From the right: US Decline\u2019s Now an Implosion
\u201cTwenty-first-century America was on a trajectory of gradual decline \u2014 until it began to implode,\u201d fumes Victor Davis Hanson at American Greatness. Large cities are now \u201cbecoming uninhabitable,\u201d urban schools are no longer \u201cplaces of instruction,\u201d and the US \u201chas no southern border.\u201d Meanwhile, \u201cour allies and neutrals are distancing themselves\u201d from us, and President Biden \u201cis on schedule to run up a $2 trillion annual deficit.\u201d The fixes are known, but the \u201cmedicine is feared more than the disease.\u201d The country\u2019s in \u201ca similar position\u201d as in \u201c1861, 1929, 1941, and 1968\u201d \u2014 or maybe worse: In those cases, \u201cthere was at least a president and Congress that identified and reacted to the crisis\u201d; today, \u201cour elected government is what caused the crisis.\u201d
Conservative: The Truth About NPR\u2019s Money
In rebutting Elon\u2019s Musk\u2019s claims that NPR is state-funded, it\u2019s \u201cmisleading\u201d for the outlet to \u201cassert\u201d that it gets just 1% of its funding from the federal government, argues Howard Husock at The Hill. \u201cA good deal of its budget comprises federal funds that flow to it indirectly by federal law,\u201d amounting to $90 million of its $279 million 2021 revenue in the form of federally funded \u201cso-called \u2018community service grants\u2019\u200a\u201d from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting\u2019s disbursements to local stations. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that the Public Broadcasting Act created a valuable national news source.\u201d Yet \u201cthat doesn\u2019t mean the current funding model should continue, unchanged.\u201d The current \u201ctechnological landscape cries out\u201d for innovation.
Libertarian: Public Will Suffer for Feds\u2019 Leaks
\u201cAnother day, another government blunder used as an excuse to tighten the screws on the public in hopes of reducing the fallout from official incompetence,\u201d groans Reason\u2019s J.D. Tuccille about the aftermath of recent intelligence leaks. After US intelligence agencies failed to notice classified Pentagon documents circulating online for weeks, the White House now wants to expand how government \u201cmonitors social media sites and chatrooms.\u201d Panic and concerns about the document leak, TikTok and the use of social media will \u201cfeed into official efforts to shift blame for government failings and to expand state power.\u201d Remember, suspected leaker Jack Teixeira made the intelligence community look foolish, and you can never \u201cunderestimate government officials\u2019 ability to turn embarrassing moments for them into opportunities to stick it to the rest of us.\u201d
Eye on 2024: Pompeo\u2019s Out. Who\u2019s Next?
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be surprised\u201d that Mike Pompeo won\u2019t run for president next year: A CNN poll found \u201cone-third of self-identified Republicans\u201d say they don\u2019t know enough about him, notes National Review\u2019s Jim Geraghty. Only 1% say that about Trump, 8% about Mike Pence and 15% about Ron DeSantis. Sure, the \u201cU.S. has probably missed out on some good presidents because they just weren\u2019t charismatic enough, didn\u2019t have a big enough fundraising network, or didn\u2019t come from a state that is a natural platform for rising to the national stage. But we never lived in that world.\u201d Meanwhile, a third of Republicans also say they don\u2019t know enough about Nikki Haley. CNN didn\u2019t even ask about Vivek Ramaswamy. Mike Pompeo saw \u201cthe handwriting on the wall. Will any other prospective Republican candidate?\u201d
Media watch: Lefty Fantasies About Fox News
The \u201csad, beleaguered competitors of Fox News\u201d would be \u201chappy to sacrifice the First Amendment\u201d to \u201ctopple the TV-news ratings king,\u201d thunders The Washington Times\u2019 Charles Hurt. Remember that the lawsuit hinges on Fox News \u201creporting on claims made publicly by a sitting president. About an election.\u201d That, Dominion Voting Systems alleges, was somehow defamatory. No: \u201cFree speech by a free press reporting on an election is the whole point.\u201d And Dominion\u2019s lawyers have \u201chilariously\u201d asked that \u201cFox be precluded from improperly invoking the First Amendment\u201d in its defense. \u201cThis lawsuit and the coverage surrounding it does not prove that Fox News is bad or dishonest. It proves the whole reason Fox News exists in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n