Republican: Biden’s Box-Check Border Bop-By

Since Joe Biden’s last border “visit” was “in a motorcade on his way to a campaign stop in New Mexico nearly 15 years ago,” sneers The Hill’s Joe Concha, “one can’t help but wonder what the result will be in terms of finding solutions” from Sunday’s El Paso stop. Fact is, if he’d gone to “Eagle Pass or Del Rio, Texas, then he might be serious about addressing this issue, given those are where the largest influxes of migrants are pouring in.” Instead, expect “pointing to an ambiguous ‘immigration reform plan’ that doesn’t include a border wall, the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy and an increase in the number of Border Patrol agents needed to manage the crisis,” since those would “alienate Biden’s base.” We’ll just get “what Washington does best: Grandstanding, blame-games and photo-ops. There is a presidential election in 667 days, after all.”

Ukraine beat: Democracy Is a Worthy Investment

“Ukraine is doing something no one thought possible,” cheers Daniel Twining at Politico, “defeating the Russian army and, in doing so, crippling one of America’s most dangerous adversaries.” Besides supplying arms and training, “Washington has invested in supporting the institutions that enabled Ukraine to take a different path than Russia,” one toward “democracy and independence” and tackling corruption, “instead of fostering kleptocracy.” After nearly 70 years under Communism, “Ukrainians were unfamiliar with democratic processes and norms.” But 30 years after independence, “Ukraine has strong governing institutions — so strong that they have continued to function under the onslaught of Russia’s attack.” This resilience “demonstrates not only the wisdom of America’s investment, but the reliability of Ukraine’s stewardship of U.S. assistance” as it pursues “a democratic, pro-Western future.”

Foreign desk: European Socialist ‘Bribe’-Taking

Allegations Qatar was “easily” able to bribe Socialist group members in the European Parliament, including Vice President Eva Kaili, in exchange for political support is “dismaying,” sighs the Gatestone Institute’s Drieu Godefridi. Workers who built World Cup stadiums there toiled under “slave-like” conditions, contributing to the deaths of 6,500, per the Guardian. Yet the accused bribe-takers suddenly started praising the emirate. Are parliament members “in financial need,” though they’re paid roughly $14,000 a month plus expenses? The affair also reveals Europe’s extreme “distress” over energy supplies, as it’s become “dependent” on “Russia and, increasingly, Qatar” — a fact the emirate well understands: After the allegations became public, it hinted about “global energy poverty.” “The blackmail is clear.”

From the right: ‘Re-Educating’ Prof. Peterson

“You would think Canadians had learned by now not to tell Jordan Peterson what to say,” quip The Wall Street Journal’s editors. But “the College of Psychologists of Ontario is demanding” Peterson “undergo a ‘coaching program’ of remedial education” for “calling Elliot Page, the transgender actor, by his former name,” among other transgressions. Such complaints — of which Peterson cites “about a dozen” since 2017 — aren’t “about mitigating harm but preventing free expression.” Yet “professional bodies are supposed to ensure that practitioners are competent, not enforce political orthodoxies or act as language police outside the office.” “But that’s the trend in Western medical associations and beyond” — possibly “an issue of id, ego and superego. You could ask a psychologist about it.”

Congress watch: Where’s the Katie Porter Outrage?

“Katie Porter, darling of the liberal media, is having a rough couple of weeks,” smirks Matthew Foldi at Spectator World. Porter’s accused of “firing an employee who allegedly gave her Covid; using racist language, and fostering a hostile workplace” — “yet the general public would never have heard” about this if not “for an anonymous Instagram account.” Indeed, some journalists say “they’ve known about these horror stories for years and simply choose to ignore them.” “The problem with the media’s complicity in covering for Democrats” like Porter “is that it will never stop.” So “journalists can claim that democracy dies in darkness, but sometimes the cure is an anonymous Instagram account, not another liberal arts major running cover for the Democratic Party.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board