thestream--2020-08-03--7 Questions for Judicial Action Group Attorney on Trump’s ‘New List’ of Potential Supreme Court Just

7 Questions for Judicial Action Group Attorney on Trump’s ‘New List’ of Potential Supreme Court Justices

Every day , President Trump ’ s tweets makes headlines .
Yet one last month made waves that some observers believe could affect the November elections .
This summer conservative positions on pro-life policies and religious liberty faced defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court .
Perhaps Trump sensed that his base was hardly pleased with these outcomes .
After all , in 2016 , the issue of judicial nominations motivated 70 percent of Americans who supported him .
So Trump doubled down .
“ I will be releasing a new list of Conservative Supreme Court Justice nominees , ” tweeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ include some , or many of those already on the list , by September 1 , 2020 .
“ If given the opportunity , I will only choose from this list , as in the past , a Conservative Supreme Court Justice.
” Politico reported that this tweet sent White House aides scrambling to reconsider their existing list of 24 potential nominees .
( The task took a more pressing turn with news Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is again battling cancer , and just days ago was hospitalized again in connection with an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Josh Hawley , R-Mo.
, has been outspoken that the existing nominations process for the GOP has been a “ disaster.
” Additional reporting has questioned whether religious conservatives have input in the vetting of judicial prospects .
One practicing attorney in Birmingham , Ala. has been a rising voice among conservative court observers .
Phillip Jauregui of nonprofit group Judicial Action Group researches potential nominees in hopes such analysis will inform the larger process .
“ A judge ’ s job is to decide cases and controversies , not to legislate from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a phone interview .
“ And I believe they need to have a constitutional judicial philosophy.
” Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
He views the current moment as a window of opportunity .
Last week , Judicial Action Group rolled out what it terms The Judicial Standard with five specific planks to consider regarding judicial prospects .
Speaking from his office in Birmingham , Jauregui sums up his recent disappointments on the court , the principles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the months ahead .
Why is the Supreme Court so important to conservatives ?
Phillip Jauregui : The Supreme Court has become the branch that decides the most important policy questions in our nation .
Of course , the Constitution doesn ’ t give it that power .
But that ’ s the power that the court has given to itself over the last few decades .
Today , it functions like an unaccountable judicial oligarchy .
The issue could be abortion , marriage , or whether the president has the power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matters are ultimately being decided by the high court .
That ’ s why the Supreme Court is vitally important .
Critics even on the right say that conservatives place too much importance on the high court .
In June , a case to uphold commonsense regulations on abortion failed .
So why bother with further pro-life efforts in the courts ?
Jauregui : Conservatives could ignore the Supreme Court — if Justices went back to doing their job .
That would mean deciding cases according to the laws that are passed over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legislate from the bench and create new so-called rights like abortion .
So it would be wonderful if conservatives could just focus on congressional and presidential elections .
Let ’ s say conservatives win and achieve great pro-life and other victories on social issues .
Right now , due to dishonest referees over in the judiciary , those victories are being stolen .
So conservatives have to deal with the Supreme Court institutionally or any other victories will ultimately be stolen .
Recent opinions were handed down from Justices Gorsuch and Roberts that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those key decisions ?
Jauregui : The most concerning opinion this summer was the Bostock case .
It literally rewrote the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include “ homosexuality ” and “ transgenderism.
” Those are terms that were not in the law .
In order for those classes to be protected , Congress would have needed to amend the law — which they actually tried to do a number of times over the decades .
In the majority opinion , Justice Gorsuch literally wrote ‘ transgender ’ into the Civil Rights Act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swore he would never do .
To say this is deeply disappointing for conservatives is an understatement .
It ’ s tragic because Justice Gorsuch isn ’ t up in a primary election next year .
He could sit on the court for another 30 years .
For him to have this type of thinking and judicial philosophy is shocking and tragic to conservatives .
Another thing about the Bostock case that ’ s concerning is that , even though Justice Kavanaugh voted the right way , he thought it was the right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much in his opinion .
Essentially he wrote : If I were voting as a member of Congress , I would vote for these LGBT-type agenda protections .
But Kavanaugh believed the judiciary was not the branch to do that .
So at least he got the institutional question right .
Still , the fact that he actually thinks that a funeral home should be forced to hire a man who ’ s dressing up like a woman is a real problem .
As to Chief Justice Roberts , he has been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He has voted against constitutionalism and conservatism in most cases .
Roberts flipped his position in the June Medical case .
He voted the opposite way previously in the Texas case .
Then he voted with the pro-abortion justices in the June medical case .
I see no reliability there based on the law .
The only reason he would do that is pure politics or catering to the precedent of the liberal majority .
Will New List Reflect A New Standard ?
In the wake of these decisions , President Trump has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judicial nominees .
Some voices question if that ’ s the right approach .
How do you see it ?
Jauregui : I think it ’ s half the right approach .
He definitely needs to update his list .
The problem with the list is President Trump didn ’ t come up with it .
Advisers came up with it , and it developed through a process .
If he doesn ’ t change the people giving input to the list and doesn ’ t change the process that developed the list @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just mixing the names around again and pulling a few out .
It doesn ’ t solve the problem .
So , yes , we need a new list .
But even more , we need a new process .
And we need a standard that we can actually measure these nominees by , to know if they ’ re acceptable or not .
What are some core values your group advocates should be the standard ?
Jauregui : What we call The Justice Standard has several elements .
First , anyone who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a long-term record of courage , conservatism , and a constitutional judicial philosophy .
What we mean by that is , because they ’ re a judge , they need to understand the role of the judiciary .
Their oath as a Justice is to the original public meaning of the Constitution .
That comes first , even if it means they have to rule contrary to precedent .
Precedent is simply what other justices have said in the past that they think the law says .
But a justice ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s to the law itself .
It ’ s also really important that a conservative president nominate conservatives .
Liberals nominate liberals , and it always seems to work for them .
Conservatives , for some reason , don ’ t always nominate conservatives .
Maybe that ’ s the reason we ’ ve failed over half the time in the last 50 years .
Conservatives need to unapologetically nominate Justices that actually believe in adhering to the Constitution .
Over 200 judges have been confirmed , the Trump administration has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many judicial prospects , have some advanced through the process that were not necessarily ‘ conservative ’ ?
Jauregui : These 200 or so judges that have been confirmed are probably the best batch of nominees we ’ ve had in a three-and-a-half-year span from a president .
But they ’ re not all great , and Michigan district court nominee Michael Bogren is a good example .
Bogren was cruising toward confirmation .
Thankfully , Senator Josh Hawley , who ’ s really become a champion on judicial nominations , took it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the record .
This judicial nominee had taken a controversial stand against a Christian family that had a property that they rented out for weddings .
They had a policy as Christians that they would only rent it to weddings that conformed with the Bible , which would exclude same-sex ceremonies .
Bogren had been critical of the family , even comparing them to members of the KKK .
Senator Hawley pointed this out in the hearing and asked the judicial nominee some questions .
Thankfully , because he did the research and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stopped .
But there have been others as well .
So it ’ s not true to say that every nominee that President Trump has put up , that they are all wonderful conservatives .
We have to be looking at them and researching them .
And we need to look no further than the two Supreme Court nominees that we ’ ve had .
They give conservatives a pretty serious cause for concern right now .
What to Watch In Months Ahead What do you see on the horizon for the high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know when there will be another vacancy on the Supreme Court .
It ’ s possible we could have one before the election .
Regardless , conservatives have to be prepared .
We don ’ t know who our next president will be , and we don ’ t know who will hold the majority in the Senate .
The president is preparing to release a list of Supreme Court nominees on or before September 1st .
He said that he ’ ll choose from that list .
So it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Conservatives want to see the right names on that list and to keep the wrong names off that list .
Learn more about Judicial Action Group at their website .
Watch Senator Josh Hawley address judicial nominations in the video below .
Stream contributor Josh M. Shepherd covers culture , faith , and public policy issues for media outlets including The Federalist .
Find him on Twitter and follow The Stream @ Streamdotorg .

