BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
Far too many of America’s
infl uencers, those who shape
public opinion through broadcasting,
publishing, teaching
or even entertaining, have
proven to be incapable or unwilling
to honestly portray
the numerous serious issues
facing the nation.
There is a key reason for
this. Some, especially those
who graduated in the past two
decades, have been poorly educated
in history and even
worse in the arts of reason
and research. As universities,
high schools and even lower
education concentrated, reasonably
commendably, on science
and math, they did so at
the expense of history and
civics. Ignorant of the hardlearned
lessons of past crises
and taught in an environment
where emotion is considered
as vital as accuracy,
they simply lack the bedrock
tools necessary.
Absent a widespread historical
memory or a comprehension
of how American
government works, it became
easy for extremists to push
concepts that have already repeatedly
failed or that simply
fail to refl ect reality.
Take the current popularity
of socialism, which polls
indicate is signifi cantly popular
among the young. A Gallup
survey found that at least
half of young adults prefer it
over capitalism. They do so
in large part because biased
hard-left professors refused to
reveal how socialism has consistently
led to tyranny, mass
murder and destroyed economies.
They gloss over the fact
that it has provided “equality”
by reducing the middle
class to poverty, not by raising
the poor to increased prosperity.
Students and professors
who question leftist orthodoxy
are penalized, harassed
and ostracized, an authoritative
response quite typical of
socialist regimes.
By falsely portraying
America’s political and economic
MTA mandates mask wearing on public transit
BRONX TIMES R 26 EPORTER, SEPT. 18-24, 2020 BTR
system as biased
and inequitable, they have
spawned a movement of
misguided militants.
One would assume that
more informed journalists,
pundits or professors would
strive to provide enlightenment
and correct the factual
inaccuracies. A (very) small
number have, but have done
so at great peril.
As the hard-left gained ascendancy
in education and
journalism, it moved forcefully
and expeditiously to
remove those with differing
views from their institutions.
Look at the ratio of
Democrats to Republicans in
education. Look at how print,
broadcast and internet news
organizations delete those
with conservative views
from their staffs. Note how
the entertainment industry
vigorously and viciously
blackballs those who dissent
from “progressive” views.
A recent, and perhaps one
of the most illustrative examples,
comes from the rapidly
deteriorating New York
Times. The publication acted
shamefully (again!) In saying
there’s no need for a presidential
debate. They rightfully
fear that Biden’s mental
decay will show, and have become
so partisan they would
rather support an incompetent
than honestly report the
news. Eliminating debates
means eliminating the role
of the public to make up their
own mind as to the better of
the two candidates. The New
York Times and the elitists
who detest popular opinion
believe their role is tell the
public what to think.
Like that once-venerable
newspaper, many in education
seek to divorce the
public from the information
needed to truly exercise
their sovereignty as citizens.
As Townhall and many others
have reported, the essential
tool to do that, a knowledge
of civics and history, is
under attack.
“During a meeting in
Evanston…political, education,
and other Chicago leaders
demanded the Illinois
State Board of Education
stop teaching history until a
suitable alternative is developed…
The mayor refused to
take a stand for U.S. history
because it’s not his ‘area…’”
It has been, for the progressives,
a half- century
long and quite victorious
“march through the institutions”
that has virtually
created a leftist monopoly,
with a few exceptions, on
the airwaves, the internet,
education, and Hollywood.
The goal was not just to push
their perspective but also to
censor all other views.
CIVIC CENTER
COMACTA
BY MARK HALLUM
The MTA said Monday that
they had begun an outreach
effort to not only give those
without masks on trains and
buses a face covering, but to
issue a $50 fi ne to anyone who
refuses to do so through a program
forged through what appears
to many as a dubious
partnership with NYPD.
MTA Chairman Pat Foye
spent hours on subways and
Long Island Rail Road trains
Monday handing out masks
to the very few who dared to
enter stations without them.
He also faced persistent questions
from reporters regarding
the effi cacy of the new
enforcement policy centered
around the commonality of
cops themselves disregarding
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
mask mandate and the possible
repercussions for New
Yorkers historically subject to
over-policing.
The additional measure is
not only in the hope of attracting
riders back to mass transit,
Foye said, but also in the
spirit of keeping conditions
on the system as healthy as
possible for commuters and
agency employees.
“We are not interested in issuing
fi nes, collecting fi nes or
issuing summonses and police
offi cers in the course of the job
will of course use discretion,”
Foye said. “We believe that if
customers continue to wear
masks at the levels that they
are currently wearing them
then we have the ability to
drive it further.”
“We have many rules and
regulations in the transit system;
don’t smoke, don’t litter,
don’t drink, all of the rules
and regulations you’re familiar
with. This is just another
one,” interim New York City
Transit President Sarah Feinberg
added. “We’re not looking
to fi ne people, we’re not
looking for the police to fi ne
people. What we’re looking for
is compliance and we’re doing
everything we possibly can
to make sure we’re making
it as easy as possible to wear
a mask.”
On buses, mask compliance
is estimated at 96%
— and it’s about the same
on subways.
According to Foye, his discussions
with NYPD Commissioner
Dermot Shea and was
assured that the police would
follow the mask mandate they
themselves will be following
the requirement they are
tasked with upholding.
This comes in spite of
NYPD offi cers being directed
in May to no longer issue
summonses for mask noncompliance
or social distancing
after a stop in the East
Village raised questions of
police brutality.
Shea delivered a similar
message on NY1 Monday,
in stating that compliance
rather than citations are
top priority.
“Regarding the offi cers
wearing mask, we’ve lost 46
members of the NYPD since
this pandemic has started,”
Shea said during the interview.
“It is not something that
we take lightly, it’s something
that we stress all the time, I
would not agree with one of
the statements that you made
about cops refusing to wear a
mask. Could you get a picture of
an offi cer who takes his mask
off? Of course you can, like
you can get any New Yorker…
But to categorize it that they’re
out there not wearing masks I
don’t think is fair.”
But while Shea may disagree
with the perception that
cops themselves are not following
the rules on masks, it has
become a common perception.
So common, in fact, it has warranted
the creation of a Twitter
page devoted to collecting
evidence of NYPD offi cers either
ditching face coverings
completely in situations where
its inappropriate or wearing
them incorrectly.
MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye joins the Mask Force to distribute free masks to customers on Mon.,
September 14, 2020. (Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit)