Happy Tuesday!

Gotta love the media. I may be exaggerating, but it sure feels like, “Gas prices are rising, presidents are being indicted, democracy is falling, the dollar is failing, World War III is looming … but in our top story, Taylor Swift has broken up with her boyfriend of six years … .”

But you’ve got to feel for the fella, British actor Joe Alwyn. Most guys after a break-up are thinking, “What am I going to do without her?” He’s got to be thinking, “What am I going to do when she writes an album singing about what a louse I am?”

Oh well. On to the real news.

Peeking in the Pews: Docs Released Monday Indicate FBI Sought to Develop Sources Inside Christian Churches to Combat “Domestic Terrorism”

According to FBI documents uncovered and released Monday by the House Judiciary Committee, the Feds sought to use Christian churches as “new avenues for tripwire and source development” to fight domestic terrorism. They specifically targeted “mainline Catholic parishes.”

Given that this same FBI and DOJ has been going around arresting people for praying and singing hymns outside abortion mills and refuses to consider the Nashville massacre a hate crime, is this really about terrorism? Or is it about intimidating or undermining pro-life efforts? Your key phrase is “mainline” Catholic parishes. I mean, really. Does anyone really think of Catholic churches as hotbeds of domestic terrorism? Anybody stabbing random strangers on the street, yelling “Hail Mary, full of grace”? Is St. Andrew’s down the block hosting “Bingo and Bomb Making Night?”

“Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment,” Rep. Jim Jordan wrote FBI director Christopher Wray. “They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called ‘tripwire’ sources or other informants in their houses of worship.”

Joe Biden Announces He’s “Planning” on Running Again, But “Isn’t Ready to Announce It Yet”

Joe Biden hosted the annual White House Easter Egg Roll Monday. Unlike last year, Biden didn’t have to be rescued from reporters by the Easter Bunny. He had Jill at his side.

When asked by NBC’s Al Roker if he is going to run again in 2024, Biden, after mumbling a bit about pushing out Easter eggs for the next three, four or five years, said, “I plan on running, Al, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet.”

NEW: TODAY’s @alroker asks President Biden about his possible Presidential run in 2024. pic.twitter.com/3OELi0yJmK

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 10, 2023

According to Axios, Biden may hold off an official announcement until July — or even as late as the fall.

More Fallout From Bud Light Glorifying Dylan Mulvaney: Clydesdales Booted From Upcoming Gig

More fallout from Bud Light choosing to glorify Dylan Mulvaney, a dude who pretends he’s a little girl. A major Bud distributor in Missouri has cancelled all upcoming appearances by the legendary Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses.

Wil Fischer Distributing axed the appearances by the iconic Clydesdales, citing safety concerns for employees. Really? Haven’t they been watching the news? The employees are far more in danger if they don’t submit to the trans activist cultists. Just ask Riley Gaines.

Clydesdales canceled: local Budweiser distributor cancels upcoming showings https://t.co/ZzerAy8RI0

— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) April 7, 2023

Reports that some of the Clydesdales now identify as mules are unconfirmed.

But seriously … Beer Business Daily, an industry trade publication, says distributors, particularly in “the heartland and the South,” were “spooked” by the embrace of Mulvaney. The publication also noted that though the data is very limited, “it appears likely Bud Light took a volume hit in some markets over the holiday weekend.” Whether short term or long term is yet to be seen.

Fox News reports that before the controversy over sponsoring Mulvaney broke, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid gave an interview touting her efforts to update the brand from its “fratty” image. Updating the “declining” brand meant incorporating “inclusivity, it means shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men.” I think this can be put another way: “I had to kill the brand to save it.”

Fox News noted that in an earlier interview with Forbes, Heinerscheid claimed that “female representation is a personal passion point of mine.”

So she pushes 3 billion females out of the way to promote a male who lives a parody of womanhood.

Dr. Jeff Garner takes an intriguing look at the strategy behind Bud Light’s move in “So, Now My Beer is Gay, and I’m Mad.”

Nike Has Mulvaney Advertising Sports Bras

Let’s suppose for a second you buy the idea of Bud Light niche marketing Dylan Mulvaney to that slim segment of the beer drinking consumer base that finds guys dolling up like Audrey Hepburn inspiring. Dylan would conceivably drink the beer.

But what about Mulvaney pitching and wearing sports bras? That’s precisely what Nike is now doing. They’re paying Mulvaney to cavort in sports bras. Apparel that “doesn’t apply” to Mulvaney, says 1980 Olympic swimming silver medalist Sharron Davies. Davies is fed up and is calling for a boycott of Nike, telling GB News, “It’s just this total disdain that women are being treated to at the moment, and particularly in the world of sport where physiology makes so much difference.”

Headlines That Make You Feel Icky: “Dalai Lama Apologizes for Kissing Little Boy, Asking Him to Suck His Tongue”

The 87-year-old Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso apologized Monday for a creepy video from March showing him kissing and touching a boy in India, and asking the lad to suck his tongue.

🤢 This is an alarming scene! The Dalai Lama, who has had ties to NXIVM in the past, caught on camera trying to make advances to an Indian boy.

You can clearly see the boy’s body language as he yanks back the first time, then throws his head upward as the Dalai-Lama says “SUCK… pic.twitter.com/CorBr8tiDz

— NATLY DENISE (@NatlyDenise_) April 9, 2023

A statement from Gyatso’s office reads:

A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug. His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.

His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.

A prominent Indian child’s rights group, Haq, told CNN it was not buying the excuse by some that the Dalai Lama’s actions were a Tibetian thing. “Some news refers to Tibetan culture about showing tongue, but this video is certainly not about any cultural expression and even if it is, such cultural expressions are not acceptable.”

Along The Stream

“Conversations With Christians Engaged” starts a new four-part series this week, “Combatting the Ideology of Transgenderism.” Watch Part 1 here, or listen to it in your favorite podcast app.
 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.