Opinion

The issue that could sink Democrats and other comments

Conservative: Mayim Bialik Was Right About Modesty
National Review’s David French finds it “deeply unfortunate” that actress Mayim Bialik “felt the need to apologize” for her op-ed piece in The New York Times that decried Hollywood’s “obsession with appearance.” After all, contrary to what many claimed on social media, she didn’t excuse sexual assault by blaming it on how women dress. Nor was Bialik promising “that modesty would make women invulnerable” or “blaming women for dressing differently.” In noting that she dresses modestly, the actress was merely suggesting “measures that in her experience have made it less likely that she’d face harassment.” Says French: “It’s a sad sign of our times that some folks believe modesty can’t even be part of our public debate.”

Iconoclast: The Issue That Could Sink Dems in 2020

Mass immigration is “the most potent issue behind the rise of the far right in America and Europe” and “a core reason” why Donald Trump is president, contends Andrew Sullivan at New York magazine. The critical moment was German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision “to import over a million Syrian refugees into the heart of Europe.” But “instead of adjusting to this new reality and listening to the electorate,” the Democrats “have moved ever farther to the left, and are controlled by ever-radicalizing activists.” Which is why he has “dwindling hopes” the Democrats “will be able to defeat Trump in 2020.” Indeed, the “concept of a nation whose citizens solely determine its future . . . is now deemed by many left-liberals to be a function of bigotry. This is the kind of madness that could keep them from power indefinitely.”

From the right: The Perils of Becoming a Subsidy Junkie

The American Spectator’s Andrew Wilson pens an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos suggesting he may be on the verge of turning his company “into just another big, bloated, competition-adverse corporation — seeking public assistance for private gain.” Which is why he urges Bezos not to become “a subsidy junkie” by fueling a bidding war using taxpayer money among cities and states hoping to be chosen as the site of Amazon’s new headquarters. “Think of the downside of making Amazon and its people deeply dependent upon corporate welfare,” he warns. Besides, with 68 percent of US households enrolled as Amazon Prime members, “most of every dollar that Amazon takes out of taxpayer pockets will be money stolen (or lifted) from its own customers.”

Political scribe: Pelosi’s New Love Affair With Romney

Back in 2012, recalls Becket Adams at the Washington Examiner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi “was on the front line of the Democratic Party’s campaign” to brand Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential nominee, “a sexist, money-grubbing bigot.” Yet now she’s asking: “Wouldn’t it be nice if [Romney] were president of the United States?” Sounds like she regrets “having contributed to the political crucifixion” of that “genuinely decent” candidate. In fact, says Adams, “part of the reason we’re in this mess today is because not enough decent people run for office,” knowing that if they do, they’re bound to be “drawn and quartered.” And, like Romney, they’ll become the victim of invented scandals, in which Pelosi “was quite the willing participant,” spreading the lie that he was a tax cheat.

Reformer: Congress Is Still Full of Financial Conflicts

The 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act was supposed to end stock-trading on Capitol Hill by members with inside knowledge. Five years later, Craig Holman at The Washington Post says the law has had a dramatic impact, “but there is bad news as well.” Because those senators who remain active in the stock market “have a high propensity for trading stocks in businesses they directly oversee from their committees.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) trades stocks “in the health-care and technology industries” while sitting on committees overseeing both. And he’s not alone. Moreover, many senior congressional staffers are doing the same thing. So “it’s time to revisit and strengthen the law.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann