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U.S. diplomats in China were subjected to anal swab tests for Covid-19, a Department of State spokesperson confirmed Thursday, adding that a protest had been lodged with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The United States had received assurances from China that the tests were done in error and that diplomatic personnel were exempt from this specific testing requirement, the spokesperson said. "The Department is committed to guaranteeing the safety and security of American diplomats and their families while preserving their dignity, consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, as well as other relevant diplomatic law provisions," the spokesperson said.

Tonight, Joe Biden launched another salvo in the forever war. This time, we hit Iranian units in Syria, ostensibly as retaliation for recent rocket strikes on U.S. facilities. Why we are even still in Syria is a mystery the world’s greatest minds will never solve, but I digress. Some of you may be old enough to remember the consternation produced when Donald Trump launched a similar attack in 2017. We were assured that the orange man was going to start a world war. In fact, a certain current White House Press Secretary once chimed in on the supposed illegality of Trump’s previous strike.

Politicians are not, in general, renowned for honesty. Spin is universal and exaggeration goes with the territory. But actual lying–verifiable, damnable lying about an important public issue–is relatively uncommon. Unless we are talking about Joe Biden. During the campaign, Biden absurdly alleged that President Trump had mishandled the COVID epidemic, and therefore had murdered the several hundred thousand Americans who allegedly died from that disease. The theory was that if Trump had done something differently–God knows what–the U.S. would have been the only country on Earth with zero Wuhan deaths. Reporters went along with Biden’s fantasy.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that Texas is looking at when it will be able to lift all statewide orders related to the coronavirus pandemic and that an announcement is forthcoming. Abbott made the comments at a Corpus Christi news conference where he was asked when the statewide mask mandate would end as Texans continue to get vaccinated. That requirement has been in effect since July. Abbott called it a “great question.” “We’re working right now on evaluating when we’re gonna be able to remove all statewide orders, and we will be making announcements about that pretty soon,” Abbott said, without giving a specific time frame.

WASHINGTON — The Senate parliamentarian has dealt a potentially lethal blow to Democrats’ drive to hike the minimum wage, deciding that the cherished progressive goal must fall from a massive COVID-19 relief bill the party is trying to speed through Congress, Democratic Senate aides said Thursday. The finding by Elizabeth MacDonough, the chamber’s nonpartisan arbiter of its rules, comes as Democrats prepare for House approval Friday of an initial version of the $1.9 trillion package that still includes the minimum wage boost. It will force Democrats to make politically painful choices about what to do next on the federal minimum wage, which has long caused internal party rifts.