Happy Thursday! Oreo has introduced a limited edition Oreo-flavored Oreo it’s calling The Most Oreo Oreo—with “real Oreo” bits in the filling—and we’re taking this opportunity to go for the record of most uses of the word “Oreo” in a single sentence: seven.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• President Joe Biden formally announced Wednesday the United States will send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in an agreement reached with Germany to secure the release of its simpler Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The U.S. will purchase the Abrams from manufacturers rather than releasing them from its stockpile, so the tanks will take months to reach the battlefield. Germany intends to deliver 14 Leopards from its stocks by the end of March and approve Leopard deliveries by other European countries.
• GenBioPro—the pharmaceutical manufacturer of abortion drug mifepristone—filed suit Wednesday in a West Virginia federal court, arguing the Food and Drug Administration’s rules governing abortion pills should take precedence over the state’s tighter restrictions. The FDA allows telehealth prescriptions, retail pharmacy sales, and mail delivery of abortion pills containing mifepristone, but West Virginia’s abortion limitations restrict access to the drug. An obstetrician-gynecologist on Wednesday sued North Carolina officials on similar grounds, challenging the state’s requirements that abortion pills be prescribed in person, among other restrictions. The Alliance Defending Freedom last year filed suit in Texas arguing the FDA shouldn’t have approved mifepristone at all. All three cases could affect abortion restrictions in other states.
• Pope Francis told the Associated Press Tuesday he believes laws criminalizing homosexuality are unjust and the Catholic Church should work to end them, his first such statement despite a history of urging the Church to boost inclusion of LGBTQ people. Nearly 70 countries have jurisdictions that at least nominally criminalize same-sex sexual activity, according to the Human Dignity Trust. Francis didn’t explicitly contradict the Church’s teaching on homosexual activity being sinful, but said it “isn’t a crime” and encouraged bishops supporting laws making it one to change their stances.
• China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention claimed Wednesday severe COVID-19 cases have fallen 72 percent from their January 5 peak and fever clinic visits have dropped nearly 98 percent from their December 23 peak. The country has reported just shy of 73,000 COVID-related deaths since December 8, likely a large undercount since COVID-19 deaths have been narrowly defined and only counted in hospitals. Anecdotal evidence suggests many deaths in rural areas, where a lack of hospitals means COVID-19 deaths are less likely to be recorded.
• Taliban spokesman Shafiullah Rahimi told CNN Tuesday that at least 157 Afghans have died amid low temperatures this winter, many during an early January cold snap. The United Nations said Sunday it’s delivering blankets, shelter, and other aid to more than 565,000 people, but several aid groups have halted operations in the country after the Taliban banned female aid workers. The cold has also killed about 70,000 livestock, according to Rahimi.
• Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg announced Wednesday the company will reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, ending a suspension imposed after he praised people participating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Given previous violations, Clegg wrote, Trump will be subject to higher penalties for further infractions such as posting content that “delegitimizes an upcoming election or is related to QAnon.” Penalties may include limiting the reach of his posts and/or additional suspensions.
• Yelp reported this week that new business openings in the U.S. hit a record high of 637,590 last year—up 12 percent from 2019’s pre-pandemic tally despite economic challenges. Eighty-six percent of states saw more business openings than in 2019, though New York and California lagged pre-pandemic levels, as did openings of businesses like restaurants and clubs, which were hardest hit by the pandemic.

Erdogan Throws a Wrench in Nordic NATO Bids

It’s bad form not to dance with the one who brought you, but what if the one who brought you is being barred from the dance floor by the bouncer? So it is for Sweden and Finland, both of which applied last year for NATO membership, and only one of which seems likely to be accepted anytime soon. Now the question is: Do you leave your friend at the door, or wait in the cold together? 

As we reported last year, Finland and Sweden abandoned their long-held neutrality after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, formally kickstarting the NATO accession process in May 2022.

