Strassel: Ukraine War Has “Reset Energy Politics”

And, she says, everybody seems to know it except President Joe Biden. From the story: The Joe Biden who showed up Monday at his first in-person fundraiser as president sounded like a man in a time warp. “Let me begin by saying: [Climate change] is the existential threat to humanity,” he opened, proceeding to recite an environmental agenda identical to the one he campaigned on. Ukraine got one mention, and only then as further reason why Americans (among other things) need to “weatherize homes and businesses” (WSJ).From Senator Ted Cruz: Biden refuses to unleash American energy because he is beholden to the Green New Deal radicals in the Democrat Party (Twitter).

Russia Threatens to Put the U.S. “in Its Place”

From the story: Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the U.S. may need to be ‘put in its place’ for sharing ‘disgusting Russiaphobia’ in the latest the latest Kremlin attack on the West after President Biden called Vladimir Putin a war criminal. Medvedev, who now serves as deputy secretary of Russia’s National Security Council joins the list of Putin cronies and state TV anchors who have ramped up their rhetoric since the invasion – including threats of nuclear strikes and calls to ‘take back’ former Russian colonies Alaska and Fort Ross in California (Daily Mail). Meanwhile, an American was killed in the Russian attack on citizens standing in a food line (Axios). War updates (CNN, NBC News).

NCAA Female Swimmer Breaks Down in Finals After Losing to Male Swimmer

A Virginia Tech swimmer tells of her teammate who finished 17^th bumped from the final 16 as UPenn male swimmer Lia Thomas continues to make a mockery of the sport (Twitter). From Katie Pavlich: Women should not have their titles and opportunities stolen from them (Twitter). From Erick Erickson: The male beat a female Olympic medalist and we’re all supposed to pretend everything is okay and it’s all normal and he’s a she because we’re supposed to elevate niceness above truth (Twitter). Thomas won the 500 yard championship Thursday (NY Post). From Kimberly Ross: The erasure of women continues. What a thing to celebrate during Women’s History Month (Twitter). A look at the athlete, Emma Weyant, who finished second but should, instead, be celebrating her championship (Twitter). From Christina Sommers: Second is the new first where women’s sports are concerned (Twitter). Charles Cooke, one of the very few reporters who correctly identifies Thomas as a “he” writes “However “Lia Thomas” might self-identify, he has the body of a man. This matters, because he is competing in a women’s sports league, and because there are profound biological differences between men and women in that sport, as in almost every other. The Times reports that Thomas “that left opponents far behind and put some collegiate records under new pressure.” Well, yeah. This is because Thomas is a man, and because Thomas’s “opponents” — two of whom were Olympians — are not” (National Review). There were protestors at the pool (Twitter).

UN Votes to Establish Ties with Taliban

Also from the story: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the Security Council in January saying it received “credible allegations” that the Taliban had killed more than 100 people associated with the previous government, its security forces, or those who worked with international troops since they assumed power, according to the Associated Press. The Taliban also finds themselves in a difficult position with ISIS-K, the Afghanistan affiliate of the Islamic State, continuing to grow because the two sides don’t get along. The Taliban’s relationship with al Qaeda is somewhat better, though the two groups’ presence presents challenges for the Taliban.

Washington Examiner

New York Times Discovers Hunter Biden Laptop Story is Real

The story begins: In the year after he disclosed a federal investigation into his “tax affairs” in late 2020, President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, paid off a significant tax liability, even as a grand jury continued to gather evidence in a wide-ranging examination of his international business dealings, according to people familiar with the case. Mr. Biden’s failure to pay all his taxes has been a focus of the ongoing Justice Department investigation. While wiping out his liability does not preclude criminal charges against him, the payment could make it harder for prosecutors to win a conviction or a long sentence for tax-related offenses, according to tax law experts, since juries and judges tend to be more sympathetic to defendants who have paid their bills. But it takes the Times 24 paragraphs to finally reveal “emails were obtained by The New York Times from a cache of files that appears to have come from a laptop abandoned by Mr. Biden in a Delaware repair shop” (NY Times). From another story: … a year and a half after a mere mention of the story got you nuked from the internet by power-hungry tech oligarchs, and with Joe Biden safely in office, the propaganda press is quietly admitting what conservative media immediately verified: that the story was legitimate all along. The president’s son did abandon his laptop, which contained a treasure trove of damning and compromising information about Hunter Biden’s sketchy foreign business dealings and their connection to the now-president (The Federalist). A look back at NPR lecturing the right on why “There are many, many red flags in that New York Post investigation.” They actually blamed it on Russia (NPR). From Karol Markowicz: Twitter suspended a major newspaper’s account for a story everyone is now forced to acknowledge was true. That’s fine, right? We’ll just be moving on? (Twitter). From Dan Crenshaw: Maybe @nytimes can also confirm Hunter’s “art” is not actually worth $500,000? (Twitter).

Pandemic Response Leads to Wider Literacy Gap in D.C. Schools

Like many far-left cities, DC closed schools longer and made students wear masks when they did return, while schools in red states have been in person for nearly two years.  The end result was predictable (Washington Post).  From Senator Rand Paul two years ago: “If we keep kids out of school for another year, what’s going to happen is that the poor and underprivileged kids who don’t have a parent that is able to teach them at home are not going to learn” (NPR).

Poll: San Francisco Voters Favor Recall of District Attorney Who is Easy on Crime

68 percent back the recall. The story notes DA Chesa “Boudin has attracted backlash and criticism for his perceived leniency toward criminals, vowing not to prosecute cases involving “quality-of-life crimes,” such as “public camping, offering or soliciting sex, public urination [or] blocking a sidewalk.”

Daily Caller

Progressives Give Biden List of Executive Order Demands

From the story: The eight policy areas are: lowering health care costs, canceling federal student loan debt, expanding worker power and raising wages, advancing immigrants’ rights, delivering on the promise of equal justice under law, combating the climate crisis and reducing fossil fuel dependence, investing in care economy jobs and standards and regulating for economic and tax fairness. 

Fox News

Bowyer: Christians Need to Show Up to Stop Companies like Disney from Going Woke

From the op-ed: It’s time for Christians to start showing up. And this is the perfect time to do so. It seems clear that in this particular case, Disney was reluctant to engage in the usual public preening over the cause du jour. In Chapek’s own words, “As we have seen time and again, corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds. … Instead, they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame.” This restraint occurred even when there was essentially zero conservative input on the issue from shareholders to the board. But after Disney decided not to make a big public statement, the pressure was ramped up, and it all came from one side. Once again, a CEO caved.

World Magazine

Poll Finds Soaring Support for School Choice

From Alexandra DeSanctis: Americans of all stripes are beginning to reach a consensus in favor of school choice and of education policy that favors parental rights. The survey asked respondents about four key areas of the education debate: the role of parents, education-savings accounts, education-freedom scholarships, and failing schools. On each question, a majority of all respondents believed that greater education freedom is the correct policy.

National Review