Every day, President Trump’s tweets makes headlines. Yet one last month made waves that some observers believe could affect the November elections.
This summer conservative positions on pro-life policies and religious liberty faced defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court. Perhaps Trump sensed that his base was hardly pleased with these outcomes. After all, in 2016, the issue of judicial nominations motivated 70 percent of Americans who supported him. So Trump doubled down.
“I will be releasing a new list of Conservative Supreme Court Justice nominees,” tweeted Trump. “[It] may include some, or many of those already on the list, by September 1, 2020.
“If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a Conservative Supreme Court Justice.”
Drama Escalating Around High Court
Politico reported that this tweet sent White House aides scrambling to reconsider their existing list of 24 potential nominees. (The task took a more pressing turn with news Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is again battling cancer, and just days ago was hospitalized again in connection with an unrelated bile duct issue.)
Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has been outspoken that the existing nominations process for the GOP has been a “disaster.” Additional reporting has questioned whether religious conservatives have input in the vetting of judicial prospects.
One practicing attorney in Birmingham, Ala. has been a rising voice among conservative court observers. Phillip Jauregui of nonprofit group Judicial Action Group researches potential nominees in hopes such analysis will inform the larger process. “A judge’s job is to decide cases and controversies, not to legislate from the bench,” said Jauregui in a phone interview. “And I believe they need to have a constitutional judicial philosophy.”
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
He views the current moment as a window of opportunity. Last week, Judicial Action Group rolled out what it terms The Judicial Standard with five specific planks to consider regarding judicial prospects.
Speaking from his office in Birmingham, Jauregui sums up his recent disappointments on the court, the principles he adheres to, and his outlook for the months ahead.
Principles In the Balance
Why is the Supreme Court so important to conservatives?
Phillip Jauregui: The Supreme Court has become the branch that decides the most important policy questions in our nation.
Of course, the Constitution doesn’t give it that power. But that’s the power that the court has given to itself over the last few decades. Today, it functions like an unaccountable judicial oligarchy.
The issue could be abortion, marriage, or whether the president has the power to issue executive orders. All these matters are ultimately being decided by the high court. That’s why the Supreme Court is vitally important.
Critics even on the right say that conservatives place too much importance on the high court. In June, a case to uphold commonsense regulations on abortion failed. So why bother with further pro-life efforts in the courts?
Jauregui: Conservatives could ignore the Supreme Court — if Justices went back to doing their job. That would mean deciding cases according to the laws that are passed over in Congress. Judges are not to legislate from the bench and create new so-called rights like abortion. So it would be wonderful if conservatives could just focus on congressional and presidential elections.
Let’s say conservatives win and achieve great pro-life and other victories on social issues. Right now, due to dishonest referees over in the judiciary, those victories are being stolen. So conservatives have to deal with the Supreme Court institutionally or any other victories will ultimately be stolen.
Decisions That Disappoint
Recent opinions were handed down from Justices Gorsuch and Roberts that concerned conservatives. Could you sum up those key decisions?
Jauregui: The most concerning opinion this summer was the Bostock case. It literally rewrote the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include “homosexuality” and “transgenderism.” Those are terms that were not in the law. In order for those classes to be protected, Congress would have needed to amend the law — which they actually tried to do a number of times over the decades.
To say this is deeply disappointing for conservatives is an understatement.
In the majority opinion, Justice Gorsuch literally wrote ‘transgender’ into the Civil Rights Act. It’s something that he swore he would never do. To say this is deeply disappointing for conservatives is an understatement.
It’s tragic because Justice Gorsuch isn’t up in a primary election next year. He could sit on the court for another 30 years. For him to have this type of thinking and judicial philosophy is shocking and tragic to conservatives.
Another thing about the Bostock case that’s concerning is that, even though Justice Kavanaugh voted the right way, he thought it was the right political result. He even said as much in his opinion. Essentially he wrote: If I were voting as a member of Congress, I would vote for these LGBT-type agenda protections.
But Kavanaugh believed the judiciary was not the branch to do that. So at least he got the institutional question right. Still, the fact that he actually thinks that a funeral home should be forced to hire a man who’s dressing up like a woman is a real problem.
As to Chief Justice Roberts, he has been a deep disappointment the last few weeks. He has voted against constitutionalism and conservatism in most cases.
Roberts flipped his position in the June Medical case. He voted the opposite way previously in the Texas case. Then he voted with the pro-abortion justices in the June medical case. I see no reliability there based on the law. The only reason he would do that is pure politics or catering to the precedent of the liberal majority.
Will New List Reflect A New Standard?
In the wake of these decisions, President Trump has talked about updating his list of prospective judicial nominees. Some voices question if that’s the right approach. How do you see it?
Jauregui: I think it’s half the right approach. He definitely needs to update his list.
The problem with the list is President Trump didn’t come up with it. Advisers came up with it, and it developed through a process. If he doesn’t change the people giving input to the list and doesn’t change the process that developed the list, it’s kind of like just mixing the names around again and pulling a few out. It doesn’t solve the problem.
So, yes, we need a new list. But even more, we need a new process. And we need a standard that we can actually measure these nominees by, to know if they’re acceptable or not.
What are some core values your group advocates should be the standard?
Jauregui: What we call The Justice Standard has several elements. First, anyone who is a prospective Supreme Court Justice should have a long-term record of courage, conservatism, and a constitutional judicial philosophy. What we mean by that is, because they’re a judge, they need to understand the role of the judiciary.
Conservatives need to unapologetically nominate Justices that actually believe in adhering to the Constitution.
Their oath as a Justice is to the original public meaning of the Constitution. That comes first, even if it means they have to rule contrary to precedent. Precedent is simply what other justices have said in the past that they think the law says. But a justice’s oath is not to former justices, it’s to the law itself.
It’s also really important that a conservative president nominate conservatives. Liberals nominate liberals, and it always seems to work for them. Conservatives, for some reason, don’t always nominate conservatives. Maybe that’s the reason we’ve failed over half the time in the last 50 years.
Conservatives need to unapologetically nominate Justices that actually believe in adhering to the Constitution.
When Conservatives Spoke Against Trump Judicial Prospect
Over 200 judges have been confirmed, the Trump administration has touted. In the midst of so many judicial prospects, have some advanced through the process that were not necessarily ‘conservative’?
Jauregui: These 200 or so judges that have been confirmed are probably the best batch of nominees we’ve had in a three-and-a-half-year span from a president. But they’re not all great, and Michigan district court nominee Michael Bogren is a good example.
Bogren was cruising toward confirmation. Thankfully, Senator Josh Hawley, who’s really become a champion on judicial nominations, took it upon himself to step up and research the record.
It’s not true to say that every nominee that President Trump has put up, that they are all wonderful conservatives.
This judicial nominee had taken a controversial stand against a Christian family that had a property that they rented out for weddings. They had a policy as Christians that they would only rent it to weddings that conformed with the Bible, which would exclude same-sex ceremonies.
Bogren had been critical of the family, even comparing them to members of the KKK.
Senator Hawley pointed this out in the hearing and asked the judicial nominee some questions. Thankfully, because he did the research and did the work, that nominee was stopped. But there have been others as well.
So it’s not true to say that every nominee that President Trump has put up, that they are all wonderful conservatives. We have to be looking at them and researching them. And we need to look no further than the two Supreme Court nominees that we’ve had. They give conservatives a pretty serious cause for concern right now.
What to Watch In Months Ahead
What do you see on the horizon for the high court?
Jauregui: We don’t know when there will be another vacancy on the Supreme Court. It’s possible we could have one before the election. Regardless, conservatives have to be prepared. We don’t know who our next president will be, and we don’t know who will hold the majority in the Senate.
The president is preparing to release a list of Supreme Court nominees on or before September 1st. He said that he’ll choose from that list. So it’s really important to do the work now. Conservatives want to see the right names on that list and to keep the wrong names off that list.
Learn more about Judicial Action Group at their website. Watch Senator Josh Hawley address judicial nominations in the video below.
Stream contributor Josh M. Shepherd covers culture, faith, and public policy issues for media outlets including The Federalist. Find him on Twitter and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.
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thestream--2020-08-04--Gay Atheist Prof Under ‘Cancel Culture’ Attack; Says Democrats ‘Scare the H*** Out of Me’

