Conservative: Justice System’s Double Standard
“Our criminal justice system no longer treats the accused equally,” fumes Victor Davis Hanson at American Greatness. If the defendant is “a conservative, like a Michael Flynn, Peter Navarro, or Donald Trump, then the full force of prosecution falls upon them.” But if it’s President Biden, John Brennan, James Clapper, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, James Comey or Fani Willis, “the state contorts itself to find excuses, exemptions, and mitigating circumstances not to pursue justice.” And often it does so “to the point of absurdity and the erosion of Americans’ confidence in their laws.” In today’s “polarized era, a cynical public now expects any accused prominent leftist to remain unindicted, while any non-leftwing target will be indicted, convicted, and jailed — for the same alleged offenses.”
Libertarian: The ACLU’s Anti-Free-Speech Turn
The ACLU of Missouri is “targeting a whistleblower who is critical of medical transitions for minors,” notes Reason’s J.D. Tuccille. The group subpoenaed gender-clinic employee Jamie Reed’s communications with the media (and other things) after Reed went public with concerns over how the clinic treated kids with gender issues. “Whether you agree with Reed or not, she’s a sincere advocate for a position on an issue that commands attention and has serious policy implications.” And she “is engaged in public debate of the sort that civil libertarians defend, so it’s bizarre to see the ACLU of Missouri putting the screws to her over her advocacy.” All part of the “sad transformation” of the ACLU from a “former civil liberties group” into “a progressive organization.”
From the right: Israel’s Uncertain Future
There is “a cycle that Israel is forced to live through every few years. Suffer death and destruction, fight back, be told to stop it,” thunders Karol Markowicz at Fox News. Although the Biden administration “walked back [its] ‘red line’ comments regarding the Israeli Defense Forces continuing on to Rafah,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “called for overthrowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ostensibly because [of] ‘dangerous & inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance.’ ” “When you listen to Israel’s enemies speak,” it’s “clear that what they want isn’t a free Gaza or the West Bank. It’s “Israeli destruction.” Will Biden “let [Israelis] defend themselves or will we cut them off from destroying their enemies and begin the cycle anew?”
Centrist: Barkley’s Inconvenient Truth-Telling
Ex-NBA superstar and CNN host Charles Barkley recently “declared that the Democratic Party only cares ‘about Black people every four years,’ at election time,” reports Douglas MacKinnon at The Hill. The fact that our “hoods are still the same, our schools are still the same” explains why “Black people are leaving disappointed the Democratic Party,” sighed Barkely. While Republicans share culpability, notes MacKinnon “the Democratic Party owns much or most of the misery.” But “the mainstream media buries this constant and worsening deprivation in service to the Democratic Party.” In cities “under Democratic control for decades,” rampant crime and hopelessness are “continually and deliberately swept under the rug by those in power.” Barkley was correct. Failing to address the needs of millions is “the greatest shame of our time.”
Media desk: Journos’ Ugly Lies About Trump
“The Trump-deranged media, with few exceptions, willfully misrepresents Trump’s remarks,” laments Spiked’s Jenny Holland. The New York Times ran a headline declaring “Trump ‘predicts a “Blood Bath” if he loses’,” but what the paper “omitted was the context.” “The ‘bloodbath’ Trump was referring to was quite clearly a figurative bloodbath in America’s automotive industry under a second Biden term.” The media also claimed that he said “some migrants are ‘not people,’ ” even though Trump was “talking about violent criminals.” “The media coverage cut Trump’s preceding comments about violent gangs so that it sounded as if he was questioning the humanity of migrants.” And while “Trump has an imprecise and often vulgar way of speaking,” the media’s “reaction to his speech was more than just pearl-clutching. It was dishonest.”
— Compiled by the Post Editorial Board