The Supreme Court upholds religious liberty against discriminatory COVID restrictions; Trump pardons Gen. Flynn; and new data shows masks are largely useless and the schools should be open.
Breaking News: The Supreme Court blocked New York’s virus-imposed limits on religious services. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a decisive vote in the 5-4 ruling. https://t.co/kYvVi5pxFm
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 26, 2020
It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2020
This “Pardon of Innocence” is historic, sincerely appreciated & should never happen in our country again. I will issue a personal statement later today. My family issued one yesterday.
Thank you America 🇺🇸
Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 😀🇺🇸
1 Chronicles 16:32–34 💪🙏 pic.twitter.com/6TIN2eh3JE
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) November 26, 2020
Amazed at Twitter folks gasping: "But Flynn pleaded guilty!!!" I'll remember that when next nasty dictator assures his political opponent signed full confession. Absolute power (here DOJ and FBI) corrupts absolutely. Flynn's son/livelihood was threatened–of course he signed.
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) November 26, 2020
If public health experts wanted to be honest about masks, they’d say:
We’d like you to wear a mask inside. We think it’s neighborly. It won’t protect you, but we hope – on the basis of very marginal evidence – it might slow transmission a little.
That’s not what they’re saying.
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) November 25, 2020
Studies, Data Show COVID Doesn’t Spread in Schools and Classrooms
The question about transmission is the primary question in schools.
In a study of 35,000 kids in North Carolina, there’s not a single case of transmission from child to adult out of 100 infections.
Insight for Education studied 191 countries, looking at the countries that reopened, and found that it did not drive the pandemic or outbreaks any further.
And Utah, which has the best data on schools, found that any increases or outbreaks were attributed to teens, and that infection was on off-campus congregate settings—namely, the parties, not the classrooms.
So it’s pretty clear the classroom is extremely safe, and the transmission from kids to adults is minimal.
—Marty Makary, MD, MPH, Professor of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
The Story with Martha MacCallum, Fox News, Nov. 20, 2020
The Virtuous Meaning of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving has been a time to stop and take stock of the blessings enjoyed by family and community.
As the English settlers overcame the trials they faced that first year in Plymouth, qualities that Americans have come to honor as integral to our national identity were on full display: courage, perseverance, diligence, piety.
These are the virtues that helped to shape the American character.
The Pilgrims displayed another virtue, one they practiced every day and which stood at the heart of the First Thanksgiving. Cicero called it the greatest of the virtues and the parent of all the rest: gratitude.
—Melanie Kirkpatrick, as cited by James Freeman, in the Wall Street Journal, Nov. 25, 2020
Feature Photo Credit: Mike White, Fine Art America.