Townhall Review | Commentaries

Right now, there is a wholly misplaced sense of virus complacency settling into place in the United States, with vaccinated thinking, “I missed that bullet” while the unvaccinated are gambling that the behavior of others will provide a shield under which they can wait it out.

That shield, however, is far from 100 percent effective.

We’re at risk today of a follow-on pandemic—for the simple reason that we have hundreds of millions of cases of the virus abroad, each with the chance to mutate into something far more deadly.

It should give us all extraordinary caution—not just about declaring victory in the United States—but about next steps.

We must rebuild credibility among the public health agencies where damage to trust has been done. We need new, non-politicized leadership there to be credentialed so that if and when a new pandemic arrives, we will have trusted sources of guidance.

Mostly, we need a cease-fire in the pandemic blame-game wars, and a collective turn toward the future and its threats.

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Do you remember when Target banned the book, “Irreversible Damage” from Abigail Shrier and one by Dr. Debra Soh—the “End of Gender”?

In response to an uproar, they acknowledged the mistake and reinstated the books. But in response to a question from me at the recent annual shareholders’ meeting, we learned that earlier this Spring, Target quietly re-banned those books. No announcement of the banning and no explanation of why these books specifically were banned. 
 
But the reasons are becoming increasingly clear. Whether it’s the Equality Act or campaigns against state religious freedom acts or book bans, Target seems to never miss an opportunity to put its thumb on the culture war scale … against First Amendment free expression and religious liberty. 
 
I was one person asking one question and we uncovered this act of sneaky censorship. Imagine what would happen if a few thousand shareholders, like you perhaps, joined me. 

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Over the past year, the left has screamed to defund the police for the sake of people of color, who were supposedly being oppressed by law enforcement. So how is that working out?

Not so well—especially if you’re a decent, law-abiding person of color (as the vast majority are) who happens to live in San Francisco. There, Target recently decided to close all its stores at 6 pm because of growing retail crime, much of it organized. The company has said it’s responding not just to the escalating theft, but to the security climate, as well.

And Walgreens has reported that theft in its San Francisco stores is 4 times the average of the stores across the country. They spend 35 times more on their security guards in San Francisco, as well!

Criminals can terrorize the law-abiding with impunity when they don’t fear being caught or being prosecuted because of out-of-touch ideas about “social justice.” 

But here’s the problem: when the guilty don’t pay for their crimes, everybody else does.

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For a few hours Sunday, July 11, Cubans put their lives on the line … and, with very few exceptions, you heard and saw very little coverage of it.

You simply can’t trust mass media to convey what’s really going on in the country today.

Western media generally and U.S. media specifically failed at a crucial moment.

I am amazed, alarmed and not a little disgusted by the lack of attention to the uprising of an oppressed people in the communist dictatorship. There hasn’t been a protest like this in Cuba in 60-plus years. 

There is dramatic video of the secret police and army thugs crashing into houses to muscle away young people in the days since. Spanish television had live coverage of a dissident being yanked from her interview. But these are rare exceptions in the sea of stories we saw about private-plane-flying, Democratic state legislators from Texas doing stunt double work as elected officials … while Cubans are putting their lives at risk, crying out for liberty.

Do network executives have no shame?

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Thousands of Cubans have taken to the streets chanting “freedom” and “we are not afraid!” For decades, they’ve lived under a Communist dictatorship, and they’ve had enough.  

Cubans face severe blackouts, a growing coronavirus outbreak, and food shortages—along with the standard Communist fare of political repression and economic suffering. Predictably, the regime is responding violently to the protests.

Also predictably, apologists for Cuba’s communist government here in the US—all Democrats or leftists—have stayed silent. Not a word from Patrick Leahy, Amy Klobuchar, or, of course Bernie Sanders, all of whom wanted us to lift our embargo against Cuba.

The most poignant sight at the Cuban protests has been the American flags. While far too many Americans profess to despise the symbol of their own country, Cuban protestors are waving our flag in their quest for liberty. They know what Old Glory stands for, even if spoiled, narcissistic American leftists have somehow forgotten. 

God bless them, every one.

I’m Carol Platt Liebau.

