Displaying posts published in

February 2021

Help Wanted: America Must Resume Its Postwar Role of Promoting Freedom By Lawrence J. Haas

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/help-wanted-america-must-resume-its-postwar-role-promoting-freedom-178830

“We’re at an inflection point,” President Joe Biden told the Munich Security Conference the other day, “between those who argue that . . . autocracy is the best way forward” and “those who understand that democracy is essential” to meeting the world’s economic, health, and other challenges.

A month into his presidency, Biden seems deeply committed to restoring America’s moral voice, to resurrecting its traditional postwar role of promoting freedom and democracy around the world.

“We must start,” he told State Department employees, “with diplomacy rooted in America’s most cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.” At a CNN town hall, he spoke passionately about rebuilding the U.S. refugee program that former President Donald Trump severely curtailed, describing “people piled up in camps, kids dying, no way out, refugees fleeing from persecution” – and about an America that “used to do our part” in accepting refugees in far greater number.

Biden recognizes that America promotes freedom and democracy for reasons of not just morality but self-interest – that a freer, more democratic world will be a safer, more prosperous one for us; and that we can best meet the challenge of what he calls “advancing authoritarianism” by highlighting the advantages of U.S.-led freedom over its authoritarian alternatives in Beijing, Moscow, and elsewhere.

Biden and Allies Stoked Vaccine Fears Seeking to undermine Trump, Democrats, media and scientists made false and alarming claims. By Dr. Joel Zinberg

https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-and-allies-stoked-vaccine-fears-11614295867

President Biden has proposed an “unprecedented” information campaign to persuade people to get Covid-19 vaccinations. Why, when a pandemic has killed 500,000 Americans, does the public need to be convinced? In part because Mr. Biden and his allies spent 2020 stoking fear for political reasons.

The Biden campaign and scientists allied with it impugned the Food and Drug Administration’s independence and integrity. Kamala Harris maligned President Trump’s claims about the speed of vaccine development and questioned its safety and effectiveness. New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo cast doubt on FDA evaluations of Covid-19 vaccines and said states should conduct their own reviews. An Aug. 27 letter from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking governors for help setting up vaccine distribution elicited a statement from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer questioning the safety of the vaccines in development. Media “fact checkers” said rapid vaccine development would take a “miracle.”

Between April 1-14 and Nov. 25-Dec. 8 the share of Americans who told pollsters they were likely to consent to vaccination declined from 74% to 56%, even though Pfizer and Moderna released strong vaccine safety and effectiveness results prior to the second survey. The decline occurred in both sexes and all age groups, education levels and racial groups. Many medical workers, including nursing-home staff, are also hesitant to be vaccinated.

Medical authorities were complicit in stoking these fears. Although June FDA guidance confirmed the agency wouldn’t “cut corners” and that expedited development would proceed “without sacrificing our standards for quality, safety, and efficacy,” a Sept. 10 editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association claimed that “some” were concerned that political appointees would “insist” on authorizing a vaccine “over the recommendation of FDA career scientists.” The concerned “some” were never named, and no citation was given.

Islamophobia, Cancel Culture and the Silencing of the Lambs Diane Bederman

https://dianebederman.com/islamophobia-cancel-culture-and-the-silencing-of-the-lambs/

We are living in a time when many of us are being censored – silenced for making statements or asking questions that may offend some. At a time when we have social media – an opportunity to learn from others all over the world, expand our horizons, ask more questions of people we would never have had the opportunity to meet in person, we are being bullied into silence; on social media! Not only bullied into silence but erased; literally canceled. Cancel culture, today, reminds me of Islamophobia. Both of them operate on the same level. They try to shame and bully us into silence. And they use fear, especially the fear of being called a racist, to suppress opposition to their ideologies. RACIST – the one word that enforces silence.

The terms Islamophobia and cancel culture are left wing ideologies working hand in hand to undermine and destroy the West by vilifying critical thinking.

Let’s start with the amazing success of Islamophobia.

First the definition.

This is from Canada:

“Islamophobia – Includes racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia can lead to viewing and treating Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level.”

The Worst Racists Are The Left-Wing Academics Francis Menton

Perhaps you are confused by so much talk lately about racism being all around you, particularly talk about variants going by names like “systemic racism” or “structural racism.” You yourself don’t seem to see much behavior that you think is racist, at least not in any overt or observable way. Are you missing something?

The answer is, you are not looking nearly closely enough at the world of left-wing colleges and their professors and administrators. That is where the really, really bad racism is pervasive.

But wait a minute, you say. Isn’t academia the central headquarters of the high priests of the woke, “anti-racist” religion? Aren’t these professors and college presidents the very same people who presume to lecture the rest of us endlessly about how to be “anti-racist” and how to atone for our sins of “oppression” and “white supremacy”? What makes the Manhattan Contrarian think that these left-wing academics and their institutions may be the worst racists of all?

