The new would-be Obama and other commentary – New York Post

2020 watch: The New Would-Be Obama

Pete Buttigiegs elevator pitch to American voters is essentially Obama but Gay, snarks National Reviews Kyle Smith. The way Buttigieg speaks is his real appeal. He gets the juices sap? of idealism flowing through liberal veins. Why is he doing well? Well, its mainly an indicator of the comically obvious weaknesses of the partys three stumblin septuagenarian front-runners. Buttigiegs problem, however, is that no one has ever gone directly from being mayor of a large city to the presidency before, much less mayor of a small city. He also faces a singular problem in that its easier to pronounce his name than it is to cite anything hes done.

From the right: The Crisis for Career Diplomats

Very important people with very important advanced degrees from very important universities are mad at President Trump for pressing our allies to honor their NATO defense-spending commitments, scoffs American Greatness Julie Kelly. Worse, Trumps using the force of his personality rather than relying on many white papers and think-tank conferences and pricey parties at well-appointed embassies. For Foggy Bottom bureaucrats, Trumps shake-ups of diplomatic norms constitute horror stories not because of legitimate foreign-policy concerns, but because he poses a legitimate threat to their professional sinecures. While those elites predicted global chaos once it became clear Trump would weed them out, the president has been fixing international fiascos almost single-handedly. Fact is, as Harry Truman observed, foreign-service officers act only as servants of the government, not the other way around no matter how much they might not like that reality.

Space desk: Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun

For one little NASA spacecraft, the weather outside is frightful, reports The Atlantics Marina Koren. The Parker Solar Probe has completed three scorching passes around the sun, and it will get even closer before taking a fiery plunge into the surface in 2025. No probe has ever gotten that close before, and Parker is already surprising scientists back at home with its findings. One surprise: The solar wind is so strong that it can cause magnetic forces to completely flip around for a few minutes at a time, which can in turn speed up the particles flowing away from the sun. Reaching the sun is one of the toughest feats of robotic space exploration but thanks to Parker, were unlocking the deepest secrets of our star.

Media beat: How US Papers Whitewash Corbyn

As long as Jeremy Corbyn remains its leader, James Kirchick predicts at Tablet, Britains Labour party will remain institutionally anti-Semitic. Even many Labour insiders admit this, so why cant Americas leading newspapers do the same? Polls show 94 percent of British Jews will vote for any party but Labour in the Dec. 12 election, yet multiple New York Times pieces pretend British Jews are torn over whether to back Labour. The Washington Post, meanwhile, declared that the party under investigation by Britains Equality and Human Rights Commission for anti-Jewish bias has been hit by claims of anti-Semitism because of strong statements on Palestinian rights. It seems the inability of highly educated, well-intentioned, decent people to recognize and acknowledge anti-Semitism that doesnt come dressed up in jackboots and a swastika is a transatlantic affliction.

Theologian: The High Cost of US Individualism

While the days news draws my attention to more elite concerns like impeachment, Chad Pecknold confesses at The Catholic Herald, I regularly witness drug addiction, poverty and familial collapse. The reason our cable- and Twitter-driven political theater misses these crises: Our politics have mostly centered on individual-rights claims or on the claims of commercial interests. In Washington, lobbyists look out for corporations, while liberals use state power to invent ever-new rights around ever-changing identities. Meanwhile, the family has been weakened over decades by myriad factors not just by court decisions about divorce, contraception, abortion and the neutering of marriage, but also by the demand for the two-income family. The predictable result: falling fertility rates and the failure of a generation to form strong bonds of marriage and family.

Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

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The new would-be Obama and other commentary - New York Post