No blue wave is coming, trials by innuendo for Team Trump & other comments
Security writer: Trump Allies Being Tried By Innuendo
Ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “has already been tried and convicted in the press,” charges Eli Lake at Bloomberg, even though “he has yet to be charged with a crime” and no news account has “accused him of being disloyal.” What’s involved here, Lake suggests, is “some very dirty business from the national security state” involving “whispers” and “innuendo.” Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates “never says Flynn was a spy for Russia. But her public remarks to Congress and the media appear designed to leave that impression.” Yet “normally if a US official is suspected of treason, the government collects evidence before hinting to the public what it might be seeking evidence about.” It’s “too soon to say whether Mike Flynn is facing a witch hunt,” says Lake. “But what if they’re wrong?”
From the left: Wake Up, Dems — No Blue Wave Coming
The GOP victory in Montana’s special election was “a message from the future,” suggests Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir: “Forget about the ‘blue wave’ of 2018. Forget about the Democratic majority of 2019. Forget about the impeachment of President Donald Trump.” In fact, “rebuilding American politics and, indeed, all of American public discourse,” is “going to take a while.” Because Trump is only “a symptom of the fundamental brokenness of American politics, not the cause.” Electing a Democratic Congress and impeaching Trump (neither of which is going to happen) “might feel good in the moment, but wouldn’t actually fix what is broken.” Resistance to this president “must be more than the handmaiden or enabler of a political party that has lost its power, lost its voice and lost its way.”
Foreign desk: Manchester Bombing’s Tragic Familiarity
Last week’s Manchester bombing followed a familiar pattern, says Max Boot at Commentary. But the most alarming part is that “authorities apparently had evidence that could have led them to stop” terrorist Salman Abedi, “but they failed to act on it.” Fact is, “authorities simply have too many leads to follow, and they can’t simply lock up anyone who is accused of harboring extremist thoughts.” So “homeland security measures . . . must be combined with efforts to prevent terrorists from creating bases . . . from which they can export terrorism,” along with “a campaign to win ‘hearts and minds’ ” among young Muslim men. Unfortunately, “the West is lagging in both areas.”
From the right: Yale Honors Student Bullies
Yale just provided “a fittingly disgraceful coda to one of the most disgusting chapters in [its] recent history,” says James Kirtchik at Tablet. It awarded its coveted Nakanishi Prize, intended for students who provide “exemplary leadership in enhancing race and/or ethnic relations,” to two students “who did more than most of their peers to worsen race relations on campus.” They were two of the leaders of a mob that bullied and threatened a renowned professor defending his wife for having questioned a directive against “offensive” Halloween costumes. Indeed, they actually “represent the antithesis of everything this award is intended to honor.” Yet they were hailed by Yale’s administration as “truth-tellers.” Says Kirtchik: This “veneration of racial agitators as racial conciliators is the logical conclusion of Yale’s craven capitulation to the hard left.”
Culture watch: What Celebs Can Do About Terrorism
Celebrities were quick to take to social media to send “their thoughts and prayers” to the city of Manchester, as they do after every such terrorist attack, notes Mark Tapson at Acculturated. But “instead of spouting embarrassingly frothy pleas” for love and peace, these celebs can do something far more constructive. First, they should promote a very politically incorrect awareness of, and resistance against, the very lethal threat of Islamic terrorism.” And “they can use their formidable star power to rev up creative projects which confront terrorism in a proactive way,” as Hollywood did during World War II: “If celebrities could be pushed to remove their multiculturalist blinders . . . they can help turn the tide.”
— Compiled by Eric Fettmann