The Josh Hammer Report

Josh Hammer

Newsweek Opinion Editor And Host,
"The Josh Hammer Show"

This week, my column used the news hook of a letter sent Thursday from 16 Republican state attorneys general to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to make a broader point about "progressivism versus popular sovereignty," which I argue demarcates the lines upon which so many of our political and cultural battles worldwide are fought. The animating spirit of contemporary progressivism, encapsulated by former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's infamous admonition that one should "never want a serious crisis to go to waste," exhibits an "insatiable desire" (as I call it) to govern by a perpetual crisis (whether that crisis is legitimate or self-induced). More generally, I draw a straight line from the administration-via-"emergency" that has dominated our politics in the era of COVID-19 to other similar political fights across the globe between a right-leaning populace and left-leaning elite institutions (typically administrative or judicial, by nature). Last week's column, on Israel's roiling debate over judicial reform, is certainly one example.

On this week's podcast, I was joined by Seth Leibsohn, a great conservative thinker and Phoenix-based radio host with a shared Claremont Institute pedigree. Seth and I discussed the current state of the Right and whether it is even proper to call the disposition required of the current American Right "conservative." Perhaps "counter-revolution," in the vein of the Manhattan Institute's Christopher Rufo, is more apt. Seth and I also got into drug policy and America's horrific overdose crisis, a particular passion project of Seth's, and concluded by discussing the GOP's prospects of remaining competitive in the Grand Canyon State, which is now bright purple. You can listen on Apple, Spotify or here.

In terms of media appearances over the past week, I was on FOX Business's "Mornings with Maria" yesterday to discuss the latest updates with scandal-ridden Hunter Biden and House Republicans' investigations of his various glaring misdeeds. Additionally, an extended interview I did in mid-December with Jewish News Syndicate editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin on the Russia-Ukraine conflict re-aired last week on Jewish Broadcasting Service. I also appeared on Steve Bannon's "War Room" on Monday to discuss my latest "progressivism versus popular sovereignty" column, appeared on OANN with Addison Smith yesterday, interviewed with the St. Louis-based "Mark Reardon Show" radio program, and (as usual) co-hosted the Edmund Burke Foundation's most recent episode of the "NatCon Squad" podcast.

Finally, I will be speaking at CPAC in Washington, D.C., in March and will speak at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's Society Leaders Conference in Delaware in April.

Our highlighted right-leaning Newsweek op-eds this week include selections from Max Eden, Ben Weingarten, Paul du Quenoy, Russ Vought, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

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Progressivism Versus Popular Sovereignty

On Thursday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a letter, on behalf of 16 state attorneys general, to U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The letter, which pertains to Biden administration policy on COVID-19, is both important on its own merits, insofar as what it urges the new Congress to do, and more broadly significant insofar as the spotlight it helpfully shines on the American ruling class's insatiable desire to govern via perpetual crisis.

The letter, which cleverly cites President Joe Biden's own September 2022 admission that "the pandemic is over," decries the administration's continued reliance on "emergency" powers to implement various COVID-related policies—especially those pertaining to the "emergency-use authorizations" that have enabled the government to develop, mass-produce, and mass-distribute the COVID vaccines despite the fact they have still not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Things have changed," the attorneys general argue, since "emergency authorization was granted two years ago to get the first vaccines distributed." They continue: "In short, things have changed. The American people, in their characteristic spirit of resilience, have learned to live with COVID-19. Even President Biden noted that people generally are no longer wearing masks, and mandates to do so have disappeared from all but the most sensitive areas. Schools, shops, restaurants, and businesses are open. City streets are bustling. The idea that we are still in the midst of a medical emergency flies in the face of the facts on the ground. Yet, [Health and Human Services (HHS)] and FDA continue to perpetrate the myth that an emergency exists to aggrandize their power at the expense of people's freedom."

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