"While hypocritical politicians, the media, and health officials urged people to stay home, mask up, and even skip celebrating holidays with family members to 'save grandma' from a virus that is especially fatal to the elderly, the narrative changed once a vaccine, which was hailed by many on the left and right as a beacon of hope, was produced.

"Instead of prioritizing vaccinating those who are the most vulnerable to dying if they contract the virus, many state governments have told older populations to have patience while they distribute and administer the vaccine to frontline workers, nursing home residents, inmates, and even some teachers and police officers.

"Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges that people aged 65 and older account for 8 in 10 Wuhan virus deaths, the federal agency suggested giving the vaccine to those on the front lines and in long-term care facilities first. The CDC later recommends that vaccine doses be allocated for those 75 and older at the same time as 'about 30 million frontline essential workers,' a large group of people that the New York Times estimates make up 'nearly 70 percent of the American work force.'"

"Portland, Ore., Mayor Ted Wheeler admits his efforts at appeasing radical anarchists failed after another destructive riot ruined New Year's Eve in his city, and he is now appealing for federal and state help.

"'My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical Antifa and anarchists,' Wheeler told a press conference Friday. 'In response it will be necessary to use additional tools and to push the limits of the tools we already have to bring the criminal destruction and violence to an end.'

"Wheeler, who once famously demanded federal law enforcement to leave his city, called for a task force of 'federal, state, county and local law enforcement to convene to deal with anarchist violence. as soon as possible.'"

Read entire article here.

"Who would you rather have write the U.S. Senate's next budget -- Lindsey Graham or Bernie Sanders?

"This is among the choices before Georgia's voters on Tuesday. ...

"If Democrats capture the Senate and make New York's Chuck Schumer majority leader, they also will chair the Senate's committees. ...

"If Republicans keep command, these committees will be marginally likelier than today's to pursue conservative objectives of individual freedom, limited government, free enterprise, and peace through strength. If Democrats take power, however, Americans should brace for a jump to the left. Senate panels will become rocket engines for curbing liberty, swelling the state, shackling the economy, and appeasing America's enemies."

Read entire article here.

"Public approval of Congress sank to just 15 percent in the latest Gallup poll, but lawmakers are determined to find out how low they can go. That's one explanation, at least, for all the unrelated junk they tossed into the massive pandemic-relief/government-funding bill.

"The public fury is surely driven by the months-long standoff over passing any relief, even as key provisions of early stimulus bills were expiring.

"And now this: a $2.3 trillion monstrosity that includes countless items that never would've passed on their own -- 5,593 pages that members couldn't possibly read before they had to vote on it, knowing it was a must-pass because of the desperately needed relief it contained. ...

"It's easier to do your smelliest work when no one can possibly spot it in time."

Read entire article here.

"President-elect Joe Biden's first big test is already clear, a month before he takes office: what to do about to a vast cyberattack almost surely waged by Russia.

"This was no run-of-the-mill hack. A key starting point seems to be 'backdoor' malware that infected a flawed product from software firm SolarWinds used by thousands of customers, including US government agencies, most Fortune 500 companies and the widely used cybersecurity firm FireEye.

"The penetration was global and months-long, with the extent of damage yet unknown; it may not even be over. They hit the Pentagon, US intelligence agencies, nuclear labs, the Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security departments and several utilities. FireEye cybersecurity tools were likely stolen, giving the hackers a future leg up. ...

"Fact is, it's time for a new 'reset' with Russia. The entire civilized world needs to treat Vladimir Putin's regime as the rogue nation it is, waging wars to grab land on its periphery, attempting assassinations at home and abroad, cheating on a mass scale wherever it can. Europe can start by shutting down Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, now set to go online within the year.

"The costs may be high, but continuing to pretend Putin has a scrap of honor will cost far more in the end."

"In our constitutional system, Congress is supposed to make the laws. Yet in today's federal government, presidents do most of the lawmaking through regulation. That's why, when the White House changes hands this January, thousands of law-like rules will pivot 180 degrees, affecting every aspect of life. To end these jarring legal shifts and restore crucial safeguards for 'We the People,' Congress must regain its footing within our constitutional system.

"Although the Constitution vests 'all legislative powers' in Congress, that body has 'delegated' much of its lawmaking capacity to an alphabet soup's worth of regulatory agencies under presidential management, collectively known as the 'administrative state.' Think: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among countless others. Last year, for example, Congress passed about 100 laws, while agencies issued about 3,000 regulations with the force of law.

"Upon taking office, one of Joe Biden's first actions will be to order a halt to all administrative lawmaking that started under the Trump presidency. Then, the machinery of the administrative state will recalibrate and start producing thousands of new rules that have a different ideological gloss from the ones they replace. This happens every time the White House changes hands in the modern era.

"By now, alas, Congress has given away enough of its policymaking authority such that the legislature rendered itself expendable. When a president wants a law made, he can go it alone."

"It is now obvious that President-elect Joe Biden has no original ideas for national security and simply plans to implement liberal foreign policy orthodoxy and restore the disastrous policies he backed when he was President Barack Obama's vice president.

"This is a huge mistake that will endanger America's security. Obama's foreign policy was an enormous failure that destabilized the world and weakened America's power and influence.

"And because the world has changed and faces new, more dangerous threats today than when Biden was vice president, reverting to the Obama-Biden administration foreign policy now would be even harmful than it was when it was in force from 2009 until President Trump's inauguration in January 2017. ...

"The strongest indication of Biden's 'back to the Obama years' foreign policy is his unremarkable national security team, composed mostly of Obama administration retreads.

"Unlike previous presidents who chose well-known and distinguished men and women to be secretary of state or national security adviser, there will be no luminaries like John Foster Dulles, Colin Powell, Mike Pompeo, or Henry Kissinger in these posts."

"News that former Disney CEO Bob Iger is under consideration to serve as Joe Biden's Chinese ambassador is a concerning indication the president-elect's relationship with Beijing will be even worse than expected.

"Iger, currently the executive chairman of Disney, has collaborated closely with the Chinese government to produce and release films in the Middle Kingdom, a venture that ultimately makes him complicit in the country's mounting human rights abuses.

"Iger is exactly the wrong person to nominate for this position which, by the way, is among the most important jobs in the world right now. He's qualified to negotiate with Beijing, but for all the wrong reasons -- cozy ties, long relationships, and tolerance for the government's terrible conduct."

Read entire article here.

"The year 2020 showed just how important governors are -- and the next two years could dramatically reshape who occupies those offices.

"Thirty-eight of 50 states -- accounting for nearly 85 percent of the U.S. population -- will hold gubernatorial elections between 2021 and 2022. A dozen states are likely in play, if not more, raising the potential for one party to expand its influence across the nation. Republicans will have a four-seat advantage in statehouses starting in January, though the majority of Americans will still live under Democratic governors.

"The races could serve as referendums on state leadership during times of crisis as the nation begins to move on from a pandemic that has thrust governors, their leadership styles, their philosophies and their values into the spotlight like never before. Will the decisions governors have made this year, some of which shaped the daily lives of their constituents, become anchors or buoys for their careers?

"The elections will also mark an important checkpoint in President-elect Joe Biden's nascent administration and demonstrate the salience of the coronavirus as a political issue after the deployment of vaccines developed to curb the outbreak."