“ It ’ s not fun , ” he said .
It was quite an understatement .
Charles Negy , an associate professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida , has come under intense fire for allegedly “ racist ” tweets in the days following George Floyd ’ s murder .
How “ not fun ” is it ?
His university has him under investigation , with UCF ’ s president calling for students to come forth with reports of “ any racial mistreatment ” they ’ ve experienced in his classes .
The student senate and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Almost 34,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to have him canned .
“ The left/liberal/progressive/Democrat side now won ’ t allow the other side to speak , ” he said in a telephone interview last Thursday .
“ If you say something they disagree with they want to annihilate you .
They want to get you fired , they want to punish you .
They are total authoritarians.
” It ’ s everywhere .
Negy was profiled negatively at The New York Times .
The Chicago Tribune was appalled that UCF @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It ’ s not fun , ” he repeated , “ having your colleagues , your department , your university turn against you , and portray you as an evil monster that ’ s been working with them for 22 years — and they just never discovered it until now — and proclaiming you as one of the most pejorative ways in the United States which is proclaiming you a racist.
” Negy spoke of his sympathy for Mike Adams , the late UNCW criminology professor who spent years under attack by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own un-PC opinions .
Adams was forced out of his job earlier this summer , and lost his life last month in an apparent suicide .
It ’ s no fun for Negy , either .
Protesters “ either officially or loosely aligned with Black Lives Matter ” flooded him with hundreds of angry messages the day after one of his unpopular tweets , he said .
Others invaded his neighborhood demanding , “ Make Negy Resign.
” UCF ’ s president , Alexander Cartwright , would surely have done that already , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standing in the way .
( Negy is a Fulbright scholar as well . )
Cartwright has labeled his tweets “ abhorrent , ” and the university provost , Michael Johnson , has called them “ vile.
” As Negy pointed out , though , “ Neither of those individuals were saying it was their opinion .
They were declaring it as fact.
” It was against that pre-judged , biased background that Cartwright asked students to come forward to testify against him .
Tellingly , Cartwright seems at this point only to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of at least 15 who have spoken up against him .
One of them reportedly told the school ’ s Office of Institutional Equity that he ’ d taught them “ Whites are superior to blacks because whites have cerebral cortexes.
” The charge is of course absurd on the face of it .
As if any professor anywhere would have said that ?
As if only one student would have noticed if he had ?
“ The problem is the left/liberal/progressive/Democrat side now won ’ t allow the other side to speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with they want to annihilate you .
… They are total authoritarians.
” Another lie told to university administration , said Negy , was that he would give students extra credit if they would denounce their religion .
He does warn his classes early on that he ’ ll be tough on religion , but there ’ s nothing in his grading , he says , that depends on students ’ beliefs .
Negy has spent $ 8,000 so far on lawyers to defend himself from these charges .
He intends to take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the university continues pressing him on it .
So What Was His ‘ Offense ’ ?
So what did he actually say that was so bad ?
The worst message of all — the trigger tweet most often quoted in the news media — was actually a question : Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
Media outlets objected to his comparing African Americans to Asian Americans .
Negy ’ s point , however , as he explained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apparently no one ’ s allowed to say such a thing .
Gay Atheist Hispanic , and Under Fire from Cancel Culture He speaks from personal experience on achieving things .
Negy is an atheist , he ’ s gay , and he ’ s Hispanic , making him a triple minority , he says .
He came from a poor background .
Both his parents had just nine years of education .
Apparently , though , there was a problem of comparison in his bringing up Asian Americans — even though it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whites .
He wonders why whites should be the “ gold standard ” of comparison .
In his classes now under university investigation , he says , I take a critical , though not negative look at the different racial groups that I cover : whites , Hispanics , African-Americans , Native Americans and Arabs/Muslims .
And actually most of the material I cover is neutral , based on the literature or national surveys .
And then I reserve the last part of that lecture to cover challenges or problems that each of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenges and problems that African-Americans have as a group .
And it ’ s coming straight from national surveys or FBI statistics .
There are people in my class you don ’ t like what I say .
But there are those individuals — who happen to be black — who are not accustomed to having someone say anything critical about their group .
They ’ re not just “ not accustomed , ” though .
They ’ re after him .
And clearly it ’ s not fun — a definite understatement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Negy is an atheist , as already mentioned , and in fact I ’ ve had occasion to criticize him in the past .
( I reminded him of that prior to our interview , by way of full disclosure . )
Like atheist leader Peter Boghossian and Christian ministry head Corey Miller , though , who ’ ve found common cause speaking out for academic freedom , Christians can and should feel a bond with an atheist like Charles Negy in this situation : We absolutely need freedom of speech .
All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during our conversation : And it ’ s dangerous .
Near the end of our talk I asked him if he had anything else to add .
He volunteered the following : Negy : ‘ Anti-Freedom ’ Democrats ‘ Scare the H*** Out of Me ’ That required one last question .
“ Being gay and atheist , my guess is you ’ ve historically been a Democrat ?
” Negy said , no to that ; he ’ s independent : “ I go for the middle .
I hate all politicians.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ t apply , ” I said .
“ I was going to ask you what it felt like as a Democrat , seeing this happening to the party.
” He has reason to be .
So do we all .
Tom Gilson ( @ TomGilsonAuthor ) is a senior editor with The Stream and the author or editor of six books , including the just-released Too Good To Be False : How Jesus ’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality .
He graduated from the University of Central Florida with an M.S .
in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just months before Dr. Negy joined the psych faculty there .

“It’s not fun,” he said. It was quite an understatement. Charles Negy, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida, has come under intense fire for allegedly “racist” tweets in the days following George Floyd’s murder.
How “not fun” is it?
His university has him under investigation, with UCF’s president calling for students to come forth with reports of “any racial mistreatment” they’ve experienced in his classes. The student senate and the football team are demanding he be fired. Almost 34,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to have him canned.
“The left/liberal/progressive/Democrat side now won’t allow the other side to speak,” he said in a telephone interview last Thursday. “If you say something they disagree with they want to annihilate you. They want to get you fired, they want to punish you. They are total authoritarians.”
It’s everywhere. Negy was profiled negatively at The New York Times. The Chicago Tribune was appalled that UCF gave him a raise last year.
Reminders of the Late Mike Adams
“It’s not fun,” he repeated, “having your colleagues, your department, your university turn against you, and portray you as an evil monster that’s been working with them for 22 years — and they just never discovered it until now — and proclaiming you as one of the most pejorative ways in the United States which is proclaiming you a racist.”
Negy spoke of his sympathy for Mike Adams, the late UNCW criminology professor who spent years under attack by the “cancel culture” for his own un-PC opinions. Adams was forced out of his job earlier this summer, and lost his life last month in an apparent suicide.
It’s no fun for Negy, either. Protesters “either officially or loosely aligned with Black Lives Matter” flooded him with hundreds of angry messages the day after one of his unpopular tweets, he said. Others invaded his neighborhood demanding, “Make Negy Resign.”
Judgments and Lies
UCF’s president, Alexander Cartwright, would surely have done that already, had not Negy’s tenure been standing in the way. (Negy is a Fulbright scholar as well.) Cartwright has labeled his tweets “abhorrent,” and the university provost, Michael Johnson, has called them “vile.”
As Negy pointed out, though, “Neither of those individuals were saying it was their opinion. They were declaring it as fact.” It was against that pre-judged, biased background that Cartwright asked students to come forward to testify against him. Tellingly, Cartwright seems at this point only to be seeking negative information.
Negy knows of at least 15 who have spoken up against him. One of them reportedly told the school’s Office of Institutional Equity that he’d taught them “Whites are superior to blacks because whites have cerebral cortexes.” The charge is of course absurd on the face of it. As if any professor anywhere would have said that? As if only one student would have noticed if he had?
“The problem is the left/liberal/progressive/Democrat side now won’t allow the other side to speak. If you say something they disagree with they want to annihilate you. … They are total authoritarians.”
Another lie told to university administration, said Negy, was that he would give students extra credit if they would denounce their religion. He does warn his classes early on that he’ll be tough on religion, but there’s nothing in his grading, he says, that depends on students’ beliefs.
Negy has spent $8,000 so far on lawyers to defend himself from these charges. He intends to take the dispute “very public” if the university continues pressing him on it.
So What Was His ‘Offense’?
So what did he actually say that was so bad? The worst message of all — the trigger tweet most often quoted in the news media — was actually a question:
Sincere question: If Afr. Americans as a group, had the same behavioral profile as Asian Americans (on average, performing the best academically, having the highest income, committing the lowest crime, etc.), would we still be proclaiming “systematic racism” exists?
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
Media outlets objected to his comparing African Americans to Asian Americans. Negy’s point, however, as he explained in the interview, is this:
Blacks have agency, they have their free will, and they can take advantage of opportunities in the United States. And even if they come from a disadvantaged background, like other whites do, other Hispanics so, and even some Asians do, with their own effort and dedication to change their lot in life, they can achieve things that are important to them.
Apparently no one’s allowed to say such a thing.
Gay Atheist Hispanic, and Under Fire from Cancel Culture
He speaks from personal experience on achieving things. Negy is an atheist, he’s gay, and he’s Hispanic, making him a triple minority, he says. He came from a poor background. Both his parents had just nine years of education.
Apparently, though, there was a problem of comparison in his bringing up Asian Americans — even though it never seems wrong to compare blacks to whites. He wonders why whites should be the “gold standard” of comparison.
“But the current group of Democrats — they scare the h*** out of me. Because they’re so anti-freedom. I’m concerned. I’m very concerned.”
In his classes now under university investigation, he says,
I take a critical, though not negative look at the different racial groups that I cover: whites, Hispanics, African-Americans, Native Americans and Arabs/Muslims. And actually most of the material I cover is neutral, based on the literature or national surveys. And then I reserve the last part of that lecture to cover challenges or problems that each of these groups has. I cover the challenges and problems that African-Americans have as a group. And it’s coming straight from national surveys or FBI statistics. There are people in my class you don’t like what I say. But there are those individuals — who happen to be black — who are not accustomed to having someone say anything critical about their group.
They’re not just “not accustomed,” though. They’re after him. And clearly it’s not fun — a definite understatement.
The Call for Freedom of Speech
Negy is an atheist, as already mentioned, and in fact I’ve had occasion to criticize him in the past. (I reminded him of that prior to our interview, by way of full disclosure.) Like atheist leader Peter Boghossian and Christian ministry head Corey Miller, though, who’ve found common cause speaking out for academic freedom, Christians can and should feel a bond with an atheist like Charles Negy in this situation: We absolutely need freedom of speech. All of us.
As he put it during our conversation:
It sounds like you and I are both willing to engage in a discussion. As you already know, there’s a lot of people in the United States, about half of them perhaps, who don’t really want to have a conversation. They just want to point the finger at you and call you names.
And it’s dangerous. Near the end of our talk I asked him if he had anything else to add. He volunteered the following:
Everything I say is fine for everyone to hear. I just want to say that we can debate whether or not what I said or what anyone says is valid or not. The problem is the left/liberal/progressive/Democrat side now won’t allow the other side to speak. If you say something they disagree with they want to annihilate you. They want to get you fired, they want to punish you. They are total authoritarians.
Negy: ‘Anti-Freedom’ Democrats ‘Scare the H*** Out of Me’
That required one last question. “Being gay and atheist, my guess is you’ve historically been a Democrat?” Negy said, no to that; he’s independent: “I go for the middle. I hate all politicians.”
“Then my follow-up doesn’t apply,” I said. “I was going to ask you what it felt like as a Democrat, seeing this happening to the party.”
Negy answered anyway:
The current Democratic Party is disgusting. For me, of course. In the past there have been Republicans who have been disgusting. So again I don’t like most politicians, I think they’re all sociopaths after money and power. But the current group of Democrats — they scare the h*** out of me. Because they’re so anti-freedom. I’m concerned. I’m very concerned.
He has reason to be. So do we all.
Tom Gilson (@TomGilsonAuthor) is a senior editor with The Stream and the author or editor of six books, including the just-released Too Good To Be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with an M.S. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology in 1998, just months before Dr. Negy joined the psych faculty there.


