Crisis watch: There Is No Coup in Venezuela

Whatever the final outcome in Venezuela, where interim president Juan Guaidó has called for the military and citizens to take to the streets, “this is not a coup” — not that you’d know it from most of the news coverage, declares Bloomberg’s Eli Lake. Indeed, much of that coverage echoes the messaging of Nicolás Maduro that this is “a small group of traitors attempting a coup.” Far from it: This is an attempt to restore the Venezuelan government’s legitimacy, not to overthrow it. It’s Guaidó, recognized by the US and dozens of other nations, who “has democratic legitimacy,” not Maduro. He and his supporters are “trying to save their country from Maduro’s misrule.” That’s not “an anti-democratic coup — it’s a democratic rescue mission.”

From the right: What All Anti-Semites Have in Common

There’s nothing new about anti-Semitism, observes The Federalist’s David Harsanyi. But “the only truly modern component” found in left-wing, right-wing and Islamic anti-Semitism alike is Israel: “Anti-Israel sentiment is already the predominant justification for violence, murder and hatred against Jews in the Middle East and Europe. Now it’s coming here.” Indeed, “the only anti-Semitism still widely used in public discourse is the kind masquerading as anti-Zionism.” Fact is, “when outlets like The New York Times spend decades normalizing the idea that Zionism is tantamount to fascism and apartheid, it’s just a matter of time” before some editor can’t differentiate between a “supposedly ‘anti-Israel’ cartoon and a demonstrably anti-Jewish one.” Nothing aggravates anti-Semites more “than the idea of Jews protecting themselves after 1,800 years of being at their mercy.”

Foreign desk: ISIS’s al-Baghdadi Is Alive. Now What?

On Monday, the Islamic State released video of the world’s most wanted man — its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who hasn’t been seen publicly in five years and was reported killed by Russia in 2017. The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood suggests that what he said is less important than how he attempted to portray himself: as “a terrorist leader, an insurgent, a shadow-leader of a subterranean movement of global reach.” The rifle by his side “stresses the point,” while the message itself “eliminates any doubt.” Back when he still ruled a state, Baghdadi “spoke with grandiosity that inspired followers and irritated enemies.” Now, as an insurgent leader again, “the rhetoric no longer soars.” And whether he can still attract followers as “an aging warlord holding court in front of a bedsheet remains to be seen.”

Conservative: Worry About Your Own State Flag, Gov

Can someone please tell New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy that he was elected “to run the state, not to start another civil war?” pleads the Star-Ledger’s Paul Mulshine. Last week, Murphy opened hostilities by ordering the Mississippi state flag removed from the display of state banners at Liberty State Park because it incorporates elements of the Confederate Battle Flag. That’s the flag “known mainly for drawing people into long, boring arguments about exactly what it signifies.” As it happens, though, he’s got more “work cut out for himself,” because the flags of Alabama, Florida and Georgia also contain Confederate elements. Will he ban them, too? Then again, Murphy is “seeking not the betterment of Jerseyans’ lives but the betterment of his career within the Democratic Party.”

Iconoclast: James Holzhauer Is Killing ‘Jeopardy!’

In 18 straight games through Monday, “Jeopardy!” champion James Holzhauer, a professional gambler, has crushed his opponents like bugs, winning $1.3 million, including the top five one-day scores in the show’s history. Asks Charles Lane at The Washington Post of those cheering him on: “Do you not see that this guy is a menace?” Because his “grinning, relentless march to victory” reflects “the same grim, data-driven approach to competition that has spoiled (among other sports) baseball,” substituting “cold, calculating odds maximization for spontaneous play.” And “with experience gained from each new appearance on the show, Holzhauer’s personal algorithms improve and his advantage grows.” He doesn’t so much “play the game as beat the system.” It’s not dishonest, “just not fun.” And “it’s not ‘Jeopardy!’ ”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann