There’s no reason for a Beto 2020 run and other commentary

From the left: Beto 2020 Has No Reason to Exist

Beto O’Rourke “would seem to have much of what he needs” — political ­celebrity, a devoted base of fans and a network of small donors — “to mount a serious run” for president, notes Slate’s Josh Voorhees. He’s “just missing one thing, though: an actual reason to run.” O’Rourke enters the race “without a clear political ideology, a signature legislative achievement, a major policy ­issue or a concrete agenda for the country” — just “the same empty words” he has been offering since he lost to Sen. Ted Cruz last fall. But if O’Rourke “is going to seek the highest office in the land, he should have some answers of his own.” As things stand, “he won’t add anything of value to the Democratic race other than platitudes, which are hardly in short supply.”

Conservative: NY’s Political Prosecution of Manafort

Manhattan DA Cy Vance has indicted Paul Manafort for mortgage fraud and a dozen other state felonies, in what Andrew McCarthy at The Hill ­labels “a nakedly political prosecution.” That’s because Democrats are outraged at the possibility that President Trump might pardon Manafort for the federal crimes that just brought him a combined 90-month prison sentence. Now state prosecutors “have brought a case they otherwise never would waste time on — not because the case should be done, but to try to block a pardon.” Frankly, he adds, “this raw politicization of prosecutorial power ought to frighten everyone.” New York Democrats are also trying to water down state double-jeopardy protections — “shamefully, as if civil rights were only for the ruling class’s political friends.”

Culture critic: Europe Key to US Left’s Anti-Semitism

In Germany this week, notes The Federalist’s David Harsanyi, a court ruled that the firebombing of a synagogue by three Palestinian immigrants was not anti-Semitic. They were merely calling “attention to the Gaza conflict,” the judge said, explaining why he gave them suspended sentences. Similarly, Norway’s top prosecutor ruled that a rapper hired by the city of Oslo whose performance contained a rant against “f- - -ing Jews” was ­expressing “dissatisfaction with the policies of the State of Israel.” Sound familiar? American progressives have adopted the same excuses “to protect — and in some cases, normalize — anti-Semitism.” But this supposed anti-Zionist antagonism “is fueled by Jew-hatred, not the reverse.” These days, though, “the Democratic Party — including many of its major presidential candidates — can excuse a little Jew-hatred if it’s framed just right.”

Foreign desk: US Venezuela Intervention Now Less Likely

Some are interpreting the withdrawal of all US personnel from the ­embassy in Caracas as a sign that military intervention in Venezuela is now more likely. But while President Trump continues to insists that “all options are on the table,” Bloomberg’s Eli Lake argues “it’s ­evidence of the opposite.” The most likely reason for the diplomats’ removal is “fear they could be targeted” by loyalists of strongman Nicolás Maduro — which would “almost certainly” prompt a US response. Special envoy Elliott Abrams recently spoke of “a public diplomacy strategy aimed at making the Venezuelan military nervous by not ruling out military action.” But he added that there are “no such plans” for action “unless Maduro does something completely crazy.” Trump, Lake notes, “likes to brag about ending wars, not starting them.”

From the right: Media Matters’ Astonishing Hypocrisy

It turns out that “Google works for conservative organizations, too,” ­observes National Review’s David French. And it’s just uncovered the “checkered online past” of Media Matters President Angelo Carusone, who has been leading a campaign against Tucker Carlson for his past “terrible” statements. Seems Carusone’s now-defunct blog contained “insulting references” to “trannies,” “jewry” and Bangladeshis. Yet French notes that “for most of the online world, revelations of past offensive comments aren’t causes of true anguish but rather instruments of vengeance. They’re weapons to wield against people you already despise.” How do we know? ­“Because the double standards abound.” Unlike Carlson, Carusone’s ­remarks, he predicts, will “be largely ignored.” But “men who live in glass houses pelt each other with stones” and only “shatter our political culture.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann

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