From the left: ‘Anti-Disinfo’ Is a Partisan Con

Racket News’ Matt Taibbi pounces on whistleblower-provided files on “a group founded in March 2020 to fight pandemic misinformation called the ‘Cyber Threat Intelligence’ or CTI League,” yet in internal communications focused on “anything ‘we’re interested in,’ especially the upcoming presidential election and ‘right wing stuff,’ which ‘we all desperately want to work on.’ ” What’s “shocking is the level of total unsophistication with which this group — which partnered with DHS and FBI — brought to the job of sifting through alleged disinformation,” conflating their biases with reality. They “really believe their ‘bubble’ is uniquely oriented to ‘truth.’ Once you believe that, censorship is easy. People I like are right, and as for people I don’t — can we get all troll on their bums?” It’s that simple: “It’s Heathers, but run out of Langley and Fort Meade. And unlike high school, these people will never grow up.”

Gadfly: Uni Profs’ Anti-Israel Bias

“In a recent statement on the Israel-Hamas war titled ‘Polarizing Times Demand Robust Academic Freedom,’ ” the American Association of University Professors “displayed a distressing anti-Israel bias that sadly undermines its commitment to even-handed protection of free expression,” laments Steven Lubet at The Hill. “At many colleges and universities” some are “justifying and even praising the Hamas pogrom.” “The AAUP, however, addresses only one rhetorical excess . . . declaring that it ‘rejects the characterization of pro-Palestinian speech or critiques of the Israeli state as invariably antisemitic.’ ” “Meanwhile, the AAUP statement says not a word about the threats to the academic freedom of Jewish students, who have been insulted and marginalized on many campuses,” but “instead scolded the administrators who have addressed the alarming rise of antisemitism on campuses and elsewhere.”

Neocon: Hamas Can Be Destroyed

“The moral imperative to destroy Hamas has come roaring back to the front burner with the revelations of the terrorists’ abuse of Israeli captives, especially young children,” thunders Commentary’s Seth Mandel. And all “arguments against trying to destroy Hamas boil down to some form of: the ideas animating the terrorist group cannot be eliminated. Even if true, that’s irrelevant to Israel’s war aims.” As in the fight against ISIS, it suffices to “banish” the “foot soldiers who carried” those ideas into war. Don’t forget “Hamas self-rule requires Israel’s destruction.” So “Hamas can be defeated.” “Israel and the West possess the capabilities to do this.” And: “It has been done before. The final ingredient is national will — and that part is up to Israel and Israel alone.”

Israel war: The Left Is Dooming ‘Palestine’

“Do the people chanting ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ have any idea of the irreparable harm they’re doing to any hope of Palestinian sovereignty?” asks The New York Times’ Bret Stephens. Such statements by the likes of Rep. Rashida Tlaib assume that “the occupation” dates to 1948 and includes Haifa, Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem. By echoing Hamas, Iran and others who deem all of Israel “occupied,” a “growing faction of the progressive left” is siding with “some of the worst people on earth” and reinforcing “convictions” that Palestinians won’t accept Israel’s existence “in any borders.” This “recipe for smug self-satisfaction” is “also how to kill a Palestinian state.”

Eye on education: NY Homeschooling Boom

“A Washington Post analysis of homeschooling trends revealed that families in New York have flocked to home education at rates twice the national average, second only to Washington D.C.,” notes the Empire Center’s Emily D’Vertola. Homeschooling is up 50% nationally, but “has more than doubled” in New York, up 178% statewide and 324% in New York City. This, though New York is “classified as a high-regulation state for homeschooling” where parents must submit “an individualized home instruction plan” plus “quarterly reports”; students must also “take yearly assessments from a state-approved list of standardized tests.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board