The Morning Briefing: Covington Fallout, Roe v. Wade Anniversary, and Much, Much More

Happy Wednesday Morning!

So… I’m going to be a father, and today’s the day I find out the sex of my unborn child! I might be a bit distracted, but I’ve still got a great morning briefing for you today.

Covington fallout

To be honest, when I heard about the poor Catholic boys in the MAGA hats preyed upon by the media, I wasn’t interested. Hundreds of thousands of people marched for life on Friday, and it’s always inspiring to see that so many people care about the unborn. This little dust-up afterward seemed rather inconsequential.

But then the media kept hammering the kid, and then it turned out he was effectively set up. Now he’s been doxxed, and on Tuesday the school shut down because it faced threats due to the controversy.

My amazing colleague Deb Heine broke the story about a lawyer threatening lawsuits against the media, and it got a much-deserved link on Drudge yesterday. A journalist got fired, but many media outlets kept up the pressure. When the “Today” show decided to have an interview with the boy, they faced a barrage of liberal attacks. To top it all off, tribal elder Nathan Phillips — the Native American the boy supposedly insulted by smirking after the guy got up in his face with his drum — isn’t even a Vietnam veteran as so many media outlets claimed.

Despite the fact that the event that inspired all the outrage was pure #FakeNews, liberals have used this as an excuse to reveal their hatred for “Make America Great Again” hats, as if the 2016 election were not “a thing.”

CNN’s Angela Rye may have been the worst. She compared MAGA hats to KKK hoods. Yes, really.

CNN's Angela Rye: “When I see the ‘Make America Great Again’ hat now, I am triggered. I’m so triggered.”

“This Make America Great Again' hat is just as maddening and frustrating and triggering for me to look at as a KKK hood.”

Rye asks: “When was [America] great?” pic.twitter.com/JMcXa9LozO

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 23, 2019

To be honest, I’m sick and tired of this story because the original event was such a non-issue. But the horrific media coverage has made MAGA hat-gate big, big news because the entire episode reveals the utter bankruptcy of our outrage culture and the tragedy that so many media outlets have effectively sold their souls to it.

Some Supreme Court news

The Supreme Court made big news yesterday by turning down cases, more than by deciding them.

Former assistant football coach Joe Kennedy — whose school district ordered him to stop praying after football games — appealed his case to the Court and he was denied. Justice Samuel Alito explained that just because the Court won’t take up Kennedy’s case, that doesn’t mean the justices think the 9th Circuit ruling against Kennedy was right. The Supreme Court sent the coach’s case back to the district court — so the court could discover more facts in the case and so that lower courts could come up with better reasoning than the ridiculous Establishment Clause explanation in the 9th Circuit ruling. (Read more about it here.)

In other news, the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to carry out the Mattis Plan — reversing Obama’s social engineering in the military. This much-maligned “transgender ban” does not actually exile every transgender service member, but it does reverse Obama’s policy of endorsing transgender identity in the military. Transgender troops are allowed to join the armed services, so long as they follow the requirements for individuals of their biological sex. This kind of rule only seems oppressive if you believe that gender identity trumps biology.

Trump had every right to return to a policy similar to the pre-Obama one, but judicial activists put a stay on his policy. The Supreme Court ruled against that stay, allowing the policy to come into effect while cases against the “ban” go forward. In other words, the policy may end up being struck down, but at least Trump can act like a commander in chief and institute his own policy for the military.

Naturally, this was met with much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) called the “ban” “cruel.”

Transgender men and women have been serving with honor, many on the front lines. They have demonstrated their fitness to serve. They deserve our respect and gratitude, not this cruel ban."

Our full statement, from Deputy Legal Director David Dinielli https://t.co/P1QQx7bFZH

— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) January 22, 2019

2020 Democrats leapt on board.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) tweeted a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) video decrying the “hateful” policy.

Trump's hateful ban on transgender troops in our military is an affront to their service, and has nothing to do with unit cohesion or readiness.

Take it from our military leaders themselves. I’ve asked them.

“Just not an issue.”

“No.”

“Precisely zero.” pic.twitter.com/ai6xG708Re

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 22, 2019

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) — perhaps the most dangerous Democratic candidate for president in 2020 — also decried the “ban.”

Transgender military members have the courage to serve our country and deserve to do so. We have to fight back to reverse this. https://t.co/ln495C3RUR

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 22, 2019

Ironically, CNN shared the story of a transgender Army sergeant who said the “ban” won’t stop transgender people from serving in the military. This biological man who identifies as a woman is right. Trump’s policy allows people who identify with the gender opposite their biological sex to serve in the military, so long as they are stable in their biological sex or were grandfathered in under Obama’s policy.

Roe v. Wade turns 46.

Yesterday marked the 46th anniversary of the notorious Roe v. Wade decision striking down state laws on abortion. As I noted previously, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched against this decision this past Friday. Sixty-five percent of Americans want Roe v. Wade effectively overturned.

Many celebrated the decision, however. Here’s Gillibrand again.

Remember: Abortion existed before #RoevWade, it just wasn't legal or safe. Women died without that access to the health care they needed. We're not going back to that.

This isn't just a fight for equality — it's a fight for our lives. And it's one I refuse to lose.

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 23, 2019

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a likely 2020 Democratic candidate, chimed in.

On this 46th anniversary of #RoevWade, reproductive rights are in danger like never before. Republicans in Congress seem to think they're better suited to make medical decisions than women and their doctors.

We must—and will—keep fighting for reproductive freedom for all.

— Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) January 22, 2019

Others lamented the decision.

46 years ago today,

60,000,000 innocent preborn children were sentenced to be poisoned, dismembered, or suctioned to death by abortion

Children deserve better

Mothers deserve better

Fathers deserve better

Families deserve better#RoevWade

— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) January 22, 2019

Tragically, New York passed laws allowing grotesque abortion practices in the name of “access.”

BREAKING NEWS: On Roe’s 46th anniversary, New York has just passed the Reproductive Health Act, becoming the first state to pass protections for abortion access in 2019 & setting an example for other states in expanding #ReproFreedom across the country! #Roe46 #PassRHA pic.twitter.com/RyztOMmcT7

— NARAL (@NARAL) January 22, 2019

Here’s what that means.

The state of New York just legalized late term abortions. Here is how a late term abortion is carried out:

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 23, 2019

Also yesterday, I wrote about Planned Parenthood’s finances. The abortion giant is increasingly reliant on taxpayers, and the services it provides are down — with the exception of abortion.

Planned Parenthood's days may be numbered. Its own finances reveal the abortion giant's dependence on taxpayers, its increasing numbers on abortion and decreases in other services. Enough is enough. #DefundPlannedParenthood https://t.co/NzOfzETR5p @PJMedia_com @SBAList

— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 22, 2019

Photo of the day.

On January 23, 1950, the Israeli Knesset voted to confirm that Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel. Here is a photo of the Old City from the Mount of Olives.