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May 2020

India: Standing up to China in the Post-Coronavirus World by Vijeta Uniyal

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16006/india-china-coronavirus

In true Orwellian fashion, top Chinese diplomats are still demanding that foreign governments rewrite the history of the coronavirus outbreak.

While India had shown restraint, Communist China has shown little. The Chinese air force has continued its incursions into Taiwanese air space. China has also tightened its grip on artificial islands it created in the South China Sea by setting up fictitious local governments on them. These weaponized islands… trample on the sovereignty of many of its maritime neighbors, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.

The United States and rest of the Western world would do well to see the pandemic as a wake-up call and decouple their crucial and strategic sectors from dependence on China in any way. As US General Jack Keane has repeatedly warned the US, China a not a friend; “it is a predator economically, geopolitically and militarily.”

The world is looking to India and its Asian Pacific allies, in a strong alliance with the West, to take a stand and face China’s increasing military, geopolitical and economic intimidation.

As coronavirus leaves behind a trail of human suffering and economic devastation, nations across the world have begun asking critical questions about the global pandemic. Countries are enquiring into Communist China’s handling of the pandemic, which first appeared late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

As early as January 14, China had used the World Health Organization (WHO), a United Nations agency, to spread disinformation about the human-to-human transmissibility of Covid-19, a remark that led US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien later to call the WHO a “tool of Chinese propaganda.”

While U.S. President Donald J. Trump faced mostly undeserved, politicized criticism for questioning China’s culpability in the spread of the worldwide pandemic and his calls for an international probe into it, more and more capitals across the Western world are making similar demands.

On March 20, The Washington Post attacked President Trump for even mentioning China in context of the pandemic. “Trump has no qualms about calling coronavirus the ‘Chinese Virus.’ That’s a dangerous attitude, experts say.”

America Is Reopening Itself: Will Politicians Be Able To Stop It? J. Frank Bullitt

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/05/19/america-is-reopening-itself-will-politicians-be-able-to-stop-it/
Weary of more than two months of lockdowns, lost jobs, vanished income, and emotional distress, Americans are practicing a bit of Irish Democracy, shopping, dining out, gathering, and trying to carry on as before the pandemic arrived without approval from authorities. It was bound to happen.

As has been widely noted, we were initially told that we needed to shut down and shelter in place so that we would “flatten the curve” of infection growth to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed by people sick with COVID-19. That benchmark was met a little more than a month into the lockdowns. Time magazine reported in late April that “The U.S. Has Flattened the Curve.” This New York Times chart clearly shows that the flattening began early last month.

Yet many Americans are still under shelter-in-place orders, some of which have been extended. We hate to use a cliche, but politicians have been moving the goalposts. Flattening the curve isn’t good enough. They want to keep people home until there’s a vaccine; or science, which has sadly become a loose term that means whatever the user wants it to, has established an effective treatment; or maybe until there are zero coronavirus cases.

This has rankled more than a few. The masses are fed up with huddling in their homes and are yearning to breathe free.

China Threatened Dan Crenshaw. Now He’s Demanding Sanctions. By Tyler O’Neil

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/05/18/china-threats-only-embolden-republicans-to-demand-coronavirus-sanctions-n400507

Last week, the Chinese Communist Party threatened “severe consequences” for House Republicans seeking to hold China accountable for its malfeasance in the coronavirus pandemic. China threatened to slap sanctions on them and to interfere in U.S. elections to boot them from office. Far from intimidating these Congressmen, however, the threat appears to have emboldened them. On Monday, three of them sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to apply sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials for human rights violations under the Magnitsky Act.

“The Chinese regime’s open threat to interfere in American elections is just the latest of many aggressive, hostile actions. It is desperate to avoid responsibility, so it has reverted to desperate tactics,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the first lawmaker to suggest China should pay reparations for the fallout from coronavirus, said in a statement Monday. “I’m neither surprised nor intimidated–I’m encouraged.”

The Palestinians Need to Make Bold Moves Facing crisis, they should follow Arafat’s example by agreeing to negotiations. By Walter Russell Mead (Oh Puleez!!!!!rsk)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-palestinians-need-to-make-bold-moves-11589842737?mod=opinion_featst_pos1

I admire Mead, but Arafat’s example after Oslo was to engage in a concatenation of terror in every corner of Israel- in markets, buses, eateries, communal gatherings and leave mangled and bloody kiddie strollers in the wake. His argument is ludicrous….rsk

As speculation intensifies over possible Israeli plans to annex portions of the West Bank, the Palestinian movement faces its greatest crisis since Israel became a state. The underlying problem for the Palestinian Authority is that the balance of power has shifted massively in favor of Israel, and as other countries recalibrate their policies in light of this reality, Palestinian options are narrowing faster than the authority’s leaders can adapt.

Ever since they turned to the Arab countries to prevent the emergence of a Jewish state in the late 1940s, the Palestinians have needed the support of allies to even the scales against the Zionists. That need is more urgent and pressing today than ever, but allies are getting harder to find.

Why Does Reopening Polarize Us? The divide over lockdowns reflects deeper differences in attitudes about risk, liberty and morality.By Rep.Dan Crenshaw (R- Texas- District 2)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-does-reopening-polarize-us-11589842995?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

Daniel Reed Crenshaw is an American politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer.He is, like all Congressmen, running for re-election. Please visit:

https://crenshawforcongress.com/

to know more about this great American legislator….rsk

The debate over reopening the economy has a peculiar characteristic: It breaks down almost entirely along political lines. Liberals emphasize the dangers of an open society, shaming those who want to go back to work. Conservatives argue the opposite. Red states are steadily reopening, while most blue states lag. House Democrats believe it isn’t safe for lawmakers to go back to work, while the Republican-controlled Senate is back in session.

It isn’t obvious that such a debate should be partisan, yet it is. Why? One popular explanation is that all roads lead to President Trump. Whatever he says, the left will say the opposite.

Geographic distribution has also been proposed as a factor. Liberals tend to pack into crowded cities, where the virus spreads more easily, while conservatives populate the more rural, safer regions. This explanation is neat but fails to explain the divide within cities, where Republicans support reopening more than their Democratic neighbors.

Another factor is that the economic fallout has harmed working-class, high-school-educated Americans far worse than the liberal-leaning college-educated. It is easy to “prioritize public health” when you work comfortably from home.

Finally, the far left is treating the lockdowns and the consequent economic devastation as an opportunity to “restructure” America into a socialist utopia. So they’re in no rush.

CNN, Willing Accomplice to CAIR Media ignores Wilfredo Ruiz’ big-time involvement with groups linked to terror and bigotry. Joe Kaufman

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/cnn-willing-accomplice-cair-joe-kaufman-0/

Wilfredo Amr Ruiz is a representative for the Florida office of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). As such, he is involved with a group that has foundational and financial ties to the terrorist organization Hamas. So why would a news network like CNN wish to provide him and his group with a platform to speak? Regardless of the reason, it should not have taken place and it should never again take place any time in the future.

CAIR was established in June 1994 as an integral part of the US chapter of the Palestine Committee, a now-defunct Hamas support network headed by then-global leader of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook. CAIR is the only member of US Palestine Committee (under its original name) to still be in existence. In 2007 and 2008, CAIR was branded by the US government a co-conspirator in two federal trials dealing with the funding of millions of dollars to Hamas. And CAIR representatives have been convicted in and/or deported from the US for terror-related crimes.

Wilfredo Ruiz is the Communications Director of CAIR-Florida. CAIR-Florida has distinguished itself little from its Hamas-related parent organization.

Katie Hopkins Video: Britain, Boris and Lethal Socialized Healthcare Life under lockdown in the U.K.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/katie-hopkins-video-britain-boris-and-lethal-frontpagemagcom/

This video is brought to you by a Freedom Center-Glazov Gang collaboration on a new exclusive webinar series, Teach-Ins for the Twenty-First Century. Join us as some of the leading thinkers and pundits on the scene today discuss key issues related to the coronavirus pandemic and its ongoing implications, confronting the Left, the jihad terror threat, and much, much more. And make sure to ask your own questions of our experts.

