If only mobs were allowed to destroy federal property without consequence. Then there wouldn’t have to be any dispute over federal agents ; it could simply be overrun and burned to the ground with no unwelcome resistance from the government.As it is, Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, who presides over a city that has become a watchword over the years for left-wing thuggery unchecked by municipal authorities, has roused himself to a state of high dudgeon — over federal officers on a federal building.He calls the feds “a direct threat to our democracy” and argues that they are ­engaging in...…If only mobs were allowed to destroy federal property without consequence. Then there wouldn’t have to be any dispute over federal agents ; it could simply be overrun and burned to the ground with no unwelcome resistance from the government.As it is, Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, who presides over a city that has become a watchword over the years for left-wing thuggery unchecked by municipal authorities, has roused himself to a state of high dudgeon — over federal officers on a federal building.He calls the feds “a direct threat to our democracy” and argues that they are ­engaging in...WW…

Sign up for our to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.If only the rest of the country could handle COVID as well as New York: That’s the lament of progressive commentators as in the Sun Belt and the South.Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin hailed New York City the other day after it for the first time during the pandemic. This is what competent government can accomplish, she gushed.Former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett , “Short term sacrifice saves lives!!!”Neera Tanden, the head of the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress, contrasted the response in...…Sign up for our to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.If only the rest of the country could handle COVID as well as New York: That’s the lament of progressive commentators as in the Sun Belt and the South.Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin hailed New York City the other day after it for the first time during the pandemic. This is what competent government can accomplish, she gushed.Former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett , “Short term sacrifice saves lives!!!”Neera Tanden, the head of the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress, contrasted the response in...WW…

President Trump is in the midst of a polling swoon largely of his own making.It’s true that events have taken a hand — a pandemic with a death toll of more than 100,000, a sharp recession, double-digit unemployment and civil unrest would be the horsemen of the apocalypse for any incumbent president.Experiencing all of these in one term would make for treacherous political weather; experiencing them in the space of about three months is a perfect storm.And yet the president with his profligate tweeting, unpresidential conduct and refusal or inability to step up to the magisterial ­aspect of...…President Trump is in the midst of a polling swoon largely of his own making.It’s true that events have taken a hand — a pandemic with a death toll of more than 100,000, a sharp recession, double-digit unemployment and civil unrest would be the horsemen of the apocalypse for any incumbent president.Experiencing all of these in one term would make for treacherous political weather; experiencing them in the space of about three months is a perfect storm.And yet the president with his profligate tweeting, unpresidential conduct and refusal or inability to step up to the magisterial ­aspect of...WW…

We had to destroy the hospitals to save them.You could be forgiven for thinking that’s the upshot of the coronavirus lockdowns that have and generally discouraged people from going to hospitals.Many hospitals and health centers are getting pushed near, or over, the financial edge. At a time when we feared that hospitals would get overwhelmed by a surge of patients, they have been emptied out. At a time when we thought medical personnel would be at a premium, they are being idled all over the country.We are experiencing an epidemic that bizarrely — and in part because of the choices of...…We had to destroy the hospitals to save them.You could be forgiven for thinking that’s the upshot of the coronavirus lockdowns that have and generally discouraged people from going to hospitals.Many hospitals and health centers are getting pushed near, or over, the financial edge. At a time when we feared that hospitals would get overwhelmed by a surge of patients, they have been emptied out. At a time when we thought medical personnel would be at a premium, they are being idled all over the country.We are experiencing an epidemic that bizarrely — and in part because of the choices of...WW…

Stacey Abrams has another distinction to add to her resume — she is among the most .Her attempt to leverage a failed Georgia gubernatorial bid into a spot on the Democratic ticket is so brazenly absurd that it’s hard to think of precedents.But the 46-year-old African American activist isn’t one to be constrained by standard political practice — or reality. She refused to concede her narrow but clear 2018 gubernatorial loss, instead alleging she’d been undone by a massive voter suppression scheme.As she put it at a recent event, “malfeasance and incompetence and my opponent, who was a...…Stacey Abrams has another distinction to add to her resume — she is among the most .Her attempt to leverage a failed Georgia gubernatorial bid into a spot on the Democratic ticket is so brazenly absurd that it’s hard to think of precedents.But the 46-year-old African American activist isn’t one to be constrained by standard political practice — or reality. She refused to concede her narrow but clear 2018 gubernatorial loss, instead alleging she’d been undone by a massive voter suppression scheme.As she put it at a recent event, “malfeasance and incompetence and my opponent, who was a...WW…