JON CALDERA: Cancel culture feeling its oats; stop feeding it.

What happened to those liberals who were appalled by book-burnings and McCarthy-era blacklisting?

They are now silent as the Cancel Culture feeds on an orgy of being perpetually offended and demanding destruction of all that is an affront to the new enlightened sensibilities.

There is a direct line from the years of our complacent acceptance of college speech codes, cancelling conservative speakers on campus, de-platforming conservative voices online, the PC police language enforcement in media, schools and entertainment to the wide-spread intolerance violently playing out on our streets today.

The progressives who run the institutions that form our culture (media, entertainment and education) have instilled the value that if you find something offensive or hurtful it is your duty to rip it down, stifle it, berate it until it is wiped away.

The golden, classical liberal value of tolerance has turned into the progressive mandate for re-education.

Read the whole thing.

BETSY MCCAUGHEY: How the Swamp mucked up America’s coronavirus response.

In a pandemic, government efficiency can make the difference between life and death. You would expect our civil “servants” to rise to the occasion. Some are. But the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, is sounding the alarm that for the most part, Washington bureaucrats are dithering while Americans die.

In a report released this week, the GAO details dozens of dangerous failings in one government department after another — failings that needlessly put you and your loved ones at risk.

Read the whole, depressing thing.

#RESISTANCE: Arizona Gyms Reject Governor Doug Ducey’s Shutdown Order: Fitness centers across the state are turning up the resistance to lockdown orders.

The unwillingness of large segments of the fitness industry to close down again illustrates just how tired Americans are of seemingly endless lockdowns that have kept them inside and endangered their businesses. Many of these gym owners complained to the media that they’re adopting the same cleaning and social distancing protocols as businesses that are allowed to remain open.

It’s a sign that state officials are going to be increasingly hardpressed to force people back into their homes, regardless of the public health merits.

Pandemic fatigue has set in, and the public health people have beclowned themselves to the point that their credibility is lacking.

GLEICHSCHALTUNG: Fox Sports 1’s Marcellus Wiley Unloads on NBA Plan to Paint ‘Black Lives Matter’ on Courts.

How about a compromise where the NBA goes with “Hong Kong Lives Matter” instead?

IT’S FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND, SO IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER UBER-WOKE PR STUNT FROM NIKE: Last year, the Betsy Ross flag was cancelled by Nike during the Fourth of July holiday season, as a sneak preview of our current summer of leftist discontent. Now it’s time for Nike to generate PR by another major cancellation: “Nike removes Redskins name, apparel from its website,” NBC reports. (Which also helps to deflect Nike from this unfortunate fact: “Nike Called Out for Low Wages in Asia Amid Colin Kaepernick Ad Promotion,” Newsweek reported in September of 2018:

“The share of production costs of Nike and Adidas shoes that ends up in a worker’s pocket is now a staggering 30 percent less than in the early 1990s (2.5 percent in 2017 for Nike shoes compared with 4 percent in 1995),” the organization said, Reuters reported. According to CCC, the company has transferred much of its manufacturing to Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam as wages have increased in China.

More pressure is being put on the Redskins team owner Dan Snyder by FedEx: “Stadium sponsor FedEx asks Redskins to change nickname,” ESPN adds.  Today, the team issued a statement that they will “undergo a thorough review of the team’s name,” which means a change is possibly on the way. Yesterday, one wag on Twitter suggested an excellent choice to allow Synder to thumb his nose at Nike: “The Washington Uighers.”

At his Lid blog, Jeff Dunetz has a list of suggestions for more replacement names, including this possibility: “How about taking a number? After all, the 49ers have a long history of winning football. Why not call the team the ‘Washington 26 Trillion,’ after the national debt? Nah, that won’t work because then the team will have to change what they are called every few weeks.”

Of course, as Stephen Miller tweets, erasing the Redskins’ name means erasing a bit of black history: “The first African American QB to win a Super Bowl did it with the Washington Redskins. Have fun guys!”