The main reason we can be sure that these left-wing academics are the worst racists is that they admit it. Indeed, they regularly fall all over themselves either to confess their own grievous racist sins, or to accuse their colleagues and institutions of such sins. Also, these institutions and their leaders and faculties are constantly accused of vile racism by the black, indigenous and people of color (“BIPOCs”) in their midst, and when so accused, they invariably offer no defense, abjectly concede the wrongdoing, and promise forms of penance that become ever more extreme with each new accusation. This is not the behavior of innocent people.

Gov. Cuomo and the Science of Political Decay John Kass

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/02/25/_gov_cuomo_and_the_science_of_political_decay_145304.html

“Follow the science” is what progressive Democrats demand when the science suits them.

And yet, like Pavlov’s salivating dog and the meat powder, a whiff of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo prompts a predictable, conditioned response: a barking chorus of “whatabout whatabout” Ted Cruz or other Republicans.

There are plenty of Republicans to choose from, but as Cuomo began to publicly dissolve, it was Cruz, the conservative senator of Texas, who served up an awkward feast of himself. Cruz flew to sunny Cancun while his constituents were suffering and dying without power during a killer cold snap. He made it worse with a weasel trick, shifting the blame to his family for his jetting off to Mexico. His sin was about optics. And he deserves to pay for it.

But it wasn’t Cruz who ordered senior citizens infected with COVID-19 back into nursing homes. Cuomo did that. It wasn’t Cruz who allegedly manipulated the numbers of nursing home deaths, now under federal investigation, while writing a book about his admirable handling of the health pandemic. Cuomo did that.

Cuomo’s decisions regarding COVID-19 patients allegedly harmed thousands of seniors. Letitia James, Democrat and New York attorney general, issued a report on the undercounting of deaths. The New York Post reported on an admission of a cover-up, and investigations began amid Democrat vs. Democrat bullying and shrieking.

Is the Senate Racist?

The idea that the Senate is racist is the latest brainstorm of the Democrats. It was marked by the leading headline on WashingtonPost.com Wednesday: “Many of Biden’s nominees of color run into turbulence in the Senate.” The story reports that activists for a diverse Cabinet reckon that “Black, Latino, Asian and Native American nominees are encountering more political turbulence than their White counterparts.”

If that were true, we, too, would be up in arms. There’s scant evidence for it in the dispatch in the Post, though. The controversy, it reckons, centers on Neera Tanden, who would be the first Indian American to lead the budget office. Our guess is that there’s not a single American senator — not one — who will vote against Ms. Tanden because her parents came here from India.

Ms. Tanden’s chances for confirmation dimmed this week, when Senator Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat, declared his opposition. That means she’d have to win at least one Republican. Mr. Manchin and other opponents are complaining about the cataract of insults that has gushed from Ms. Tanden’s twitter account over the years. She might as well have an advanced degree in tweeting from Trump University.

MORE HEADLINES: FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Anti-Trump sentiment, not science, may be behind Dems’ school closures, liberal NY Times columnist writes https://www.foxnews.com/media/anti-trump-sentiment-not-science-may-be-behind-dems-school-closures-liberal-ny-times-columnist-writes

Carter Center asked to explain events ‘which seem to promote Chinese propaganda’ https://www.wnd.com/2021/02/carter-center-asked-explain-events-seem-promote-chinese-propaganda/

Conservatives call Biden pick for HHS Xavier Becerra an ‘extremist,’ oppose nomination https://www.foxnews.com/politics/conservatives-call-biden-pick-for-hhs-xavier-becerra-an-extremist-oppose-nomination

All Over Again: Target Removes Abigail Shrier’s Book Critical of Transgender Agenda https://www.faithwire.com/2021/02/24/all-over-again-target-removes-abigail-shriers-book-critical-of-transgender-agenda/

Rabbis blast US ‘Equality Act’ for calling Bible ‘bigoted’, attacking religious values https://worldisraelnews.com/rabbis-blast-us-equality-act-for-calling-bible-bigoted-attacking-religious-values/?

Canada deepens probe into UNWRA’s anti-Israel school textbook materials https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/canada-deepens-probe-into-unwras-problematic-textbook-materials-660162

Populist vs. Globalist: Alex Marlow Media Exposé Tops Bill Gates Global Warming Book on Amazon https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/02/24/populist-vs-globalist-alex-marlow-media-expose-tops-bill-gates-global-warming-book-on-amazon/

Kavanaugh and Barrett: John Roberts Retreads? By Rabbi Aryeh Spero

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/02/kavanaugh_and_barrett_john_roberts_retreads.html

All that work for, and faith in, Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett! As with John Roberts before, we are once again the victims of unrequited affection and lost labor. Like other Republicans, I expended lots of hours and effort to do my part in getting all three confirmed. I wrote articles, did radio and TV interviews, gave speeches, called Senators and asked my friends to do so, and spoke to countless people. 

