COVID journal: US Institutions Caved to China
US media “took three years longer than most ordinary people” to conclude that “Chinese malevolence and subterfuge helped spread COVID. But better late than never,” quips the Washington Examiner’s editorial board. The New York Times, for example, just reported that “the Chinese government bullied scientific journals into retracting research papers from within China” about the early spread of COVID. “Western institutions, particularly medical and scientific journals,” helped the Chinese “obscure anything that might lead researchers and scientists to the truth,” so as not to jeopardize subscription sales to “the vast pool of universities, research institutions, and medical professionals inside China.” Institutions “that have genuflected to the communist tyranny need to reform themselves” — and “refuse to let potential sales in China buy their allegiance to scientific truth.”
Eye on 2024: ‘Paper Tiger’ Primaries?
“What if” Donald Trump and Joe Biden “turn out to be paper tigers,” wonders John Feehery at The Hill. An “overwhelming majority of Americans do not want to see Trump run against Biden” and “collectively, they seem to be much more unpopular than they are individually.” America’s COVID response “could become problematic for both candidates.” And both “Trump and Biden have courtroom dramas that could infect their campaigns.” Remember that both men “are older than most baby boomers and should be spending more time on the golf course instead of running the country.” It remains to be seen whether “well-run campaigns” from the left and right “can topple the current front-runners.” But “let’s face it, the country is ready for generational change.”
Budget watchdog: How Adams Can Rein In Costs
The “stakes” for the city’s budget, due July 1, “are high, not only for this year but also for Gotham’s fiscal future,” warns John Ketcham at City Journal. The comptroller’s office “predicts gaps of $7.1 billion in FY 2025 and $10.2 billion the following year.” Fortunately, Mayor Adams “can control costs unilaterally during this year’s budget negotiations, and beyond” in a number of ways — like restricting “the use of time-limited, state and federal [pandemic] relief funds for recurring programs” and negotiating “tougher concessions on work rules, employee productivity, and accountability in exchange for pay raises” in union contract talks. “If New York City’s leaders refuse to find savings before July 1, balancing future budgets may prove far more painful.”
Foreign desk: Give Jimmy Lai the Nobel Prize
The “Chinese Communist Party nightmare” would be if Hong Kong dissident Jimmy Lai were “awarded the Nobel [Peace Prize] for championing freedom at about the same time he is handed a life sentence for the exact same thing,” snarks The Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn. Beijing sees Lai as the “mastermind behind the popular resistance” to its authoritarian rule in Hong Kong. “Today’s Hong Kong has something other world financial centers don’t: political prisoners — 1,415 of them, according to the Hong Kong Democracy Council.” Giving Lai a Nobel Prize would say to China: “Your charges are rubbish — and the world knows it.” And it would “highlight the Communist Party’s insecurity about the lies it must tell to sustain its rule.”
Legal expert: Biden’s Odd Idea of Democracy
“President Joe Biden held a curious meeting” honoring “Tennessee legislators for ‘standing up’ for democracy by preventing a legislature from continuing its work,” notes Jonathan Turley at his website — i.e. “taking a bullhorn to a legislative proceeding to prevent others from voting on measures.” “So, on Jan. 6th, if Republican members prevented the proceedings with bullhorns, would Biden have praised their standing up for Democracy?” “The media largely ignored the contradiction” of Biden “praising legislators for defending democracy by stopping the legislative process” — which explains “why American politics” is now “a simple matter of amplification.” Luckily, “such disruptions will not occur at the Democratic primary debates” as “there are currently no scheduled debates,” despite “two other candidates running in the primary.”
Compiled by The Post Editorial Board