a much more dangerous alternative to neutralizing the threat posed by Hamas’s tunnel network. The IDF should rely more on robots, dogs, drones, and, of course, exposed infantry to clear the tunnel network room by room, thereby imperiling even more Israeli lives but keeping Western consciences clean. There is, however, another alternative that too often goes unmentioned. Hamas could surrender unconditionally to IDF forces and hand over the hostages it seized during the 10/7 massacre, thereby sparing its fighters from their watery graves and mitigating the environmental risks associated with the IDF’s strategy of last resort (National Review).

UN General Assembly Demands Humanitarian Ceasefire in Gaza

Times of Israel: The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passes a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza — a call the paralyzed Security Council has so far failed to make. The body, which includes all 193 UN member nations, votes 153 in favor of the resolution, exceeding the 140 or so countries that have routinely backed resolutions condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Ten countries, including the United States and Israel, vote against, while 23 abstain. The US vetoed a similar resolution in the UN Security Council last week (Times of Israel). Fox News: The resolution reiterates that all parties involved in the conflict comply with obligations under international law, specifically in terms of the protection of civilians, while also demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages (Fox News).

Houthi Rebels Attack Norwegian Oil and Chemical Tanker

Fox News: Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Tuesday they struck a Norwegian oil and chemical tanker with a rocket in its latest operation to protest against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. The Iran-aligned group targeted the ship after its crew “rejected all warning calls,” Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sareea said in a televised statement. He vowed that the Houthis would continue blocking ships heading to Israeli ports until Israel allows the entry of food and medical aid into the Gaza Strip – more than 1,000 miles from the Houthi seat of power in Sanaa (Fox News). Daily Wire: President Joe Biden has come under mounting pressure for not being able to muster the courage to respond to the attacks from the Houthi terrorists and other Iranian-backed Islamic terror groups in the region that have been repeatedly attacking U.S. forces in the region since October 17. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told Biden that if the U.S. does not take action against the Yemen-based Houthi terrorists, Israel will, which comes after the terrorist group has repeatedly targeted shipping vessels with ties to Israel (Daily Wire). American officials are becoming frustrated at Biden’s inaction to deter growing attacks (Politico).

Forty-one Brown University Students Arrested for Anti-Israel Demonstration

National Review: Forty-one Brown University students were arrested after they held a sit in on school property, demanding that the university call for an immediate ceasefire and divest from companies that allegedly facilitate the “Israeli military occupation” in Gaza. “The disruption to secure buildings is not acceptable, and the University is prepared to escalate the level of criminal charges for future incidents of students occupying secure buildings,” Brian Clark, a school spokesperson, told the student newspaper on Monday night. The students were “photographed, fingerprinted, and provided their arrest paperwork” to “expedite the process and avoid processing arrests in two locations,” Clark added (National Review). Reporter Amy Russo: Brown University has just released a statement confirming 41 students were arrested and charged with trespassing. The school says it “fully expects to recommend more significant misdemeanor charges for any future incidents” (X).

Portland’s Rejuvenation Task Force Calls for Drug Ban, More Police

National Review: A task force launched last summer to help rejuvenate Portland, Oregon is calling for the declaration of a 90-day fentanyl emergency, a ban on public drug use, increased shelter capacity, and more law enforcement as part of an effort to combat the converging homelessness, drug-abuse, and mental-health crises that have ravaged the far-left city. Among its ten recommendations announced on Monday, the Portland Central City Task Force is also calling for: a concerted effort to clean the city by targeting “trouble spots” for trash and graffiti, the removal of any plywood still covering downtown windows that was erected during the 2020 racial justice protests and riots, and a moratorium on new taxes (National Review). Axios: The task force’s proposal for increasing shelter capacity and funneling an additional $3 million in county funds into daytime services for those experiencing homelessness are also ongoing (Axios).

House Republicans to Bring Forth Impeachment Resolution Against Biden on Wednesday

ABC: House Republicans are teeing up a vote as early as Wednesday to formalize their ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The resolution will direct three powerful committees to continue investigating Biden to see if there are “sufficient grounds” to impeach him. House Republicans, since retaking taking control of the chamber in January, have focused their attention on the Biden family’s business dealings, particularly those of the president’s son, Hunter. But they have so far found no hard evidence President Biden was directly involved in or benefited from the practices, as they’ve repeatedly alleged. Speaker Mike Johnson has defended the probe, characterizing it as a “legal decision,” and previously projected optimism the resolution will pass. But after the historic expulsion of Rep. George Santos, the House GOP has only a three-vote margin of error (ABC). OAN: The Chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer says that the House Resolution approving an impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden will give Republicans the upper hand when it comes to uncovering evidence in the investigation of corruption. One America’s John Hines has more from Capitol Hill (OAN).

San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston Blames Homelessness on Capitalism

New York Post: San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston claimed the city’s homelessness problems were “absolutely the result of capitalism,” and it was “counterproductive” to arrest people openly doing drugs. Preston’s District 5 includes the Tenderloin District, an area known for its open-air drug market. Nearly half of the city’s homeless population lived in this district in 2022. The Democratic Socialist supervisor argued his district was particularly affected by homelessness because of the country’s economic structure. “I think what you’re seeing in the Tenderloin is absolutely the result of capitalism and what happens in capitalism to the people at the bottom rungs,” the local leader reportedly remarked in a new documentary by the UK outlet, UnHerd (New York Post). Daily Mail: Dean Preston, the Supervisor representing District 5, has also been very open about his support for the ‘defund the police’ movement. ‘I think we have a very, very bloated police budget. All kinds of waste in the police department. I mean, I could cut a hundred million dollars out of the police department,’ he said (Daily Mail).

10.

Federal Government Gave Planned Parenthood $1.89 Billion in Three Years

National Review: Abortion advocacy groups received $1.89 billion in federal funding between fiscal year 2019 and 2021, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report, which was commissioned by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Representative Chris Smith (R., N.J.) in January 2022, found Planned Parenthood received $1.78 billion over the three-year period. Over that three-year period, Planned Parenthood performed 1.11 million abortions (National Review).