ARBEIT MACHT FREI: US lawmakers aim to hold China accountable for Uyghur abuses.

As many as 1 million of the minority Muslim population have been forced by the Chinese government into “re-education camps” in the Xinjiang province. Former detainees say they were forced to endure intensive “brain washing” sessions including close study of Communist Party propaganda. The Chinese government has defended these camps as a means of fighting what they describe as a rising tide of extremism in Xinjiang.

“The United States must hold accountable officials in the Chinese government and Communist Party responsible for gross violations of human rights and possible crimes against humanity, including the internment in ‘political reeducation’ camps of as many as a million Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities,” Rubio said in a statement.

The legislation urges President Donald Trump to condemn the abuses.

China has been making big infrastructure investments in the mineral-rich former Soviet (and largely Muslim) Central Asian republics bordering or nearby Xinjiang. I wonder how much more they can squeeze Xinjiang before poisoning their growing relations with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.

THE PROPER NUMBER IS ZERO. THE ACTUAL NUMBER IS… How Many Non-Citizens Vote in U.S. Elections? “In spite of substantial public controversy, very little reliable data exists concerning the frequency with which non-citizen immigrants participate in United States elections. Although such participation is a violation of election laws in most parts of the United States, enforcement depends principally on disclosure of citizenship status at the time of voter registration. This study examines participation rates by non-citizens using a nationally representative sample that includes non-citizen immigrants. We find that some non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congressional elections. Non-citizen votes likely gave Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health care reform and other Obama administration priorities in the 111th Congress.”

By any means fair or foul, as I’ve been repeating since late last Tuesday.

SPENGLER: France has neither nationalism nor patriotism. “Just 29% of the French are willing to fight for their country, according to a 2017 WIN/Gallup poll, a bit above Germany’s 18%. Contrast that to 84% of Israel’s Jewish population. That’s ‘patriotism’ or ‘nationalism,’ as you prefer. The Europeans know from neither. All they want is an untroubled journey to extinction.”

Needless to say, read the whole thing.

WELL: Michael Avenatti is arrested for domestic violence after ‘swollen and bruised’ estranged wife filed felony report.

Tiana Lowe tweets, “There’s already more evidence against Michael Avenatti than there is against Brett Kavanaugh.”

The Left projects, always.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL WINNING: Americans are pigging out on bacon as Trump’s trade war cuts chicken demand.

FASTER, PLEASE. MUCH FASTER. SERIOUSLY, YOU’VE HAD MORE THAN 160 YEARS. Scalise on Needing to Do ‘a Lot Better’ at Articulating Conservatism: ‘We’re Going to Get There.’

OH FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: Federal Judge Rebuked Broward Supervisor for Hiding ‘Mystery’ Voter Roll Manual. “She refused to cough up documents during a trial about the voter rolls in her county last year.”

I’M EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Air Force Fast-Tracks New A2K “More Penetrating” Deep Strike Bunker Buster Bomb.

KEEP COUNTING UNTIL THE DESIRED RESULT IS REACHED: Abrams gains ground as judges order more Georgia votes to be counted.

CRIME OF THE CENTURY: Drunk Mississippi man drove truck into courthouse to report his drugs were stolen.

IT ISN’T BRIBERY WHEN THE RIGHT PEOPLE DO IT: Amazon is getting more than $2 billion for NYC and Virginia expansions.

HMM: ISIS Group Claims California Wildfires Are Retribution, Vows ‘You Will See More Fires.’ “The terror group has previously suggested both wildland and commercial or residential arson as an attack tactic.”

THE MASK SLIPS: Democrats’ top issues are socialized medicine, repealing the 2nd Amendment.

A 2020 primary survey conducted by TargetPoint Consulting revealed voter fatigue among Democrats with the two-time failed presidential candidate. The poll is the first to include Clinton among 2020 hopefuls, just as her former aides suggest she is gearing up for another presidential campaign.

The survey also reveals the top two most important issues to Democratic voters—securing single-payer health care and repeal of the Second Amendment.

After the Second comes the First.

Plus: “Former vice president Joe Biden leads the field, but with just 29 percent of the vote. Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders is the only other candidate to crack 20 percent, while Clinton shares a distant fourth place with just 8 percent of likely voters saying they would support her in 2020.”

MORE: Fox News backs CNN in lawsuit against Trump, wants Acosta reinstated.

In its complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, CNN argued that the revocation of Acosta’s access was “the culmination of years of hostility by President Trump against CNN and Acosta” based on its reporting and “an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude reporters from the White House who challenge and dispute the President’s point of view.”

In response, the Justice Department argued in a court filing that Trump has “broad discretion to regulate access to the White House for journalists.”

Wallace said Fox News intended to file an amicus brief in support of CNN with the court ahead of an afternoon hearing.

Fox News is alienating its core audience in support of a deeply flawed lawsuit.

Dumb.

VIDEO: How ZTE helps Venezuela create social control. “Venezuela’s Fatherland Card is troubling citizens and human-rights groups who believe it is a tool for Maduro to monitor the populace and allocate scarce resources to people his government deems most loyal.”

