 Dear Weekend Jolter, Writing about the transgender-athlete debate is not a validating experience. Those who dare speak the reality that allowing biological males to compete against females is unfair risk being labeled bigots and worse. Most of us wouldn't have the mettle to cover the trans issue every week. Heck, I wrote a single post remarking on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas's recent victories and, in scanning my Twitter mentions, found myself wondering if witness protection might be nice. But let me tell you who doesn't give a flying flip about that kind of heat. NR's Maddy Kearns has been unflinchingly focused on the trans debate, and in fact has been at the vanguard of coverage — whether it be about the implications for free speech, for children, for the medical field, or for college sports. Her on-site reporting on the NCAA swimming championships, which captured the true contention on the ground over Lia Thomas's admission, was invaluable in demonstrating that, no, this is not a settled issue. So we're running a flash webathon at NR to help replenish the coffers (that Maddy is known to run up Hunter Thompson–level hotel bills, you see — kidding!) and ensure we can provide more of this kind of coverage. On-location reporting costs the green stuff, and we suspect this is a debate that will play out in many locations. If you can, please consider pitching in; we've seen donations of all sizes, and no amount is too small (or too much . . . ). As Rich Lowry says, "There's only one Maddy Kearns." Maddy also wrote about her experience at the NCAA championships, and about the kind of reasoning she's up against: At the NCAA swim championships in Atlanta last week, I got into an argument with a woman about biological sex. "I'm a physician," she said. "And I can tell you this is very subtle. You might be a man. How do you know you're not if you've never been tested?" Fortunately, I do not rely on this woman, or anyone else, to "affirm" what sex I am. Unlike Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, I don't need a "biologist" to tell me what a woman is. Sex is not "subtle." It is obvious, objective, and binary.
While she was in Atlanta, aside from gathering the perspective of fellow swimmers and their parents, Maddy shot footage showcasing these debates that has since racked up millions of views. If that sounds like a strong return on investment, well, here's that donation link again. That written, the rest of this newsletter will cost you nothing. Bon appétit. NAME. RANK. LINK. EDITORIALS The KBJ hearings are over. So what should Republicans do next? No on Ketanji Brown Jackson The NCAA rule-makers have abdicated responsibility and hurt female athletes in the process: The NCAA Swimming Championship Was a National Scandal ARTICLES Dan McLaughlin: Justice Scalia Won Jim Geraghty: Why the Russian Oligarchs Won't Defy Putin Kristen Waggoner: Do Universities Have the Courage to Solve Their Free-Speech Problem? Kevin Williamson: Autocracy's Fatal Flaws Kevin Williamson: Make Putin Pay Caroline Downey: Babylon Bee Refuses to Back Down after Twitter Suspends Account over ‘Man of the Year’ Post Rich Lowry: Vladimir Putin and the Fragility of Order Nate Hochman: Most Americans Are Moving On from Covid. Progressive Elites Aren't Philip Klein: Government Handouts Do Not Reduce Inflation John Fund: Veering from the Smog of War TV to Humanitarian Clarity Brittany Bernstein: More Americans 65 and Under Died from Alcohol-Related Causes Than Covid-19 in 2020, Study Finds Andrew McCarthy: Republicans' Missed Opportunity in the Judge Jackson Hearings Lewis Libby: How Russia and China May View the War in Ukraine Ryan Mills: Parents Describe How Covid-Masking Caused ‘Heartbreaking’ Learning Loss in Speech-Delayed Children Jenna Stocker: The Absurd Attempt to Defend Lia Thomas's Competing as a Woman CAPITAL MATTERS The IRS and taxpayers alike are getting slammed by a tax code that's becoming more complex. Daniel Pilla makes the case for simplicity: Is the IRS Collapsing? Andrew Stuttaford will not be trading his lamb kebabs for legumes, thank you very much: Let Them Eat Lentils LIGHTS. CAMERA. REVIEW. Armond White looks askance at the meme that became a show: Ava DuVernay's One Perfect Shot at Propaganda A documentary about King Crimson is as cerebral and challenging (in a good way) as the band itself. From Kyle Smith: Excellence, Existence, Tyranny, Death, and Rock Brian Allen dings the Morgan Library's exhibition on Hans Holbein the Younger, but that takes nothing away from an artist whose work, in Brian's spot-on description, is "early HD." Have a look: Holbein Gets the Damp-Squib Treatment at the Morgan Library INTERMISSION Kristen Waggoner, with Alliance Defending Freedom, recalls her experience being shouted down at Yale during a . . . wait