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ITEM #1
What the left has done to our kids...
When future historians — the honest ones, at least — look back at the various government responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, what will stand out most will be the disastrous toll that the left’s draconian restrictions have had on the well-being of our children.
In an eye-popping piece for National Review this week, Michael Brendan Dougherty covers a new report from the U.S. surgeon general that is simply damning.
Here’s Dougherty:
“The U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek H. Murthy has issued a 53-page report on a burgeoning mental-health crisis among American youth, exacerbated by the pandemic. Emergency-room visits for depression, anxiety, and other conditions have been rising for a long time. But emergency-room visits caused by suicide attempts by adolescent girls jumped 51 percent in 2021, according to the report.
“While the report touched on increased mental-health issues before the pandemic, it does not shy away from looking at the effect of the pandemic and the public-health strictures on the lives of children in the crisis.”
Dougherty then identifies the key section of the report:
“Since the pandemic began, rates of psychological distress among young people, including symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders, have increased. Recent research covering 80,000 youth globally found that depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic, with 25% of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms. Negative emotions or behaviors such as impulsivity and irritability — associated with conditions such as ADHD — appear to have moderately increased. Early clinical data are also concerning: In early 2021, emergency department visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys compared to the same time period in early 2019. Moreover, pandemic-related measures reduced in-person interactions among children, friends, social supports, and professionals such as teachers, school counselors, pediatricians, and child welfare workers. This made it harder to recognize signs of child abuse, mental health concerns, and other challenges.”
Those last two sentences make the inescapable connection between forced social distancing and the decline of our children’s mental health. And remember: This is a report from the Biden administration’s own surgeon general.
It has been painfully clear for a long time now that there was zero justification for school closures or the other extreme measures that forced our nation’s kids into isolation. Yet left-wing politicians carried on with their heavy-handed approach nonetheless, and in many cases continue to do so even now.
We know the tragic cost our children are paying for those failures. The political price those politicians will pay should be a steep one.
ITEM #2
A win for liberty...
This week did bring some good news on the liberty front, in the form of a much-welcome blow against the Biden administration’s ongoing assault on individual freedom. John Kruzel of The Hill informs us:
“A federal judge in Georgia on Tuesday temporarily halted the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors across the country.
“The ruling by U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker, an appointee of former President Trump, is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for President Biden as his administration seeks to blunt the effects of a global pandemic that has killed more than 788,000 people in the U.S.”
We especially liked this excerpt of Judge Baker’s ruling:
“The Court acknowledges the tragic toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought throughout the nation and the globe. … However, even in times of crisis this Court must preserve the rule of law and ensure that all branches of government act within the bounds of their constitutionally granted authorities.”
Bingo.
ITEM #3
Do hex poems need to rhyme?
The next time a Democrat tries to tell you that critical race theory isn’t being taught in our schools — or that even if it is, parental concerns about it are overblown — you’ll want to have this next item handy.
Writing for The Federalist, Spencer Lindquist details his own personal experience in the California school system. What he shares is simply other-worldly:
“While documenting my former high school’s attempt to indoctrinate me with critical race theory six years ago, I remarked that now, several years later, ‘the situation has undoubtedly worsened.’ Worsened it has. Now, Campbell Union High School District has promoted more than 100 ‘equity resources’ to students and staff, including a document that taught students how to put a curse on those who say ‘all lives matter.’”
Lindquist elaborates:
“One section titled ‘Hex’ tells the reader, ‘Hexing people is an important way to get out anger and frustration.’ It becomes increasingly deranged, suggesting that those who say ‘all lives matter’ or commit ‘microaggressions,’ should be targeted. ‘Write your own hex poem, cursing that person,’ it instructs.”
You’ve really got to read this one to believe it, and you can do so here.
ITEM #4
Big apple blues...
The growing phenomenon of citizens “voting with their feet” and fleeing blue states for red ones is well-documented. And it’s worth keeping in mind that each case represents not just a mere statistic, but a unique human story of an individual having to upend his or her life and make a new start in an often-unfamiliar place.
Yet the benefits of relocating to a place that fosters liberty and opportunity make the risks worth it.
Take a moment to check out a recent story at Fox News from Karol Markowicz, who details her decision to leave deep-blue New York City — a city in which she’s long taken enormous pride — for the State of Florida, which is rapidly earning a well-deserved reputation as one of the most freedom-friendly states in the country.
In Markowicz’s case, the reason boiled down to one factor particularly:
“It was because they took away school during the pandemic and not enough of my fellow New Yorkers cared. I kept looking around at a civilization that does not value education. Or worse, values it for their own kids, in the form of private pods or putting them into open private schools, but won’t fight for their less fortunate neighbors to have the same.
“And then, when schools finally reopened there was no discussion about the broken system that had kept them closed. The very same people stuck kids in masks indefinitely, even outdoors.”
The full piece is well worth a read, and available here.
ITEM #5
See you in court...
A few weeks back, we reported on how Nevada Democrats’ redistricting scheme, passed during last month’s special legislative session, was met with widespread criticism — and noted that for a number of reasons, a lawsuit seemed likely.
Sure enough, the news came over the Thanksgiving holiday that the legal wheels are indeed in motion. As the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Sebelius reported:
"A Nevada assemblyman has filed a lawsuit challenging the redistricting plan approved by a Democratic majority during a special session this month, contending it dilutes the votes of residents of rural Pahrump.
"The lawsuit, filed by Assemblyman Gregory Hafen II, R-Pahrump, and a constituent, John Koenig, was filed Nov. 17 in Carson City District Court, one day after the maps were approved by a Democratic majority in both houses and signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak. It was filed by Carson City attorney Karen Peterson, and names the state and Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske as defendants.
"The lawsuit seeks to prevent Cegavske from holding elections under the newly redrawn maps.
“‘(Senate Bill 1) has the effect of denying voters an equal opportunity to participate in the political process of electing candidates of their choice in violation of state and federal law,' the lawsuit claims. ‘SB 1 appears to be an intentional extreme partisan gerrymander that dilutes votes and prevents voters from electing candidates of their choice.'”
Sebelius also noted:
“The lawsuit asks the court to declare the newly redrawn maps unconstitutional, specifically citing Article 2, Section 1(A), the voters bill of rights, which says voters have the right ‘to equal access to the elections system, without discrimination, including without limitation, discrimination on the basis of race, age, disability, military service, employment or overseas residence.’”
Be sure to check back in with us as this story continues to develop.
NOTABLE QUOTE
“America will not be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedom, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” ― Abraham Lincoln
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