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Biden Calls for States to Reinstate Mask Mandates – Americans were supposed to be safer after a year suffering through the COVID-19 pandemic, a time replete with often contradictory public health declarations, government mandates, and executive orders. But the government’s passion for public safety has become the Achilles’ heel of our personal liberty. Public health officials seem trapped inside a self-made COVID-19 bubble. With the support of a fawning media, too many are prone to blame and bully the public, instead of the virus, for our conditions. Politicians and business leaders are told they must continue to follow their often contradictory but restrictive public health guidelines, regardless of whether the data or the scientific evidence supports such prescriptions. Obsessed with the virus, public health officials seem unable to balance protecting the public from the virus and other valuable social goods. Those social goods include Americans’ quality of life, children’s education, the economic survival of small businesses and their workers, and the need to refocus on mental and physical health problems induced by chronic isolation, among other issues. Heritage experts: Doug Badger and Amy Anderson, DNP, RN

Biden worsens border mess – here's how adversaries view fragile admin's self-induced crisis – So far, Biden has done best where his team has followed Trump policies. Where they have departed most from Trump, like on the border, they have had the most difficulty. There is a reason for that. Trump’s policies were, at root, not partisan. They were just realistic. Biden’s team, however, seems bent on following a hard-left ideology, even if sticking with proven, non-leftist policies make the best sense for American interests. This may suggest to America’s adversaries some promising avenues for needling the administration. A seemingly disengaged president, a penchant for pushing a radical agenda over practical policies, and a willingness to hide the truth about their failures rather than face and fix problems ... that’s a formula bad guys can play with. What’s happening on our southern border makes the U.S. administration looks fragile, insecure and distracted. Iran, North Korea, China and Russia must all be thinking, "How can we take advantage of that?"  Heritage expert: Jim Carafano and Mike Howell

Senator Joe Biden vs. President Joe Biden: A Filibuster Problem? – Now we can see how the scheme really works. Democrats refuse to cooperate in the ordinary process of ending debate and scheduling votes on bills, forcing the majority to use the time-consuming cloture process instead. Now, Democrats decry the supposed filibuster explosion and say the practice must be abolished. That is the legislative version of the man who killed his parents and begs for leniency because he’s an orphan. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because Biden is following former Majority Leader Harry Reid’s playbook. In 2013, when they controlled the Senate, Democrats wanted to prevent Republicans from filibustering President Barack Obama’s judicial nominations. They padded the numbers and then claimed there was a filibuster “crisis” that had to be addressed. On Nov. 21, 2013, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), for example, claimed that half of all nomination filibusters had occurred during the Obama administration. Reid, however, was padding the numbers by counting cloture motions. Heritage expert: Tom Jipping

More States Must Follow Arkansas’ Lead and Protect Women’s and Girls’ Opportunities – Arkansas should be commended for standing up to a radical LGBT lobby to protect the fairness in women’s and girls’ sports. Too many state lawmakers have caved to these special interests and forced women and girls to unfairly compete with boys and men, who have obvious and significant physical advantages. It’s encouraging that lawmakers in 29 states have introduced bills that protect women’s and girls’ sports. In states that already have sexual orientation and gender identity laws and ordinances, we have seen girls who have lost sports competitions and scholarships to males who ‘identify’ as girls. Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and no one should be unjustly discriminated against. This includes girls and women who shouldn’t be forced to compete against males and who should have privacy and safety in single-sex facilities. Heritage expert: Emilie Kao

Ideas Matter: The Fight Against the Ideology of the Chinese Regime – As the Biden Administration forms its policy on Asia, China will unquestionably be an area of focus. There is a great need for a nuanced understanding of the Chinese Communist Party’s motives. It is evident that great-power competition is alive and well in the region, and that China operates from a desire to maintain power and stability within its borders and in the region writ large. It is also clear that there are some ways in which China’s actions and activities in the region are ideologically motivated. Tackling these challenges requires a clear-eyed view by the U.S. government of the delicate balance between ideological and great-power competition in the region today. Heritage experts: Dean Cheng and Olivia Enos

Identity Politics and Critical Race Theory Have No Place in US Military – Every service chief, commanding officer, senior enlisted leader, professional military school, and unit training curriculum reemphasizes core values that characterize military service. It is always a work in progress, just as much as is our country and each of us individually. Critical race theory would, however, move the military in the wrong direction by undoing decades, even centuries, of work to foster a team-centered culture. By relentlessly harping on and reinforcing specific identities—advocating for some, while disparaging others, and requiring certain levels of representation in jobs, ranks, and occupational fields as defined by those identities—what advocates of identity politics actually do is undermine the very thing they supposedly want to advance; namely, equality across peoples. Heritage expert: Dakota Wood

The Navy's reading program undermines America's security – By including these three problematic books on his recommended reading list, Gilday has effectively endorsed them. He has chosen a political side in a current national debate — thereby inserting the Navy into a divisive political issue. This does not mean the Navy has no business addressing issues that undermine its good order and discipline. Racism, ignorance and bigotry do harm the warfighting excellence of the Navy. But it is far from clear that this reading list and the broader efforts of Task Force One are addressing this in a way that brings all sailors and officers together as patriots. Heritage experts: Mike Gonzalez and Jim Carafano