Lame move from a lame duck, grim wages of Joes weakness and other commentary

It sounds “Orwellian — but a handful of people have been arrested or charged” in Britain, “simply for praying silently near abortion clinics,” marvels Reason Magazine’s Emma Camp.Adam Smith-Connor this month “was convicted of criminal charges” thanks to the “2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act,” under which “local authorities can obtain special status for some public places,” where they can “ban a huge range of conduct,” including silent prayers.In sentencing Smith-Connor, “the court reasoned that his prayer amounted to ‘disapproval of abortion’ ” because “his head was seen slightly bowed and his hands were clasped.” And he’s “far from the first” in Britain to face jail for such prayer.“As a one-term president, Joe Biden appears eager” to do unwise things, such as apparently pushing Britain to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, grumbles John Bolton at The Wall Street Journal.The Chagos archipelago “houses a critical U.S.-U.K.military base” in the Indian Ocean, and though the base will remain under British control, Mauritius is “increasingly China-friendly.”If Parliament approves the transfer, China will be able to spy on the base and conduct military operations.“There’s no compelling logic” to cede the islands, except that Labour and former leader Jeremy Corbyn have long sought it; Chagossians might’ve even preferred to become a US commonwealth.Yet Biden caved to the Corbynites.

“Let’s hope there aren’t any other foreign-policy surprises” before Biden steps down.“The most salient national security aspect of Bob Woodward’s new book ‘War’ is his revelation that Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely emboldened to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan,” argue Mark Toth & Jonathan Sweet at The Hill.Indeed: “The ‘permissive environment’ established by Biden and his national security team was ta...