Here my observations and opinions from my select news of the day.

THE KNEE JERK REACTION to the increased cases of the virus in a handful of states is disappointing. Where were they when President Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci addressed the probability of future outbreaks of the virus?

When asked if he was concerned about a second wave of Covid-19 while visiting  a Ford manufacturing plant in Michigan last month, the president said, “people say that’s a very distinct possibility.  It’s standard, and we’re going to put out the fires,” referring to them as “embers.”

“Whether it’s an ember or a flame, we’re going to put it out.  But we’re not closing the country,” he emphasized.

Each state has the means to handle increased cases, incidentally because of their ability to provide testing.  Oddly enough, the testing has revealed that the positive infection rate is declining. Hospitals have ICU bed capacity and ventilators are available to handle the increases.

The left, however, continues its drum beat to slow down the reopening of businesses and push for another shutdown, because an improvement in the business and jobs picture would improve Trump’s chances of reelection in November.

While the newspapers scream headlines like, ‘Virus spread akin to forest fire,’ with numbers of new daily cases increasing, they fail to mention that death numbers are declining daily.  And, of course, the daily death of some 3,000 from heart disease and cancer are ignored.

Case increases in Arizona, where I live, have been in the national news and, as expected, the leftist Arizona Republic cited the case increases in its headline. Hardest hit were those on the state’s Indian reservations. If you believe the cause of death numbers, recognizing that most deaths are now being attributed to Covid-19 for financial purposes, deaths by virus in Arizona are now at .2 percent.

The lockdown was a mistake the first time around, but the president did so after listening to the science and medical community. He knows that to reimpose a lockdown again would be disastrous to our economy.  The damage that has been done to people’s livelihoods and future prosperity will continue to outweigh the damage done by the virus.

I recommend that people continue to practice social distancing and take personal hygiene measures seriously in daily life, and to wear a mask when shopping.  But, don’t panic.

GEORGE FLOYD GONE AND FORGOTTEN – Remember the protestors with their signs and banners declaring the murder of George Floyd, even in London, must not be forgotten?  It was all about police brutality and the need for police reform.

We witnessed the multiple memorial services for Floyd and the breathless comments by the profiteer Rev. Al Sharpton, but he has all been forgotten as the Black Lives Matter movement has hijacked his memory with demands including a call for reparations “for past and continuing harms.”

In my June 26, 2020 special edition on Black Lives Matter I referred to those individuals, foundations and corporations who are blindly funding BLM.  I look at it as extortion.

Since then, I have learned that Susan Rosenberg, a member of the board of the left wing Thousand Currents group, which handles the intake of donations to Black Lives Matter, is a convicted  terrorist, who, among other things, was suspected of helping terrorist Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur) escape from prison, according the investigating reporting of Jerry Dunleavy, the Washington Examiner’s Justice Department reporter.

Shakur, on the FBI’s most wanted terrorists list with a $1 million reward, is currently a guest of the Cuban government. Rosenberg served 16 years of a 58-year sentence for weapons and explosives charges before being pardoned by President Clinton in 2001.

THEY SAY ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL – Meaning that it is important for candidates to be very familiar with their citizen voters – understanding their needs and problems, and using that knowledge to assure them of your intention to resolve their issues should they vote for you.

It has second meaning that involves the degree of choice citizens decide to exercise in their communities regarding the selection of office holders, even those on the national scene.

The latter came to mind when I read an op-ed in the newspaper of a small Michigan town where I was brought up.

The op-ed, written by a local resident, carried the simple headline – “Only one choice.”  Here’s the lead paragraph:

“Joe Biden has only one choice when considering his running mate for the November election and that is Stacey Abrams of Georgia.”

I continued to read it, curious about the writer’s choice.  “I would commend everyone to visit her webpage at staceyabrams.com to learn more about this remarkable woman,” he continued.

Obviously impressed with her qualifications, I would have thought the writer would have put those qualifications in his own words, perhaps enlightening his readers on how he came to believing Abrams was Biden’s “only choice.”  But, no.

Instead, the writer used most of the next 15 paragraphs in the op-ed to attack President Trump, before elaborating on his view on the vice president selection.  A view, I’m sure, Biden will want to hear.

“The desirability of having a nationally known name, or having been in a close working relationship,” he wrote, “no longer persist as attributes crucial in nature. They are, in this election season, disqualifying redundancies.”

You see, “Joe Biden boasts a large and loyal constituency all on his own,” he writes.

“The odds favor a ticket balanced on characteristics Biden lacks,” he writes, including, a progressive mindset, a minority perspective, and a youthful vigor.  Biden can envision and embrace these, but he can’t plausibly represent any of them.

“Among her rivals, only Stacey Abrams can,” he concludes.

All politics may indeed be local, but supporters sometimes are an embarrassment to the candidate.

PATHETIC NANCY PELOSI seems to have contracted Bidengaffitis.  When the Speaker was asked recently if George’s (Floyd) daughter could be assured his name would be always remembered because she’ll name the bill for him, she said  that she would make that recommendation to the Judiciary Committee and the Congressional Black Caucus, who shaped the bill, and added: “I only will do that if you tell me that this legislation is worthy of George Kirby’s name.”

The family of George Kirby, the late Black comedian and actor, was no doubt surprised to hear of her decision.

YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW that Democrats are not interested in justice reform. They talk a big game. They voted against Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s bill – after throwing out that racist “token” remark – even though they would have gotten roughly 80 percent of what they were seeking.

Instead, the House passed its own pandering bill that they know will not pass the Senate.  They simply do not want to give the Republicans and Trump a victory.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.