thestream--2020-08-03--Scrap the Debates? NY Times and CNN Say Yes

Like dinner at a convalescent home , the Democrats are trying to hand Joe Biden the presidency on a plate without him having to move an inch .
First , they cleared away his primary competition like drybrush before Super Tuesday to gift wrap the nomination .
But what do they do , having nominated such a weak and weakening candidate ?
Obama strategists David Axelrod and David Plouffe laid out the answer in early May : Let social media and substitutes do the public work .
In other words , keep Biden in his basement during the campaign , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of appearances .
Joe now pops out of the ground about as much as Punxsutawney Phil .
Don ’ t go thinking COVID has anything to do with it .
Before the virus hit our shores , Biden ’ s campaign appearances were already shrinking in number and length , with evening events severely limited because by day ’ s end a worn out Joe was making all sorts of blunders and flubs that would sink a normal candidacy .
So what ’ s the Democrats ’ latest move ?
Arguing that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Press Secretary Joe Lockhart suggested on CNN that Biden should not debate Trump .
“ Whatever you do , don ’ t debate Trump !
” he wrote .
Lockhart believes the debates will only help Trump .
That ’ s almost certainly true .
Then he employs a bit of twisted reasoning that could only come from someone who served the Clintons .
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
President Trump , Lockhart said on CNN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theories out there .
And , up till now , most of those theories are broadcast by Fox News and , you know , on his Twitter feed .
And , you know , most Americans don ’ t see that .
The debates are very different .
… And they will see all of this nonsense from him .
He will take the truth and destroy it .
And Biden will be in the position of correcting him over and over and over again .
I don ’ t think he should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , by “ nonsense , ” Lockhart means Trump will quote Biden ’ s own words and actions .
And question his fitness .
And by “ conspiracy theories , ” Lockhart means making Biden answer for his now-proven role in the Trump Russia Hoax .
And his boasting of blackmailing Ukraine to get the prosecutor investigating his son fired .
The billion bucks Hunter got from China .
Tara Reade .
How soon we have forgotten Tara Reade .
But even putting that aside , presidential debates are about two candidates going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and worthiness .
Remember the second debate in 2016 ?
It was just days after NBC leaked the Access Hollywood tape .
Trump was supposedly done .
The GOP establishment was abandoning him like he was a building on fire .
The conservative Christian world was pulling its hair out .
Voters tuned in expecting Hillary to finish him off .
But Trump showed up with three of Bill Clinton ’ s accusers , beat back Hillary and the moderators ’ initial volleys , and scored some devastating blows , including an impassioned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only standing at debate ’ s end , he had turned the tide .
Contrast that with Mitt Romney .
In 2012 ’ s second debate , he let CNN moderator Candy Crowley run interference for President Barack Obama on Benghazi , with only a whiny pushback .
And in the third debate , he played Mr. Nice while Obama threw the kitchen sink at him .
( Which is why Romney is now a bitter Senator rather than enjoying the good life of an ex-president . )
New York Times : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times is a little more clever .
They don ’ t want to admit Biden can ’ t handle a debate with Trump .
So they say they want to trash presidential debates all together .
Writer Elizabeth Drew argues the debates play too large a role in deciding elections .
“ The debates have never made sense as a test for presidential leadership , ” she says .
Is the New York Times admitting America was not serious when it chose the charming , silky smooth Obama over the far more experienced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Romney ?
Of course not .
In the TDS-infected mind of the Times , American political history began when Donald Trump came down the escalator at Trump Tower .
Any editorial position is about defeating Trump .
And only that .
Just look at the qualities they include in being “ serious about the presidency.
” Dignity .
Likability .
Empathy .
Knowledge .
All the things that would describe Biden .
( Or a good shrink .
Or your grandmother . )
All things they think Trump lacks .
How convenient .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is making the same argument as CNN : Debates play to Trump ’ s strengths and expose Biden ’ s weaknesses .
The debates will affect voters to a great degree , and in Trump ’ s favor .
And we can ’ t have that .
Of course , writer Drew denies her argument has anything to do with Biden .
She says her article , “ isn ’ t written out of any concern that Donald Trump will prevail over Joe Biden in the debates ; Mr. Biden has done just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contests.
” On what planet ?
In his previous two presidential runs , he got nowhere in the primary debates .
In his first debate as a VP nominee , the veteran senator faced off against rookie Sarah Palin .
He was supposed to humiliate her .
The hockey mom matched him stride-for-stride without a sweat .
And that was when Joe Biden was in his prime .
Did the Times already forget this primary season ?
When Kamala Harris smacked him down so hard it should be considered elder abuse ?
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
When his teeth seemed to fall out ?
When he ’ d stand there blankly , ignored by candidates focused on Sanders and Warren ?
Even Saturday Night Live noticed ( start at 2:52 ) .
The bumbled , jumbled rant about parents having their kids play the record player ?
When just getting through a debate against such lightweights as Beto O ’ Rourke , Kristen Gillibrand , Juan Castro and Eric Swalwell without catastrophic blunder was deemed a victory ?
Have they forgotten the campaign trail gaffes ?
Mental lapses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Poor kids are just as smart as white kids ” ?
His outright fabrications of his biography ?
Forgetting what state he ’ s in ?
Confusing his wife and sister ?
His biting the head off voters who challenge him ?
“ Super Thursday ” ?
No .
They have not forgotten .
They are pretending that there is little value in the two candidates for commander-in-chief standing shoulder-to-shoulder .
No value in letting the American voters assess the candidates side-by-side .
How do they stack up ?
How do they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really think when they ’ re not speaking from a teleprompter ?
CNN and the Times suggesting Biden dodge the heat is a concession he ’ s unfit to be president .
The job is all about the heat .
Harry Truman famously said of the presidency , “ If you can ’ t stand the heat , get out of the kitchen.
” The Democrats and liberal elite want to make Biden head chef without even stepping into the kitchen .
If they get away with it , the American political process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream and co-author , with @ JZmirak , of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration .
You can follow him at @ StreamingAl .
And if you aren ’ t already , please follow The Stream at @ Streamdotorg .