Background on the “Fatherland Card” here.

BREAKING: Fox News to file Amicus brief in support of @CNN’s lawsuit vs. White House Per Fox News President Jay Wallace.

Details to follow.

SHOCKER: Valerie Jarrett Writes Op-Ed Supporting Pelosi for Speaker. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?”

ED MORRISSEY: Republicans’ Arizona debacle.

The loss in Arizona highlights their tenuous hold on the key states necessary to winning the Electoral College. The losses in the “blue wall” states show that normal or higher Democratic turnout will block Trump from that path to victory, unless Clinton tries running again. Without those states, Republicans can only get to 260 votes using the 2016 election results as a template. Republicans would have to make a big push in Virginia, or perhaps some combination of Colorado, Nevada, and New Hampshire in order to get the 10 electors necessary to win without the Midwestern flips that made Trump president.

If Sinema’s win means Arizona is in play — and Trump’s 49 percent in 2016 already suggested it might be — then there is almost no place to make up the loss of those 11 electors. On top of that, the close election in Georgia’s gubernatorial race also potentially puts that state in bubble status as well, with another 16 electors at risk in a state Trump won with only 51 percent of the vote. Suddenly, Trump has gone from 306 electors to just 249 or even 233.

Arizona turning purple should have Republicans wringing their hands for the next two years.

Given all the ticket-splitting in Arizona between the gubernatorial and senate candidates, I’m not yet certain there’s a larger lesson to draw here, as Ed has done. McSally wasn’t as strong on the campaign trail as she could or should have been, and Sinema ran a smart (if fundamentally dishonest) campaign, and enjoyed serious media tailwinds. So Arizona seems to me like less of a referendum on Trump, and more of a case of all politics being local. But we’ll see.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: DC Carry Permits Jump Over 1440 Percent Since District Went ‘Shall Issue.’

The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to The Daily Caller Tuesday that 1,896 concealed carry permits were issued by MPD for the calendar year to date 2018.

MPD noted that several hundred approvals came from applications submitted in late 2017. These were included in the current 2018 approval number, which is why the total number of 2018 applications for DC concealed carry permits to date is 1508 — a number lower than the 2018 approval number.

Prior the court ruling, according to The Washington Post, only 123 people had active D.C. concealed carry permits and MPD previously denied 77 percent of applicants for not providing the once-mandated “good reason” to carry.

Excellent.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: It’s a condensed version this morning, but still with plenty of links to stories you might have missed.

TRADE: This Year, Ironically, First U.S. Deficit Record In 12 Years.

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, the U.S. trade deficit will almost certainly set a record in 2018 for the first time in 12 years , new data suggests for the first time.

It’s been a remarkable run without a deficit. To provide context, prior to 2006, the last record-setting year, the United States had set a record 11 of the previous 12 years.

It is also not without irony that the run of years without a deficit would come to an end under President Trump.

There’s nothing ironic about it. The economy and the dollar are both strong under Trump, meaning we can afford to buy more stuff.

OH: North Korea Is Operating at Least 13 Secret Missile Sites, Satellite Images Show.

FASTER, PLEASE: A superstar ex-Facebook and Google exec is trying to upend a $6 billion industry with devices that spot disease sooner — and she’s already testing it on animals.

The health and insurance industries are ripe for disruption.

NO. NEXT QUESTION? CNN v. Trump: Is There a Constitutional Right to a Press Pass?

Acosta has the Constitutional right to be a self-centered jerk, but that doesn’t entitle him a White House press pass.

YOU DON’T SAY: Union of Concerned Scientists For Nukes! Activist group finally recognizes that it can’t achieve its energy and climate goals without nuclear power.

In its new report, The Nuclear Power Dilemma, the UCS now recognizes that nuclear power plays an important role in addressing the problem of man-made global warming by helping to keep U.S. carbon dioxide emissions considerably lower than they would otherwise be. The UCS notes that there has been a 28 percent reduction in U.S. power-sector emissions of carbon dioxide below 2005 levels. This is largely due to the switch from coal to cheap fracked natural gas, to increased energy efficiency, and to the deployment of some solar and wind generation capacity.

The UCS fears that this trend toward lower carbon dioxide emissions will be derailed because many of the currently operating nuclear power plants will close because they are being outcompeted by generation facilities fueled by cheap natural gas and subsidized renewable power generation. “More than one-third of existing plants, representing 22 percent of total U.S. nuclear capacity, are unprofitable or scheduled to close,” notes the report. “The possibility that the nation will replace existing nuclear plants with natural gas and coal rather than low-carbon sources raises serious concerns about our ability to achieve the deep cuts in carbon emissions needed to limit the worst impacts of climate change.” The UCS has evidently come to realize that closing down nuclear power plants will perversely “lock-in” fossil fuels and thus make it harder and more expensive to “save the climate.”

How about a crash program to develop safe and standardized thorium reactors?