Hosted by Anni Cyrus, producer of The Glazov Gang and Founder of Live Up To Freedom.

This new webinar features U.K.’s valiant freedom fighter Katie Hopkins, who focuses on Britain, Boris and Lethal Socialized Healthcare, unveiling the disturbing reality of Life under lockdown in the U.K.

Barr’s Remarks on Obama and Biden Make an Important Point By Andrew C. McCarthy

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/attorney-general-barr-remarks-on-obama-and-biden-make-an-important-point/

Attorney General Barr is right in his commitment to purge the Justice Department and the FBI of their recent political proclivities.

Attorney General Barr’s remarks on Monday, signaling that the Justice Department anticipates no criminal charges against former President Obama and former Vice President Biden, should come as a surprise to no one (certainly, ahem, to no one who read Ball of Collusion).

As I noted here, less than a month ago, the AG observed during a wide-ranging interview with Hugh Hewitt that the subjects of the Durham investigation are not candidates for public office; thus, they were not affected by a Justice Department guideline against bringing charges close to Election Day. By then, Biden was already the putative Democratic presidential nominee. Obviously, if serious consideration were being given to an indictment of Biden, Barr would not have made the point about the guideline.

To be sure, the media reporting will portray Barr’s latest comments as indicative of a rift between the AG and President Trump, whose latest “Obamagate” rhetoric frames Obama-era investigative abuses as “crime.”

Why AG Barr is right about not criminally prosecuting Obama or Biden By Rayn Random

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/why_ag_barr_is_right_about_not_criminally_prosecuting_obama_or_biden.html

A friend, who thinks politically as we do here, phoned this morning after just hearing Barr’s comments doubting that Obama or Biden would be criminally prosecuted.  We both would love to see it, but consider how destructive the Dems’ legal efforts to get Trump to testify so they could prosecute him have been for the past three years, and then imagine what could happen if the precedent were set to prosecute future presidents of either party.  Such a spectacle would draw worldwide attention and obliterate everything else our country needed to be doing that would have more impact on our country’s, and even the world’s, future.

If there were a trial, it would go on for years, and that wouldn’t even include all the appeals.  No matter how it concluded, whether it were an acquittal, a partial conviction, a hung jury, or a jury nullification, it would still be argued for decades.  Either way, Obama would be a hero to millions throughout the world, and he could go on another anti-American world tour as a victim of an unfair justice system.  The ones who actually did the crimes at his direction would be brushed aside in the frenzy and even forgotten.

Hubris and Miscalculation: The left’s bid to exploit the virus to defeat Trump By Patricia McCarthy

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/05/hubris_and_miscalculation_the_lefts_bid_to_exploit_the_virus_to_defeat_trump.html

Confident of their ability to defeat Trump with their radical, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-criminal, pro-socialist agenda, the left is badly overreaching.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proposed $3 trillion monstrosity stimulus is a joke.  The trillions they pledged under the rubric of the COVID-19 disaster is trillions more added to our national debt.  The stimulus will be money printed, distributed, and spent as if it is grown on trees.  Irresponsible states such as California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois hope to use the virus to cheat the American taxpayers into rescuing them from their own profligacy.  

The more they can successfully blame the virus for their own gross mishandling of their states’ funds, the more they think they can cash in on their own catastrophic governmental errors in judgment.  For governors such as Gavin Newsom, Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, Tom Wolf, et al, the COVID-19 pandemic is a godsend, an opportunity, as so many Democrats have observed, to push for their radical socialist agenda.  The longer their blue states can keep up the lockdown that is impoverishing their citizens, the more they think those same citizens will blame President Trump and vote for a Joe Biden ticket in November.  Common sense is not one of the left’s intellectual strengths.  Sure, there is an army of virtue-signaling bullies who scornfully chastise anyone not sufficiently social-distancing or going outside maskless but it is precisely those “Karens,”  the people who think it is the government’s job to take care of them, who are appropriately the subjects of mockery by citizens sick to death of this outrageous lockdown and the blue states’ ridiculous edicts meant to control our behavior.