Like dinner at a convalescent home, the Democrats are trying to hand Joe Biden the presidency on a plate without him having to move an inch.
First, they cleared away his primary competition like drybrush before Super Tuesday to gift wrap the nomination. But what do they do, having nominated such a weak and weakening candidate? Obama strategists David Axelrod and David Plouffe laid out the answer in early May: Let social media and substitutes do the public work. In other words, keep Biden in his basement during the campaign, with only the briefest and most controlled of appearances. Joe now pops out of the ground about as much as Punxsutawney Phil.
Don’t go thinking COVID has anything to do with it. Before the virus hit our shores, Biden’s campaign appearances were already shrinking in number and length, with evening events severely limited because by day’s end a worn out Joe was making all sorts of blunders and flubs that would sink a normal candidacy.
So what’s the Democrats’ latest move? Arguing that the presidential debates be cancelled.
CNN Analyst Joe Lockhart: “Don’t Debate Trump!”
Former Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart suggested on CNN that Biden should not debate Trump. “Whatever you do, don’t debate Trump!” he wrote.
Lockhart believes the debates will only help Trump. That’s almost certainly true. Then he employs a bit of twisted reasoning that could only come from someone who served the Clintons.
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
President Trump, Lockhart said on CNN this weekend, “spins these conspiracy theories out there. And, up till now, most of those theories are broadcast by Fox News and, you know, on his Twitter feed. And, you know, most Americans don’t see that. The debates are very different. … And they will see all of this nonsense from him. He will take the truth and destroy it. And Biden will be in the position of correcting him over and over and over again. I don’t think he should give him that platform.”
Of course, by “nonsense,” Lockhart means Trump will quote Biden’s own words and actions. And question his fitness. And by “conspiracy theories,” Lockhart means making Biden answer for his now-proven role in the Trump Russia Hoax. And his boasting of blackmailing Ukraine to get the prosecutor investigating his son fired. The billion bucks Hunter got from China. Tara Reade. How soon we have forgotten Tara Reade.
Going Head to Head
But even putting that aside, presidential debates are about two candidates going head-to-head, and voters assessing their responses and worthiness.
Remember the second debate in 2016? It was just days after NBC leaked the Access Hollywood tape. Trump was supposedly done. The GOP establishment was abandoning him like he was a building on fire. The conservative Christian world was pulling its hair out.
Voters tuned in expecting Hillary to finish him off. But Trump showed up with three of Bill Clinton’s accusers, beat back Hillary and the moderators’ initial volleys, and scored some devastating blows, including an impassioned attack on partial-birth abortion. Trump was not only standing at debate’s end, he had turned the tide.
Contrast that with Mitt Romney. In 2012’s second debate, he let CNN moderator Candy Crowley run interference for President Barack Obama on Benghazi, with only a whiny pushback. And in the third debate, he played Mr. Nice while Obama threw the kitchen sink at him. (Which is why Romney is now a bitter Senator rather than enjoying the good life of an ex-president.)
New York Times: Scrap All the Debates
The New York Times is a little more clever. They don’t want to admit Biden can’t handle a debate with Trump. So they say they want to trash presidential debates all together. Writer Elizabeth Drew argues the debates play too large a role in deciding elections. “The debates have never made sense as a test for presidential leadership,” she says.
In fact, one could argue that they reward precisely the opposite of what we want in a president. When we were serious about the presidency, we wanted intelligence, thoughtfulness, knowledge, empathy and, to be sure, likability. It should also go without saying, dignity. Yet the debates play an outsize role in campaigns and weigh more heavily on the verdict than their true value deserves.
Is the New York Times admitting America was not serious when it chose the charming, silky smooth Obama over the far more experienced, knowledgeable and substantive John McCain and Romney? Of course not. In the TDS-infected mind of the Times, American political history began when Donald Trump came down the escalator at Trump Tower. Any editorial position is about defeating Trump. And only that.
Just look at the qualities they include in being “serious about the presidency.” Dignity. Likability. Empathy. Knowledge. All the things that would describe Biden. (Or a good shrink. Or your grandmother.) All things they think Trump lacks. How convenient.
So, read closely, the Times is making the same argument as CNN: Debates play to Trump’s strengths and expose Biden’s weaknesses. The debates will affect voters to a great degree, and in Trump’s favor. And we can’t have that.
Biden’s Never Been a Great Debater
Of course, writer Drew denies her argument has anything to do with Biden. She says her article, “isn’t written out of any concern that Donald Trump will prevail over Joe Biden in the debates; Mr. Biden has done just fine in a long string of such contests.”
On what planet? In his previous two presidential runs, he got nowhere in the primary debates. In his first debate as a VP nominee, the veteran senator faced off against rookie Sarah Palin. He was supposed to humiliate her. The hockey mom matched him stride-for-stride without a sweat. And that was when Joe Biden was in his prime.
And now?
Did the Times already forget this primary season? When Kamala Harris smacked him down so hard it should be considered elder abuse? When he bungled information about his own campaign? When his teeth seemed to fall out? When he’d stand there blankly, ignored by candidates focused on Sanders and Warren? Even Saturday Night Live noticed (start at 2:52).
The bumbled, jumbled rant about parents having their kids play the record player? When just getting through a debate against such lightweights as Beto O’Rourke, Kristen Gillibrand, Juan Castro and Eric Swalwell without catastrophic blunder was deemed a victory?
Have they forgotten the campaign trail gaffes? Mental lapses? Glimpses into his world view: “Poor kids are just as smart as white kids”? His outright fabrications of his biography? Forgetting what state he’s in? Confusing his wife and sister? His biting the head off voters who challenge him? “Super Thursday”?
They Remember
No. They have not forgotten. They are pretending that there is little value in the two candidates for commander-in-chief standing shoulder-to-shoulder. No value in letting the American voters assess the candidates side-by-side. How do they stack up? How do they handle the heat? What do they really think when they’re not speaking from a teleprompter?
CNN and the Times suggesting Biden dodge the heat is a concession he’s unfit to be president. The job is all about the heat. Harry Truman famously said of the presidency, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” The Democrats and liberal elite want to make Biden head chef without even stepping into the kitchen.
If they get away with it, the American political process — and America itself — is cooked.
Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream and co-author, with @JZmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl. And if you aren’t already, please follow The Stream at @Streamdotorg.


thestream--2020-08-03--Liberty Comes From God Alone: My Interview With Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer is an extraordinary man with too many credentials to count .
To name but a few : He @ @ @ @ @ s administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor .
He ’ @ @ @ @ @ Family Research Council and former Senior Vice President of Focus on the Family .
Bauer @ @ @ @ @ American Values and leads the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom , appointed by President @ @ @ @ @ s interview we discusses his time in President Reagan ’ s administration and the biblical @ @ @ @ @ fighter ” like President Trump .
You can view all the videos in this interview @ @ @ @ @ is The Stream ’ s founder and publisher .
He is co-founder of LIFE Outreach @ @ @ @ @ Today .
He ’ s the author of many books , including Indivisible ( with @ @ @ @ @ Amazed .

Gary Bauer is an extraordinary man with too many credentials to count. To name but a few: He served in President Reagan’s administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor. He’s the former President of Family Research Council and former Senior Vice President of Focus on the Family. Bauer is currently the President of American Values and leads the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, appointed by President Trump.
In today’s interview we discuss his time in President Reagan’s administration and the biblical precedent for backing a “fighter” like President Trump.
You can view all the videos in this interview series here.
James Robison is The Stream’s founder and publisher. He is co-founder of LIFE Outreach International and co-host of LIFE Today. He’s the author of many books, including Indivisible (with Jay Richards) and Living Amazed.


thestream--2020-08-03--Woman Punches Teen Boy in Walmart for Not Wearing Face Mask

A middle-aged couple is under fire after they berated a group of teenagers and punched one of the boys because they were not wearing face masks inside a Walmart in Post Falls , Idaho .
“ You guys are abusing your freedom .
Stop it , ” the woman said just before hitting one of the boys in the shoulder .
The North Idaho Exposed reports that police were contacted and the victim intends to press charges .
“ You think this is cute not wearing a mask , ” the man said .
“ Get a d— mask and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman was literally screaming to anyone who would listen , “ Their parents are teaching them this garbage.
” Jill Dickenson , the mother of the boys in the video , told North Idaho Exposed in an exclusive interview that she was infuriated by the attack .
You can watch the interview by clicking here .
“ My blood was boiling , ” she said .
“ We live in a country that we have freedoms .
We have liberties .
For my kids to walk into Walmart and get apprehended and accosted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s uncalled for .
She was just as upset with the store ’ s management .
“ Walmart did nothing about it , ” she said .
“ The employees — some of them stood around laughing — mask shaming with this couple.
” Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
Mrs. Dickenson ’ s son said he and his friends were asked to wear masks when they first walked into the store , but they declined to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowed in the store .
One of her sons told North Idaho Exposed that the couple approached them and immediately began harassing the boys .
“ We hope your grandparents die of COVID , ” the couple allegedly said .
When they came back , one of the boys turned on his cell phone and recorded the encounter .
“ I was angry like any mom would be , ” Mrs. Dickenson said .
The mamma bear came out in me and I ’ m like , ‘ Oh no she didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone slap crazy , folks .
Just the other day a woman in Manhattan Beach , California threw a cup of hot coffee at a man because he was noshing a burrito unmasked .
“ It ’ s hard to eat a burrito with a mask on , ” the man tried to explain before his buddy was pelted by piping hot java .
It appears that a good many folks have come down with a raging case of China Virus Derangement Syndrome , and I ’ m afraid there is no known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , commentator , author and radio talk show host .
His latest book is Culture Jihad : How to Stop the Left From Killing a Nation .

A middle-aged couple is under fire after they berated a group of teenagers and punched one of the boys because they were not wearing face masks inside a Walmart in Post Falls, Idaho.
“You guys are abusing your freedom. Stop it,” the woman said just before hitting one of the boys in the shoulder.
The North Idaho Exposed reports that police were contacted and the victim intends to press charges.
“You think this is cute not wearing a mask,” the man said. “Get a d— mask and put it on your face.”
The woman was literally screaming to anyone who would listen, “Their parents are teaching them this garbage.”
Jill Dickenson, the mother of the boys in the video, told North Idaho Exposed in an exclusive interview that she was infuriated by the attack. You can watch the interview by clicking here.
“My blood was boiling,” she said. “We live in a country that we have freedoms. We have liberties. For my kids to walk into Walmart and get apprehended and accosted the way they did — it’s uncalled for.
She was just as upset with the store’s management.
“Walmart did nothing about it,” she said. “The employees — some of them stood around laughing — mask shaming with this couple.”
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
Mrs. Dickenson’s son said he and his friends were asked to wear masks when they first walked into the store, but they declined to do so. The boys were still allowed in the store.
One of her sons told North Idaho Exposed that the couple approached them and immediately began harassing the boys.
“We hope your grandparents die of COVID,” the couple allegedly said.
When they came back, one of the boys turned on his cell phone and recorded the encounter.
“I was angry like any mom would be,” Mrs. Dickenson said. The mamma bear came out in me and I’m like, ‘Oh no she didn’t.'”
The country has gone slap crazy, folks.
Just the other day a woman in Manhattan Beach, California threw a cup of hot coffee at a man because he was noshing a burrito unmasked.
“It’s hard to eat a burrito with a mask on,” the man tried to explain before his buddy was pelted by piping hot java.
It appears that a good many folks have come down with a raging case of China Virus Derangement Syndrome, and I’m afraid there is no known cure.
Todd Starnes is a columnist, commentator, author and radio talk show host. His latest book is Culture Jihad: How to Stop the Left From Killing a Nation.