Worth Your Time

• A few years ago, a tattooed Marine Corps veteran showed up at an Indiana mosque, fists clenched and face flushed. Bibi Bahraini writes in the Washington Post about what happened next. “I sat alone with him in our mosque library—to share a smile and ask his name,” Bahraini writes. “[Richard McKinney] began making regular visits to the mosque, joining us for meals and sharing stories about his family and his time in the military.” Months later, after McKinney joined the mosque, Bahraini heard rumors that he had planned to bomb it—so she invited him for dinner and asked if it was true. “He explained that in the military, he had been at war with Muslims for years, and that he had developed a deep hatred in his heart,” she writes. “[But] the way we had treated him, with compassion and kindness, had changed his mind. He said we had given him a place to belong.”
• Should Christians support making birth free in the U.S.? Christianity Today invited Christians with policy and political backgrounds to consider the question, and Lyman Stone—research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies—argued the idea is praiseworthy but the policy mechanism needs work. “If the proposal on offer became law tomorrow, we would have fewer abortions, more healthy babies, and a stronger culture of life in our society,” he writes. “However, we would also be overpaying for this, as the proposal calls to essentially cover all birth costs in the United States—at a level not even covered by many private insurance plans currently (such as by covering doulas)—and also to provide an allowance for the child’s first two years of life. This is all well and good, but to effect serious change, it would be more helpful to advance concrete policy proposals that are attainable in the short run and at a reasonable cost.” Stone goes on to suggest alternative policy changes he finds more cost-effective.
• In a column for the Washington Post, George Will explores Rep. Mike Gallagher’s plans and priorities for the House committee on China. “Gallagher believes that China’s recklessness might increase as its dynamism wanes,” Will writes. “Hence his questions. … Why the seeming retreat from the long-standing goal of a 355-ship Navy? Why is China purchasing U.S. agricultural land? Why has Congress not funded improved air and missile defense systems on Guam, just 1,700 miles from Taiwan? Why is Saudi Arabia ahead of Taiwan in the line to receive Harpoon missiles?” Gallagher, Will notes, finds himself arguing against defense cuts floated by both the left and the right. “Deterrence failed regarding Ukraine, with a huge cost in blood and treasure; a comparable failure regarding Taiwan would be immeasurably more catastrophic,” Will writes. “To both factions, Gallagher cites another Marine who does not mince words, former defense secretary Jim Mattis: ‘America can afford survival.’”
• One more just for fun: Underwater Photography Guide has announced the winners of its 2022 photography contest and the images—an octopus carrying its eggs, a swarm of rays reminiscent of bats taking off, a haloed newt, and many more—are worth a look.

Presented Without Comment

(Correction from yesterday’s TMD: Rep. Massie is not actually a member of the House Freedom Caucus.)

Also Presented Without Comment

Also Also Presented Without Comment

Toeing the Company Line

• On today’s episode of Advisory Opinions, Sarah and David discuss the latest on classified documents—another one bites the dust!—plus an egregious case of corruption, a Georgia grand jury debate, and a head-scratcher case of wrongful arrest. 
• Jonah returns to the studio for an in-person Remnant, recording with beloved egghead and Princeton political scientist Keith Whittington. They discuss America’s preoccupation with free speech, misconceptions about academic freedom, and what it means for college campuses and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent policy moves. How concerned should we be about the state of free speech on college campuses? What are some common misconceptions about academic freedom? And what should we make of DeSantis’ approach to these issues?
• You don’t have to be a card-carrying libertarian to worry about regulators reaching too quickly for blanket bans, Scott writes in Wednesday’s Capitolism (🔒). He offers a list of questions to ask before backing such prohibitions, and suggests policymakers exhibit a bit of humility. Plus: a chart eggsplaining those high egg prices.
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green is reportedly still jockeying to become Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, to which Nick replies in Wednesday’s Boiling Frogs (🔒): LOL, and furthermore, YOLO. “The core of hardcore partisanship is the belief that the worst member of your party is preferable to whatever the other party is offering,” he writes. “Trump/Greene would test that faith like few other things could.”
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has squashed a proposal to add an Advanced Placement course in African American studies to the state’s schools. In Wednesday’s G-File (🔒), Jonah argues the governor might have a point. Since black history is already in the standard curriculum, should schools be adding another advanced course while many kids struggle with basic reading and math?

• And on the site today, Harvest dives into why eggs are so expensive, Audrey reports on the political implications of the makeup of the powerful House Rules Committee, Robert Tyler argues we shouldn’t heap praise on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for finally sending tanks to Ukraine, and Kevin Carroll explores how the arrest for former FBI agent Charles McGonigal reveals wider failures of the federal government.