Conservative: Left’s Shooting Response Shows Bad Faith David Harsanyi at The Federalist finds it “ironic” to see so many of the same liberals who recently…
Conservative: Left’s Shooting Response Shows Bad Faith
David Harsanyi at The Federalist finds it “ironic” to see so many of the same liberals who recently fought to prop up Iran, “the world’s most powerful Jew-hating terror state, lecturing us on the importance of combating anti-Semitism.” Some even “decided to dip into a little victim blaming,” suggesting American Jews are “too pro-Israel for their own good.” One even demanded that Jews “start expelling their [pro-Trump] co-religionists for their political opinions.” But “undermining the Democratic Party isn’t an act of anti-Semitism.” Not when its “liberal activist resistance wing is being led by a couple of Louis Farrakhan fangirls.” If you’re not upset about the “vile accusations” incessantly thrown at Benjamin Netanyahu but think calling out George Soros is de facto anti-Semitism, “your main concern is liberalism, not the Jewish people.”
Foreign desk: Why So Many Mideast Experts Bet on MBS
One of the sideshows of the Jamal Khashoggi affair is the “Twitter lynching” of those who embraced Mohammed bin Salman during his US tour earlier this year, suggests The Washington Post’s Jackson Diehl. Unlike President Trump, though, they were attracted to MBS not because of arms sales or a potential alliance with Israel, but “by his attempt to modernize Islam in the place where it is most needed.” Indeed, eliminating radical and violent Muslim strains “has been the biggest, though least-talked-about, goal” of post-9/11 US Middle East policy. But, as Khashoggi realized, autocrats like MBS “aren’t capable of fighting corruption or fostering modernization. They inevitably focus on eliminating all opponents, using methods that nurture more radicalism and make genuine reform impossible.”
From the right: How About Nikki Haley for Speaker?
You don’t actually have to be a member of the House of Representatives in order to be elected speaker and run the place, notes National Review’s John Fund. Which is why if next week’s midterms produce a deadlocked House, some on Capitol Hill are talking about outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley as a surprise candidate. Fact is, “in the current poisonous and polarizing climate, her talents could help heal the country and ensure that Congress actually does something constructive over the next two years.” Look at her approval ratings: 75 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of independents and even 55 percent of Democrats. Says Fund: “Those kind of golden political numbers could do much good in these divisive times.”
From the left: Dems Can’t Keep Dodging Immigration Issue
With the immigration influx on the southern border “way down” and the US labor market humming, “it’s easy to dismiss the appeal of anti-immigrant sentiment as nativist racism,” says New York’s Andrew Sullivan. Indeed, most Democrats “bob or weave or want it to go away, only to retreat to a condemnation of bigotry, or launch a vague appeal to our better natures.” But “what do we do when the caravan gets here? And more saliently: What do we do if many more caravans show up behind it?” After all, mass immigration “is putting unprecedented strain on liberal democracy in the West.” And “unless the Democrats get a grip on this question, and win back the trust of the voters on it, their chance of regaining the presidency is minimal.”
Election watch: Midterms Not So Earth-Shaking After All
Both parties inevitably rev up their voters by declaring the current election to be “the most important in history,” or at least “a generation,” observes Bloomberg’s Ramesh Ponnuru. And often they actually are. But while the “emotional intensity” of this year’s midterms is highly charged, “the truth is that the stakes this time are relatively low.” If the Republicans win, “they are unlikely to send Trump major legislation.” In fact, “they will not have the votes to get much done, and they don’t have the appetite to legislate anyway.” If the Democrats win, “they will be stymied by a narrow majority in the Senate and possibly one in the House as well.” Even a Democratic wave “won’t accomplish much.” Yes, the House might impeach Trump — but Democrats won’t come close to removing him.
— Compiled by Eric Fettmann
