Prigozhin drama’s not over, Hunter’s two-tier treatment and other commentary
Russia beat: Prigozhin Drama’s Not Over
At first, Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin “seemed to be operating under the assumption that he was in open rebellion only against” Russia’s defense minister and a top military commander, observe Mark Toth & Jonathan Sweet at The Hill. Yet President Vladimir Putin “changed all that” when he called Prigozhin’s march to Moscow “treason.” Prigozhin ultimately stood down, but “Putin is unlikely to forgive” him. It seems only “a matter of time” until Prigozhin “finds himself falling out of a window,” “drinking the wrong cup of tea” or “forced to decamp” to Africa, “where the bulk of his cash flow is derived from such activities as the theft of gold.” Still, one thing’s certain: We’ve “not yet seen the last of Prigozhin.”
Libertarian: Hunter’s Two-Tier Treatment
Hunter Biden’s jail-avoiding sweetheart plea deal is “a hint of the restraint prosecutors exercise for the powerful, and which the rest of us would appreciate,” snarks Reason’s J.D. Tuccille. Tax-cheating Hunter “benefited from the sort of deal his father frowns upon for everybody else.” Normally, “the federal government is merciless on prohibited categories of people possessing firearms,” yet Hunter escaped “serious time behind bars.” Politicians “love harsh sentencing, until it affects their families, friends, or approval ratings.” Hunter’s special treatment shows that “leniency is on the table for the right people.” That is: If what Hunter got isn’t a “sweetheart deal,” then “it should be available to everybody.”
Eye on 2024: Voters Dread a Rematch
“With a Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump rematch being the current conventional wisdom, the 2024 election — mired in personality — is quickly becoming the election that voters don’t want,” snarks David Winston in Roll Call. In the Economist/YouGov poll, for one: 59% “of voters don’t want Biden” on the ballot and 56% are against Trump “running again.” Among independents: “64 percent against Biden and 59 percent against Trump.” Even their favorable-unfavorable ratings “are remarkably similar” and “neither has improved their standing with independents.” Factors such as “Biden’s age and his ability to serve another full term” and Trump’s “series of indictments and trials” will only grow. So if it is indeed Biden-Trump II, for 57% of voters, “the question is not necessarily who to choose, but how?”
Hidden history: When Bubba Lost the Football
The codes needed to launch US nuclear strikes “are never far from the president — at least they’re never supposed to be,” sighs Christopher Woody in Business Insider. But former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hugh Shelton in his autobiography revealed that the authorization codes card known as “the ‘biscuit’ [and] carried within the ‘football,’” went missing in 2000. Each time a Pentagon official visited the Bill Clinton White House to inspect the codes, he “was met with the same excuse — the president is very busy, but takes the codes very seriously and has them on hand.” Only when it came time to change the codes did the White House admit they’d “been missing for months.” Shelton wryly noted: “‘You do whatever you can and think you have an infallible system, but somehow someone always seems to find a way to screw it up.’”
Liberal: Put Working Class First, Dems
“Democrats should focus—and focus obsessively—on working-class voters,” implores the Liberal Patriot’s Ruy Teixeira. Yet “professional class” Dems don’t realize that “in 2024, two-thirds of eligible voters will still be working class.” Plus, “every state that is believed to be competitive for the Electoral College or Senate in 2024 is above the national average in its share of working-class voters.” This is where the party’s been losing voters; indeed, its “advantage among nonwhite working-class voters declined by a whopping 19 points across the two elections.” And while Democrats might win squeekers without adjusting, the only road to a “big victory runs straight through America’s working class.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
