OPINION:
The Chicken Little media mavens don’t know what to do with the recent surfeit of good news that spoils their narrative that America is toast and good riddance.
That leaves it up to some of us ink-stained wretches to share promising developments:
— Bill de Blasio, the Marxist-influenced mayor of New York for the last six years, will leave the city in the hands of common-sense cop Eric Adams as of Jan. 1. This will give the Big Apple a chance to overcome Mr. de Blasio’s surging violent crime wave, plunging quality of life and extremist views on anything that matters. While he’s at it, Mr. Adams might want to overturn Mr. de Blasio’s tyrannical vaccine mandates. On Dec. 6, the mayor (real name: Warren Wilhelm Jr.) ordered all private businesses to require proof of vaccination by Dec. 27 and even dictated that all children 5 to 11 be vaccinated or denied entry to restaurants and other venues.
— During oral arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court strongly indicated that Roe v. Wade, one of the worst, groundless rulings in history, could be overturned next year. This could restore respect for constitutional jurisprudence, and more importantly, save countless lives.
— The U.S. House dropped provisions in the proposed National Defense Authorization Act to start drafting women into the military, impose “Red Flag” restrictions on gun ownership and increase the intrusion of critical race theory.
— The House also passed a bill banning imported products made with slave labor in Communist China. The Senate could do likewise, even though President Biden would probably veto it. Still, it’s a start at holding China accountable.
— Parents’ revolts against CRT, LGBTQ propaganda and pornographic materials continue, inspired by Loudoun County, Virginia, where several school board members face recall. Homeschooling has doubled to 11% of students amid a sharp rise of support for school choice.
— Speaking of the coronavirus, the omicron variant may turn the pandemic into something akin to the yearly flu or common cold despite the official panic and initial calls for yet more lockdowns and booster shots. That’s because viruses typically mutate into less lethal illnesses. Based on preliminary data from South Africa and the few cases so far in the United States, omicron can make us miserable but probably won’t kill us. In addition, the new strain is short-lived but highly contagious, which is a recipe for creating antibodies quickly in millions of people that could protect us from future potential COVID-19 strains.
— Also on the COVID-19 front, the U.S. Senate, in a 52 to 48 vote, rebuked the Biden Administration for its sweeping vaccination mandates. Democrats Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined all 50 Republicans to reject Biden’s dictatorial decrees. The vote mirrored recent rulings by federal judges in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals shutting down mandates for federal contractors, health care workers and private businesses. Accordingly, even Democrat Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, famous in 2020 for barring state residents even from buying seed or other gardening materials at outdoor stores, said Tuesday that she wouldn’t immediately enforce the federal mandates. “We’re an employer too, the state of Michigan is,” Whitmer said. “I know if that mandate happens, we’re going to lose state employees. That’s why I haven’t proposed a mandate at the state level. Some states have. We have not; we’re waiting to see what happens in court.”
— In Virginia, the Republican election sweep of state offices became complete after Democrats lost two recount challenges in House races, leaving the GOP in control of the lower legislature. This is truly a “man bites dog story” since Democrats rarely lack “found” votes when they need them in tight races. See New Jersey for details.
— On the entertainment scene, lovers of Christmas romance movies gained a whole new network. In September, the former Great American Country channel was bought and relaunched as GAC Family. Another network, Ride TV, became GAC Living. The new family channel offers programming similar to Hallmark Channel fare, which is not surprising since one of the new owners is former Hallmark executive Bill Abbott, who is also former CEO of Crown Media, the major content provider for Hallmark. Mr. Abbott’s departure came after Hallmark ran ads in 2019 for the wedding-planning website Zola showing brides kissing at a same-sex wedding, which caused an uproar that resulted in the network pulling the ads. After the LGBTQ lobby launched counterattacks, Hallmark apologized and promised to have LGBTQ themes in future movies, which began last year. Mr. Abbott left about a month after the apology was issued. Critics naturally trashed Mr. Abbott and applauded Hallmark’s plunge into PC activism, but Mr. Abbott may have the last laugh. “With a new slate of 12 Christmas movies, no one is counting GAC Family out this holiday season, especially with stars like Cameron Mathison, Jen Lilley, Danica McKellar and Jessica Lowndes set to make movies for GAC,” reported the Christian movie review site MOVIEGUIDE. By contrast, the Los Angeles Times ran a commentary titled, “A new TV network wants to make Christmas great again. Why its message is a harmful one.” Harmful? Lorraine Ali, a Los Angeles Times television critic, explains: “Americana. American traditions. Safe storytelling. It’s the coded language the network uses about its content, as much as the content itself, that reveals its underlying message, one echoed across conservative media and politics: The ‘real’ America is suburban or rural, predominantly white, heterosexual and Christian. … It’s a message far more dangerous, and demonstrably false, than any Christmas movie (or wedding-planning ad) with a gay couple at its center.”
Is it any wonder why Americans are increasingly tuning out the “legacy media”?
Since this column is about good news, let’s close with a thought about the forces in play. One side is a clueless elite who holds America in contempt and heap scorn on anything traditional.
On the other side, as described in the Declaration of Independence, are the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and people of all races who believe in the miracle of Christmas.
In the long run, guess who the smart money is on?
• Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times. His website is roberthknight.com.
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