Crime beat: All Eyes on Eric Adams

A mass subway shooting, “during rush hour, might prove a turning point for city residents,” who thanks to remote work can “avoid the subways in much larger numbers,” warns City Journal’s Rafael A. Mangual. That “poses a real threat to the Big Apple’s future.” The “tension” between Mayor Adams’ “mission to reduce crime and progressives’ commitments to decarceration and depolicing raise a question” he “can’t avoid for much longer: Will he take on his own party, or will he pivot to the talking points that Democrats across the country have resorted to when confronted with the crime issue?” His latest remarks, blaming “the availability of guns,” are “not encouraging.” What matters, as “Adams knows full well,” is “not the number of guns in circulation but the willingness of our political leaders to ensure that criminals are swiftly arrested, prosecuted and incapacitated, as opposed to released back into the public with a slap on the wrist.”

Foreign desk: Giving Up on Ukraine

“We have to start to view the war in Ukraine on its own terms, not those of previous conflicts,” insists Spiked’s Tim Black. Many on the left and right, “masquerading as” realists, have “effectively called for Ukraine to give in.” But this isn’t “like the wars waged by the West in Syria, Libya, Iraq or Afghanistan. In those, Western powers were the ones violating national sovereignty, destabilizing whole regions and arming proxy forces for nebulous ends.” Helping “Ukraine to liberate itself” from Russia “is very different to Western armies ‘liberating’ Iraqis or Libyans or Afghans from their own governments.” Here, “Ukrainians are determined to win” — our “support should be unwavering.”

Eye on the economy: Gov’t Ignored Inflation

In February 2021, Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell dismissed concerns about inflation, recalls Taylor Millard at Spectator World. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was similarly “untroubled” in May. “How was everyone so wrong?” asks Millard. One answer: “Economists chose to ignore the likelihood of inflation as they tried to recover from the pandemic,” former Kansas City Fed boss Thomas Hoenig tells Millard. “The government was spending more money” and “putting more money in the hands of consumers to spend,” thinking, “We can take care of this later.” It should’ve “known better.” The correct course now is raising interest rates — yet that might lead to recession.

Pandemic journal: CDC’s Lame ‘Revamp’

In an “attempt to rebuild its tattered reputation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” has announced a “revamp,” but the “supposed overhaul is at least a year late and more than a dollar short,” roar Margery Smelkinson and Leslie Bienen at Reason. The agency “has seen a drop in trust of more than 25 percentage points in less than two years,” so “a bipartisan committee” should “choose the reviewers” to “establish their credibility” — but CDC chief “Rochelle Walensky has already handpicked a leader.” And the list of CDC errors “is so lengthy that a one-month process” will “guarantee” a “superficial and toothless” review. “CDC guidance is responsible for some of the longest school closures in the world,” which “led predictably to significant rises in learning loss, mental health issues, obesity and substance use disorders.” No wonder the public sees “CDC guidance as political messaging,” not “policy based on scientific evidence.”

Culture critic: H’wood Hypocrisy on Saying Gay

“We already knew that Hollywood and corporate America are filled with total frauds on issues related to ‘human dignity’ and ‘social justice,’ but here’s your latest example,” snarks Townhall’s Guy Benson: Warner Bros. removed references to a gay relationship in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” for the Chinese release. “The Chinese Communist Party demands gay characters be literally erased from movies before they’re shown to domestic audiences. Hollywood, which preens and postures on these issues back home, eagerly salutes.” So elites will “say gay all day” to “attack the Republican governor of Florida” but will “shut up the nanosecond Chairman Xi tells them to.” 

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board