Rights watch: Amnesty’s Authoritarian Turn
“Amnesty International is free to operate in Israel, but Amnesty Israel isn’t free to operate within Amnesty International,” snarks Commentary’s Seth Mandel of news that AI “is suspending its Israel branch for the crime of disagreeing with management.” Background: Last month the mother group released a shoddy “report accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza” that even “admitted that Amnesty was changing the definition of genocide in order to apply it to Israel.” Plus: “Amnesty’s Israel branch — the organization’s researchers on the ground — publicly disputed its conclusions and revealed that they had not even been consulted on the report that was all about Israel.” The came the suspension — for calling out the central office’s abuses. In short, “the supposed ‘human rights’ organization now operates on authoritarian principles.”
Legal desk: Ban the Mask!
“New York State had the oldest anti-masking law in the nation but repealed it during the pandemic,” notes Ilya Shapiro at The Free Press — a move with “disastrous consequences for cities like New York.” Consider that “mob of anti-Israel protesters” that “seized a Columbia University building last April” and “took two maintenance workers hostage.” Or “health insurance executive Brian Thompson,” “brutally executed by a masked man who quickly fled the city.” “This was an easily avoidable problem.” “Mask bans were effective against Klan members, denying them the ability to hide their identities and thus escape justice.” They will “likewise work against today’s violent bigots and criminals.” In fact, these laws “help maintain a society where individuals are accountable for their conduct.”
Conservative: Republicans Must Deliver Change
“Republicans hold control of the White House and Congress, but only by a slim margin, so they will need to work together,” notes USA Today’s Ingrid Jacques. They have two years “to show the country what conservatism in practice looks like.” Opening the new Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson “delivered an inspiring reminder of what our country is all about — and how the principles of conservatism can help keep it great.” Sen. John Thune, the new Senate majority leader, said, “We have a real opportunity here to deliver for the American people on continued tax relief, on border security.” “Americans have entrusted these Republicans with delivering results,” argues Jacques; hope “they don’t screw it up.”
From the right: Ending the BS Case vs. Trump
On Friday, President-elect Trump will be sentenced in the Manhattan hush-money case, and “the question now is whether [Judge Juan] Merchan will do what he says,” writes the Washington Examiner’s Byron York. Merchan has said that “a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ seems to be the ‘most viable solution,’ ” which “would mean that the case would be over, Trump would be an officially convicted felon,” but he could also finally appeal. “Merchan could sentence Trump to community service, or jail, or lots of things, but it would all be a political gesture,” since it would be near-impossible to enforce. Thus: “In the end, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Manhattan case, from start to finish, from indictment to sentencing, has been BS.” Merchan’s decision Friday “will just be more of the same.”
Eye on world politics: Progs in Global Retreat
“Several key elements of the progressive-liberal policy agenda are in retreat in developed economies as voters and elected officials turn to more reasonable, practical and financially sustainable policies,” observes Merrill Matthews at The Hill. “Concerns over immigration and asylum policies” have boosted righty parties from France and Germany to Italy and Austria. The deadly costs of green energy policy has the UK Labour party backtracking while “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition has collapsed.” And “Europe is also having second thoughts” about gender transitions for children. That’s “three progressive policies where the voter pushback isn’t just national but international. If Democrats want to identify the culprit behind their November loss, they need to start with their own policies.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
