Whatever Wednesday

THE MEDIA

"The real tragedy is that good journalism is essential for a free society. Unfortunately, our current media options offer a terrible product -- and the public knows it.  A recent Gallup survey showed that 84% of Americans believe the news media have a critical or very important role to play in a democracy. But while the demand is there; the supply is lacking. Gallup found only 41% of Americans actually trust the media and just 33% of Americans viewed journalists as honest and ethical."  Adam Guillette, Townhall, 4/20

"Even more telling, the media, which controls American public opinion more than any other institution, including the presidency and Congress -- but not churches and synagogues, which is why they loathe evangelicals, traditional Catholics, faithful Mormons and Orthodox Jews -- would not be as fixated on closing down the country if it were killing far more people in some Southern, Midwestern, Mountain or Western states than in New York City."  Dennis Prager, Townhall, 4/21

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE . . . FLORIDA

"I believe I have seen the most populist move ever — ever. It was executed by Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who, in this pandemic, has declared professional wrestling an “essential service.”  Jay Nordlinger, National Review Online, 4/21

RE-OPENING THE ECONOMY

"In reality, the economy is going to reopen only when most people either feel safe enough to emerge from isolation or calculate that the risk of emerging is worthwhile. Arbitrary deadlines mean little. I suspect that the best way to temper anger surrounding the lockdowns would be for local leaders to stop acting like a bunch of petty authoritarians when the vast majority of citizens are already voluntarily doing what the government is asking to protect themselves."  David Harsanyi, NRO, 4/21

RE-OPEN AMERICA

"In short, we need to safely reopen America. We need to allow people to return to work so they have a purpose. We need to give people the ability to pay their rent, buy groceries, and to ensure that their needs are met. Because as we have witnessed for the past month or so, the federal government is simply incapable of providing a lifeline to the American economy for much longer, if it even could in the first place."  Chris Talgo, Townhall, 4/22

THE CRISIS IS A NEW WEAPON

"Precisely this attitude -- that every crisis is a new weapon in the war for more expansive government, and in favor of a complete rethinking of the constitutional bargain -- will lead more and more Americans to view shutdown orders with skepticism. It is one thing to lock down populations on a bipartisan basis with clear goals -- goals like preventing coronavirus patients from swamping the health care system. Most Americans will go along with that, and most Americans are willing to grant policymakers the benefit of the doubt.

"But when politicians begin to reveal ulterior motives for such shutdowns, Americans begin to ask questions. When politicians simultaneously take measures that obviously do nothing to combat the coronavirus -- measures like locking public parks where people are social distancing, or banning Americans from buying gardening supplies but ensuring access to abortion remains fully available -- Americans begin to wonder whether their politicians are trustworthy. And when politicians meet such questions with hysterical accusations that the questioners simply don't care about human life, Americans grow even more suspicious.

"Crises require trust in authority. But authorities must earn our trust with well-founded, sensible policy. They must be transparent about what they are doing and why they are doing it. When authorities instead suggest openly that their agenda isn't solely curbing the coronavirus but remaking America along the lines of their own political priors, they lose our trust. And they should."  Ben Shapiro, Townhall, 4/22

AUTHORITIES

"Ten states have no stay-at-home orders!" complains Don Lemon On CNN. "Some governors are still refusing to take action!" Fox News' host Steve Hilton agreed. "Shut things down! Everywhere. That includes Utah, Wyoming..."

"But wait a second. People in Utah and Wyoming already socially distanced just by living there. Why must Utah and Wyoming have the same stay-at-home rules as New York? I find it creepy how eager some people are for authorities to boss us around."  John Stossel, Townhall, 4/22