Also in National Wokeball News: “NFL plans to play Black national anthem before Week 1 games this season,” the New York Post reports. As Twitchy adds, “Judging by the comments, we weren’t the only ones who didn’t know that ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ is ‘traditionally known’ as the black national anthem, but NFL viewers will be getting familiar with it, as the league intends to play it before ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ before Week 1 games this season.”

According to CBS, Roger Goodell, the NFL’s commissioner, donated a paltry $2,700 to Chris Christie’s stillborn presidential bid in 2016. This fall’s NFL season is shaping up to be a much larger in-kind contribution to the Trump 2020 campaign.

THE GREAT REOPENING: Judge Nukes Ill. Lockdown: Pritzker ‘Had No Authority’ to Restrict Movement and Close Businesses.

RHYTHM AND JEWS: An Interview with Mike Stoller of the Powerhouse Songwriting Duo, Leiber and Stoller.

THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY IN THAT HOUSING: California college plans online fall classes, expects students to stick with on-campus housing. But I’d take a gap year if it were me.

#RESIST: Hong Kong activists discuss ‘parliament-in-exile’ after China crackdown.

HEADLINES FROM THE CRAZY YEARS: Fresno State president refuses to remove Gandhi statue from campus as petition nears 5,000 signatures.

Related:

OUT ON A LIMB: “L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that public protests are likely causing the number of citywide coronavirus cases to spike, just two days after claiming there wasn’t ‘any conclusive evidence’ showing a connection between the two.”

HE’S LOSING IT: Biden Trots Out Small Business Owner Who Got Thousands in Gov’t Assistance to Argue Trump Isn’t Helping Small Business.

WHAT BOEING IS DOING INSTEAD OF BUILDING AIRPLANES AND SPACESHIPS THAT WORK: Boeing communications boss Niel Golightly resigns over 1987 article questioning women in combat.

A perfect example of our shitty woke corporate culture, where striking the right attitude for your peers is more important than doing your damn job well.

AT AMAZON, Hot New Releases – Updated Every Hour.

Plus, Best Selling Products – Updated Every Hour.

Also, Shop Amazon Outlet – Clearance, Markdowns and Overstock Deals.

COOL: Trump Administration to Kickstart 200 High-Tech Towers for Virtual Border Wall.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Time for Trump 2020 to Bring Steve Bannon Out of Mothballs. “It’s not that I am in a dead panic about Trump’s chances. It’s still early from an election year perspective and, as I have written more than once, I’m rather skeptical of the polls. I just feel that the campaign at present is oozing ennui — a subject I’m going to explore more in a column that will post later today. The Bannon touch could inject a little life into this listless organization.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Samsung is selling a wireless charger that also sterilizes your phone.

MONEY: Team Trump brushes off Biden fundraising taunt as campaign nears $1B.

GOOD: Another experimental covid-19 vaccine has shown promising early results.

I WILL IDENTIFY AS A BLACK WOMAN, SO THEY’LL BE AFRAID TO DO ANYTHING: Virginia Police Will Now Ask for Race, Gender During Traffic Stops.

FAUXCAHONTAS: White voters find this Democrat least acceptable as a Biden VP pick.

A new poll indicates Democratic voters are most excited about the prospect of Kamala Harris being tapped as Joe Biden’s running mate, but are wary of Elizabeth Warren being chosen.

While 38 percent of Democrats overall found Warren an “acceptable” choice and 27 percent were “excited” about the idea, 19 percent found her to be a “not acceptable” choice, the highest negative rating of any of the 11 candidates listed.

The negative views rose among white voters. The USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed 23 percent of white voters found Warren to be a “not acceptable” choice, while that number was 19 percent among Hispanic voters and 13 percent among black voters.

Flashback to your Friendly Neighborhood VodkaPundit in May: It’s Kamala Harris, Isn’t It?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Universities Sowing the Seeds of Their Own Obsolescence. “The epidemic and lockdown required distance learning, but at full price. The idea that universities can still charge regular rates when students are forced to stay home is not just an unsustainable practice, but veritable suicide. If one can supposedly learn well enough from downloads, Zoom talks, and Skype lectures, then why pay $50,000 or more for that service from your basement?”