In spite of the dark events in Afghanistan in recent weeks or maybe because of them, there appeared to be a robust surge of patriotism on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I hope it continues.

And I hope it is sustained by a renewed commitment to defend the values of faith, family and freedom — especially as we watch Afghanistan descend into darkness. Progress and prosperity are never guaranteed.

Carol and I were in the Atlanta suburbs over the weekend. Even in some left-leaning areas, there seemed to be an unusual number of flags flying outside homes and businesses or hanging in windows. In the middle of a wooded park, we saw a pond with an island that had been encircled in little flags.

Of course, there were the major memorial events at Ground Zero, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon. But there were scores of memorials all over the country in towns big and small. Many churches and communities made their own memorials with thousands of little flags, each one representing an American who died on 9/11.

Many Americans, especially New Yorkers, were deeply moved by the remarks of Leylah Annie Fernandez. A Canadian, Ms. Fernandez was the runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Tennis Open, which is played every year at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. This year’s championship game was played Saturday, September 11th.

After losing the final game to England’s Emma Raducanu, Fernandez, who is just 19 years old, demonstrated true sportsmanship when she said:

“I know on this day it’s especially hard for New York and everyone around the United States. I just want to say that I hope I can be as strong and resilient as New York has been the last 20 years.”

I can’t prove it, but all actions cause a reaction. Perhaps Joe Biden’s radical push to the left is causing a backlash. There were more anti-Biden protests at college football games this weekend. We’ll see how this all plays out over the weeks and months ahead.

Nevertheless, there were isolated cases of pure left-wing idiocy. I won’t demoralize you with a litany of examples.

But in Washington state, one high school abruptly canceled a 9/11 tribute because some school officials were evidently concerned that football players wearing red, white and blue might “unintentionally cause offense to some who see it [the flag] differently.”

Excuse me?!

Can you imagine anyone in 1961 canceling an event on the 20th anniversary of Pearl Harbor because it might offend Imperial Japan? And what about everyone else who was offended because the patriotic tribute to our country was canceled?

Unity Or Division

While we’re discussing football, let’s talk about the NFL. The National Football League kicked off the new season last week by playing both national anthems before the Dallas/Tampa Bay game.

What’s that? You didn’t realize we have two national anthems? Oh, maybe someone should tell that to the NFL!

Of course, we have only one national anthem — the Star-Spangled Banner. But the NFL decided to begin the Cowboys/Bucs game by playing the black national anthem, Lift Every Voice And Sing, and the Star-Spangled Banner.

This is worse than political correctness. It is absolutely the wrong thing to do.

If, as the left likes to claim, “diversity is our strength,” then why don’t we have a Hispanic national anthem or an Asian national anthem or a Native American national anthem? If we have a “black” national anthem is there also a “white” national anthem?

This is not unifying, it’s extremely divisive. And you know it’s really bad when someone as liberal as Bill Maher says it’s insane. The left-wing comedian blasted the idea of a “black national anthem,” saying we’re going backwards to “segregation … under a different name.”

He’s right. But this is where the left is taking us with its obsessive focus on identity politics and Marxist critical race theory.

Distract & Divide

I want to revisit Joe Biden’s bizarre and confusing speech last week mandating COVID vaccines.

Most Americans have gotten the vaccine. As Biden repeatedly said, the data is clear that if you have been vaccinated you are protected from serious illness caused by COVID-19.

That is the main argument for getting vaccinated against any disease, whether it’s measles, mumps, chickenpox, shingles, Hepatitis or the flu. And broadly speaking, the COVID vaccines work.

But then Biden turned right around and attacked the unvaccinated for putting the vaccinated at risk. That makes no sense at all. In fact, it undermines the case for vaccinations.

The unvaccinated are not putting anyone at risk except other unvaccinated people. That’s the key point. And even Biden conceded as much when he declared, “This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

So, our “unity president” is just distracting us, dividing us and needlessly demonizing some Americans. He’s turning our frontline heroes into villains and literally creating more healthcare emergencies.

He’s attempting to punish and marginalize people who have made their own decisions for whatever reason — whether they’re young and healthy and not at serious risk or they have already had COVID and have natural immunity.

Whatever happened to “my body, my choice”?

It’s always useful to keep things in perspective. So, here’s a useful fact to keep in mind: Living in Chicago poses more risk to children than does COVID-19. It’s true.

More children under 17 have been shot in Chicago this year (261) than have died from COVID-19 across the whole country (214).

More, More, More!

Congress is back in session, so hold on to your wallet! Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are scrambling to nail down the details of their massive $3.5 trillion spending bill, and it’s packed full of tax hikes.

Here’s just one: House Democrats want to raise corporate taxes by 26%, creating a new corporate tax rate that exceeds communist China’s. Talk about greedy!

While you may not care if McDonalds, Amazon or Apple pays more in taxes, higher corporate tax rates will impact you. For example, if corporations know their expenses (taxes) are going up by 26%, they’re going to save money wherever they can. That might mean layoffs, costing some people their jobs. They will also raise prices, which will affect you.

When Donald Trump slashed corporate tax rates, Americans saw their electricity bills go down as utility companies passed along the savings. Well, if Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi raise corporate tax rates, you’re going to pay more to heat your home this winter.

Here’s something else you need to know about this huge socialist spending bill. Biden and congressional Democrats want to massively grow the IRS. They want 87,000 more bureaucrats at the IRS!

Why do they need so many more IRS agents?

Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer want the IRS to be much more aggressive when it comes to audits and tax collection. So much so, that they’re planning to let the IRS see virtually every single financial transaction you make.

Does that sound like a good idea to you?

I hope not. But it’s the consistent theme of the left — more power and more control over your life is being concentrated in the hands of more bureaucrats and ever bigger government.