From the right: A White House Kowtow to Beijing
“The White House is cutting video feeds at a “Democracy Summit, lest the Taiwanese representative’s map irk the Chinese,” snarks National Review’s Jim Geraghty: The map showed Taiwan as independent, not a province of China as the mainland claims. “There’s no need for China to censor what our leaders can say to us. Our leaders are now preemptively censoring themselves.” But “if you’re afraid to have a Taiwanese representative speaking her mind in a way that might irk the Chinese government — keeping in mind that Taiwanese representatives irk the Chinese government by existing — why are you hosting a much-touted ‘Democracy Summit’?”
From the Left: The Real Loudoun County
National media utterly missed the dynamic behind Loudoun County, Va., parents’ fury over public schools, fumes TK News’ Matt Taibbi. CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin, for one, insisted the suburban shift toward voting Republican is “about white supremacy.” In fact, Taibbi explains, “This was a brand-new tale about multidimensional racial tensions, beginning perhaps with the impatience of affluent intellectuals toward a quiet immigrant community whose chief crime, as ham-handed as this sounds, was believing the American dream.” Crucially, “south Asian residents, particularly first- and second-generation immigrants from India,” were outraged by changes to admissions standards to gifted programs and an elite high school that amounted to “a mercy rule to stop Asian kids from demolishing the field.” On “Election Day in 2021,” they “finally got to register their displeasure.”
Crime beat: Why the Wealthy Don’t Care
At UnHerd, Ayaan Hirsi Ali laments California’s surge in smash-and-grabs and other “out of control” crimes, noting that many, particularly the wealthy, aren’t “shocked” but simply adjusting. Those who can’t adapt, say, by spending money on private security, “are faced with one option: to leave their city and often the state.” How’d this happen? “The answer lies in an abundance of affluence.” When a society is “as wealthy as ours and as insulated from day-to-day threats, the vigilance to maintain institutions wilts.” The rich are “the furthest removed from the consequences of their negligence” — and also often the “loudest advocates for leniency towards criminals” and reforms “that reduce the safety of the average American.”
Poll watch: Dem Voters’ Remorse on Biden
“When it comes to the 2024 presidential election, Republicans are far more enthusiastic about former President [Donald] Trump running again than Democrats are about President Biden gaining a second term,” reports Issues and Insights’ Terry Jones. “It’s yet another sign that, a mere 11 months into his term, Biden’s support remains surprisingly weak within his own party.” Notably, “among Republicans, 60% said they wanted Trump to run again for president in 2024. In contrast, just 37% of Democrats wanted Biden to run again.” Even “among independents, 17% express support for a Trump run in 2024, compared to just 8% for Biden, a worrisome data point for Democrats hoping to attract swing voters in coming elections.” Many voters, even if they didn’t like Trump’s personality, liked his policies. “The same can’t be said for Biden.”
Conservative: ‘The Son From Hell’
The Post’s Miranda Devine should’ve titled her book about first son Hunter Biden not “Laptop From Hell” but “The Son from Hell,” quips Peter Lucas at the Boston Herald: “Much of Devine’s disturbing story is based on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop,” whose “damning” info “confirmed stories that The Post ran — but the mainstream media ignored — during the 2020 presidential campaign.” E.g.: Back in 2020, Hunter set up a business meeting with his dad and businessman Tony Bobulinski. “Two weeks after the meeting, Bobulinski set up SinoHawk Holdings LLC, a global investment firm seeded with $10 million in Chinese money.” A tenth of the shares went to Hunter and another tenth to “the big guy,” a k a Joe Biden. But “all of this barely touches the surface of Hunter Biden’s” corrupt business dealings.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