for it . . . free-speech event: I recently spoke at Yale Law School on the topic of remedies for First Amendment violations. The subject is not controversial; in fact, it is one on which members from both sides of the political spectrum agree. I am a conservative Christian, and I was joined on a panel by another lawyer — a progressive atheist, from the American Humanist Association. While we disagree on some very important issues, we wanted to demonstrate that we can still engage in civil discourse and find common ground when protecting civil rights. One issue we agree upon is a free-speech case I argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that united both sides of the political spectrum. Sadly, 120 or so law students showed up to hurl insults and disrupt our discussion. Rather than listen and engage in civil dialogue, the vitriolic mob shouted down their professor who was moderating, and then me. After they were asked to leave, they chanted, pounded on classroom walls, and reportedly disrupted nearby classes, exams, and meetings. Even members of the Federalist Society, the student group that organized the event, were harassed and physically threatened by their fellow law students. Think about that for a moment. At what is supposed to be one of the most prestigious law schools in the country, a room full of future lawyers, legislators, jurists, and corporate executives chose to bang on walls, use obscene gestures, and engage in name-calling and physical intimidation rather than act like adults. One would think that an institution that is "committed to fostering an environment that values the free expression of ideas" would actually enforce its free-expression policy. At a minimum, it would strongly condemn these students who sought to silence ideas and people they disliked through bullying and intimidation. Unfortunately, Yale did neither. Instead, Yale issued a weak statement that defended the student protesters and grossly downplayed their disruptive and petulant actions. Even more disturbing, Yale falsely claimed that the students did not interfere with the speakers' ability to be heard. I, for one, was not able to speak without disruption. Have a listen to multiple audio clips of the event, and judge for yourself. Finally, the university said that a police presence was not needed. Again, that's not true. The situation was so volatile that we required an armed police escort to leave campus in a patrol car.
Madeleine Kearns's on-location coverage of the NCAA swim championships is essential reading, as noted. Now that it's over, NR's editorial recaps and appeals to common sense in the transgender-athlete debate: At this year's NCAA swimming championships, organizers allowed a biological male, Lia Thomas, to compete against female athletes on the basis of transgender status. And so, what should have been a moment of sporting pride — a celebration of some of the best female swimmers in the country — became a scandal. Thomas, a fifth-year senior at the University of Pennsylvania, went by his given name of Will and swam for the men's team until 2019 without issue. When competing against men, Thomas was a top-tier swimmer, though far from a national champion. But since Thomas underwent hormone-replacement therapy during the pandemic and was allowed to join the women's team in the 2021–2022 season, the swimmer has dominated the female competition. At the NCAA swim championships last week, Thomas reached the podium in every event the swimmer competed in, an honor bestowed on the top eight finishers in the nation. Thomas finished first in the 500-yard freestyle (beating two Olympic medalists), fifth in the 200-yard freestyle, and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle. The NCAA's reasoning is that Thomas, having taken testosterone suppressants, is now biologically equivalent to the championship's female athletes. It requires nothing short of magical thinking to come to such a conclusion. Menopausal women do not cease to be women after their estrogen levels drop. And neither do biological men cease to be biological men after their testosterone levels have been chemically manipulated. The sex-based advantages conferred on Thomas during puberty are as irreversible as they are obvious. It is literally impossible to change sex. Thomas's defenders emphasize that no rules have been broken. But the rule-makers have abdicated responsibility. . . . Parents report that their daughters have been instructed by their coaches to smile, stay silent, and step aside. So much for Title IX, which was supposed to protect women from this kind of discrimination. Instead of allowing, indeed actively encouraging, this fiasco, adults should have taken a hand from the beginning and politely but firmly said "no" to a biological male competing in a women's sport.
Ryan Mills reports on the real-world impact of school masking policies on children's speech development: Parents of children with documented speech-development issues told National Review that pandemic-related restrictions — masks, virtual school, teletherapy — along with less access to speech-language services generally, have clearly set their kids back. Many professional speech pathologists worry there could be lasting ramifications for kids who have fallen behind and never catch up academically or socially. "I have some major concerns about the long-term impact of all of this, most definitely. Especially with the babies, early intervention is so important," said Jaclyn Theeck, a speech pathologist and owner of the Speech and Learning Institute in Palm Beach, Fla. "Children have not received the therapy they've needed, because they've been afraid of the pandemic. 'Let's just wait.' Well, they've lost valuable time when the brain is developing the most." . . . Theeck . . . said that since the beginning of the pandemic she's seen a "very significant" increase in the number of parents with referrals from their pediatricians bringing in young children with speech and language delays. She said the surge in demand has made getting services at her clinic more difficult. Theeck told a local TV station last year that the percentage of her clients who are babies and toddlers increased from about 5 percent pre-pandemic to about 20 percent. She told National Review that has only increased over the last half year.
John Fund provides a dispatch from a refugee center on the Hungary–Ukraine border, while detailing the staggering depravity of Russian propaganda: Last Sunday, I felt as if I were being bounced from one reality to the next on my trip to the Ukrainian border. I began my day in Budapest, Hungary, slack-jawed as I watched Rossiya 24, the Kremlin-owned news channel that provides Russians with Vladimir Putin's worldview. With the help of a Russian-speaking friend, I learned things that I just couldn't find on other channels. Reports that Russian forces were taking heavy losses were false, designed to "mislead inexperienced viewers." The threat to civilians in Ukraine comes not from Russian forces, but from "Ukrainian nationalists" and their accompanying "wolf commandos," who are American mercenaries fighting for the Kyiv regime. All the presenters make constant reference to the "historical parallels" between Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine and the Soviet Union's struggle against Nazi Germany. A surreal documentary highlights the long-standing "fraternal" ties between Ukraine and Russia. Archive footage of tractors harvesting Ukrainian wheat are shown without any sense of the bitter irony — it was Joseph Stalin's forced famine that led to the deaths of some 4 million Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933. Then I sit bolt upright as the documentary depicts the liberation of Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city, from the Nazis in September 1943. German signs are smashed in the footage as happy civilians then dance with grinning Soviet soldiers. But no footage is shown of Mariupol today. The reason is that conditions there are akin to a medieval siege.
Shout-Outs William Deresiewicz, at UnHerd: American education's new dark age Joseph Simonson and Matthew Foldi, at the Washington Free Beacon: Dem Offices on Cap Hill Remain Closed After Biden's Call for Return to Normalcy Elle Reynolds, at the Federalist: 7 Times The Babylon Bee Reported History Before It Happened Secunder Kermani, at the BBC: Afghanistan girls' tears over chaotic Taliban schools U-turn CODA I'm old enough to no longer quite know what's mainstream and what's not anymore. My assumption was that the Scottish instrumental-rock band Mogwai was decidedly not . . . until the bandmates showed up as part of the promotional campaign for a new, ultra-aged Macallan whiskey (don't even bother looking up how much it costs, trust me). Anyway, it was a reminder of how much the band's song "Glasgow Mega-Snake" annihilates everything in its path. Seek shelter if you click. Sling a song my way at jberger@nationalreview.com, if you'd like to share one with this list. It can even have lyrics. | 
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