Someone's Lying, The War On Cops, Common Sense Prevails

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer: Someone's Lying
Former Secretary of State John Kerry is under fire after a New York Times report suggesting that he leaked intelligence about Israel's counterterrorism activities to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The Times did its best to cover for Kerry. For starters, the story, run on page A8, was headlined, "Iran's Foreign Minister, In Leaked Tape, Says Revolutionary Guards Set Policies."

That's not news. It's common knowledge that the >Revolutionary Guards control Iran. They answer directly to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and by some estimates they control at least one-third of Iran's economy.

The Times also reported that Zarif said the U.S. strike killing Iranian terror mastermind Qasam Soleimani was "a major blow to Iran, more damaging than if [the U.S.] had wiped out an entire city in an attack."

It's worth remembering that Donald Trump ordered that "major blow to Iran," and Joe Biden condemned it.

But you had to get through three-quarters of the Times report to find out that John Kerry was passing sensitive information to Zarif. If the former secretary of state was betraying our ally Israel, that's critically important front-page news. As Biden's climate czar, Kerry currently sits on the National Security Council.

Last night, Kerry denied the allegations, labeling the New York Times report as "unequivocally false." But it wouldn't be the first time that Kerry has had questionable communications with the Iranians.

Here's the bottom line: Someone is lying. If it's Zarif, how can we trust anything he has to say in the nuclear negotiations?

Moreover, we shouldn't trust anything he has to say because, by his own admission, he has no authority. The ayatollah and the Revolutionary Guards are in control, and we're not negotiating with them.

The War On Cops
In a free society, the police and the military are what stand between free people and their enemies, namely anarchy and tyranny. So, it's not surprising that today's totalitarian left, which is heavily influenced by Marxism, is so focused on turning the people against our police and our military, against the institutions of law and order.

Sadly, I often hear people say, "I wouldn't be a cop today if my life depended on it." Well, that's exactly what many police officers are deciding today. And it's happening in major cities experiencing major crime waves.

In yesterday's report, I told you about the massive number of police retirements in New York City and Philadelphia. Add Portland, Oregon, to the list. And I just read today that the same thing is happening even in Fairfax County, Virginia, an upscale suburb of Washington, D.C.

This shouldn't surprise anyone. Our law enforcement officers are under relentless assault from organized left-wing groups, Democrat politicians, the media, movie stars and professional athletes, not to mention the thugs on the street. (here and here.)

Powerful people, including the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States and the attorney general, are telling the country that cops – not criminals – are the problem in society today.

Any reasonable person knows that police officers aren't the problem, but the solution.

The only way minority communities can have any chance at decent schools and business investment is if their streets are safe. But the more you demonize and handcuff the police, the less chance you will have that these communities will ever be safe.

It wasn't that long ago when both parties tried to argue that they were all for law and order. In fact, Joe Biden wrote the 1994 crime bill that Bill Clinton signed into law. "Top Cop" Kamala Harris got her start in politics as a "tough on crime" prosecutor.

But not anymore. Democrats obviously believe there is a big political benefit in being tough on cops, not crime. The American people, however, strongly disagree. (Here, here and here.)

My friends, I can't say this enough: If nobody in your community is standing up for the police, please take the initiative. Get some friends together and show your support. There are lots of things you can do.

Post notes of appreciation on social media. Write letters to your local newspaper. The next time you see police officers in a restaurant, offer to buy them lunch. If you have a friend or family member in law enforcement, please take a moment today to say, "Thank you."

Common Sense Prevails
It's been a long time coming, but common sense finally prevailed today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that if you're vaccinated you no longer need to wear a mask outside. DUH!

Even if you aren't vaccinated wearing a mask outside is silly. We've known for quite some time now that there is virtually no risk of viral transmission outside. Shutting everything down and forcing everyone inside is the most effective way to spread the virus.

Evidently, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra didn't get the CDC's memo. Becerra went on CBS this morning and thoroughly confused anchor Gayle King by insisting that vaccinated people still need to wear masks outside.

By the way, Joe Biden will be addressing the country tomorrow night before a joint session of Congress. Even though members of Congress were among the first to have access to the COVID vaccines, attendance at the address is being severely limited.

Why? I suspect it is being done for optics and to perpetuate the environment of fear, which may also explain why Biden is wearing masks on Zoom calls.

Not So Smart
The president went out on the White House lawn today and continued to politicize the virus. Biden said when he took office, only one percent of our seniors had been vaccinated.

Well, the first COVID vaccine wasn't developed and approved for use by the FDA until December 11th, which was accomplished in record time thanks to Donald Trump. If we had been operating under normal procedures, we'd be waiting several more years.

And even when talking about a virus, Biden couldn't resist injecting race into the discussion. He felt it was really important to tell us that:

"The proportion of seniors who have been vaccinated is essentially equal between white and seniors of color. I said from the beginning that we we're going to fight this virus with equity. . . If I'm not mistaken, there are more Latino and African American seniors who have been vaccinated as a percentage than white seniors."

Biden has done almost nothing different from the rollout plan that President Trump and Vice President Pence left behind. Trump said that the country would be on its way to reopening about this time, and he was roundly condemned for it. But that's exactly what's happening.

But wait. . . There's more!

During the early days of the pandemic, the Trump Administration wisely held regular conference calls with the nation's governors. Under our federalist system, governors have tremendous authority.

Vice President Mike Pence led 39 of the 40 White House conference calls with the nation's governors, and President Trump attended eight of them. We learned yesterday that President Biden hasn't attended any of these calls. Vice President Harris sat in on one for five minutes, and took no questions.

Guess who is leading the calls now? The chairman of the National Governors Association . . . New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

So the guy who is facing impeachment charges for a series of scandals, the guy who ordered sick COVID patients into nursing homes where they infected more seniors, the guy who gave his family members special treatment – THAT GUY is the Biden Administration's new spokesman to the nation's governors.
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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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