thestream--2020-08-03--What We Don’t Know About COVID-19

What We Don’t Know About COVID-19

The COVID-19 coronavirus is a novel virus , and everybody who claims they have it figured out is living under an illusion .
Our knowledge is growing , but it is still very fragmented .
Our local politicians have been cautious because of the vast unknown ; we have never been here before .
Our educational leaders have been ( and will be making ) significant decisions about the new school year .
What are the risks of returning to the traditional classroom ?
And what are the risks of not returning to the classroom ?
Because of the vast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a largely and regrettably no-win scenario .
We know that the number of positive cases in the United States is up dramatically this summer .
The number of deaths has also been growing , and every one of these individual deaths represents a heartbreaking story .
Yet the escalating death rates are still well below the numbers from April and early May .
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania experienced a very high number of cases and deaths in March and April but has not seen the dramatic summer spikes common in the southern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the recent spikes in Western Pennsylvania ) .
The data , as represented in the below figure , show a change in the relationship between the number of new cases and the number of deaths in the last six weeks .
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
The recent data points reflect both fewer cases and fewer deaths .
If you look at the data through the spring , there was a very strong correlation between the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deaths , reaching a correlation as high as .92 .
Over the last three weeks , however , the correlation has approached zero ( .07 ) .
This raises the burning question , for which I wish we had the definitive answer , namely : Why ?
Why are the death rates across the country much lower during a time when the number of new cases is skyrocketing ?
There are many potential answers , some of which are reassuring ; others , not so much .
It is likely that more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a role .
• Many of the new cases are among younger Americans , for whom the risks have always been much lower .
• We are using better strategies in our nursing homes than we used in the early months .
Indeed , we are avoiding some horrific decisions in which nursing homes were required to accept COVID cases .
• Medical data have shown that some of the ICU treatment protocols being used early on were simply wrong and made recovery less likely rather than more likely .
We have learned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a result .
• Just give it another week or two , and we might see the death rates soar .
• The virus exists in various strains , some of which are more virulent than others .
Many of the recent local cases may represent people infected with a weaker strain .
This perspective has been suggested by Dr. Graham Snyder , University of Pittsburgh Medical Center medical director for infection prevention , during a press briefing .
The weaker strain might indicate a mutation in the virus .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the flu pandemic of 1918 to an end .
• The data include so many errors as to be un-useful .
Grove City College , where I am a professor , is located in Mercer County , a county that has seen a spike in new cases over the last several weeks .
In fact , the number of new cases has doubled , and the county is considered to be a hot spot in the commonwealth .
We still need to be diligent and careful in the way we live our lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the data suggest that summer 2020 is less risky than the spring .
Nevertheless , the risks continue .
Be careful in how you read and understand the arguments that you see on social media .
It is still a novel virus .
Those who make dogmatic statements ( from whatever perspective ) will likely be shown to be wrong .
We have been told in our state to wear face masks , and it does appear that more people are doing so .
Nevertheless , many people are wearing them incorrectly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example ) , and many are removing them when they speak ( and hence when the risks of transmission are higher ) .
The current data are promising , yet still concerning .
Ultimately , history may show which of the six explanations ( or perhaps some seventh one ) turns out to be most accurate .
Some of these predict improving results ; some predict deteriorating scenarios .
Until we have that historical perspective , caution is still required .
Every morning I pray , “ Lord , help me not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation worse for even one other person .
Let me be part of the solution ; not part of the problem.
” Gary L. Welton is assistant dean for institutional assessment , professor of psychology at Grove City College , and a contributor to the Institute for Faith and Freedom .
He is a recipient of a major research grant from the Templeton Foundation to investigate positive youth development .
This article first appeared on the Institute ’ s blog and is reprinted with permission .

The COVID-19 coronavirus is a novel virus, and everybody who claims they have it figured out is living under an illusion. Our knowledge is growing, but it is still very fragmented. Our local politicians have been cautious because of the vast unknown; we have never been here before.
Our educational leaders have been (and will be making) significant decisions about the new school year. What are the risks of returning to the traditional classroom? And what are the risks of not returning to the classroom? Because of the vast unknowns, the decision makers are operating in a largely and regrettably no-win scenario.
Deaths and Cases
We know that the number of positive cases in the United States is up dramatically this summer. The number of deaths has also been growing, and every one of these individual deaths represents a heartbreaking story. Yet the escalating death rates are still well below the numbers from April and early May.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania experienced a very high number of cases and deaths in March and April but has not seen the dramatic summer spikes common in the southern states (though there are concerns about the recent spikes in Western Pennsylvania). The data, as represented in the below figure, show a change in the relationship between the number of new cases and the number of deaths in the last six weeks.
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
The recent data points reflect both fewer cases and fewer deaths. If you look at the data through the spring, there was a very strong correlation between the number of new cases and the number of deaths, reaching a correlation as high as .92. Over the last three weeks, however, the correlation has approached zero (.07).
This raises the burning question, for which I wish we had the definitive answer, namely: Why?
Fewer Deaths, More Cases
Why are the death rates across the country much lower during a time when the number of new cases is skyrocketing? There are many potential answers, some of which are reassuring; others, not so much. It is likely that more than one of these factors is playing a role.
Many of the new cases are among younger Americans, for whom the risks have always been much lower. We are using better strategies in our nursing homes than we used in the early months. Indeed, we are avoiding some horrific decisions in which nursing homes were required to accept COVID cases. Medical data have shown that some of the ICU treatment protocols being used early on were simply wrong and made recovery less likely rather than more likely. We have learned from the data and changed treatment protocols as a result. Just give it another week or two, and we might see the death rates soar. The virus exists in various strains, some of which are more virulent than others. Many of the recent local cases may represent people infected with a weaker strain. This perspective has been suggested by Dr. Graham Snyder, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center medical director for infection prevention, during a press briefing. The weaker strain might indicate a mutation in the virus. It was indeed such a mutation that finally brought the flu pandemic of 1918 to an end. The data include so many errors as to be un-useful.
Grove City College, where I am a professor, is located in Mercer County, a county that has seen a spike in new cases over the last several weeks. In fact, the number of new cases has doubled, and the county is considered to be a hot spot in the commonwealth. We still need to be diligent and careful in the way we live our lives.
Summer, Spring, and Fall
While there are still many concerns, the data suggest that summer 2020 is less risky than the spring. Nevertheless, the risks continue. Be careful in how you read and understand the arguments that you see on social media. It is still a novel virus. Those who make dogmatic statements (from whatever perspective) will likely be shown to be wrong.
We have been told in our state to wear face masks, and it does appear that more people are doing so. Nevertheless, many people are wearing them incorrectly (not covering their noses, for example), and many are removing them when they speak (and hence when the risks of transmission are higher).
The current data are promising, yet still concerning. Ultimately, history may show which of the six explanations (or perhaps some seventh one) turns out to be most accurate. Some of these predict improving results; some predict deteriorating scenarios. Until we have that historical perspective, caution is still required.
Every morning I pray, “Lord, help me not to behave in a way that makes this situation worse for even one other person. Let me be part of the solution; not part of the problem.”
Gary L. Welton is assistant dean for institutional assessment, professor of psychology at Grove City College, and a contributor to the Institute for Faith and Freedom. He is a recipient of a major research grant from the Templeton Foundation to investigate positive youth development. This article first appeared on the Institute’s blog and is reprinted with permission.


thestream--2020-08-03--8 Service Members Presumed Dead in Marine Training Exercise. Here are Their Names

The U.S. Marine Corps released the names of eight service members Monday who are presumed dead after an amphibious vehicle accident off the coast of California .
The seven missing Marines were identified Monday as Pfc .
Bryan J. Baltierra , Lance Cpl .
Marco A. Barranaco , Pfc .
Evan A. Bath , Pfc .
Jack Ryan Ostrovsky , Cpl .
Wesley A. Rodd , Lance Cpl .
Chase D. Sweetwood and Cpl .
Ceasar A. Villaneuva , according to a Marine Corps statement , Fox News reported .
The Naval service member onboard , Hospitalman Christopher Gnem , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ It is with a heavy heart that I decided to conclude the search and rescue effort , ” said Col. Christopher Bronzi , commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit , the Associated Press reported .
An amphibious vehicle ship sank Thursday evening off the coast of San Clemente Island with 15 Marines and one Navy service member on board , The Associated Press reported .
Eight Marines were rescued , but one died and two are in critical condition , according to the AP .
Please Support The Stream : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
One Marine in critical condition is now in stable condition , the U.S. Marine Corps said in a Twitter post Monday .
The ship was returning from a training exercise along with a dozen more amphibious assault vehicles , Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman said , the AP reported .
The Marines onboard the sinking vehicle were based in Camp Pendleton as part of the 15th Expeditionary Unit , the AP reported .
The Marines use the amphibious vehicle , or “ amtrac , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transfer troops and equipment from the Naval ships to land .
The accident is considered one of the deadliest in the vehicle ’ s history of exercises at Camp Pendleton , the AP reported .
The Department of Defense referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the I Marine Expeditionary Force , which did not respond immediately to requests for comment .
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience .
For licensing opportunities of our original content @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The U.S. Marine Corps released the names of eight service members Monday who are presumed dead after an amphibious vehicle accident off the coast of California.
The seven missing Marines were identified Monday as Pfc. Bryan J. Baltierra, Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranaco, Pfc. Evan A. Bath, Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood and Cpl. Ceasar A. Villaneuva, according to a Marine Corps statement, Fox News reported. The Naval service member onboard, Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, is also presumed dead, Fox reported.
“It is with a heavy heart that I decided to conclude the search and rescue effort,” said Col. Christopher Bronzi, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Associated Press reported.
After an extensive 40-hour search, the @15thMEUOfficial, @1stMEF, and the #USSMakinIsland Amphibious Ready Group concluded their search and rescue operation for seven missing Marines and one Sailor, today. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/YwpnVVkavn — U.S. Marines (@USMC) August 3, 2020
Officials with the @15thMEUOfficial, @1stMEF, have identified the one Marine who was killed as well as seven Marines and one Sailor who are presumed dead after an amphibious assault vehicle mishap July 30. (1/9) pic.twitter.com/GV9XlKbWga — U.S. Marines (@USMC) August 3, 2020
An amphibious vehicle ship sank Thursday evening off the coast of San Clemente Island with 15 Marines and one Navy service member on board, The Associated Press reported. Eight Marines were rescued, but one died and two are in critical condition, according to the AP.
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
One Marine in critical condition is now in stable condition, the U.S. Marine Corps said in a Twitter post Monday.
Injured were:
A Marine rifleman with Bravo Company, BLT 1/4, 15th MEU. The Marine was transported from the scene to Scripps Memorial Hospital by helicopter and was in critical condition. (7/9) — U.S. Marines (@USMC) August 3, 2020
The ship was returning from a training exercise along with a dozen more amphibious assault vehicles, Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman said, the AP reported.
The Marines onboard the sinking vehicle were based in Camp Pendleton as part of the 15th Expeditionary Unit, the AP reported. The Marines use the amphibious vehicle, or “amtrac,” short for amphibious tractor, to transfer troops and equipment from the Naval ships to land. The accident is considered one of the deadliest in the vehicle’s history of exercises at Camp Pendleton, the AP reported.
The Department of Defense referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the I Marine Expeditionary Force, which did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Copyright 2020 The Daily Caller News Foundation
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].