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Frustrated by the lack of mayoral backing of police and prosecutorial unwillingness to put repeat, violent offenders behind bars, a Chicago alderman recently proposed fining criminals.

If we can’t punish them for their lawlessness, maybe the city can get cut in on the action?

It was silly idea borne out of exasperation with defund-the-police ideologues, even among some Democrats.

It also serves as a reminder of an immutable law of big-city government: you cannot work around the principal.

In suburban and rural communities residents may be able to work around the mayor through their village boards, but in big-city America, if the mayor and local prosecutor are not law-and-order you are guaranteed to have neither. 

This is the story we’ve seen play out from Chicago to New York, Los Angeles,  Portland and Minneapolis over the past year.

New York Democrats signaled a recognition of this reality in selecting former NYPD officer Eric Adams as their mayoral nominee. 

The residents of those other major metropolises would do well to come to the same realization.

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An amazing sight was revealed in Cuba on Sunday – protests against the failed communist regime broke out on streets across the island nation. “We are no longer afraid,” they chanted, “We want freedom!”

The Marxist-Leninist regime in Cuba dates back to 1959, and the small island nation of just over 11-million people has been under the hard fist and the corrupt repression of the Communist Party for decades. Under revolutionary dictator Fidel Castro, the Communist Party consolidated its one-party rule. Fidel is now dead. Raul—his brother—is too old to rule, but the Communist Party continues its repression and the nation is suffering under both a severe economic crisis and a resurgence of COVID-19. The Cuban people have had enough.

Here is the big question: Will the Communist leaders of Cuba now turn their guns on their own people? They have done it before. Now, the world is watching. The voices of the suffering people of Cuba say they are not afraid. 

Our prayers –and our hopes -- are with them. 

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Well, that narrative changed fast. After supporters of critical race theory claimed it wasn’t being taught in elementary schools, the National Education Association – the teachers’ union – passed a new business item at its annual meeting. Specifically, union members decided it was “reasonable and appropriate” to teach American children a curriculum informed by critical race theory.

At least the union’s been forced to admit they’re in favor of indoctrinating our children with their poisonous beliefs. But using critical race theory to teach about America’s past is like using bath crystals to teach geology. It’s nonsense. Racist nonsense, at that.

Sadly, the NEA cares more about political power and government workers than about children. In 2019, it actually voted down a measure “making student learning the priority of the Association.”  

So what do we do? The answer is to provide parents greater choice over their children’s education by funding students, not school systems. 

It’s time for real, meaningful school choice.

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My longtime friend and fellow Salem Media editorial board member, Lanhee Chen, has taken a big step forward to help save California from its ongoing fiscal and social collapse. Lanhee recently announced he is running for the Office of Controller in the Golden State. Bravo, Lanhee. You are needed now more than ever. 

The Controller is California's independent fiscal watchdog, providing sound fiscal advice and control over more than $100 billion in receipts and disbursements of public funds a year, offering fiscal guidance to local governments and uncovering fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. In a one-party state as deeply blue as California, it's vital that there be such a watchdog, one who is savvy, experienced and very smart. 

Lanhee Chen is moderate in tone and temperament, but solidly grounded in free markets and the founding principle of liberty and constitutionalism. 

California desperately needs some balance to offset its leftward lurch. Lanhee Chen will provide it. 

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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has just dismissed concerns about rising crime in cities as “hysteria.” It was an interesting juxtaposition with a recent NY Times article discussing the progressive left’s disappointment about their failure to win over voters of color, who often tend to live in cities.
 
What’s most amazing is that the left would be surprised. How racist to assume voters of any color would automatically side with criminals. It’s the lawbreakers who are putting their loved ones at risk and making it dangerous to leave their homes. How elite and entitled of a US Representative – with taxpayer-funded protection -- to dismiss their very real concerns as “hysteria.”
 
Government’s first responsibility – in fact, the primary reason it exists -- is to protect citizens from those who would prey upon them. Unprincipled leftists have used George Floyd’s death as an excuse to defund the police, and now law-abiding people of color in our cities – the vast majority -- are disproportionately paying the price. Of course they don’t like it. Who would?
 
I’m Carol Platt Liebau

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