#Progressives politicize COVID and other commentary

Will the weeks of conflicting guidance from organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control, undermine public confidence and cooperation?
AP

Nationwide protests, Thomas Chatterton Williams frets at The Guardian, are “inevitably increasing the chances” of further coronavirus contagion. Yet journalists and experts who two weeks ago “shamed people” for “insufficient social distancing” now shame people for not gathering in protest. That “whiplash-inducing messaging” mocks the “many millions” who “put their lives on hold” during the pandemic — and proves elites have “hemorrhaged credibility and authority” by “politicizing science.” When they urge “skeptical masses to submit to an unproven vaccine” or more “crushing stay-at-home orders,” Williams wonders, “will anyone still listen?”

Pandemic journal: Blinding by ‘Science’

Throughout the pandemic, political leaders insisted on following “the science” — yet, sighs City Journal’s John Tierney, it’s “never been obvious just what ‘the science’ is” besides “the modern equivalent of the Oracle of Delphi.” It “gives leaders an excuse to duck responsibility for decisions — and their consequences.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared “the experts” would ­decide when upstate counties with few cases could reopen, letting him blame the resulting “economic destruction on someone else.” But scientists don’t “know what effect the various lockdown measures have on ­viral spread, let alone people’s lives and livelihoods,” and the governor’s consultants have made serious mistakes. His “faith in the experts” ­remains “unshaken” — largely because it means “passing the buck.”

From the right: Explaining Away ‘Defund’

When protesters “chant ‘defund the police’ ” and “carry ‘defund-the-police’ signs,” most people assume they want to defund the police, quips ­National Review’s Dan McLaughlin. “But not our media!” The press have rushed to claim “  ‘defund the police’ does not actually mean ‘defund the ­police’  ” — a blatant bid to sugarcoat “what a radical and politically explosive idea” it is “in an election year.” For years, the media mocked Salena Zito’s “description of Trump supporters who ‘take him seriously, but not literally’  ” — but now do the same with these protesters. More proof, McLaughlin sighs, that elites “think we can’t see” their blatant double standards.

Tech beat: Facebook’s Algorithms Are Drunk

At Mediaite, Sarah Rumpf is stunned that Facebook removed her post of a “lighthearted meme,” claiming it could cause “physical harm.” The meme shows the band The Cure and the words: “I’M NO EXPERT ON COVID-19, BUT THIS IS THE CURE.” No sane person would think the ­English rock band’s “musical prowess conveys upon it any sort of medical expertise, but that didn’t stop Facebook.” When she tried to dispute the move, Facebook told her the censorship may be irreversible, owing to staffing shortages. Bottom line: “Either Facebook’s algorithms are drunk, or their human reviewers are the fussiest spoilsports on the planet.”

2020 watch: ‘Silent Minority’ Could Help Trump

Rasmussen found that President Trump’s approval rating among blacks has risen to 40 percent — “after a week of riots and nonstop Democrat and media attacks” on him, observes Matt Mayer in Spectator USA. “There is a growing silent minority among America’s minorities, especially African-Americans, in the cities where the recent rioting destroyed their businesses, homes and communities.” Indeed, “African-Americans want law and order as much as anyone,” and the “left’s utter failure to condemn the rioting and looting as it applauded the ‘defund-the-police’ movement and funded bail for rioters won’t sit well” with blacks who “watched their communities get ravaged.” Add in “Trump’s success in passing criminal-justice reform” and “driving African-American unemployment to a historic low,” and he could get enough black votes to “make it near impossible for Joe Biden to win” key battleground states.

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board