thestream--2020-08-03--The Sickening Hypocrisy of the NBA

The Sickening Hypocrisy of the NBA

I am not speaking about individual NBA players or their motivations ( although some players , to be sure , could be called out ) .
I ’ m speaking of the league as a whole , of the organization .
Its hypocrisy is absolutely sickening .
In October , 2019 , I stated that the NBA was a spineless little bully , noting that “ this multi-billion dollar organization , which spans the globe , was happy to bully North Carolina in 2016 when the state had the audacity to declare that men ’ s bathrooms were for men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women.
” Yet , I wrote , the “ NBA has had no problem getting in bed with an oppressive country like China , which imprisons and tortures Christians and Muslims and others who do not toe the party line .
“ Tens of millions of people experience severe daily restrictions under the tyrannical policies of President Xi , with countless tens of thousands suffering right now in ‘ reeducation camps ’ and jails.
” Since then , the crackdown against Christians and Muslims in China has continued to increase , with reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destruction of Christian homes , fresh arrests and beatings , along with more deportation of Muslims into concentration camp-like facilities .
( See here and here for examples . )
And now , just this week , there are reports “ alleging that Chinese coaches at three NBA training academies in the Asian country physically abused their players and failed to provide them with promised schooling.
” This prompted Sen. Tom Cotton to say , “ They even had one of these camps in northwestern China , where China is running reeducation gulags @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it to Nazi Germany in World War II .
I understand the NBA has deep financial ties to China , but you have to ask at some point , what ’ s wrong with the NBA ?
” Yet the very same day Cotton made these remarks – Thursday , July 30 – was the day that the NBA launched its abbreviated season finale .
What timing !
And , true to form , before the national anthem of the first game , every single player and coach took a knee , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lives Matter shirt .
This is the NBA with a deep social conscious .
The NBA proclaiming loudly and clearly that it stands against racism and injustice .
The NBA approving messages on player jerseys including : Black Lives Matter ; Say Their Names ; Vote ; I Can ’ t Breathe ; Justice ; Peace ; Equality ; Freedom ; Enough ; Power to the People ; Justice Now ; Say Her Name ; Sí Se Puede ( Yes We Can ) ; Liberation ; See Us ; Hear Us ; Respect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Listen to Us ; Stand Up ; Ally ; Anti-Racist ; I Am A Man ; Speak Up ; How Many More ; Group Economics ; Education Reform ; and Mentor .
What rank hypocrisy .
What gross double standards .
What a shameful display of self-righteousness .
In fact , to the extent that the NBA is serious about these slogans , it makes their deep cooperation with China all the more disgraceful .
And how hypocritical it is that the NBA is shouting its message for the world to hear ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sport ) while , just last October , the general manager of the Houston Rockets , Daryl Morey , had to apologize for tweeting his support for the brave , freedom-loving , Hong Kong protesters .
How dare he stand with these courageous citizens who risked their lives facing down the tyranny of China .
How dare he tweet an image saying , “ Fight for Freedom .
Stand with Hong Kong.
” How dare he poke the bear in the eye with truth and righteousness and justice .
Silence !
But you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American social justice , the NBA is all in .
Totally righteous .
Standing tall .
“ Look at how woke we are !
” Perhaps , if you are a graphically gifted reader of this article , you could compose a meme featuring the Hong Kong protesters with some of these NBA slogans superimposed , such as : Power to the People .
Or , See Us ; Hear Us ; Respect Us .
Or perhaps you could make a meme showing the persecution of Chinese Christians and slogans like , Say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Or maybe a meme featuring Uighur Muslims being herded into forced labor camps accompanied by slogans like , I Can ’ t Breathe .
Or , Freedom .
Or , I Am A Man .
Or maybe one with children being abused in these Chinese , NBA training camps with slogans like , Love Us .
Or , Education Reform .
Or maybe just a meme depicting NBA leadership in the Garden of Eden , but instead of a forbidden fruit tree ( the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And maybe the meme could carry a quote with a new NBA slogan : “ Greed Kills.
” It would be a poignant image of the sickening hypocrisy of the NBA .
The bottom line is this : If you ’ re going to stand for righteousness and confront evil and injustice , then , to quote Nike ( another hypocritical player ) , just do it – evenly , and across the board .
Otherwise , best not to do it at all .
The hypocrisy is downright offensive .
Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program .
His latest book is Evangelicals at the Crossroads : Will We Pass the Trump Test ?
Connect with him on Facebook , Twitteror YouTube .

I am not speaking about individual NBA players or their motivations (although some players, to be sure, could be called out). I’m speaking of the league as a whole, of the organization. Its hypocrisy is absolutely sickening.
In October, 2019, I stated that the NBA was a spineless little bully, noting that “this multi-billion dollar organization, which spans the globe, was happy to bully North Carolina in 2016 when the state had the audacity to declare that men’s bathrooms were for men and women’s bathrooms were for women.”
Yet, I wrote, the “NBA has had no problem getting in bed with an oppressive country like China, which imprisons and tortures Christians and Muslims and others who do not toe the party line.
“Tens of millions of people experience severe daily restrictions under the tyrannical policies of President Xi, with countless tens of thousands suffering right now in ‘reeducation camps’ and jails.”
Since then, the crackdown against Christians and Muslims in China has continued to increase, with reports of the demolishing of church buildings, destruction of Christian homes, fresh arrests and beatings, along with more deportation of Muslims into concentration camp-like facilities. (See here and here for examples.)
And now, just this week, there are reports “alleging that Chinese coaches at three NBA training academies in the Asian country physically abused their players and failed to provide them with promised schooling.”
This prompted Sen. Tom Cotton to say, “They even had one of these camps in northwestern China, where China is running reeducation gulags for a religious minority … they liken it to Nazi Germany in World War II. I understand the NBA has deep financial ties to China, but you have to ask at some point, what’s wrong with the NBA?”
NBA Coordinates BLM Promotion, Silent on China Abuse
Yet the very same day Cotton made these remarks – Thursday, July 30 – was the day that the NBA launched its abbreviated season finale. What timing!
And, true to form, before the national anthem of the first game, every single player and coach took a knee, and every one of them wore a Black Lives Matter shirt.
This is the NBA with a deep social conscious.
The NBA proclaiming loudly and clearly that it stands against racism and injustice.
The NBA approving messages on player jerseys including: Black Lives Matter; Say Their Names; Vote; I Can’t Breathe; Justice; Peace; Equality; Freedom; Enough; Power to the People; Justice Now; Say Her Name; Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can); Liberation; See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us; Love Us; Listen; Listen to Us; Stand Up; Ally; Anti-Racist; I Am A Man; Speak Up; How Many More; Group Economics; Education Reform; and Mentor.
What rank hypocrisy. What gross double standards. What a shameful display of self-righteousness.
In fact, to the extent that the NBA is serious about these slogans, it makes their deep cooperation with China all the more disgraceful.
And how hypocritical it is that the NBA is shouting its message for the world to hear (it is, indeed, a global sport) while, just last October, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, had to apologize for tweeting his support for the brave, freedom-loving, Hong Kong protesters.
How dare he stand with these courageous citizens who risked their lives facing down the tyranny of China. How dare he tweet an image saying, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” How dare he poke the bear in the eye with truth and righteousness and justice. Silence!
But you better believe, when it comes to American social justice, the NBA is all in. Totally righteous. Standing tall. “Look at how woke we are!”
Suggested Memes
Perhaps, if you are a graphically gifted reader of this article, you could compose a meme featuring the Hong Kong protesters with some of these NBA slogans superimposed, such as: Power to the People. Or, See Us; Hear Us; Respect Us.
Or perhaps you could make a meme showing the persecution of Chinese Christians and slogans like, Say Their Names. Or, Ally.
Or maybe a meme featuring Uighur Muslims being herded into forced labor camps accompanied by slogans like, I Can’t Breathe. Or, Freedom. Or, I Am A Man.
Or maybe one with children being abused in these Chinese, NBA training camps with slogans like, Love Us. Or, Education Reform.
Or maybe just a meme depicting NBA leadership in the Garden of Eden, but instead of a forbidden fruit tree (the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) there was a tree growing dollar bills. And maybe the meme could carry a quote with a new NBA slogan: “Greed Kills.” It would be a poignant image of the sickening hypocrisy of the NBA.
The bottom line is this: If you’re going to stand for righteousness and confront evil and injustice, then, to quote Nike (another hypocritical player), just do it – evenly, and across the board.
Otherwise, best not to do it at all. The hypocrisy is downright offensive.
Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test? Connect with him on Facebook, Twitteror YouTube.


