The Culprits Behind Hostage-Taking, the Emergence of Ghost Voters, and Other Commentary

From the right: Blame the Hostage-Takers

“In a morally sane world, the rescue of civilian hostages should have been widely celebrated as a heroic operation,” yet Israel’s recent mission met with international outcry, lament National Review’s editors. “The media were quick to run with Hamas figures claiming hundreds of deaths in a ‘massacre’ of civilians, and all the usual suspects jumped in to turn Israel, once again, into the bad party.” Huh? “The decision to take the hostages in the first place, to hold them in civilian homes in a densely populated civilian area, and to shoot at the hostages when they were trying to escape all place the responsibility on Hamas for any deaths — whatever the actual number happens to be.”

Eye on elections: Rise of the Ghost Voters

William Sitton doesn’t live at the Clark County Detention Center anymore because he’s dead, so “it’s curious why Nevada elections officials” list him on voter rolls, snarks The Federalist’s Matt Kittle. Indeed, “hundreds of questionable addresses remain on Nevada’s voter rolls, and election officials in this pivotal swing state appear to be doing nothing to clean up the list.”

Most alarming: Like several other states, Nevada “automatically mails a ballot to every active registrant,” even though 96,000 proved to be “bad addresses” in 2022. The Public Interest Legal Foundation, having confirmed “that the individuals did not live where they reported residing,” has asked the courts to force action and hopes to have the problem “fixed” before the 2024 election.

Business desk: Starbucks’ Political Trap

Starbucks’ decision to be political “in different directions at different times” could “halfway [alienate] all its customers which, in a competitive market, is as good as alienating them entirely,” argues John Masko at UnHerd. In 2020 and 2021, the company aligned itself with leftist causes like Pride Month and the Black Lives Matter movement. “But when America’s political pendulum began to swing back the other way,” the company backtracked, and “late last year . . . Starbucks found itself squarely in the crosshairs of public passions over the war in Gaza.” The company “has now lost 3% of its US sales.” The lesson: “Leave politics to the citizens of our free society, and focus on selling coffee.”

Survey says: Voters Not Buying Kamala

A new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris “facing serious doubts about her ability to win the presidency herself, or to perform the job well,” reports Politico’s Christopher Cadelago. President Biden’s poll numbers are underwater (43% favorable, 54% unfavorable) but so are hers (42%-54%). And: “A majority of voters don’t view Harris as a strong leader” (48%-42%) nor “see her as trustworthy” (46%-43%). Overall, voters “split when asked whether she is prepared for the job.” Democrats strongly back her in a 2028 primary, but many are “not sold on her ability to defeat a Republican.” On winning a presidential election, “fewer than 60 percent of Democrats say it’s likely she would win” and “nearly a third” view “her winning as unlikely.”

White House watch: Biden’s Getting Loopier

Was Biden “really all there” at the D-Day commemoration? asks Freddy Gray at The Daily Mail. “The videos suggest that he was not.” The prez “followed up with yet another painful senile episode,” a freeze-up while celebrating Juneteenth. He “has spent three years suffering these humiliations on the world stage” and his “decline appears to be fast accelerating at just the wrong time.” “Physical handicaps need not detract from great leadership.” But Biden’s “struggles appear to be mental, too. He can’t appear in public without looking lost.” And: “As his mind wanders, it’s clear that his administration is increasingly being led by his cabinet and senior members of his team.” “Many Americans say they are terrified about what ‘The Donald’ might do in a second term,” but when the alternative is “an increasingly loopy Joe Biden, it’s little wonder” Trump seems set to win again.

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board