I even attended the Senate Hearings for two of them; and in the case of Kavanaugh went face-to-face against a wild group of “feminists” blocking my way to the Senate hearing room, was bad-mouthed by them while in waiting-lines, and harassed in the office taken over by these “non-insurrection” protestors while trying to get my pre-arranged ticket which they had dumped. (Interestingly, when complaining to police how the “progressive” protestors had taken over Senator Grassley’s office, the Capitol Police replied: “This is a public space, open to the people, and we cannot stop them from exercising their right of speech and assembly”).

I have traveled over 800 miles, paid for motels, and over the years took off work so as to help these nominees become confirmed justices. Like so many others on our side, we believed in them. Finally, strong justices, conservative like us. The Court was finally ours… a dream come true.

Well, the dream has died and our hopes for the Great Cause have not been respected by those in whose behalf we so tirelessly worked.

Is the U.S. Arming an Adversary, China, Intent on Overpowering Us? by Peter Schweizer

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17054/us-arming-china

China’s greatest financial weakness remains its continued dependence on Western capital markets, crucial for a growing economy…. To grow, China depends on massive inflows of capital that surge through the capital markets based in the U.S. The Trump administration made several moves during its term to delist Chinese companies that are not forthcoming about who really owns them and what businesses they are really engaged in.

[S]ince 2013, Chinese state-owned enterprises have enjoyed exemptions from Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory requirements that also force greater transparency from these companies. They were the only ones granted these exemptions while still being listed on New York stock markets. What if those exemptions were removed?

The only relevant screening in the US happens through the same government body that approved the sale of Uranium One to Russian government-backed investors, called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Yet, U.S. capital markets currently have no such insulation. So we have capital markets which freely trade the shares of companies that have violated international sanctions, sold America’s adversaries advanced ballistic missiles, armed the PLA, and helped militarize the fabricated new islands in the South China Sea. These companies freely receive investment dollars from ordinary Americans saving for their retirement, unaware of their real activities and ownership.

This January, the New York Stock Exchange began the process of delisting three Chinese telecom companies…. The administration said the three firms are owned or controlled by China’s military.

No one wants to damage the investment portfolios of American retirement savers. But the dark side of this exposure is what may become of U.S. resolve to stand up to Beijing if 180 million Americans realize that up to 20% of their retirement funds are locked into Chinese securities. These Americans would suddenly have a personal, vested interest in opposing any future sanctions or other penalties against China, regardless of the geopolitical sense or national security implications. That prospect should encourage Congress to move sooner rather than later.

President Ronald Reagan knew the weaknesses of the Soviet Union. Unlike his predecessors, he did not focus on countering their strengths, but by exploiting those problems of life under a Marxist-Leninist regime that were impossible for them to fix. Reagan’s policies targeted many weaknesses – religious, political, military, and cultural among them – but his focus on Russia’s economic problems exposed those other weaknesses by choking the regime’s ability even to throw money at other problems.

Today, the most pressing threats do not come from Russia. They come from the growing power exerted by China. So, the question becomes: Can we apply these today lessons to China? With the massive, worldwide reach of China, its economic power and military build-up combine to pose strategic threats to the U.S. and the free world. Reagan’s strategy, however, can counter these threats and reduce others posed by the Chinese dragon.

End the ‘Systemic Racism’ of Affirmative Action Josh Hammer

https://amgreatness.com/2021/02/25/end-the-systemic-racism-of-affirmative-action/

The U.S. Supreme Court has a real chance to deliver a grievous blow to a system that blights one of the nation’s leading institutions. Let’s hope it doesn’t blow it.

As the nation’s incipient racial reckoning following last May’s killing of George Floyd morphed into the summer’s riotous anarchy, the term “systemic racism” emerged as a fixture of our public discourse. What began as a somewhat arcane dialogue about purported police “militarization” and the “qualified immunity” legal doctrine soon took on a much more insidious tone. America, those like the New York Times‘ “1619 Project” fabulists told us, was rotten to its very core, blemished by the indelible taint of “systemic racism.”

In reality, as many courageously pointed out amid unprecedented “cancel culture” headwinds seeking to stifle all dissent, there is no such thing as “systemic racism” that afflicts all of America’s leading institutions. Despite the claim attaining mythological status, there is no factual basis to support it. There will, sadly, always be individual racists from all backgrounds and all walks of life, but American society in the 2020s simply does not have anything remotely resembling a legally enshrined regime under which its racial majority “systemically” oppresses its racial minorities. America in the year 2021 is not Germany in 1936; it is not South Africa in 1985; it is not—after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965—the Jim Crow South. This ought to be astoundingly obvious.

But while the notion of sprawling, multi-institutional “systemic racism” is a lie, there is at least one major American institution that does suffer from legally codified racism that tarnishes the institution’s integrity, sullies its legitimacy, and is so widespread that it might earnestly be dubbed “systemic.” I speak, of course, of affirmative action admission policies in American higher education.