thestream--2020-08-03--Here’s Everything We Know About a Coronavirus Vaccine So Far

Researchers , governments and pharmaceutical companies worldwide have been working rapidly to develop an effective vaccine against coronavirus , which has infected over 4.5 million and killed over 150,000 people in the United States alone .
Testing has advanced quickly and there ’ s optimism that a vaccine will be developed before 2021 .
But there are also concerns that a vaccine won ’ t be sufficiently stockpiled or efficiently distributed .
There ’ s additional worry that the growing distrust in vaccines will result in large numbers refusing the injection , making it less beneficial .
Vaccine development has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ code was first discovered and shared around the world on Jan. 10 .
Just two months later , the National Institutes of Health administered its first human test .
In April , the Trump administration launched “ Operation Warp Speed , ” a government effort with the goal of delivering “ 300 million doses of a safe , effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021 as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development , manufacturing , and distribution of vaccines , therapeutics and diagnostics , ” according to the Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And on July 27 , a trial led by the NIH and Moderna , a Massachusetts pharmaceutical company , began with 30,000 American volunteers , which , if successful , could be its final test .
In the United Kingdom , a study at Oxford University produced promising results as well , leaving open the possibly that a safe vaccine will be available sooner than previously thought .
President Donald Trump has touted successful results in the U.S. and U.K. , tweeting that a vaccine will be available by the end of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president ’ s statements , Dr. Anthony Fauci , who ’ s headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 , said during a congressional hearing Friday that even though he is “ cautiously optimistic ” that a successful vaccine will be developed before the year ’ s end , it is unlikely that it will be widely available to the public .
Fauci also told the Washington Post on July 24 that he does not believe a vaccine will be available throughout the country until “ several months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the risks that arise over the absence of a plan to distribute a vaccine across the country en masse .
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political , Economic and Moral Issues of Our Day .
To successfully distribute the vaccine to Americans across the country , the U.S. would need over 700 million syringes and needles , assuming that it will be given over two separate doses , The Hill reported .
There are concerns that a shortage of these supplies could prevent a vaccine from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has ordered only 320 million of each so far , costing approximately $ 110 million , according to The Hill .
It placed an additional order with Becton Dickinson ( BD ) , a medical distribution company , for 190 million needles and syringes , but experts have said that it may have acted too late .
“ We are very concerned that the government engaged with BD pretty late in the game and it ’ s unclear even now that enough capacity has been lined up , ” said Topher Spiro , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ manufacture and distribute the necessary supplies for an effective vaccine .
The report was published by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress ( CAP ) .
Additionally , a shortage of glass vials that would be used to deliver a coronavirus vaccine could serve as another bottleneck , The Washington Post reported .
While plastic alternatives have been discussed , the government has done little to advance their production and remain “ unproven ” regarding their effectiveness , according to the CAP report .
Regardless , the millions of potential vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the formulas end up being effective , NIH Director Francis Collins said in July .
The Trump administration is also reportedly organizing a joint effort between the Pentagon and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to distribute the drug .
But even if those hurdles are cleared and the drug can be distributed widely and effectively , there are still concerns that an insufficient number of Americans will be willing to take the vaccine , making it far less beneficial as a result .
Americans were already growing skeptical of vaccines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Associated Press/NORC poll found that 31 % were uncertain whether they would receive a vaccination , while approximately 20 % said they wouldn ’ t .
“ Even if certain people in areas of the country are highly vaccinated , if an infected individual goes to a population where there are more vaccine waivers , then they could easily start an outbreak , ” said Abram Wagner , an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan .
Additionally , the FDA is expecting that any vaccine will be at least 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” for a vaccine that is at least 70 % effective , Axios reported , meaning that even a successful vaccine may not directly help millions of Americans who receive it .
Awi Federgruen , a professor of management at Columbia Business School , said the little room for error means that the government must be willing to ensure the necessary supplies , distribution channels and awareness campaigns are in place , despite what it may cost in the short-term .
“ You need to over-invest in this situation , ” Federgruen told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ costs in this area pale against the cost of having to delay the distribution of vaccines for another three , four months.
” Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience .
For licensing opportunities of our original content , please contact licensing @ dailycallernewsfoundation.org .

Researchers, governments and pharmaceutical companies worldwide have been working rapidly to develop an effective vaccine against coronavirus, which has infected over 4.5 million and killed over 150,000 people in the United States alone.
Testing has advanced quickly and there’s optimism that a vaccine will be developed before 2021. But there are also concerns that a vaccine won’t be sufficiently stockpiled or efficiently distributed. There’s additional worry that the growing distrust in vaccines will result in large numbers refusing the injection, making it less beneficial.
Vaccine development has progressed fast since coronavirus’s genetic code was first discovered and shared around the world on Jan. 10. Just two months later, the National Institutes of Health administered its first human test.
In April, the Trump administration launched “Operation Warp Speed,” a government effort with the goal of delivering “300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021 as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services’s website.
And on July 27, a trial led by the NIH and Moderna, a Massachusetts pharmaceutical company, began with 30,000 American volunteers, which, if successful, could be its final test.
In the United Kingdom, a study at Oxford University produced promising results as well, leaving open the possibly that a safe vaccine will be available sooner than previously thought.
President Donald Trump has touted successful results in the U.S. and U.K., tweeting that a vaccine will be available by the end of the year.
Despite optimistic results and the president’s statements, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who’s headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, said during a congressional hearing Friday that even though he is “cautiously optimistic” that a successful vaccine will be developed before the year’s end, it is unlikely that it will be widely available to the public.
Fauci also told the Washington Post on July 24 that he does not believe a vaccine will be available throughout the country until “several months” into to 2021. He emphasized the risks that arise over the absence of a plan to distribute a vaccine across the country en masse.
Please Support The Stream : Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
To successfully distribute the vaccine to Americans across the country, the U.S. would need over 700 million syringes and needles, assuming that it will be given over two separate doses, The Hill reported. There are concerns that a shortage of these supplies could prevent a vaccine from being distributed sufficiently.
The Trump administration has ordered only 320 million of each so far, costing approximately $110 million, according to The Hill. It placed an additional order with Becton Dickinson (BD), a medical distribution company, for 190 million needles and syringes, but experts have said that it may have acted too late.
“We are very concerned that the government engaged with BD pretty late in the game and it’s unclear even now that enough capacity has been lined up,” said Topher Spiro, who co-authored a report on how to manufacture and distribute the necessary supplies for an effective vaccine. The report was published by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress (CAP).
Additionally, a shortage of glass vials that would be used to deliver a coronavirus vaccine could serve as another bottleneck, The Washington Post reported. While plastic alternatives have been discussed, the government has done little to advance their production and remain “unproven” regarding their effectiveness, according to the CAP report.
Regardless, the millions of potential vaccine doses are being manufactured in case any of the formulas end up being effective, NIH Director Francis Collins said in July. The Trump administration is also reportedly organizing a joint effort between the Pentagon and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to distribute the drug.
But even if those hurdles are cleared and the drug can be distributed widely and effectively, there are still concerns that an insufficient number of Americans will be willing to take the vaccine, making it far less beneficial as a result.
Americans were already growing skeptical of vaccines even before the pandemic. A recent Associated Press/NORC poll found that 31% were uncertain whether they would receive a vaccination, while approximately 20% said they wouldn’t.
“Even if certain people in areas of the country are highly vaccinated, if an infected individual goes to a population where there are more vaccine waivers, then they could easily start an outbreak,” said Abram Wagner, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan.
Additionally, the FDA is expecting that any vaccine will be at least 50% effective, and is “shooting” for a vaccine that is at least 70% effective, Axios reported, meaning that even a successful vaccine may not directly help millions of Americans who receive it.
Awi Federgruen, a professor of management at Columbia Business School, said the little room for error means that the government must be willing to ensure the necessary supplies, distribution channels and awareness campaigns are in place, despite what it may cost in the short-term.
“You need to over-invest in this situation,” Federgruen told The Hill. “The extra investment costs in this area pale against the cost of having to delay the distribution of vaccines for another three, four months.”
Copyright 2020 The Daily Caller News Foundation
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].