A Big Apple Rebellion, Quarantine The Elderly, Confronting Communist China, Biden Takes On Israel

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: A Big Apple Rebellion?
I don't agree with New York City's politics. But it is an iconic American city, and it is depressing to see it laid so low by the coronavirus and the virus of progressivism.

Writing in the New York Post, columnist David Marcus is calling for a rebellion against the progressive shutdown in order to save the Big Apple from "a slow death by economic strangulation." Here's how Marcus describes what Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio have done to the city:

"The Big Apple is ­dying. Its streets are empty. The bars and jazz clubs, restaurants and coffeehouses sit barren. Beloved haunts, storied rooms, perfect-slice joints are shuttered, many for good.

"The sweat equity of countless small-business owners is evaporating. Instead of getting people back to work providing for their families, our mayor talks about a fantasyland New Deal for the post-coronavirus era.

"Open the city. All of it. Right now. Broadway shows, beaches, Yankees games, the schools, the top of the freakin' Empire State building. Everything. New Yorkers have already learned to socially distance. Businesses can adjust. The elderly and infirm can continue to be isolated."

Marcus is absolutely right!

Life has never been risk-free. It never will be. But the economic damage that is being inflicted upon the country and the lives lost to despair far outweigh the risks posed by Covid-19.

Another 2.4 million Americans lost their jobs last week. That's 38 million lost jobs since March.

We've flattened the curve already. It's well past time that we stopped flattening our economy!

By the way, pastors in California, Maryland, Minnesota and elsewhere are getting a little rebellious too.

Quarantine The Elderly
We know there are nursing home scandals in states like New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. But with each passing day, we know that the overall coronavirus mortality rate is much lower than the initial figures that were used to frighten us all into hiding in our homes.

While still a serious disease for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, the risk remains relatively low for most Americans. More and more evidence suggests that the elderly should continue to self-isolate, while the rest of the country can return to normal with reasonable precautions.

For example, a report from Ohio shows that nearly 1,800 people have died from Covid in the Buckeye State. But nearly 80% of all deaths occurred among those 70 and older. And 70% of all known Covid-related deaths in Ohio were nursing home patients, nearly 1,250 deaths.

That means there were approximately 550 Covid-related deaths in Ohio that occurred outside of nursing homes. For perspective, four times as many Ohioans (2,243) died of the flu in 2017.

Now They Tell Us
Many people I know have gone through this little ritual in recent weeks. After Carol and I go grocery shopping, we wipe down the outsides of packages with sanitary wipes before we put everything away. Meanwhile, it seems that one of us is always walking around with disinfectant wipes cleaning the countertops.

We did that because the CDC and the media were constantly giving out alarming information about how long the coronavirus could live on surfaces. Nobody ever talked about what is called "half-life," how long it takes a virus to lose half its strength.

As it turns out, the coronavirus loses its potency pretty quickly. Now the CDC is telling us that Covidcan't be spread easily by surface contact. This announcement was made with relatively little fanfare and little coverage from the media.

Was there anything they told us in the opening months of this ordeal that was right? Even Dr. Birx has reportedly complained about the CDC's data.

Confronting Communist China
The Trump Administration released a major report yesterday blasting communist China for a myriad of issues -- predatory trade practices, an aggressive military expansion, rampant espionage and disinformation campaigns, and gross human rights violations.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underscored the dangers of dealing with Beijing and the urgent need to confront the reality of what China has become. Pompeo said:

"The media's focus on the current pandemic risks missing the bigger picture of the challenge that’s presented by the Chinese Communist Party. China's been ruled by a brutal, authoritarian regime, a communist regime since 1949.

"For several decades, we thought the regime would become more like us — through trade, scientific exchanges, diplomatic outreach, letting them in the World Trade Organization as a developing nation. That didn't happen. We greatly underestimated the degree to which Beijing is ideologically and politically hostile to free nations."

I have been saying that for decades now and I am pleased our leaders are finally catching on!

Meanwhile, Congress is moving quickly to pass legislation that could force many Chinese companies off the U.S. stock exchange due to their lack of financial transparency. That's a good step, and what I hope will be the first of several such measures aimed at holding Beijing accountable.

And the communist regime must be held accountable. Once again, there is new research indicating that Beijing lied about the source of the virus.

The American people are certainly demanding accountability. A recent survey finds that 78% of Americans are willing to pay more for products that are not made in China, and 40% of Americans are refusing to buy any Chinese products.

"Beijing Biden" and the rest of the globalist, progressive movement will not hold China accountable.

In related news, President Trump is heading to a Ford plant that has been producing ventilators around the clock. Thanks to their hard work and the president's leadership, we will soon have more than 100,000 ventilators.

You probably didn't know that because the media have spent a lot of their time lately critiquing the president's medical prescriptions. By the way, the media have made a bigger deal about Trump taking hydroxychloroquine than they did about Obama using cocaine!

Biden Takes On Israel
Earlier this week, former Vice President Joe Biden addressed a Jewish audience about his positions on Israel. Much of what he said regarding the Palestinians was commendable, and stood in clear contrast to the growing anti-Israel attitudes of the progressive movement and the AOC-wing of the Democrat Party.

But when it came to the main policy issue that is front and center right now, Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, Biden suggested that Israel's approach would "choke off any hope of peace."

Well, what is the hope for peace now?

Israel has no peace partner. Mahmoud Abbas is still subsidizing terrorism against innocent Israelis. He is still getting support from Iran's radical Islamic supremacists.

More than 450,000 Israelis live in what the media derisively refer to as "settlements." There is no peace deal where these Israelis end up living outside of Israel.

But Biden has aligned himself with J Street and other radical groups that would force Israel to dislocate hundreds of thousands of Jews in Judea and Samaria, where Jews have been for thousands of years.

Sadly, Biden still doesn't understand the painful lesson that many Israelis learned from the 2005 Gaza withdrawal. Giving up land did not result in peace. The terrorists of Hamas seized power, and turned Gaza into a launching pad for more rocket attacks.

Israel did not get peace. It only got one terrorist attack after another, one war after another.

Finally, to all our friends in Israel, Happy Jerusalem Day!
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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