GOP ex-chair: Republicans Are Making AOC More Popular

Former GOP National Chairman Michael Steele warns at The Hill that Republicans’ continuous pounding of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “could make her more a political martyr to be embraced as the second ­socialist coming of Franklin Roosevelt than a member of Congress whose proposals are out of step with mainstream of America.” Granted, she “presents a target-rich environment,” given all her “ill-thought-out comments.” But “there is a time and place for everything, and the political firepower ­already expended on her can be costly — not to her, but to Republicans,” who “have a tendency to fixate their ire . . . in a way that’s more personal than policy focused.” Better to “pivot to an argument less focused on her personally and more about the flaws of her policy proposals.”

Conservative: No Limit to Trump Derangement Syndrome

Just how bad has Trump Derangement Syndrome gotten in Washington? Marc Thiessen at The Washington Post points to the Foley American Hostage Freedom Award, which was to be given to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week for the administration’s considerable work in rescuing 17 Americans from captivity. At the last minute, he notes, “the award was mysteriously rescinded and Pompeo disinvited from the gala that he had agreed to attend.” Reportedly, the Foundation’s “media partners” — which include Facebook, Atlantic Media, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists — threatened “to boycott the event if Pompeo got the award.” Says Thiessen: “Our politics just hit a new low.”

Foreign desk: Putin’s Timely Campaign Gift to Netanyahu

Vladimir Putin may be considered a toxic and dangerous figure in the West, but Zev Chafets at Bloomberg suggests that courting the Russian strongman has “served Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu well” — and may even help his re-election Tuesday. In Moscow last Thursday, Netanyahu beamed as ­Putin disclosed that Russian soldiers in Syria had discovered the remains of an Israeli soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon war — the return of whose body “has riveted the public.” Turns out, says Chafets, that Putin “has a friend in Bibi” and “maybe even a soulmate.” They share “personal ambition” and “a love of power,” along with “common aims of a more practical variety.” And that ­includes getting Netanyahu re-elected. For Israel, Putin’s repeated “displays of good will are a welcome contrast to decades of Soviet hostility.”

From the right: Beto O’Rourke Is Fauxbama

From the time he became a national figure, recalls National Review’s Kyle Smith, “a great many people were entranced by Barack Obama’s platitudes.” Turns out giving speeches “was the only thing he was good at.” Then again, “those speeches made him president.” Along now comes Beto O’Rourke, who, “closely hewing to the Obama script,” reminds us “that the power of a script depends entirely on the skill of an actor and how well he fits the role.” But O’Rourke is no Obama: “He rushes instead of orates. He seems less like a world-historical figure in waiting than a cute neophyte.” Moreover, where Obama was “exceedingly careful” and “avoided saying anything crazy,” O’Rourke “seems to toss out jawdroppers on the fly.” When it comes to political gifts, “it’s hard to overcome the sense that the great Beto O’Rourke Show is simply a tired rerun.”

Documentarian: Social Rebellion Is Brewing in Seattle

Like many of its West Coast counterparts, Seattle in recent years “has endured a steady expansion of homelessness, addiction, mental illness, crime and street disorder,” notes Christopher Rufo at City Journal. Yet the city’s political, cultural and media elite have “enforced a strict taboo on declaring the obvious: something is terribly wrong in the Emerald City.” But KOMO-TV recently aired a lengthy report, “Seattle Is Dying,” that revealed “how the city has allowed a small subset of the homeless population — drug-addicted and mentally-ill criminals — to wreak havoc.” And it’s resonating: 53 percent of Seattle voters now support a zero-tolerance policy on homeless encampments. So the activist elite are pushing back hard — but “it’s not working the way it used to.” In Seattle, “a reckoning on homelessness may not be far off.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann

Source: Read Full Article