Conservative: Dems’ Rising Epstein Desperation
“Are Democrats getting desperate” about Jeffrey Epstein? wonders the Washington Examiner’s Byron York. They’ve resorted “to tampering with documents and doctoring images to suggest” President Trump is linked to “Epstein’s wrongdoing,” yet have produced no actual evidence. The latest: They released “a tiny number, 19,” pictures (from about 95,000) showing six women whose faces the Dems themselves blacked out. That triggered the hoped-for question: Were the women underage victims? No! They were “adult models” for Hawaiian Tropic who described Trump as gentlemanly. Perhaps “some future discovery” will “give Democrats the incriminating evidence they so desperately want. But it doesn’t seem likely. And until then, Democrats appear to be happy to make things up.”
Foreign desk: The Anti-Israel Delusion
Calls in the Arab world “for treating Israel as an international pariah” are standard, but now some leftist Democrats “envision a broad coalition forged around opposition to U.S. support for Israel” that will propel them to power, observes Daniel B. Shapiro at The Atlantic. Though polling “shows a significant decline in Israel’s standing among various sectors of the American public,” Israel-bashing is still a “thin reed” on which to “build a political coalition.” And this approach brings “darker danger” strategically: It would “likely intensify the region’s conflicts” and “undermine” efforts toward “maintaining regional stability” — and also push allies like Egypt and Jordan to “buy weapons from Russia and China.” Sustaining a relationship with Israel “is manifestly more beneficial to U.S. interests than the alternative.”
From the left: Dems Should Re-embrace Oil & Gas
One “specific issue” plainly “could both boost Democrats” in GOP-dominated states that they can win “— a position the party embraced in the relatively recent past,” argues Matthew Yglesias in The New York Times: “Liberals should support America’s oil and gas industry.” Barack Obama did; the left-of-center leaders of Mexico and Canada “and the labor parties of Norway and Australia have done it.” And: “It’s not just about votes; it’s also a realistic path toward a cleaner environment.” Fact is, “Insisting on a majority of renewable electricity raises costs dramatically, slows the pace of electrification and ultimately leaves us further from a low-carbon future.” And: “A realistic look at the Senate map makes it clear that Democrats’ hopes hinge on states that have important fossil fuel industries.” Be realistic: Taking climate seriously means adopting politically and economically sustainable approaches to energy economics, and that means a reconciliation with all forms of American energy.”
Climate war: Ford’s $35.1 Billion Fiasco
“Electric vehicles are the Next Big Thing” — and “always will be,” snarks Robert Bryce at his substack. Proof came in Ford’s decision to “take a $19.5 billion charge due to its headlong rush to build EVs.” Since 2022, its losses have totaled $15.6 billion; add in this write-down, and the “colossal blunder” totals $35.1 billion. Ford, “which makes money by selling F-150s and other trucks,” just “didn’t understand who its customers are”: EVs appeal to “niche” buyers, “dominated by wealthy, white, male, liberal voters,” not the mass market. Per Gallup, 71% of Republicans say they wouldn’t own one. “Ford’s EV disaster will go down as one of the biggest fiascos in modern automobile history.” Why does CEO Jim Farley “still have a job?”
Eye on NYC: Rent Laws Deepen Housing Crisis
“Thousands of units” of housing are “off the market” in New York City largely because their “operating costs exceed legal rents,” warns Adam Lehodey at City Journal. A 2019 state law gave us these 50,000 or so untenanted “ghost apartments” because it “eliminated” landlords’ ability “to make improvements profitably and reset the stabilized rent.” An “even more effective option” than repealing that law is to “eliminate rent stabilization entirely,” allowing “rents rise to meet demand while also making renovations profitable again.” This would be a “sustainable solution” and keep “the existing housing stock in good shape.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
The post Dems’ Rising Epstein Desperation, The Anti-Israel Delusion and other commentary appeared first on New York Post.
